After the time entered 2002, the Hollywood film market was also busy. The 911 crisis brought a trace of confusion and panic to Hollywood last year, but with the arrival of the new year, people have forgotten the unhappiness of the past, and people in Hollywood are now thinking more about how to make money.

In 2002, Hollywood did enter the era of blockbusters - Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings 2, Star Wars Prequel 2, Harry Potter 2, this series of movies, just listening to what they are preparing now, it is enough to let people know that this year's box office war must be bloody again.

And Enigma, one of the big Hollywood companies now, is not far behind at this time, and they are also preparing to launch their film Resident Evil in May of this year. And the production speed of the X-Men is not slow, but I don't know if it will be able to be broadcast in time for this year. These two movies can also be regarded as big-production, big-investment films, and they are not far behind in this box office war.

These blockbusters that will definitely occupy the box office are now extremely hot in the media, what movie will be the box office champion? This is also one of the topics that people guess.

At this time, another news also surprised people: Mystery has not only prepared two movies, but in addition to these two movies, Levy is also preparing new movies, and his film is still a sci-fi blockbuster with a huge investment.

This news also surprised Hollywood.

Everyone knows about making money with big productions and big investments. However, it is very likely that the big production and investment will lose money, which is also what people are all worried about. After the new century, more and more superhero movies are favored, a very important reason is because superhero movies have a very wide mass base, and it can be said that there are a lot of diehards, even if they are slightly worse, there will still be people scolding and scolding. While paying for it, watch.

The Mystery Company apparently knew this, otherwise they wouldn't be busy broadcasting Resident Evil right now while preparing for a new X-Men. These two movies, one with a game background and the other with a comic background, both have a potential audience, and to say that they don't understand these truths is to underestimate them too much.

Just, at this very moment. Levy chose to shoot a story with a new theme. And a new theme, a new story, and a very large-scale investment in filming, there is always a bit of danger in doing so.

Although film companies seem to have been making a lot of investment, most of the film companies are all attracted funds. Even a large company can't afford to fail an investment in a blockbuster movie -- although the Whisperer hasn't been released yet, and MGM hasn't gone bankrupt, but. People still have this common sense.

However, if successful, such an approach can also bring large-scale benefits. Check out Bruckheimer's preparation for such an unpopular pirate story as Pirates of the Caribbean. Looking at Levy preparing a sci-fi story, people can only sigh at their choice: some people always have the courage to be different.

And in the midst of people's exclamations, Levy's film is also being prepared step by step.

For him. The best news is that the actors are preliminarily in place. Moreover, the cast of actors is not much different from what he thought.

Isabella. Adjani, on her part, easily agreed to Levy's invitation: she obviously didn't have the idea of going to rest immediately, and she was still very interested in participating in the movie. And the casting of other characters is also in full swing, which also makes Levy very satisfied.

And what made him happiest was that Denzel Washington agreed to take over the film, but the salary he proposed was not a salary cut, but a salary of 10 million and a 15% gross profit share.

At this price, it can be said that it is quite accurate.

Obviously, Denzel. Washington's agent is not stupid, and the remuneration he offers is the most popular model in Hollywood right now. Since the time Tom. After Cruise used this model, more and more Hollywood movies began to use this model.

The so-called gross profit sharing refers to the total amount of the box office minus the part of the theater chain and the distributor, and the part that the producer has received, minus the entire profit of the production fee. In this part, it stands to reason that there is a share of the screenwriter, a share of the director, and so on, but when the actor asks for a share, it is the share of this part that is requested, and the gross profit of the film production company is the object of their share.

This is already rare for actors: in Hollywood, one of the most important rules is that no one can get a share directly from the box office, and the total box office is divided between the theaters, distribution, and production - unless it is the tax office, which can take money from it, no one else should even think about it.

And after the account is divided, each family will divide it separately, and the actors' money will be divided from the production company. Originally, it was the production company that talked to the actors, and the total box office in the hands of the theater chain was against the distribution company, and the distribution company was against the production company, and these parties cooperated with each other.

That's what Denzel Washington meant -- and the 15 percent he proposed was also a regular requirement, and that's about the amount that Hollywood actors are asking for today. Fluctuating between 10-20% is also a conventional rule.

