A week before the release, Gu Chen had watched the release version of "50 First Loves" in advance, and felt that except for a slight difference in the plot, there was not much difference in quality, so he had expected the box office success of "50 First Loves", and after returning to Hong Kong, he couldn't take a break, so he contacted Wu Siyuan and asked him to make an appointment with Frank Bruce, the representative of EGK Film Distribution Company in the United States.

EGK Film Independent Distributor is a well-known independent film distributor in the United States, with the second largest cinema company in the United States, and several of Cheng Long's films released in the United States are distributed by this company, and the operator is Wu Siyuan, which is one of Gu Chen's willingness to find Wu Siyuan as the general manager of Tang Dynasty Cinemas.

The place where they met was the conference room of the Tang Dynasty movie, according to Frank Bruce himself, he was an American-German, when he opened his mouth, Gu Chen experienced the unique rigor of the Germans, as far as the first feeling is concerned, Gu Chen has a very good impression of him, and he should be a realistic person.

After a brief self-introduction, Gu Chen spoke first: "I think Mr. Bruce should have seen the movie "50 First Loves", its box office performance in Hong Kong is undoubted, and it is very likely to break the box office record in Hong Kong when the current words are spoken. In addition, this movie has been released simultaneously in Taiwan and some countries in Southeast Asia a few days ago, and judging from the feedback information, the results are very good. Well, I think it's going to be in Japan and South Korea next week, and I'm just as confident at the box office because I believe that love knows no borders. ”

Frank Bruce pushed his eyes down and said: ""50 First Loves" is indeed a very good movie, and as you said, love knows no borders, so I think this movie should have a certain market in the American market, the only pity is that this movie uses Hong Kong actors, if it is a Hollywood actor, it should be able to create better results in the American market." ”

As soon as these words came out, Zeng Zhiwei and Wu Siyuan, who were sitting on the side and did not speak, suddenly frowned, and Gu Chen also frowned and asked, "Can I regard your words as racial discrimination?" ”

Frank Bruce was stunned for a moment, a little confused, and then realized that his last sentence was indeed a little inappropriate, and quickly explained: "No, no, no, Mr. Gu, you misunderstood what I meant, I mean that American audiences are more accustomed to watching movies starring Hollywood actors." It's not racism, it's just a habitual aesthetic. Perhaps it is also due to the dominance of Westerners in the economic, cultural and political spheres of the world. It is also important to emphasize that I myself am a strong supporter of racial equality. ”

"Okay, I misunderstood what you meant, but I don't agree with you, the popularity of a film is not determined by the skin color of the actors, but whether there is something in the movie that attracts the audience, which can be the actors themselves, the storyline, or the excellent special effects, etc."

"It seems that none of us can convince anyone, so let the facts speak." Frank Bruce looked helpless, shrugged, and said: "If everything goes well, this movie will be released in the United States, but given that this is the first time that EGK has introduced a film from Tang Dynasty, there should be no more than 500 theaters to be released." Next, I think we should talk about the share of the box office. ”

"I think 500 theaters is too few, and it's a complete waste to have only 500 theaters for such a great movie, isn't it. In addition, in terms of box office sharing, I think it should be based on the general standard of 7 to 3 in the United States. ”

"No, no, no, Mr. Gu, are you kidding? You should know that "50 First Loves" is not a Hollywood movie, it is not protected by the rules of American films, the ratio of 7 to 3 is impossible, I think the ratio of 4.5 to 5.5 is the most appropriate. ”

……

The negotiation with Frank Bruce lasted more than an hour before it ended, and Gu Chen originally planned to invite Frank Bruce to watch the official release version of "Top Secret Mission" that had just completed editing, but he still dismissed this idea after the eventually, because the result of the negotiation of box office sharing did not meet his expectations, especially Tang Dynasty Film Company, as the producer, accounted for only 55% of the box office revenue in the first week and 45% in the second week (the United States adopts the method of dynamic sharing, Because economic planners in the United States believe that film investment is a big investment and a big risk, a healthy film industry should give priority to allowing producers to recoup their investment and invest in reproduction. And with the extension of the film screening cycle, theaters can get more shares and can further stimulate theaters to arrange more screenings, which is the complete opposite of China's box office revenue theaters), 30% in the third week...... This figure is significantly lower than that of film production companies in the United States.

Maybe it would be more appropriate to wait for the release results of "50 First Loves" to come out before talking about the release of "Top Secret Mission" in the United States.

After Frank Bruce left, Zeng Zhiwei couldn't help but complain: "This damn Yankee, like an iron rooster, is as hairless as an iron rooster, if he didn't represent Frank Bruce, I really wanted to punch him at that time, no, I have to drink saliva first." ”

"Strictly speaking, he's a German, not a Yankee." Wu Siyuan was not very happy in his heart, but he let the family have the initiative, they were helpless no matter how unhappy they were, shook his head slightly, and said: "When Jiahe produced and starred Cheng Long's "Killer Trench" was released in the United States, the box office share was 4.8 to 5.2, compared to the box office share of "50 First Loves", which was already good. And as long as "50 First Loves" is successful in the U.S. market this time, we will be able to slowly grasp the initiative in the negotiation of box office sharing in the future. ”

Gu Chen sat on the chair, slowly turned the pen in his hand, and said with a cold expression: "Manager Wu is right, besides, the United States is not only an independent publishing company EGK, I believe that one day they will cry and beg to cooperate with us." ”