literary world

Chapter 388
After editing "The Wandering Earth" and several promotional videos in a week, Fang Nan focused his work on "The Hunger Games".

Directing a fantasy adventure based on a novel is a bit of a fall in his position.

It's a pity that I have to go into battle in person again.

There are too few people he can use, and when "The Hunger Games" is handed over to a domestic director, foreign book fans are the first to be dissatisfied.

Several domestic film producers, foreign distributors, and theaters will not be willing to line up more films.

When hiring a Hollywood director and a Chinese-American actress as the leading role, Fang Nan was really afraid that the film would change its flavor during filming.

His personal psychology is also small.

Instead of entrusting foreign directors to gain popularity for the original time and space explosion movie, it is better to let some Chinese directors have a good reputation in North America, so that he will not fight alone.

With the existence of many objective factors, he had no choice but to choose the end game to make a sample and try his best to make a good start.

If the first "The Hunger Games" is a big success at the box office, he will find a successor director in due course and become a producer himself.

It was determined that the time for the production of "The Hunger Games" was relatively short, so all the investors came from China.

In addition to Fang Nan Culture, which holds the copyright of the novel under Fang Nan's name, Tang Tang Film and Television, which is responsible for the production, and 13 Swordsman Visual Effects Studio.

The remaining investors are China Film, Shanghai Film, Huaxia Film, Hengdian Film and Television, Anle Film, Emperor Film, and Enlight Media.

Fang Nan didn't need to worry about how many partners the main investors shared the investment amount with, and how much they borrowed from the bank. His task was to make a good movie.

This point, after "The Martian" broke [-] million US dollars worldwide, several managers believed in him.

However, because "The Martian" exploded at the box office, Fang Nan's salary increased by a large amount.

The North American brokerage company quoted externally as a basic remuneration of 1500 million to 2000 million US dollars.

Fangnan Culture’s offer was straightforwardly 1.5 million RMB.

His remuneration for directing commercial films can be said to be ridiculously high, which once affected the total production cost of the film to a certain extent.

When he was filming "Gravity", Lionsgate Films, the only North American investor, proposed a basic film salary of 500 million plus 2% of the global box office share.

Fang Nan agreed without thinking too much. First, the total production cost of the film was too high, which affected the quality of the film.

Second, he has reason to believe that "Gravity" will be popular.

When the "Gravity" project was confirmed, "The Martian" had not yet been released, and Fang Nan's salary did not seem to be a top director.

"The Hunger Games" wasn't so lucky.

The total production cost of "The Hunger Games" is 6000 million US dollars. In order not to damage the quality of the movie due to excessive salary, Fang Nan's personal salary is 10% of the film's global box office profit.

This means that the film did not make any money, and he personally lost tens of millions of dollars in salary.

If the film makes $10 billion, he will personally share $1 million.

Las Vegas, Macau and other major casino gamblers around the world no matter how much stud they play, it is probably not as big as him.

After changing the management and directing an unimpressive film, he is definitely inclined to fix the box office.

"Everyone is here, have you arrived yet?"

"immediately."

The family of Oriental Movie Metropolis received a call from Shi Nansheng. Fang Nan lost his job. He greeted Gao Yuanyuan, touched his son's bald head, and rode an electric car straight to the film and television production building.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the largest conference room in the film production department. At the same time, the room was already full of foreigners.

"Hi, Collins, welcome to Huaxia."

"Hi, Venier, Hutcherson, Hemsworth."

Collins is the original author and screenwriter of "The Hunger Games".

Vernier was the three-time Oscar winner's costume designer for The Hunger Games.

Hutcherson and others are three or four star actors in Hollywood and will play important roles in the movie.

It is an important foil for Liu Qianqian.

Collins and Fang Nan hugged: "We've known each other for a long time, please call me Susan."

Fang Nan nodded with a smile: "No problem, sit down, let's take a look at the costumes and makeup of the actors in "The Hunger Games."

There are not many big scenes in the first part of "The Hunger Games", and the preparation for the past half a year is mainly used for scouting, setting up scenes and determining actors around the world.

And make a lot of futuristic costumes and props.

The staff came in pushing rows of mobile hangers, and Venier hurried up to meet them.

He is the chief designer of clothing, but he can't control the production, and Huaxia, as a clothing production place, is beyond his reach.

The heroine's costume is silky to the touch, and some other fabrics are also beautifully printed and dyed, and the workmanship is exquisite, which is not much different from the design drawing, and Winier greatly appreciates it.

"Sissy, actors, please change into costumes corresponding to the roles they play."

The chief producer Shi Nansheng smiled slightly, that is to say, the film is adapted from a novel, and the perception of North American audiences must be taken care of. Otherwise, how many Western costumes can be compared with Huaxia?

There are dozens of ethnic groups in China, and which ethnic group does not have distinctive costumes, so there should not be too many adaptation materials.

