In the last days of May 1980, a whirlwind of the East quietly blew in 900 theaters in North America. [Full text reading]

Hollywood only has 20th Century Fox as an agent for the distribution of "Myth", so the impact of this whirlwind was very small at first, and even so, after the beginning of June, this whirlwind suddenly began to exert force, and it was actually a tornado-like destructive force, and it began to be released in 1,500 theaters throughout North America with lightning speed.

You must know that "Star Wars" did not have such a fast release speed last year, and the major agency distributors also decided to join the ranks of releases after seeing the huge box office results brought by science fiction movies.

Why did "Myth" get these distribution agents on board in just a few days?

The answer is simple!

Because of Lianmei.

Luen Mei is currently in dire straits, "Heaven's Gate" has entered the post-production stage, and it will burn nearly $2 million in production costs of the group company, so that the cost of "Heaven's Gate" before and after Luen Mei will exceed $46 million, and several million more will be spent on publicity before the release.

Luen Mei is clearly stretched thin, and they desperately need a sum of money to turn over the company's normal operations.

Danny has been in a state of mind since he watched the "Myth" sample, because he knows very well that in comparison, the epic western "Heaven's Gate", which his company has spent all its money on, cannot be compared to "Myth" in terms of plot and action.

"Heaven's Gate", which is in post-production, has a thin plot and loose structure, and the little golden man director Michael . Cimino seems to repeat the technique he used to film the prom scene in "The Deer Hunter", causing the plot to drag on and narcissist.

And "Myth" is different, although the plot is confusing at the beginning, but it has two very clear clues, these clues are interspersed with each other, just to mobilize the audience to watch the **, when the last two clues merge, the visual effects that burst out are extremely amazing.

So after Danny returned to Luen Mei, he immediately had an in-depth communication with the president, Danny meant that "Myth" has more box office value than "Heaven's Gate", and he explained it with the intuition of a person with his own distribution experience, and he believed that it was imperative to allocate a part of the production cost of "Heaven's Gate" to distribute "Myth" as an agent, which could bring a good income to the company.

But the president of Luen Mei had his own thoughts, and he frowned and poured bitter water on Danny, saying that doing so would make the great director Michael. Camino was angry that if the director left it alone, the money we spent in the early stage would be wasted, and the entire company would be ruined in the hands of "Heaven's Gate".

"Boss, if that's the case, we should have a good relationship with the Oriental director, this is our only way out, I believe that "Myth" will set off a box office wave in North America, don't forget that their behind-the-scenes production team is Industrial Light & Magic, the "Star Wars" team that created a North American box office miracle last year!"

Danny was very angry and said: "If we don't seize this opportunity, then "Heaven's Gate" is the hell gate of our company!" ”

Luen Mei has recently fallen into an economic crisis, and everyone is very short-tempered, and Danny is very angry when he sees that the boss is still hesitating.

Victor, the boss of United States. Lang was also very angry, he glared and said, "The other six are all watching, why should we stand up and offend Warner Bros." ”

"Because we need this money, if Myth hits $7 million a week, we and 20th Century Fox will be able to split $3.5 million in dividends, and then we'll make more and more profits, and the higher the box office of Myth, the more we earn. Is it still difficult to test the waters just by investing for a week? Danny said impatiently.

The president of Victor fell silent, yes, Danny's analysis was correct, and the words of preemptively releasing "Myth" before other companies would bring a glimmer of life to the company, but now

Victor was eventually brought into the theater by Danny, and that night, they really experienced how much their own audience loved and liked "Myth", and Victor himself had to admit that "Heaven's Gate" he had worked so hard to invest in was like a piece of shit in front of "Myth".

So early the next morning, Danny took Victor to drive to the Concord branch, and when they explained their intentions, Wang Xiaohu let out a very inexplicable smile that made Danny and Victor feel inexplicable, as if Wang Xiaohu had expected the two to come to the door.

"Two, I think I'm already aware of your intentions for today." Wang Xiaohu played with the teacup in his hand very leisurely, took a sip of tea and said: "It's not impossible to get your Luen Mei Company to join, but I seem to have heard that your company doesn't have the slightest advantage in terms of distribution. ”

"No, dear Tiger, you may be mistaken, our United States is still very influential in Hollywood, Chaplin and Bikria are the veterans of our company, you should know more about their most expensive status in Hollywood, right?"

