China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 517 Entering the Ten Million Dollar Salary Club

Winning the North American Weekly Championship, increasing the film schedule, Cao Xuan and leading actor Liu Tianxian came to cooperate with the publicity, and the exposure increased greatly, which greatly helped "Taken".

In the next few days, "Taken" has maintained its leading position, even if two new movies were released, it did not shake its leading position.

But not without any impact.

Paramount spent 9000 million US dollars to create the best-selling magical children's best-selling book "Fantasy Elf Event Book".

As we all know, for this kind of children-oriented movie, at least two or three tickets are sold as soon as the tickets are sold, and the parents of the children pack all the tickets, so it is called "Family Portrait".

Domestic films like this are generally dominated by animation or comedy films. The North American market is relatively mature, and there are "Harry Potter" and other magical big IP series to cultivate the market. Fantasy themes have also become relatively new themes in Hollywood in recent years. .

Also because of this advantage, "Fantasy Elf World Book" has become the main opponent of "Taken" when "Shuttleman" has already hit the market.

On the contrary, another comedy film "Definite Possibility" produced by Universal has almost nothing outstanding at the word-of-mouth box office.

It can only rely on the momentum of the first week of the new movie to spoil the situation, but it is difficult to control the key points of the market.

On the following North American weekend box office list, "Taken" won a box office of 1706 million US dollars with its strong stamina and publicity exposure.

Although it lost to the US$1920 million "Fantasy Elf Event Book" and ranked second, as a movie that has been released for nearly 20 days, this data is quite good, and it can even be said to be excellent.

You know, plus the $625 million in the first four days, the single-week box office is $2331 million, which is more than the previous week's $2108 million. It is definitely a typical dark horse at the box office that relies on word of mouth.

Of course, thanks to a bunch of movies of the same period as a backdrop, the audience was forced to go to "Taken".

But the good luck of "Taken" has come to an end. Next week, "Assassination of Suspicious Clouds", "Doves Occupy the Magpie's Nest", "Oolong Bodyguard", and the next week there will be the sci-fi blockbuster "1 Years Before History".

Regardless of the box office performance of these films, the release of so many new films will definitely squeeze the box office space of "Taken".

In fact, when "Taken" was released before, many people thought that "Taken"'s good days were over, but they didn't expect that the performance was mediocre, and even almost made "Taken" surpass the weekend box office list.

But one can be the other, and "Taken" has survived two blockbuster films with an investment of 8000 million US dollars, "The Shuttle" and "Fantasy Elf Event Book".

But next week, "Taken" is facing a siege, and when the box office potential is obviously insufficient, let alone breaking through, it is a victory if it can guarantee a certain amount of box office.

Both Xinxian and Cao Xuan knew this, and they didn't imagine that "Taken" would kill the Quartet next week.

In fact, the total North American box office of "Taken" has reached 5900 million+ US dollars, and the filming cost + publicity and marketing of the film is only a little over 2000 million US dollars.

The North American box office share of "Taken" is about 50%, that is to say, based on the current North American box office data alone, New Line and Fanxing can earn nearly 2000 million US dollars.

Not to mention that "Taken" has not yet come to an end. Unlike domestic films, most films in North America have a very long release cycle, especially popular films, which are released for four to five months everywhere.

Of course, after two or three months, the box office revenue will be negligible, sometimes thousands or even hundreds of dollars a day.

Even so, if the stamina of "Taken" is really stable, there may be another 2000 million US dollars in the box office.

This is a North American box office of 8000 million+ US dollars. Before New Line made a desperate investment of 1.8 million US dollars in the golden compass, the North American box office was only just over 7000 million US dollars.

Camila Gallano walks with her face up these days, looking at the high-level executives of the new line who are about to leave with disdain.

A group of insects, let you see who is the real business genius...

This "business prodigy" was not boasted by Gallano, but was personally recognized by Warner executives.

After all, a low-cost overseas movie is expected to earn 8000 million US dollars at the box office in North America, and considering that it is an action movie, it may also make a fortune on DVD and TV channels.

Such a professional vision and ability means, how can we not be called a "wizard".

Originally, after the acquisition of New Line, Warner wanted to let Galano continue to hold the original position, at most to increase some powers, but because of the outstanding performance of "Taken", Warner's senior management has already voiced that Galano will go further, and even directly take charge of New Line .

Gallano also has some contacts in Warner, and he almost died of excitement when he heard the news.