After the actors changed their costumes, everyone in the group felt the effect, so Fang Nan casually spoke.

He didn't say anything big, he mainly asked if the actors in the film had any dissatisfaction.

Dissatisfaction with daily travel tools such as food, accommodation, and transportation.

In other words, simply being influenced by their own country's media, without any reason, they just hate Huaxia.

He runs a lot outside.

I know that many foreigners have a bad impression of Huaxia.

The reasons for this are complicated, but most of them are because some countries use the propaganda media to spare no effort to smear China, and some even smear it for decades, so that many foreigners have been soaked in the argument that China is not good and that is not good. .

He is bound to stay away from such actors.

After a while, no one came forward, Fang Nan shook hands with everyone, "Then wish us a happy cooperation, you still have some time to discuss the characters and the script."

Leaving the meeting room, Fang Nan asked Shi Nansheng: "Has the start-up date been confirmed?"

"It will be officially launched on October 10st, and the domestic filming will be transferred to overseas filming for about one month. It just so happens that you are going to North America to promote "The Wandering Earth"."

"How are you chatting with Warner and the major theaters in North America? When will "The Wandering Earth" land in North America?"

"Except for the second largest theater chain, AMC Theaters, which is willing to give away 1000 screens, other theaters have to wait for the manager to see the finished film before deciding how many screens to give. They are considering arranging the schedule for Christmas, but they still have to watch the film. "

"What kind of blockbuster is there for Christmas that you are so obsessed with seeing it as a movie?"

"According to the manager of AMC, there are currently several movies including "Mission: Impossible 4", "Twilight 4", and "The Adventures of Tintin."

Fang Nan nodded: "I asked someone to make a copy of "The Wandering Earth", you should go there again. Ask Warner to contact other theaters. AMC operates in debt every year, and the equipment is old and outdated, so they are reluctant to replace it with new ones. Such a large audience flow."

On the way to Tangtang Film and Television Administration Department, Shi Nansheng said abruptly, "I'm thinking about another matter."

"You said."

"You also know that AMC is in debt every year. Do you think we have the ability to acquire the second largest theater chain in North America?"

Fang Nan was taken aback by Shi Nansheng's thoughts.

AMC, the second largest theater chain in North America, has nearly 350 movie theaters under the company's name, and the location is quite good, with nearly 5000 screens.

In the original time and space, Wang Yida spent billions of dollars to acquire the company at a premium in order to transform the real estate industry into a cultural industry. However, due to problems in the capital chain and domestic policies, he finally dumped a large number of shares after a few years.

Shi Nansheng wanted to acquire AMC on a whim. Fang Nan thought about it for a while. The company has some funds, but the acquisition of AMC is definitely not enough.

The Oriental Movie Metropolis under construction, Xiangjiang Movie Palace involved most of the idle funds of the company under his name.

"No, the country has launched a new round of macro-control. Not only is it difficult for artist theaters to get loans, but they also have to repay them from time to time. There is not so much money. Fangnan Culture's small loan is no problem. If there are too many, the bank can't get a loan. Both judge copyright as virtual property.”

"I have a way to ensure that the five major banks are willing to lend."

"How to say?" Fang Nan was curious.

"You put the companies under your name together to form a group, use the whole group to borrow from the five major banks, and with our own funds, it is not impossible to bite the bullet and buy AMC. AMC, which is losing money every year and its stock price has been falling, is now a hot potato. I wish someone would take over."

Fang Nan shook his head and refused.

According to AMC's share price, it would cost at least $20 billion to acquire the company.

Such a large-scale acquisition case is naturally very dynamic, and it is inevitable to acquire the shares in the hands of shareholders at a premium at that time, and it is expected that the acquisition of all shares will cost more than 20 billion, 30 billion US dollars.

After the acquisition is completed, the maintenance and equipment purchase of hundreds of movie theaters will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Perhaps also to repay AMC's past debts.

Even if he borrowed such a large amount of money in the name of the group, the pressure to repay the debt would push the group to its limit.

At the same time, the group's ability to resist risks will be greatly reduced.

What's more, he didn't want the companies under his name to merge into one and trigger the anti-monopoly mechanism one day.

Thinking about it this way, AMC cannot be acquired for the time being, and the forced acquisition is more or less worth the candle.

Although risks and opportunities coexist, it is not a good idea to eat a fat man with one bite.

He felt that it was best for the companies under his name to proceed steadily as planned.

But after Shi Nansheng's reminder, he felt that he could take advantage of his competitors.

To this day, the development of artist theaters has only one rival, Yida Cinemas. Wang Yida has too much money in his hands, so he can’t do it for nothing.

"You can talk to some shareholders of AMC when you go to North America this time. If there are shareholders who are eager to sell AMC shares, you can buy some of them. Remember, never buy at a premium. If you want to sell it to others, you can sell it or not. a feeling of."

Shi Nansheng felt puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"If you are interested in acquiring AMC, there must be others who will be tempted. Let's try our luck."

