This is not the first time Zachary Eller has done this kind of thing, nor is it the first time he has encountered this reaction from investors, and he is very calm: "Mr. Zhang, there are two main forms of investing in Hollywood movies, one is to pick up the scene, and the other is to blindly invest. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info Merrill Lynch Securities once issued a report, saying that blind investment in Hollywood dramas, 20 films in a row can be flat, than picking 20 to invest in more profitable, many people who think they understand movies and understand the market, in the end they often pick one and lose one. There are too many variables and accidents about whether a movie will be a hit or not, and no one can guarantee it in advance. ”

Zhang Ran knew that blind voting was to hand over the money to the film company, and what movies to invest in was arranged by the film company, but big IPs like "X-Men" are often excluded, and said coldly: "I just want to vote for "X-Men" and "Avatar", why, I am not allowed to vote?"

Zachary Eller coughed and said, "Mr. Zhang, it's not that you are not allowed to vote, but this is a provocative throw." If you pick a play to cast, the score you get is not as high as that of a blind cast. ”

Zhang Ran must be picking a play, he doesn't remember what the specific box office of the movie is, but which movies lose money and which movies make money, he still has a general impression: "I can accept a lower share, but my share must be high for Dune Entertainment!"

Zachary Ehler was stunned: "Why?"

Zhang Ran smiled indifferently: "Cooperating with me can make Fox get a higher box office, for example, cooperating with me can make "Avatar" reach $200 million at the box office in China, can Dune Entertainment do it?"

Zachary Eller was stunned again, China's highest-grossing "Time and Space Warrior" box office is only more than 40 million US dollars, 200 million US dollars, which is 5 times, he couldn't help but say: "200 million US dollars? Are you kidding?"

Zhang Ran remembers very clearly that "Avatar" has grossed more than $200 million in China, and now that the Chinese film market is developing faster, the box office will definitely be higher: "I have confidence in Cameron, his "Titanic" once set a record in China, and it was not broken until 04. His new film is bound to set another record, and based on the development of the Chinese market, 200 million US dollars is reasonable. Of course, if you add Chinese elements to the movie, the box office of Chinese actors will definitely be higher! If you think it's impossible, we can write it into the contract, and if the Chinese box office is less than $200 million, I won't take a penny!"

Zachary Eller was shocked: "Are you sure?"

Zhang Ran nodded very affirmatively: "I'm sure!"

Zachary Elle didn't think about it, and immediately said: "Okay, I agree with you to take a stake in Avatar!"

Zhang Ran shook his head and said, "Not only Avatar, but also I want to invest in "X-Men" and other brand movies!"

Zachary Eller tentatively asked: "If 'X-Men' gives you a stake, how much can the Chinese box office reach, $100 million?"

Zhang Ran shook his head: "China has no feelings for superheroes, and it will take at least 6 or 7 years for "X-Men" to reach 100 million US dollars, and it is simply impossible now." ”

Zachary Eller nodded slightly: "Mr. Zhang, we have eight vice presidents at Fox, and each of them has some projects in their hands, and "X-Men" is not in my hands, and I don't have this permission." ”

Zhang Ran knew that this was an excuse, and said lightly: "Mr. Eller, you know that China has strict regulations on imported films, only twenty per year, and even if the movie I work with on Fox cannot be turned into a co-production and gets a 41% share, as long as there is no content that smears China, and it is not too pornographic and violent, then these movies can easily become one of these twenty." I can tell you that there was one the year before last year, there was none last year, and there will be none this year! Of course, Disney has a lot of money and will not care about China's box office income of 10 million yuan, but what about six or seven years from now? At that time, the box office of Hollywood blockbusters in China will be multiplied by 10 and will exceed 100 million US dollars, and who dares to say that they don't care? If you want to cooperate with me, please show sincerity!"

Zachary Eller sensed a strong threat, and although Zhang Ran was talking about Disney, he was saying it to himself. Disney yin Zhang Ran once, Disney movies will not be able to enter the Chinese market smoothly, if Fox dares to yin him, then Fox is afraid that it will be insulated from China from now on. The whole of Hollywood knows that China is a diamond mine, and Fox is absolutely unwilling to lose this market.

Zachary Eller thought carefully for a moment and said, "I understand what you mean, but your request needs the approval of the company's board of directors, and I need to communicate your request to the company!"

Zhang Ran said unhurriedly: "Of course you can!"

Zachary Eller quickly sent Zhang's words back to Fox, and Fox's top brass was surprised, especially since "Avatar" grossed more than $200 million in China.

The senior management of Fox discussed for a while, and then agreed to Zhang Ran's request!

The two sides quickly signed a platter agreement, but there was a specific requirement in the content of the agreement, and Fox agreed to let students from the Asian Film Academy's directing department intern on the Fox crew. It doesn't matter to Fox, but it is crucial to Zhang Ran, because those students are the future of Chinese cinema.

Zhang Ran originally hoped that Fox would also invest in his own films, such as the "Twilight" series, but Fox refused, in their opinion that the "Twilight" theme was too old-fashioned and the vampire theme was completely unpleasant, but Fox still agreed to help Zhang Ran distribute and produce films overseas.

On June 27th, the launching ceremony of the cooperation between Summit Entertainment North America Branch and 20th Century Fox and the global new film launch conference were held in Los Angeles, and many media reported on the scene.

