1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The box office performance of "The Sixth Sense" is so good that Hollywood is eyeing Zhou Yan's other movies.

Zhou Yan has made three feature films in total, and "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" has been remade, so many companies have focused on "Spring of the Cowherd Class" which just won the award.

Warner was not the first company to contact Tomson about buying the remake rights of "Springtime of the Cowherd", but among the many companies that contacted Tomson, Warner was the largest and most sincere.

They hope to win the rights to remake "Springtime of the Cowherd" for US$2 million.

The two million US dollars is just for the rights to reshoot for five years. This price is of course very attractive, and it is US$450,000 higher than the US$450,000 that Columbia paid for the reshoots of "The Sixth Sense".

Moreover, this is only Warner's first bid, and it should be possible to raise the price after further discussions.

Warner directly contacted Xu Feng. Xu Feng was quite satisfied with Warner's sincerity, and the price in her mind was probably between US$2.2 million and US$2.6 million.

I believe that as long as she talks to Warner again, the price can be brought up to her psychological level.

However, Xu Feng did not have an in-depth discussion with Warner. Instead, he called Zhou Yan as soon as possible after contacting Warner.

When he received Xu Feng's call, Zhou Yan was driving to Shichahai Sports School. Recently, Chen Hong was studying at Shichahai Martial Arts School. He happened to have nothing to do today, so he went to visit the class.

Now that Zhou Yan carries his mobile phone with him, it is much easier to contact him.

After the call was connected, Xu Feng's voice came from the phone, "Are you busy?"

"Is something wrong in the car, Sister Feng?"

"Warner came to me and said that it wanted to buy the rights to remake "The Spring of the Cowherd". Let me ask you what you mean."

Zhou Yan didn't even ask about the price, and said directly, "Forget it about this movie, don't sell the rights to remake it."

Hearing Zhou Yan's decisive refusal, Xu Feng didn't say anything, "Okay, then I'll refuse directly. Anyway, we have bought out the copyright of "A Cage of Nightingales"."

This is why Zhou Yan likes to cooperate with Xu Feng. No matter what, Xu Feng will stand by his side. Such a good boss is really hard to find in the world.

Although Zhou Yan didn't know how much Warner offered, it would definitely not be less than the US$1.55 million for "The Sixth Sense". He estimated that it might be more than US$2 million.

Even for Xu Feng, this amount of money is not a small amount.

But now because of Zhou Yan's words, she decisively gave up the money, which most people simply couldn't do.

Moreover, if Tomson wanted to sell the remake rights of "Spring of the Cowherd Class", Xu Feng could make the decision directly without asking Zhou Yan. However, she still called Zhou Yan immediately to ask for his opinion, which shows that she really He attaches great importance to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "How about selling them the rights to remake "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly"."

Xu Feng said with a smile, "I would like to sell it, but Warner may not be willing to take it. After all, this movie has been remade, and "The Flying Piano Boy" is also doing well at the box office, so the commercial potential is not much."

Zhou Yan nodded. Xu Feng was right. The commercial value of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" is much worse than that of "The Sixth Sense". In addition, there is already a remake, so there is a high probability that Warner will not invest in "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly". "Boy" remake rights.

After pondering for a moment, he added, "You ask first. If they are not interested, you ask them again. I have a script. Do they want it?"

When he heard that Zhou Yan had a new script, Xu Feng became interested, "You wrote a new script? Why didn't you tell me? I'm still worrying about your next movie every day. It's better for you to even have the script without telling me. . Since there is a new script, why not film it yourself, why give it to others?”

Hearing what Xu Feng said, Zhou Yan smiled. It seemed that she was really interested in her next movie.

"Originally I wanted to shoot it myself, but our skills were insufficient and the cost was too high. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to give up." Zhou Yan explained.

"How high can the cost be?" Xu Feng asked.

"If we were to shoot it ourselves, the budget would be 50 to 60 million yuan at least."

Xu Feng immediately said, "It's not too much. As long as you think the script is good, we will pay 50 to 60 million ourselves. There is no need to give it to others."

A budget of 50 to 60 million may be relatively large for other producers, but it is nothing to Xu Feng. Tomson has made a lot of money in the past few years. He has the capital, and Xu Feng is already willing to invest in movies.

When Tomson was just starting out, she dared to raise a budget of several million US dollars for "Farewell My Concubine". Now she has to invest 50 to 60 million yuan for Zhou Yan to make a movie, which is nothing at all.