Shi Nansheng is stupid.

She couldn't figure out Fang Nan's brain circuit.

She suggested that Fang Nan acquire AMC because the company's main business is related to film and television culture, and the company's development gradually intends to expand internationally. How stupid would it be to buy a theater company that is losing money every year?

Buying a theater company is no different than buying an ordinary company.

The acquisition of an ordinary company may be due to an unknown news in hand, as long as the company is successfully acquired, it will make a lot of money because of this news.

Buying theater companies is different.

Theatrical chains rely on each high-grossing movie to make money, but no one can be sure which movie will succeed or fail.

Therefore, in order to count on the success of the acquisition of theater chains to make money, it is necessary to introduce a series of high-grossing movies to the theater chain, so as to promote the sound operation of the theater chain. This is really a successful acquisition.

There are too many preconditions for a theater chain to be profitable, and there are very few people who are willing to acquire a theater chain, not to mention the acquisition of the second largest AMC theater chain in North America, which has been losing money all year round.

Shi Nansheng couldn't imagine how Fang Nan judged that someone would want to get together with her, and wanted to play a middleman to earn the difference.

She can only sigh, God is fair, Fang Nan is certainly a genius in art, but he is like an idiot who knows nothing about finance and shares.

Shi Nansheng didn't want to bear the pain and spend money for nothing, Fang Nan didn't stop him either.

She was only asked to be in charge of the landing of "The Wandering Earth" in North America, and he handed it over to Yan Hong.

In order for Yan Hong not to scold him for being dumb like Shi Nansheng, he lied a little.

On the phone, as soon as Yan Hong heard the inside information, she flew to North America almost at the same time as Shi Nansheng without saying a word, and then Fang Nan walked towards the administration department contentedly.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

"Director Hu Wen."

"Have an appointment?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"Then I'll find Vice President Shi Nansheng."

"Have an appointment?"

At the front desk, before Zhang Meng could speak, Fang Nan, who came in after seeing this scene, rushed to the front desk angrily and said, "Can't you make a phone call and ask if the director and assistant to the president have time to see someone? Make an appointment, and if you don't have an appointment, you won't give me an appointment." Jin? From which company did you learn these nonsensical things.”

The sudden appearance of Fang Nan frightened the two little girls at the front desk, and hurriedly got up: "I'm sorry, Mr. Fang."

"Come on, sitting at the front desk under the company's LOGO is the first image of the company. Be kind to people at ordinary times, and people don't owe you money. You don't need your phone bill if you call to ask, really."

Criticizing the two little girls, Fang Nan hugged Zhang Meng and walked towards the elevator: "Why do you have time to come here?"

Zhang Meng looked ashamed: "I want to ask Director Hu to increase the promotional budget for "The Piano of Steel", and I also want to ask President Shi or President Cai to talk about it so that the theaters will delay the release of the film by two weeks."

"The box office didn't sell well?"

Zhang Meng felt even more ashamed: "Director Fang, I'm really sorry, the box office of the movie is only over 300 million so far, not even a fraction of the horror movie "Far Cry"."

Fang Nan smiled: "It's okay, "Far Cry" is also produced by Tangtang Film and Television. As for the box office of "The Piano of Steel" is too low, you don't have to worry about it, and I won't let you lose money."

The total production cost of "The Piano of Steel" is more than 500 million, and the promotion fee is about 100 million. The total box office is estimated to be around 600 million. The film is destined to lose money.

Lose money and stop shooting?

As long as he is not bankrupt, as long as Tangtang Films is making a profit, he and Tangtang Films will always support similar Chinese-language plots and literary films.

Without it, entertaining mainstream movies matter.

But a film market cannot be without genre films that make people frightened, frightened, introspective, and inquisitive.

Otherwise, a filmmaker is not worthy of being called a filmmaker.

Because they have psychologically abandoned a large part of marginalized people, they are all whitewashing the peace, they are all making movies for capital, and they are making movies for their own interests.

"So, you don't have to worry about the low box office of "The Piano". Genre films are not mainstream movies in the first place, so you shouldn't worry about the box office when you shoot."

"What you should think about is that there are about 300 people who have watched the movie at the box office of 10 million. If 10 of the hundreds of thousands of viewers are moved by the movie and love life more, you should feel that it is very good. You say I Right?"

"I can only say, Fang Dao, your level of thought is too high, and I can't catch up with you even if I flatter you."

"Come on, I'll eat in the cafeteria at noon and drink some wine with you."

A few days later, the National Day is here.

When Fang Nan packed up to attend the opening ceremony of "The Hunger Games", Gao Yuanyuan, who had not received any information beforehand, made a table of dishes and ordered cakes, was very upset.

"I'm really convinced. There are more than 300 days in a year, but I chose National Day as my birthday. I hurriedly changed it tomorrow and changed it to my birthday."

(End of this chapter)