For example, according to the investment of 100 million US dollars in this film, if his box office exceeds 600 million worldwide, then the production company will get 200 million, and Denzel Washington should be 15 million, plus the 10 million he originally requested, this is already 25 million - compared to his own 20 million level salary, this may be higher.

Moreover, this is just a normal situation, in fact, the movies of the past two years, if they are filmed well enough, can exceed this number in the way of ticketing. For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released last year, made $976 million at the box office worldwide, and if such a movie had a gross profit share, the actor's income would be extremely staggering.

Actual Mountain, in Levy's memory, the later actors, did really do this - in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Depp's box office is already quite outrageously high.

Of course. This also creates a certain risk: if the film really fails, then the funds he will receive will only be 10 million.

However, Denzel Washington is not worried about this: since it is a big-budget film, the production company has to have some confidence, and especially Levy's films, which are quite successful in Hollywood, and every investment he makes, basically pays off, saying that he will fail. Not many people believe in such a thing.

It is precisely because of this that Denzel Washington confidently proposed a share. And his asking price is very accurate: Levy's film investment is about 100 million, and no matter how bad the box office is, it must be about 500 million, so that as a filmmaker, the final gross profit, that is, about 50 million, is the remuneration he asks. It can be said that it is already in line with his identity.

Levy only looked at his request and replied.

"Let him reduce the proportion of the share a little: if he is the absolute protagonist, then. I'm willing to give him a 15% cut. However, although his role is very heavy, he is not the absolute protagonist, and the 15% box office share is too high. Let him reduce. ”

Giving actors a share of the box office will undoubtedly reduce the revenue of the film production company. However, Levy is also well aware. This method is becoming more and more popular among Hollywood actors, and you can't refuse it bluntly, and this is not necessarily a bad thing.

"If we agree to his request, then we can spend less in the early stage, and more money can be invested in special effects production, and with better special effects, we can attract more audiences, and the box office will go up overall - this is not a money-losing business, the key is to use the money in the right place."

Levy also explained his thoughts to Alexander. What he wants is a better movie, not a door-to-door money-saving movie. In his opinion, saving some money for special effects production can obviously make the movie better, which is a good thing for everyone with money, if you don't give a share, increase the salary, and have no money to do special effects, as a result, a movie only has ten minutes of special effects, then, this movie might as well not be made.

It's just that Levy still thinks it's too high for the price demanded by Denzel Washington - this is the story of three main lines, and the protagonist of one of the lines has such a high price, what about the other two? If they were all paid such a high salary, what would they be making movies......

Therefore, what he and Denzel Washington proposed was also to let him reduce the proportion of the share a little. In this regard, Washington's agent also quickly replied.

"If it were another director who asked Denzel to play a supporting role, Denzel would definitely not agree. However, since it is directed by Levy, then Denzel is willing to think about it. The basic salary of 8 million, plus a 10% share, cannot be less. ”

Being able to get the money down to this point, Levy also knows that this is already the biggest concession. He didn't say anything more, and directly said that he could sign a contract.

It's just that when signing the contract, Levy also proposed that if the film shoots a sequel, then Denzel Washington will have to continue to shoot at this price.

Not many people in Hollywood are concerned about this at the moment, but Levy is worried.

Shooting a sequel can make the movie have a better audience and reduce the risk, which is also a convention of the movie. Since the 90s, there have been about 15 high-grossing films every year to shoot sequels, and by the 21st century, although this number has not changed, the investment has been increasing all the time, because such films can make money.

However, movies can make money, but the salary will increase accordingly. Spider-Man couldn't be filmed after filming 3 films that year, and later restarted to become the amazing Spider-Man, one of the biggest reasons is that the two protagonists under the funding asked for too high a salary. is obviously a superhero movie that doesn't require any acting skills, but the actors dare to ask for a salary of more than 20 million, which is also the most important reason why they collapsed.

Denzel. Washington doesn't have a particularly important role in the movie, but there are not many scenes. If he opened his mouth, Levi would not be able to bear it.

Denzel Washington did not dispute Levy's request: at this time, Hollywood has not yet had too many sequels that have created a salary entanglement, and he does not realize what Levy meant.

As the biggest star of the movie, his consent can be said to be a big step towards the success of the movie.

Levy's commercial blockbuster is finally about to be filmed. (To be continued......)