In the face of Lance's aggressiveness, Austin did not move, without any superfluous expression, and always maintained that honest appearance, I couldn't tell whether he was worried, resistant, or felt ridiculous, and the jerky love did not have any lubrication, which made the whole negotiation very dry, I saw him shake his head gently, "You are asking for the same treatment as 'borrowing a knife to kill'." ”

Lance thought about it seriously, "Killing with a Knife" was released in 3,188 theaters, and AMC's contract was about 700. So, Lance shook his head and said with a smile, "No, I'm asking for better treatment than 'borrowing a knife to kill'." That strong self-confidence made Austin stunned, as if he didn't expect Lance's response, "Don't forget Jì, 'borrowing a knife to kill' is also R-rate." ”

Austin smiled brightly for the first time after the work negotiations began, and shook his head slightly, "I've forgotten about it." ”

In 2004, the R-rated movie "The Passion of the Christ" was in the limelight, almost sweeping the box office with a sweeping attitude, and at the same time detonating the topic controversy, even after a year, it is still the focus of many people's heated discussions. Mel Gibson is even more pointed.

In the shadow of the powerful effect of "The Passion of the Christ", people almost forgot about it, and "Killing with a Knife", which also created a box office miracle of Zào, was also classified as R - although there was no large amount of plasma in the movie, Vincent was crisp and cruel in his mission, and the whole story was foul language, which made the film classified as R.

Austin thought Lance would say something next, but Lance didn't. Lance just sat quietly in place, and even looked away, not continuing to pay attention to his every move, elegantly cocked Erlang's legs, his left hand propped up on the bench, his body leaned relaxedly, with a hint of casualness in his laziness, and his confident look was slowly outlined between his eyebrows and eyes, like a delicate oil painting.

Austin suddenly realized that Lance didn't need to say anything, and that any language was superfluous. Because the box office of "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Killing with a Knife" has exceeded 200 million US dollars at the box office in two consecutive works, such a feat is already the best proof. As Lance said, the treatment he asked for was not a comparison of "killing with a knife", but a transcendence of "killing with a knife". This is the treatment he can win, not only AMC, but also Royal Entertainment, General Motors, United Arts and other theater chains will not refuse.

Seriously recalling the opening scene of "Sin City" that he just saw, Austin understands the source of Lance's self-confidence. The film was obviously unlike anything they knew it would be, and even Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" was far from comparable, and even he, who had been battle-hardened and well-informed, was indescribably amazed when he watched the three-minute opening, and couldn't wait to watch the follow-up. And what about the audience?

At this moment, Austin finally understands the reason why Lance insists on watching the short film tonight, tonight is Lance's night, even if the stars are locked on Tom and Clint, but they are all old fritters in the circle, Lance is the rising star, he has the ability to disrupt the situation, and now "Sin City" has also proved it. All the conditions were ripe, and it seemed that with just a slight push, the issue of the release of "Sin City" was no longer a problem, so Lance didn't leave him much room to refuse.

If he spoke now, Austin would have nodded in agreement.

But reason told him that he couldn't, that he had to watch the full Sin City film, and that he also needed to communicate with the AMC headquarters, and then leave it to the headquarters to make a decision - if he nodded yes now, it was a verbal promise, which was tantamount to taking the responsibility on his shoulders.

Although Austin knew that headquarters would most likely not turn down Lance, not only for the sake of "Sin City", but also for the long-term cooperation with Chaos Pictures in the future; But he didn't plan to take the initiative to agree, the nature of the matter was still different. So, Austin decided to change the subject.

"However, you have to know that if it's just a movie, the dividend agreement will inevitably need to be adjusted." Austin went straight to the core.

Lance breathed a sigh of relief in his chest, and he could hear from Austin's tone that seven hundred theaters were not impossible, and even very promising. If Austin verbally agrees, the two sides will definitely have a good time, and such a gesture can often become a bridge of friendship, but he is unwilling to sell a favor to Lance, and it seems that he has no intention of recovering this favor from Lance in the future.

This way of negotiation is really a bit of a stretch, not that the negotiation failed or was too difficult, but that the process of talking was always bumpy. Sure enough, his first impression of Austin was correct, but Lance didn't have the heart to complain about it at this time, because the next part was the most important.

