There is no doubt that the premiere of "Shanghai Fortress" was a great success, and the reporters could read the news directly from the faces of the audience who walked out of the screening room with smiles on their faces.

Thomas felt that he was under a lot of pressure, he felt that even if it was a story about China, the film would probably be successful in the United States, and it was conservatively estimated that the box office of hundreds of millions could not reach it, and fifty or sixty million would not be a problem. If the publicity is strengthened, it will not be difficult to reach hundreds of millions.

In particular, he knows that this film Kasuga will definitely be introduced, maybe the cost has been recovered, and the North American copyright is pure profit, so there will be a lot of pressure to negotiate.

Fortunately, before he came, the high-level had set the conditions for the negotiation very generously and clearly, and he felt that there was not much pressure to complete the task, and the pressure was on how to complete the task beautifully.

"Mr. Shen, we are old friends, so we don't have to make the scene so strict." Thomas suddenly felt a lot of pressure when he saw a large group of people sitting behind the negotiating table, "There is no need to be so formal, can't we talk at the dinner table?" You know, I came to China with the greatest passion for Chinese food. Thomas said.

"Mr. Thomas," Shen Zhenghui was also a little helpless, "this, I'm just a director, and the gentlemen and ladies present who want to really talk to you are the representatives of investors." ”

"But you don't need so many people!" Thomas tried to show that he was shocked, "I think it's better to talk about fewer people. Your film is very good, I haven't congratulated you yet. ”

"Thank you." Shen Zhenghui stood up and shook hands with Mr. Thomas, who also stood up.

Thomas said to everyone, "Can I ask the investor to send one or two representatives to talk to me?" ”

Everyone's eyes focused on Wang Anping.

Wang Anping pouted. "Let's discuss it and send one or two people to go with Director Shen." She stood up, "I'm not interested!" ”

"Sister Anping, what are you talking about!" Someone stood up on the spot, and then all sides chirped and messed up.

Thomas made an inviting gesture to Shen Zhenghui, "Can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Mr. Shen? ”

Shen Zhenghui stood up, "Please understand," he said, "There are too many investors in this film, you know." Just the assistant director with his name on it. There are twenty-five in this movie. ”

"I totally understand, huh." Thomas responded, so a clever translator led Shen Zhenghui and Mr. Thomas to the small conference room next door, and the large conference room here was temporarily used by a group of investors to discuss and hold meetings.

Shen Zhenghui knew that the translator had come to observe. He didn't mind, though. Because what is said should have nothing to do with the distribution rights of "Shanghai Fortress".

Really. After doing this, Thomas first complimented Shen Zhenghui, praising his ability to surpass most Hollywood directors. It's a shame to just be in the Asian region.

"I think it's pretty good, Japanese people love my films, and my last film just set a box office record in Japan." Shen Zhenghui replied that he didn't have to take this kind of compliment to heart, although it sounded good, "The box office results are good, and I don't have much pressure." ”

"With all due respect," said Thomas, "Hollywood is where you can do your best work, and Japan is the second largest box office warehouse in the world, but North America has a much larger capacity, and it's true that you can make hundreds of millions of dollars in Japan and Asia, but if you direct a similar film in the United States, I think you can win ten times as much at the box office." ”

The translators on the side are going to be stupid, ten times the box office, is that a billion dollars?

Shen Zhenghui glanced at the translator, "You are too exaggerated, I'm not James?" Cameron. ”

"Okay, ten times sounds like an exaggeration, but five or six times is absolutely no problem, director Zhou Xingxing's Hollywood debut earned 250 million US dollars, I don't think you are worse than him."

"Director Zhou is a talented actor and director."

"Yes, except that the temper is not very good."

"But he was able to make money." Shen Zhenghui responded.

"Yes, that's why we prefer to work with you personally, you can make more money. What is lacking is nothing more than a much larger platform, which we are willing to offer to you. Thomas said earnestly.

"You're exaggerating, I'm just very good at using an assistant director." Shen Zhenghui shrugged his shoulders.