Zhang Ran said at the press conference: "Summit Entertainment North America will invest $1 billion in the next five years to co-produce 40 films with 20th Century Fox, mainly for commercial films, and participate in the global sharing of box office and derivative products. ”

Tom Rothman, CEO of Fox Films, said: "Fox will work with Summit Entertainment to create new growth points, and we hope to bring better entertainment content to audiences in China and around the world through creativity and imagination. In the next five years, in addition to joint cooperation in film and television projects, the two sides will also discuss the development of derivative products such as online videos and theme parks!"

At the press conference, Tom Rothman released the first batch of film lists covered by the cooperation between the two parties, including Cameron's sci-fi film "Avatar", which has been in preparation for 8 years, as well as the box office hit "X-Men" sequel "Wolverine", as well as "Teleporter" and other new works.

The cooperation between Zhang Ran and Fox has attracted great attention in Hollywood, with media such as "Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety" giving key reports, and major Hollywood companies are also staring at this cooperation between the two sides.

Variety commented: "It's the first time in history that Fox has entered into such a large-scale collaboration with a Chinese company, and in a way, it could be a game-changer. Partnering with Chinese companies could help Fox make films that pass censorship and release in China faster, which can avoid a large part of the risks of big-budget films. If the Chinese government can give these co-production privileges, it will create a green channel to the Chinese market, and more Hollywood companies will continue to cooperate with Chinese companies in similar ways. ”

This news quickly spread back to China, and major media reprinted it one after another, causing a sensation in the entertainment industry. The agreement represents a deeper collaboration between Chinese films and Hollywood, which would give Zhang Ran a greater say in filmmaking than if he were only a distribution agent or production partner.

This partnership means that Chinese films are beginning to move to Hollywood, to North America, the world's largest market. In the future, there will definitely be more domestic film and television companies that will enter the North American market through this way, and Zhang Ran is the pioneer.

Netizens don't know about this film industry, and they don't care about it, but in everyone's opinion, it is amazing that Zhang Ran can spend one billion dollars to cooperate with 20th Century Fox.

"My mother, one billion dollars, it's more than eight billion yuan in RMB, if only you could share a little bit with me!"

"Wake up, it's time to move bricks, stop daydreaming. You're not Zhang Jingchu, why should you be given it?"

"Zhang Ran invests in Hollywood movies, will he be able to see more Chinese actors in Hollywood movies in the future? For example, in "X-Men", you can find two Chinese actors to play two roles!"

"Oh, don't! How embarrassing it is to see Chinese actors in Hollywood movies!"

"Embarrassing your sister, why is it embarrassing to have Chinese actors in Hollywood movies?"

Of course, there are many people who scold Zhang Ran, and some people even scold Zhang Ran for being a comprador and a traitor. Even Feng Xiaogang took the opportunity to shoot at Zhang Ran, believing that by introducing a large number of Hollywood films to China, Hollywood would gain far greater benefits than China, and might even overwhelm the fragile domestic films.

After Feng Xiaogang opened fire, the people in the Beijing circle jumped out one after another to bring the rhythm, and the newspapers and the media were all talking about it, and the caliber was almost unanimous, believing that this kind of cooperation would harm Chinese films. They even took Xiangjiang and Taiwan movies as examples to make in-depth criticisms of Zhang Ran's cooperation with Hollywood, and they almost said that Zhang Ran was Wu Sangui who led the Qing soldiers into the customs.

Ordinary netizens don't know much about the film and television industry, and many people in the Beijing circle seem to be very reasonable, and many people who originally supported Zhang Ran also began to change their positions, expressing their disappointment, saying that they wanted to take off their fans, and that they would also turn black. Zhang Ran's fans wanted to explain, but they didn't know much about this matter and didn't know where to start.

At the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, Zhang Ran was having a meeting with the acquisition team brought by Wu Ruide. In addition to working with Fox, Zhang Ran plans to make some acquisitions in preparation for the filming of the next "Twilight" series.

Wu Ruide talked about Zhang Ran's attack in the Beijing circle, and said with contempt: "These people in the Beijing circle are simply the cancer of Chinese films, relying on their own right to speak, and crowding out others all day long. They only have immediate interests in their eyes and never think about the entire film industry. If you can really put Hollywood in, I think it's a good thing, just like the TV industry, after the release of domestic TV sets, more and more appointments. On the contrary, those industries that have policy protection, because of the lack of competition, are half-dead!"

Zhang Ran looked at the scolding very lightly, he knew what he was doing: "The Beijing circle is just a few birds, where do we know our ambitions." Chinese films must go out, but this road is too difficult to walk. "Infernal Affairs" is such a good movie, but the US box office is only $160,000, and that's the reality. Working with Hollywood, we have the opportunity to inject Chinese elements into our films, so that European and American audiences can get used to Chinese elements, and then accept Chinese actors, and after more than ten years, we may be able to completely accept Chinese films. The audience's movie-watching habits are cultivated, and if they don't take the initiative to cultivate, the market can't get up on its own! But it's not enough to just borrow a boat to go to sea, we still have to build our own ship!" He looked at Wu Ruide and the members of the acquisition team, and said with a smile: "This is the next work of Zhujun!" (To be continued.) )