After New Line's merger and acquisition, although it is a subsidiary of Warner, it is controlled by the parent company in many aspects, and even has some tool colors, but the thin camel is bigger than the horse. After all, it is also a film and television company that ranks high in Hollywood. If it can become a new The head of the line, for Gallano's career, it can be called a take-off.

As a result, Gallano, who was already satisfied with the North American box office of "Taken", regained his ambition.

"Taken" has limited box office potential in North America, and it is difficult to make any more tricks, so Gallano immediately followed up "Taken"'s copyright income and global box office.

But the former is okay, while the latter needs Cao Xuan's nod.

Galano immediately blocked Cao Xuan, who was about to return to China, to discuss the global distribution and the development of the sequel of "Taken"...

"Taken" is produced by Fanxing Master Control, and the investment of New Line is limited, and the two parties share profits according to regions.

The distribution and income in Asia belong to Fanxing, while the distribution in North America is for New Line, and Fanxing enjoys 30% of the revenue, and Fanxing also owns the copyrights for the follow-up development of other regions and movies.

At the beginning of the negotiations, New Line did not allow Fanxing to take too much advantage. North America, which has the largest plate, only gave up 30% of the revenue, which proves that New Line is still very cautious.

But even so, New Line still underestimated the movie "Taken", so it is now passive.

The initiative in international distribution negotiations is in the hands of Fanxing, and the worst thing is that New Line did not intervene in the follow-up development rights of the movie "Taken".

In other words, if "Taken" shoots a sequel, as long as Cao Xuan is willing, he can skip the new line and cooperate with any Hollywood film company.

As for a sequel to a low-budget action movie that is expected to gross $8000 million in North America and over $3500 million in Asia, and is extremely promising in the North American DVD market and TV channels, no Hollywood movie will reject it.

Even before Gallano came to find Cao Xuan, people from Paramount and Lionsgate sent people to the door, and a senior executive from Universal also called Cao Xuan.

Galano knew this well, so before he came, he had been trying his best to get Cao Xuan to continue to cooperate with Xinxian.

If the achievements of "Taken" are expected to make Gallano become the future leader of New Line, then letting this successful IP leave New Line will completely shatter his dream of being a leader.

All the positive work Gallano had done for "Taken" will come back to him at that time, and the success of this movie will be as great as his sin at that time.

But at this juncture, Gallano needs the boost of "Taken", and he can't hold him back.

So there is only one way, at all costs, to get Cao Xuan to agree to the sequel of "Taken" and continue to cooperate with New Line.

.........

beverly hills mansion
Cao Xuan sat in the tea room, brewed a few cups of tea in a smooth manner, and delivered it to Galano.

"Mr. Galano, try it, one of the top ten famous teas in China, the best Lu'an Guapian, which is rare in your America."

Galano picked it up, took a sip following Cao Xuan's example, and praised it very flatteringly.

“Good tea, amazing taste.”

"nice! You love it."

Cao Xuan smiled politely, he didn't believe that this Yankee could drink this tea well.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Cao Xuan has prepared coffee and drinks at home when receiving such foreign or western-style guests.

However, with the intention of negotiating today, Cao Xuan deliberately came here to fight psychological warfare and put pressure on Galano.

I don't know if it's useful, but at least Cao Xuan doesn't have to accommodate him, and enjoys tea by himself.

In fact, he didn't have a hobby of drinking tea before. He can drink beverages, water, tea, and coffee. Sometimes he is busy with work and needs to stay up late, so he drinks more coffee.

But in the past two years, under the influence of Nishinomiya Nishi who likes tea ceremony, Cao Xuan gradually began to like to drink some tea every day, to calm down and cultivate his mind. For Cao Xuan who is busy with work, it is a good way to relax.

"Taken" won the first battle, although it will not make Cao Xuan a famous star in Hollywood immediately, but the door has been opened to Cao Xuan.

Li Lianjie once said that when he was the most popular in Hollywood, the bosses of the six major Hollywood companies came to his house and begged him to make a film.

This is of course a bit of an exaggeration. At that time, there were not many big names in Hollywood who were more popular than him. It would not be possible for the bosses of the six major companies to flatter him, but there must be no shortage of smiling faces and invitations for film appointments.

In the same way, although Cao Xuan is not as good as Li Lianjie at his peak, he is no longer an "unknown person" in the film industry.

So Cao Xuan was very relaxed at this moment, but Galano was somewhat anxious.

But he is also an old fox in the workplace. No matter how anxious he was, he did not easily reveal his purpose. Instead, he talked about two other serious matters first.