As a commercial director, criticizing his films for lack of artistry and humanistic care does not seem to have any impact on him, so a point of view came into being, Shen Zhenghui as a halfway director actually has no talent, the reason why his films can be made so popular is entirely because he has a strong assistant director, so Shen Zhenghui's works are not so much his works as his assistant director's works.

This view was first circulated on the Internet, and was accompanied by an analysis of the assistant director of Shen Zhenghui's work. Because Shen Zhenghui's use of assistant directors is too narrow, Miyamoto, Lu Yang and Yuan Xiangren are on the list one by one, plus a mainland director with a brilliant resume, it seems that the assistant director in Shen Zhenghui's works is star-studded.

Thomas had obviously heard this rumor when he was collecting materials, and he laughed when he heard Shen Zhenghui say this, "Do you want to counter this rumor?" ”

“No！” Shen Zhenghui shook his head.

Thomas was a little helpless, "I have collected information about your film, and he seems to be a story with a big background, that is to say, in addition to "Shanghai Fortress", there are "Tokyo Fortress", "New York Fortress", "New Delhi Fortress", "London Fortress", etc., are you interested in making "New York Fortress" also realize on the screen?" ”

He then added, "Colombia is very interested in investing in a big production of this kind of scene, and we can make a plan for 200 million US dollars, and of course, the spring side can also take a stake." ”

Shen Zhenghui shook his head, "I'm not interested in shooting the same type of movie for the time being. I want to take a break. He said, "There are plans for "Tokyo Fortress" in the book, but it depends on the box office of "Shanghai Fortress" in Japan, and even if it is filmed, I will not direct "Tokyo Fortress" again, and I will probably give it to my assistant director." ”

"You're not interested in directing in Hollywood?" After going around, Thomas was shocked to find that he couldn't achieve his goal, and he was surprised for a while, although he knew that Shen Zhenghui must be very reserved, but in the face of Hollywood's olive branch, the other party was completely unmoved. It just didn't make him feel normal.

"Colombia has long been interested in working with you. Colombia is interested in any of your filming projects for as long as you wish, regardless of the investment. In a hurry, he began to make a big move.

"Mr. Thomas, you need not be in a hurry." Shen Zhenghui smiled. "We can wait a little longer. Take a look at the box office of "Shanghai Fortress" before making a decision. I can assure that I'm very interested in Hollywood, and Colombia is our first choice for cooperation, but for now, when it comes to collaboration. I don't really have a concrete plan yet. ”

"Do you mean we're going to talk about the Shanghai Fortress first?" Thomas asked.

"Of course not, neither the investor nor the publisher of "Shanghai Fortress" is me, and I can only participate in the negotiations on my own behalf, which is the request of the investor." He said, "The specific conditions were not proposed by me, nor were they negotiated between me and you. ”

The noise in the big conference room next door also ended, and China Film and Poly each sent a representative as the distributor, and Wang Anping participated in the negotiations with Colombia as a representative of the investor. Looking at Wang Anping's expression, she doesn't seem to be interested in specific negotiations, and the main force of negotiations is on the two professionals, China Film and Poly.

Thomas didn't seem interested in dragging out the negotiations for a long time, and I don't know if it was out of confidence in Shen Zhenghui, he directly proposed a $40 million copyright buyout plan. This is simply an earth-shattering price, not to mention whether the investor's real investment is 300 million, that is, there are 300 million, 40 million US dollars is enough for them to get the cost back, and the rest is earned. The Chinese representatives in the negotiations were not calm, and this directly exceeded their bottom line in the negotiations.

As a result, the negotiations had to be temporarily suspended, and Mr. Thomas went back to the hotel to rest, while the meeting continued on the Chinese side.

Shen Zhenghui was not interested in getting involved in this matter, but he was dragged by Wang Anping as a key person and had to participate in the communication of a group of second generations. Everyone was shocked that Columbia was so good and at the same time shocked that the movie was so profitable. Their real contribution is only a little more than 100 million, and the cost of sponsorship is discounted into the production cost of the film, so if 40 million sells the copyright, it is actually equivalent to 150% of the profit. The box office of this movie in China has not yet been counted!