"Fifty to sixty million is just a conservative estimate. The actual filming will only be more. And the cost is one aspect. The key is technology. There are many things in it that we can't complete. The current domestic production level is still relatively backward."

The few movies Zhou Yan has made are not high-cost and technically not difficult, and can be completed by domestic production teams.

But if you want to make a "blockbuster", the current domestic production team cannot complete it. Not to mention the special effects, the prop team is far behind.

Zhou Yan spent some time on the set of "Sense and Sensibility" and his experience was very clear. The production level of Hollywood is indeed very high.

Moreover, "Sense and Sensibility" is not a blockbuster to begin with, it is already a film with relatively low technical requirements.

"Titanic" will be filmed this year, and Zhou Yan will definitely go to see it then. He must experience the most advanced film production level in the world today.

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, Xu Feng sighed slightly. She was well aware of the gap between domestic film production levels and Hollywood.

Some things are difficult to make up for in a short time.

In fact, Zhou Yan's production team is already very powerful in China. The equipment they use when shooting movies is also the most advanced in the country, and they are richer than most crews.

Moreover, Zhou Yan will regularly hold training classes for Jiang Mengfei and others to expose them to the most advanced film knowledge.

But even so, Zhou Yan's team cannot compare with the Hollywood team, and will be crushed in every aspect from the inside out.

"How about you show me the script first?" Xu Feng said.

"I've written more than half of the script, and there are still some things that haven't been completed. I'll give it to you after I take the time to finish it in the past two days."

Zhou Yan impulsively wrote this script before, originally intending to shoot it himself, but the more he wrote it, the more he felt that it couldn't be done because it was too difficult to shoot.

In the process of writing the script, he must think about how to shoot it, but there are many things that they cannot complete at this stage. Even if they can barely complete it, the effect will be slightly inferior. The most important thing is that the cost is too high.

Zhou Yan said that the budget is 50 to 60 million, which is indeed conservative. If the control is not good, the budget may exceed 100 million.

With such a high budget, the risks are too high, and Zhou Yan doesn't want to lose money and make a profit.

Therefore, Zhou Yan stopped writing before the script was finished.

It was this time when Xu Feng mentioned that Warner Bros. wanted to buy the rights to remake "Springtime of the Cowherd Class" that Zhou Yan thought of simply selling the script, which was not a waste.

……

Not long after hanging up Xu Feng's phone, Zhou Yan arrived at Shichahai Martial Arts School.

Because he had greeted the school leaders in advance, Zhou Yan's car drove directly into the school.

It's nine o'clock in the morning, and many students are practicing on the playground.

There are many students in Shichahai, of all ages, but most of them are under the age of twenty.

The school attaches great importance to Zhou Yan's arrival, and head coach Wu Bin personally came to pick him up.

Wu Bin has a high reputation in the Chinese martial arts world, but he himself looks inconspicuous. He is only over 1.6 meters tall, like an ordinary little old man.

However, although he was small, his hands were very generous. When Zhou Yan shook hands with him, the feeling was very obvious.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Wu Bin was very happy and said with a smile, "Yesterday I learned that Teacher Zhou was coming. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. Our school is full of rough guys. It's our honor for you to come."

Zhou Yan said with a smile: "Mr. Wu is too humble. Your school has achieved fruitful results and made important contributions to the development of Chinese martial arts. It is an honor for all the Chinese people. It is also an honor for me to have the opportunity to visit your school. ”

"Haha, that's too much praise, that's too much praise. Chen Hong should be practicing Tai Chi with Tian Yan and the others in the backyard right now. Should I take you to find her?"

Zhou Yan waved his hand, "No rush, I came here this time not only to see her study progress, but also to observe the teaching at your school. We will be filming "Tai Chi Master" later, and we will definitely need a lot of martial arts actors. As one of the investors, I One, you should be concerned.”

"No problem, then I'll call a few students over to give you a demonstration?"

"No trouble, right?"

"Hey, what's the trouble? Just wait."

Wu Bin was very efficient. He called twenty or thirty students over in just two or three minutes. The youngest of these students was about five or six years old and the oldest was in his twenties. Most of them were boys and there were only three girls.

After calling the people over, Wu Bin smiled and introduced Zhou Yan to them: "This is Director Zhou Yan, please show me what you have learned recently."