One is the copyright development of "Taken" in North America, including DVD, TV channel broadcast, peripherals, etc.

As I said before, there are three reasons why Hollywood movies make money, a strong local box office market, a huge global distribution channel, and a large-scale copyright peripheral development capability.

Needless to say about the first two, the latter ordinary movies can eat DVD, TV, and streaming media that are gradually emerging, forming a movie universe with IP influence, and you can make a lot of money in peripheral development.

For example, Marvel, although its peripheral development income is not as good as the box office, it is still a very considerable amount, and the key is to keep eating.

The surroundings of "Taken" are enough, but the DVD and TV channels are still promising.

Compared with those blockbuster Hollywood special effects movies that pay attention to audiovisual effects, action movies, horror movies, comedy movies and other themes have always been the darlings of DVD and TV channels.

Especially for DVD sales and rentals, action movies are very popular. The sales figures of Cao Xuan's predecessors Cheng Long and Li Lianjie are very good.

Especially Li Lianjie, in the case of not doing well at the box office, his salary can advance to the tens of millions of dollars club, relying on the success of the DVD market.

Chinese + action movies, coupled with the extremely good box office results, make New Line very confident in the related revenue of "Taken".

The estimate given by the North American team of "Taken" is 2000-5000 million US dollars.

It's hard to say whether Gallano exaggerated to a certain extent in order to show his credit, but this data has been recognized by Warner, and they are obviously very confident in "Taken".

The second is the release of "Taken" outside of North America and Asia.

In fact, there is nothing to talk about this matter. Fanxing has its own overseas channels, but basically they sell copyrights. The actual distribution is obviously not as good as some independent channels and can rely on Warner's new line.

The rest is very simple, one party produces works, one party produces channels, and the two parties share the accounts [-]-[-].

Don't look at the 40% of the overseas box office in North America, but regardless of customs duties, exchange rates, and miscellaneous expenses, it is considered good luck to get 25-30% in many cases.

Therefore, as long as it is not the kind of movie whose global box office far exceeds the local box office, the vast majority of Hollywood movies are still dominated by the North American box office.

At the beginning of the negotiation, the two companies first divided into Asia and North America, because for them, these two markets can eat meat to the greatest extent.

As for other regions, they are at best bones with a little meat.

Of course, now that he has almost eaten all the meat, he can't let go of the bones when he frees up his mouth. After all, no matter how little meat there is, it is still meat.

And for Cao Xuan, although as an investor, he cannot share much in the global box office, but as an actor, the more box office on the books, the better for his career.

The most straightforward analogy, the global box office of 2 million U.S. dollars and the global box office of 1 million U.S. dollars male protagonist, there is a lot of difference in salary and coffee status.

At present, the Asian box office of "Taken" is basically dominated by the mainland and Japan. The mainland is 1.7 million yuan, equivalent to about 2300 million U.S. dollars, Japan's box office is about 1000 million U.S. dollars, and Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries add up to almost 200 million U.S. dollars.

Unlike in North America where word-of-mouth was fermented before becoming popular, Cao Xuan's box office appeal in Asia was high, and it exploded at the beginning, with more box office distribution at the beginning and less at the end.

According to estimates, the maximum box office in Asia is about 4000 million US dollars, plus North America is expected to be 8000 million US dollars, and the box office of the two places is 1.2 million US dollars.

It doesn't look like much, but it is already the highest-grossing movie in Cao Xuan's history. Even "Painted Skin", which broke the box office record in the mainland, has a global box office of less than 8000 million US dollars.

Not to mention that there are important ticket positions such as Europe and Australia behind. If you are lucky, tens of millions of dollars may enter the account again.

Although this data is not comparable to the original version of "Taken", it has exceeded Cao Xuan's previous estimate. He thought it could only reach 30% of the original version, but now it seems that it can reach at least 60%.

As a Hollywood newcomer, this statistic is amazing...

Also because of this amazing data, Cao Xuan was full of confidence, and after finalizing the overseas release with Galano, he continued to play with the teapots and cups in front of him slowly.

Later, I showed off the fancy tea art, although it is not smooth, but it is remarkable.

He was having fun here, Galano couldn't hold back, and finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Cao, do you have any plans for the sequel of "Taken"?"

"Sequel, the story is finished, how to continue."

"Let Chen (the male protagonist) come out again, rescue other subjects, girlfriends, celebrities, presidents, hostages, witnesses, in short, there are too many things that can be filmed, and it is completely possible to make a series."