So Shen Zhenghui was asked again, whether it is cost-effective to buy out or try to talk about the box office sharing agreement?

Even Wang Anping, who had an indifferent face, asked him privately, "Which one do you think makes more money?" ”

"Since Colombia is willing to pay 40 million to buy out, then they must think that they will make money to buy," Shen Zhenghui replied, "Of course, it is not ruled out that they want to give me such a face so that I can trick me into going to the United States to make a film for them." ”

"You just, you're worth 40 million?" Wang Anping denied herself as soon as she finished speaking, "Maybe it's really worth 40 million." ”

Shen Zhenghui rolled his eyes, "You can directly mention the matter to others, see if they agree!" ”

Wang Anping nodded, "Well, if we are hot on the side, it won't be interesting." ”

As a result, Colombia resolutely disagrees with the sharing of the portion, and Asian films basically do not do this, and Colombia is not willing to open such an opening on its own. Naturally, the negotiation was a rampant bargain, and the Chinese side naturally did not agree without saying anything, and the two sides pulled back and forth, and finally Colombia agreed to raise the purchase price by another 3 million to 43 million US dollars. And so the talks were done.

At this time, the domestic "Shanghai Fortress" has been released for a week, this film is particularly attractive to Shanghai audiences, and it has achieved a box office of 30 million in Shanghai in 7 days of release, you must know that the national box office performance is only 120 million, which means that Shanghai contributed a quarter of the box office. However, the people of Shanghai also have reason to like this film, and it is basically a promotional film for Shanghai, whether it is the Oriental Pearl Tower, Nanjing Road or the aircraft carrier fleet outside the Bund in Shanghai, the whole of Shanghai is completely integrated into the background of the film, without any sense of disobedience. The people of Shanghai are proud to be the backdrop, and animated films were the highest box office in Shanghai.

And when the news that Columbia bought the North American distribution rights of the film for 43 million US dollars and 100 million yuan in spring (advertised according to the highest possible price of the deal) broke at the same time, it played a sufficient role in the box office of the film. Domestic filmmakers, including several award-winning grandmaster-level figures, all have pink eye, and when they mention "Shanghai Fortress", they are envious, jealous and hateful.

Although Director Zhang made enough money in "Hero", he was stimulated more than anyone else. With an investment of 300 million yuan, more than 400 million overseas copyrights alone have been sold, and now the box office has exceeded 100 million in the first week, and "Hero" has lost too far.

Sure enough, with a good reputation, the box office of "Shanghai Fortress" continued to maintain a high level of 100 million yuan in the second week, and the second generation of various investors began to offer a big move of policy influence and began to organize collective viewing, not only major universities and party and government organs, but also state-owned enterprises and institutions have bought collective tickets to watch, so for several weeks, the cinema has always been overcrowded.

This situation also made Thomas more and more confident about the North American distribution, although he did not complete one of the important tasks of his trip. Thomas felt that this was the director's reserve, he thought about it, and felt that it was better to invite Shen Zhenghui indirectly through the channel of Guò Kasuga, after all, Columbia and Fukuda Mitsumi had said this matter countless times, and Fukuda Mitsumi had verbally agreed, and Shen Zhenghui did not go to the United States for a long time, probably because things were delayed. Thomas Stone's own connections in China easily figured out what he wanted to know about the filming of "Shanghai Fortress", the product of the investment of the children of a group of leaders, and Shen Zhenghui was probably forced to help them make money and delay his trip to the United States. Thomas is ready to use this reason to explain to the company's top management why he did not get the contract and promise of Shen Zhenghui to shoot in the United States.

After China's accession to the WTO, the film industry is also an open market, but there is a long transition period, and the top management has long seen that if the domestic film industry is not developed during the transition period, the free and open film market will be full of corpses of domestic film companies. That's why Director Zhang's blockbuster and Shen Zhenghui's slightly out-of-the-ordinary "Shanghai Fortress" will be so smooth. However, when the film market in 2002 began to show its potential for expansion and development, some leaders had a different mind. (To be continued......)