Zhou Yan has many identities, but Wu Bin chose the identity of director to introduce him because he knew that the identity of director is the most attractive to these students in the martial arts school.

These students in the martial arts school don't know much about music and other things. Most of them have never even heard of Zhou Yan's name, but when they heard that Zhou Yan was the director, they were all very excited.

After all, the martial arts school has role models like Jet Li in front of them, and many students in the martial arts school also want to pursue the path of acting.

Usually, martial arts schools often have film crews coming to select actors. At this time, students will actively perform in the hope that they will be selected.

Different from the expectations of the students, coaches like Wu Bin had mixed feelings about the arrival of the crew. They open martial arts schools and train students with the purpose of promoting Chinese martial arts and bringing glory to the country. If the students are elected away, there may be many stars in the film and television industry, but there will be one less good talent in the martial arts industry.

But Wu Bin and the others also know that practicing martial arts is hard and the future is unpredictable.

There are so many students in the school, but only a few can finally go out and win medals, while the rest will face various problems.

With the development of the times, there are fewer and fewer ways to learn martial arts.

Those outstanding students who have won awards may not necessarily have a good future, let alone ordinary students.

Therefore, it would be great if you can really take the path of a film and television star. On the one hand, it can protect students' own lives, and on the other hand, it can promote Chinese martial arts.

Wu Bin's idea is that it would be best if the directors could remove all the ordinary students in the school and keep the really good ones, but there is no such good thing in the world, and those directors also want good students.

Students in martial arts schools are very disciplined. Wu Bin does not need to arrange them one by one. These students spontaneously start to show what they have learned.

Some people are displayed alone, while others are displayed in groups of two or three.

Zhou Yan doesn't know much about martial arts, and he learned a little bit when he went to play "Green Snake" before. However, these students basically performed martial arts routines, which were quite interesting to watch.

When the students were performing, Wu Bin was also explaining to Zhou Yan. After his explanation, Zhou Yan found it much more interesting.

Most boys have a martial arts dream, and Zhou Yan is no exception, so after listening to Wu Bin's explanation, he would occasionally make gestures along with it.

While the two were chatting and laughing about martial arts, the student who was performing did a very difficult move. When he landed, he didn't adjust his movements properly and fell directly to the ground.

The force of the fall was so strong that Zhou Yan heard a "bang".

Before Zhou Yan could react, Wu Bin next to him had already rushed over.

The boy who fell was about fourteen or fifteen years old. When Wu Bin arrived, the boy was sweating profusely and his cheeks were tense. It was obvious that he was in pain, but he was trying not to make a sound.

"It's probably a broken bone."

When Zhou Yan arrived, he happened to hear Wu Bin say this.

Hearing this, Zhou Yan was stunned. Is this a broken bone?
Wu Bin seemed to be used to this scene. He waved and said, "Liang Xu, Hong Fang, take Xu Jin to the infirmary."

The two boys immediately came over, used the chair support method to lift Xu Jin up, and walked towards the infirmary. They were very skilled in their movements and must have been taught them.

After they left, Wu Bin turned to Zhou Yan and said, "It's okay, it's a minor injury. Let's continue."

Zhou Yan's eyelids twitched. Is a broken bone considered a minor injury? Are the usual training risks in martial arts schools so high?

Wu Bin said he wanted to continue, but Zhou Yan didn't dare anymore. He waved his hand and said, "Let's forget it for today. Let's go to the infirmary to have a look. This incident also happened because of me."

"This has nothing to do with you. It's normal for a martial arts student to get injured."

But Zhou Yan insisted, "Mr. Wu, no matter what you say today, I have to go and have a look, otherwise I will feel uneasy."

In fact, Zhou Yan could also guess why Xu Jin was injured. He probably heard that a director was coming and was eager to perform, so he did some actions that he didn't usually do well, which caused the mistake.

If he doesn't come today, this matter won't happen.

Regardless of emotions and reasons, he would go and see it.

After hearing what Zhou Yan said, Wu Bin didn't insist anymore and nodded, "Okay, I'll take you there."

……

As soon as the two of them arrived outside the infirmary, they heard a pig-like cry coming from inside: "Ouch, it hurts me to death!"

"Old Feng, please be gentle."

Hearing this shout, Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. When he was in the playground just now, Xu Jin was silent and acted like a tough guy. He didn't expect that he would break his skills when he came to the infirmary.