Lance raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "The last time I encountered such a situation was eight years ago. So, I don't know if the market has changed now. There was a lot of information hidden in one sentence, and he believed Austin could hear it.

But Austin is still businesslike, "seven to three in the first three weeks, five to five in the fourth week to six, and then decreasing." ”

Such a simple sentence directly divided at least 15% of the box office benefits of "Sin City", which seems harmless to humans and animals on the surface, but the competition for interests is not yielding an inch, and even more ruthless than those smiling tigers, which is really shocking.

Generally speaking, there is a convention for the dividend ratio of the issuer and the cinema side, nine to one in the first three weeks, with a minimum guarantee of 70%, and six to four in the fourth week, and then decreasing. Mainly because the box office in the first three weeks of the movie is often concentrated in the outbreak area, taking "borrowing a knife to kill" as an example, the North American box office in the first three weeks was 130 million, accounting for 54% of the total box office in North America.

Now, as soon as Austin opened his mouth, he poached 20 percent of the box office in the first three weeks, and although he gave a 5-to-5 even-share ratio between weeks four and six, which made up for the loss of "Sin City" in a kind of way, everyone who understands knows that it is almost a drop in the bucket.

So, even if Lance didn't calculate in detail, it can be estimated that Austin's understatement took at least fifteen percent of the box office. According to the convention, the cinema chain can take 40% of the box office, and the remaining 60% is divided between the distributor and the producer. But now, the theater side occupies the lion's head, and this steamed bun has been stuffed into a fat man.

What's more, this is just AMC, if Lance nods here, then other theaters will definitely not let go lightly in the future, and the losses may be further expanded, which will be a disaster for "Sin City".

"Austin, are you kidding me?" Lance shook his head mockingly and playfully, and spoke. Unexpectedly, Austin said seriously, "Of course not." "This actually choked Lance, and this feeling of playing the piano with the cow is really frustrating," the first three weeks were 8.8 to 1.2, the fourth week was 5 to 4.5, and then decreased. "Since Austin is asking for a price, he can pay it back on the ground.

Lance's plan is obviously reversed, dividing the box office after the fourth week more to the theater chain to make up for their "loss".

"Seven-two-to-two." Austin actually played this trick too.

Lance didn't seem surprised at all, and continued, "Eight seven to one three. ”

Austin adjusted it by 0.2 percentage points, and Lance also adjusted it by 0.2 percentage points, the two of them were like angry children, bargaining there, and the original battle of interests turned into a child's play, "Austin, listen," Lance saw that Austin was going to continue playing, he was the passive one, so he chose to take the initiative, "If we want to continue playing, no problem, we can grind little by little, and then test each other's bottom line." But you should know that I'm not that kind of person. So, I tell my bottom line, you say your bottom line, and after watching the full film tomorrow, you tell me your company's decision, how about it? ”

"I can accept this plan." Austin nodded sincerely, with a sincere expression.

Lance took a deep breath, as if after a lot of struggles, and finally said, "The first three weeks are eight to three to seven, the fourth and fifth weeks are five to five, the sixth to eighth weeks are four to six, and then decreasing. ”

Lance's plan is still to continue his attitude, not giving an inch in the first three weeks, and the subsequent box office can let the theater chain occupy the majority.

Austin seemed to think seriously for a moment, and then also spoke his thoughts, "Seven to five to two in the first three weeks, five to five in the fourth to sixth weeks, and then decreasing. ”

After the words fell, both sides looked deeply at each other and did not move away. Did Lance tell his bottom line? Of course not; Is Austin's plan the bottom line? Definitely not. But, at least that already says a lot about the attitude of both sides towards each other. There's no point in continuing to dwell on it tonight.

"Very well, then we'll talk about the rest after we meet tomorrow." Lance stood up with a smile and held out his right hand.

Austin also stood up at the same time and took Lance's right hand, "Of course, looking forward to tomorrow's meeting." Three o'clock in the afternoon, Burbank, how? ”

"Perfect time." Lance naturally had no objection, the hands of the two of them shook lightly, and then let go, "You say, at this time, are your children already sleeping?" ”

"Oh, I pray so......" Austin replied immediately, as if the tense and exciting negotiations had never happened at all, and the two men were just talking about trivial topics from beginning to end. The two of them took a very tacit step in the direction of the door, and left the cloakroom with a smile. (To be continued.) )