Galano was well prepared, Barabara said a lot, Cao Xuan looked calm.

Of course he knows that "Taken" can be a series. The first part is placed in Japan to lay the foundation, and the next few parts can be placed in any country or city.

And the original version of "Taken" because the male and female protagonists are father and daughter, although it is a big selling point, it has also become a limitation, so that the movie can never get rid of the daughter and ex-wife.

Although Cao Xuan's version also put a lot of effort into family ties, the bond between brother and sister is not so strong. In the subsequent sequels, the younger sister, father, and girlfriend can continue to be arrested, or they can become other people.

For example, the hero was called by the Interpol to go on a special mission. Although the routine is a bit bad, as long as there is a box office, other things are not that important.

The "Fast and Furious 9" racing cars are flying into space. As long as there is a box office, the next one will still be filmed.

Of course, Cao Xuan still has face, and he doesn't really want to be completely tied to a movie series, so how many movies he can make depends on the quality of the script.

But no matter how many films will be filmed in the future, "Taken 2" is definitely going to be filmed, and even Fanxing's script has several outlines.

One is still starring Liu Tianxian, the younger sister, who went to study in a European country, but was caught by bad guys or enemies, and the hero went to rescue.

One is the father, who was set to be a businessman before, and the script can be changed to go abroad to do business. Because of profit, he was detained by the bad guys, and the male protagonist went to rescue.

The other is a girlfriend, an ex-girlfriend or a current girlfriend he knows, who was caught by the bad guys anyway, and the hero went to rescue him.

Cao Xuan prefers the first or second script. The former has a foundation of popularity, while the latter is in line with the tone of heroes saving the United States, and the audience loves to watch it.

As for the son saving the old father, it is very positive, but from a commercial perspective, it is not a wise choice.

Of course, there is no need to tell Gallano these words now. Whether we can cooperate in the future depends on his sincerity.

When Galano saw Cao Xuan's expression, he also understood what was going on, and knew that there was no need to go on and on, so he stopped circling around and got straight to the point.

"Cao, what do you think of our cooperation this time?"

"very good."

Cao Xuan pondered for a while, and gave his own answer. This was not perfunctory. He really felt that he had a good time working with New Line this time, and he also recognized the ability of New Line.

The North American box office of "Taken" is so high. Regardless of his popularity, film quality, and hip stretch during the same period, the New Line distribution team also contributed a lot.

"Since this is the case, we might as well continue to cooperate with "Taken". To show our sincerity, we will give another 5 points to North America's revenue, and you will get 35%."

"Ha ha."

Cao Xuan sneered: "Mr. Gallano, I admit that our cooperation is very pleasant, but I doubt your sincerity."

At the beginning, "Taken" could get 30%, but now the global box office has exceeded 35 million, and he only gives him [-]%. Doesn't this make Cao Xuan a fool?

Faced with Cao Xuan's ridicule, Galano didn't feel any embarrassment, and said cheekily, "Add 3 more points, 38%."

Cao Xuan was too lazy to talk nonsense with him: "If this is the sincerity of your company, I don't think we need to talk about it. Let's cooperate if we have a chance in the future."

Gallano realized Cao Xuan's seriousness, restrained the smirk on his face, and lowered his head to think for nearly 2 minutes.

"50% of the income in North America, the box office in Asia goes to Fanxing, and half in other regions. The film copyright still belongs to you. We don't get involved in the production, but we must enjoy the terms of priority cooperation.

Cao, I believe that no film company in Hollywood is willing to offer such generous terms. "

Cao Xuan was silent, Gallano was right, other film companies only opened up to 45% at most, and there were a lot of conditions.

For example, those who want to profit from the box office in Asia, those who want to intervene in copyright and production, and even want to ask Cao Xuan to make another movie at a low price.

Cao Xuan believed in the ability of the new line, not to mention that now that he is Warner's son, the resources he can mobilize are more than before.

Cooperating with New Line is not far from directly cooperating with Warner, and Warner has too many big productions, so New Line will regard "Taken" as a big treasure.

Although "Taken" is already in its early days, its release is limited, and Cao Xuan still prefers to cooperate with medium and large companies other than the six major companies.

That being the case, it doesn't matter if you are familiar with it, let alone the terms offered by the new line are the best.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Cao Xuan said under Galano's nervous eyes: "I personally support New Line, but after all, I am not the only one who decides the company, and I have to discuss it with other people."

"No problem, I'll wait for your good news."