Wu Bin also rolled his eyes, walked into the medical room first, and then coughed lightly, "Ahem, Xiao Feng, how are Xu Jin's legs?"

Xu Jin originally wanted to scream, but when he saw Wu Bin and Zhou Yan coming in, he held it back.

Doctor Feng Kai glanced at Zhou Yan and then said, "It's not a big problem. I just have a fractured tibia. I'll take care of it briefly and send him to the hospital right away for a plaster cast."

"Well, please drive me there later."

Zhou Yan glanced at the infirmary. He originally thought that since people in the martial arts school were often injured, the conditions in the infirmary should be better. However, he did not expect that the infirmary would be so simple. There was only one bed in the entire infirmary and there were no decent equipment. , there seems to be only one doctor.

Wu Bin walked up to Xu Jin and said, "Don't worry too much. It's just a minor injury. It will only take a few months to recover. You are lucky. Director Zhou saw that you were injured and came over to see you."

"Thank you, Director Zhou."

Xu Jin tried hard to endure the pain, but his voice was still trembling when he spoke.

Zhou Yan walked over and comforted him, "No one wants to get hurt, but since you are injured, you should take good care of yourself. When the injury is healed, you will be a good man again when you come back."

Then Zhou Yan said to Wu Bin, "Mr. Wu, I will pay for all the expenses for the child's hospital visit."

"This……"

Just as Wu Bin was about to speak, Zhou Yan interrupted him, "Mr. Wu, please don't refuse. This incident today was caused by me. If you refuse me, I will be really upset. I will ask someone to go to the hospital and try to make better arrangements for Xu Jin. A fracture is a minor matter."

Hearing what Zhou Yan said, Wu Bin was no longer polite. He rolled his eyes at Xu Jin and said, "Why don't you thank Director Zhou?"

"Thank you, Director Zhou."

After Zhou Yan expressed some condolences, Dr. Feng and the others took Xu Jin to the hospital.

After leaving the infirmary, Wu Bin sighed slightly, "Teacher Zhou, such an accident happened today, which disturbed your enjoyment."

"Mr. Wu, please don't say that. What happened today also made me see how difficult it is to learn martial arts. It's not easy for the students, and it's even harder for you teachers."

"Nothing is easy. Let's go. I'll take you to find Chen Hong."

……

When Zhou Yan and the others went to the backyard, Chen Hong was doing Tai Chi, and there were two girls practicing beside him.

Looking at Chen Hong's movements, Wu Bin smiled and said, "Chen Hong is quite talented. She has just learned it for a few days and she is already good at it."

Zhou Yan smiled, Wu Bin's words were obviously polite.

Chen Hong's movements were very stiff, and she didn't look like she had any talent. However, what pleased Zhou Yan was that Chen Hong was very serious about learning.

Talent is important, but as long as you are serious, you can always achieve something.

Moreover, Chen Hong came to the martial arts school not to become a martial arts master. As long as she could learn some routines, look decent, and be able to handle the filming of TV series.

As long as she studies hard, she will definitely learn something in three months.

Zhou Yan and the others did not disturb Chen Hong's practice and waited until Chen Hong took a rest before they went over.

At this moment, Chen Hong was sweating profusely, and when she saw Zhou Yan, a look of joy appeared on her face.

"Zhou Yan."

If Wu Bin and the others weren't around, Chen Hong would have pounced on Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Let me see if you are lazy."

"I studied seriously. If you don't believe me, just ask Tian Yan and the others."

The girl next to her smiled and said, "Sister Hong is indeed very serious. She has the same routine as us every day and she doesn't even complain about being tired."

"This is just the beginning. If you can persist until the end, you will be considered great."

Chen Hong pursed her lips and said, "Don't underestimate me. When I master it, be careful that you are not my opponent."

"Then I'll wait and see. I will definitely learn Chen Nuxia's skills when I get the chance." Zhou Yan smiled and said to Tian Yan and the others: "During this period, Chen Hong will be troublesome for you."

"Don't worry, Director Zhou, we will definitely give you everything we have."

Zhou Yan originally wanted to tell Chen Hong to pay attention to safety. After all, he had just witnessed a student's fracture, but after thinking about it, he still didn't say it in front of Wu Bin and the others.

And if Chen Hong comes to study, the school probably won't let her do anything too dangerous. (End of chapter)