As soon as Victor heard that Wang Xiaohu had no signs of cooperation, he even began to doubt the company's distribution ability, and hurriedly brought out the two immortal-level figures Chaplin and Bi Keli, as if this Oriental had to give face to the patriarch of Lianmei.

How do you know that Wang Xiaohu shrugged his shoulders and said: "Of course, of course I know their names, but according to my understanding, after American films entered a period of depression and decay in the early 50s, the two veterans successively sold their stocks to financial capitalists, and they don't seem to have the slightest relationship with United States now, right?" ”

"Ugh!" Victor and Danny were stunned, and their faces suddenly turned red, the foreigners were all Caucasian, so their faces were obviously red.

Danny snorted coldly, his resentment towards Victor escalated again, and said that when they asked you to act as an agent for distribution, you pushed and delayed, but now it's okay, people's movies are loved by the audience, so you have the cheekiness to come back and beg people to sign a contract, and no one is a fool, who can happily agree to it!

"I don't know how Mr. Tiger can promise us." Danny saw that the boss was speechless all of a sudden, and knew that at this time, Luen Mei Company was like a salmon waiting for others to cut it on the board, and if he wanted the other party to agree to sign the contract, he would only be slaughtered.

"Tell the truth." Wang Xiaohu hugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "You Lianmei really don't have any value that interests me, although there are fewer 900 theaters now, but it is a theater that we can fully control, we can control the release cycle and time period of the movie, we can release three times a day, or five shows, may I ask under such convenient conditions, will I be willing to give away the profits of the tuba?" ”

"No, don't do that, for God's sake, please give us a chance." Danny said bitterly.

"You want a chance, don't you?" Wang Xiaohu said.

"Yes, urgently needed!" Danny nodded affirmatively.

"Okay, the box office share ratio for the first five weeks has been adjusted to 7:3, and it should be 6:4 from the sixth week, and after half a year it will be changed to 5:5, and a year later."

Wang Xiaohu said casually while drinking tea, Danny and Victor were already blue when they heard this.

Obviously, if calculated according to the box office share ratio mentioned by Wang Xiaohu, Luen Mei Company gets very little money, as we all know, Hollywood's release cycle is very long, and the premiere time is as long as two months, which is the most money-making and most concentrated time period.

That is to say, if "Myth" gets every $1 million in the theater chain of Lianmei, they can only get 300,000, and they will insist on it for 6 weeks, absolutely not!

Victor was about to leave on the spot, this Oriental was simply too deceitful, and even offered such harsh conditions, but Danny held him down and said to Wang Xiaohu with a smile: "Let's go back and discuss it and give you an answer." ”

In the time they discussed, the box office data for the first week of "Myth" had already come out, with 9.3 million US dollars, and the box office performance of the first week of release reached 9.3 million, which is enough to prove the great success of "Myth" in terms of commercial value.

After seeing this box office data, Wang Xiaohu smiled, he knew that from now on, he already had enough bargaining weight.

Driven by the huge box office results, the American media began to focus on this film from the East.

The Los Angeles Daily commented: "After two hours of intense excitement, you will find that your mind is in a mess with the plot of the film, and the Oriental director has always occupied the superior position, and he has shown us a visual art that has never been seen before." ”

"Oriental complex, romantic bloom!" The Sun Times, Chicago.

"'Myth' may be a movie that is an icon for Orientals, but it's nothing more than a bunch of beautiful images and a patchwork storyline." Famous film critic Julian. Roberts said unceremoniously.

Each powerful image immerses you in the emotional atmosphere created by "Mythology", so much so that you want to leave this bad era and return to that wonderful mythical world - the Washington Post.

Let me tell you this: kaleidoscope of cool kung fu is how to wrap up the history of the birth of an empire, the way the Oriental people tell stories is really unflattering, and those ugly realities are not made cute by excessive glorification. The New York Times commented.

"I have to admire the rich imagination of the Oriental people, the flying in the weightless space, the majestic palace, the majestic soundtrack, and the desirable romance, all of which show the unique directorial techniques of the Oriental director." Philadelphia Weekly.

The media comments are mixed, some people praise the shock that "Myth" brings them, and some people are smearing "Myth", but these are nothing to Wang Xiaohu, what is in front of him is an invitation letter, looking at these invitations, he smiled brightly, he knew that the time had come to train these movie tycoons.

(To be continued)