Galano was overjoyed, he had investigated Fanxing, and knew that Fanxing was basically equal to Cao Xuan's words, Cao Xuan agreed, and the matter was settled.

In contrast, Gallano is now worried about offering such a generous offer, which is beyond his scope of authority, and Warner has to nod if he can agree.

Gallano left Cao Xuan's mansion, went straight to Warner Corporation, found his backer, Warner First Vice President Richard Fox, and asked for assistance.

Today, the Warner family has basically withdrawn from the direct management of Warner Pictures. President Jeff Robinov is in charge of managing the group, and Richard Fox is the second in command.

Gallano is considered Richard Fox's confidant, and he definitely wants to support him, but President Jeff Robinoff certainly doesn't want him to do so.

The new line is not small in size. After joining Warner Pictures, it is also an important part of it. Its president can be compared to the vice president of the group, and it is definitely a core executive.

Richard Fox, the second-in-command, is already strong. If there is another new line president as his henchman, Jeff Robinov, the boss of Warner, will not be easy to be.

However, Richard Fox is not weak, and he is also the person in charge of the new line's merger and acquisition project, and has a high voice in the new line's restructuring.

Gallano was originally a high-level executive on the new line, and Richard Fox was helping to fuel the flames. The conditions for the top position were sufficient, but he still lacked key credit.

"Taken" made him in a good situation. If he can get a co-operation with the sequel of "Taken" under the watchful eyes of Hollywood companies, the chances of being in the top position will be even higher.

So when Richard Gallano saw this extremely generous contract for Fanxing, even though he frowned wildly, he still helped to force it.

For this reason, both he and Galano left an excuse. If "Taken 2" fails in the future, the two of them will have nothing to lose.

But Galano couldn't control that much anymore, and immediately contacted Cao Xuan again after getting the permission from above.

Before Cao Xuan returned to China, the two parties drew up a general agreement on the contract.

In addition to the distribution of benefits mentioned above, "Taken 2" is expected to invest 3000-4000 million US dollars, 80% of which will come from Stars and 20% from New Line.

Among them, Cao Xuan's personal salary is a full 1100 million U.S. dollars, following Cheng Long and Li Lianjie to officially enter the ten-million-dollar salary club.

Although this movie was produced by Fanxing Master Control, the salary is not particularly accurate, but with the endorsement of Xinxian, at least it is not Cao Xuan's self-entertainment.

By the way, Liu Tianxian, as the heroine of a movie with a box office of over [-] million US dollars, her salary has also skyrocketed several times.

When filming "Taken", he took 200 million RMB, which is not a low price. You must know that Zhou Gongzi, who filmed "Painted Skin", is now paid less than 500 million RMB, and there is no market for the price.

But after "Taken" was released, Liu Tianxian's film salary skyrocketed, and now it has surpassed Mr. Zhou, at 600 to 800 million yuan.

Don't be too high, who made Liu Tianxian now have "international influence", except for Gong Huang, International Zhang, Michelle Yeoh and a few other actresses, there is no other actress who has better overseas box office data than Liu Tianxian.

So stars, big and small, desperately squeezed into Hollywood, gilded a circle, exported to domestic sales, they were "international stars", and their salaries skyrocketed.

Especially in the past two years, the mainland film market has improved, and more and more people dare to spend money. When they meet local tyrants, it is possible to give Liu Tianxian 1000 million yuan.

For this, Da Mimi cried with envy. She is now paid less than 100 million for movies, and no one is looking for her to act in the most important good movies.

Bad movies are willing to spend money, but Fanxing definitely can't let Xiaohua, the head of the family, go to a deserted island to sell meat in a bikini for a few million, and she can't afford to lose that person.

Not to mention big honey, even Fan Xiaopang, Gao Yuanyuan and others are envious enough, that's Hollywood.

The gang of them worked hard for a long time, and barely made it to the top with one international chapter, and they haven't taken on any new dramas for almost two years, and they are fooling around in Hollywood without embarrassment or embarrassment.

In the field of TV dramas, Liu Tianxian became the fairy sister and the first love of the nation without any effort. Now he starred in the first movie, and the global box office has exceeded [-] million US dollars.

It's not that they're telling stories, if it's really worthless, why does Boss Cao praise her so much.

Because of this, Dongxi Ergong has received countless anonymous text messages in the past few days, reporting + warning to them.

We must be careful to guard against Liu Tianxian, by the way, and her mother Liu Xiaoli.

At least one of the mother and daughter is their rival in love, maybe both are...

(End of this chapter)