New York 2006

Chapter 105 The Weak Man
At the Hollywood Hilton Garden Inn, the living room of Luo Ji's room was filled with people.Old faces include lawyer Jamie, agent Braun, and accountant Lin Qingji.

There was only one new face, and it was introduced by accountant Lin Qingji. Zhu Haowei, a Chinese director and producer who has been in Hollywood for a long time, knows the production process of Hollywood.

Zhu Haowei graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. In early 2000, he filmed two short films, after which he was signed by William Morris.In the past few years, he has been working hard in Hollywood, working in various crews as assistant director and producer.

Last year, as an assistant director, he filmed "Dance My Life" which did well at the box office, and his career began to take off.

Zhu Haowei said: "Logic, the adaptation rights of a novel include film, television, video, DVD, and Internet products. Generally speaking, the adaptation fee occupies 2.5% to 20% of the cost, which is determined based on the popularity of the novel. The current sales of "Twilight" are okay, but according to the current market conditions, even if the adaptation rights are premium, they will only cost 500 million US dollars at most. MTV Films' asking price of 600 million US dollars is indeed excessive, and the risk is very high. "

Lawyer Jamie also advised: "MTV Movies asked you two to bid against each other yesterday, with a base price of 500 million US dollars. This clearly tells you to fight to the end. Summit Entertainment has raised [-] billion US dollars, and they also have overseas financing channels. You can’t compete with them.”

Accountant Lin Qingji also said: "Logic, you should be cautious."

Several of his elites objected. After Luo Ji thought for a moment, it seemed that he had to do their ideological work well.Otherwise they think they are fooling around.

"Don't think that I just wanted to adapt this novel out of a sudden thought. I thought carefully about it. This novel may not be at the bottom of the New York Times bestseller list, but this novel is very popular on the Internet. , especially among teenagers, it is the most popular one. I think this novel is completely underestimated now."

"is it?"

"Of course, otherwise do you think I'm being stupid?" Luo Ji then added: "If anyone tries to persuade me to give up again, please leave this room."

Lawyer Jamie said: “But Summit Entertainment’s funds are too huge, how can we compete.”

Zhu Haowei immediately said: "It is true that Summit Entertainment has a huge amount of funds, but they cannot ignore the laws of the market and cannot increase prices indefinitely. The final battle will depend on which of the two parties has a stronger will to obtain the rights to adapt the novel. Logic, your psychology What’s the base price?”

Luo Ji was very determined: "Always be 100 million higher than Summit Entertainment."

Fiona knocked on the door and walked in with a newspaper: "Feili, read this report."

Luo Ji took the newspaper in his hand and read it. On it were remarks made by Stephanie, the author of the "Twilight" novel.

"I received the news the day before yesterday that Logic intends to purchase the rights to adapt my novel "Twilight". I completely disagree with Logic adapting my novel. He is so young and a complete amateur and will ruin the novel. . I think it should be produced by a Hollywood company..."

"Hahaha." Luo Ji laughed after reading the report.

Fiona looked at Luo Ji in surprise: "The author of the novel opposes you, but you still laugh."

Luo Ji handed the newspaper to several of his elites, then stared at Fiona and said, "Use your brain and think about it. Stephanie is in the same group as Summit Entertainment. Why would she make such remarks?"

Fiona's mind started to work, and after a while she said: "This proves that Summit Entertainment..."

Burbank, Los Angeles, MTV Movie Production Company, a white girl in her 20s leads the way.

Luo Ji was dressed in street clothes with messy hair.Walking in front with a carefree attitude, Fiona, lawyer Jamie, agent Braun, accountant Lin Qingji, and producer Zhu Haowei followed behind.

"Logic, everyone is already inside." The white girl pushed open the door of the conference room.

"Ah."

Luo Ji casually walked in, followed by his team.At first glance, they are all white people.Among this group of people, the only one Luo Ji could recognize was Stephanie, the author of the novel.

The white girl pointed to the side of the conference room: "Your place is over here."

But before Luo Ji and his party could sit down, a middle-aged white man sitting next to Stephanie said, "Logic, what's going on with you? You're three and ten minutes late."

Luo Ji ignored him and sat down casually.Agent Braun walked to the head of the conference room and introduced: "Logic, this is the CEO of MTV Movie Production Company."

Luo Ji nodded: "Hello."

"Hello, Logic. Let me introduce you, the person sitting here is from Summit Entertainment..."

Luo Ji said angrily: "Can you start the process directly? My time is very tight, so there is no need to introduce irrelevant people. Anyway, this bidding will be the same with or without them. The right to adapt the novel must be mine. .”

Opposite me, the old white man from Summit Entertainment said: "Logic, stop pretending. You are late and pretending to be a street boy. This method is too despicable and will only show us your guilty conscience. Show your state when you were fighting against Universal Music." Come on, don’t let us look down on you.”

It seemed that he was faking it. Luo Ji didn't feel any embarrassment at all and said calmly: "I don't know what you are talking about. I'm just stuck in traffic today. I treat this meeting very seriously. Didn't you see the team around me? "

The CEO of MTV Movie Production Company said: "Okay, let's get started. On your desk is the contract for the adaptation rights of the novel, as well as the script adapted by our company based on the novel. This is all the content of this deal. You can watch it for a while first.”

Luo Ji's men all picked up the documents and read them. The people at Summit Entertainment did not move. It seemed that they had already read it.

Luo Ji was very thick-skinned and showed no embarrassment at all. He picked up the contract on the table and read it.

The right to adapt the first novel, the right of priority to adapt the sequel novel, the minimum adaptation fee for the sequel is 50 US dollars, and the maximum is 800 million US dollars. The author of the novel will share 5% of the net box office profit. The adaptation is due in 2009, and the film budget is no less than 500 million US dollars. Thousands of dollars, the movie must be released in theaters...

Ten minutes later, lawyer Jamie whispered into Luo Ji's ear: "There's nothing wrong with the contract. It's a very standard Hollywood novel adaptation contract."

"Ah."

Luo Ji picked up the script and read it. After reading it for five minutes, he noticed that it was different from the original work.

MTV's script turned high school student Bella into a star athlete and a vampire, and into a terrifying green-faced, fanged monster.Shengsheng turned a teenage romance novel about a vampire into an action movie with a high school heroine fighting monsters.

Is this the full picture of the movie? This is the final original version.But now was not the time to think about this. Luo Ji closed the script, looked at the CEO of MTV Movies, and nodded.

"The starting price is 500 million yuan. You both bid."

The old white man from Summit Entertainment said directly: "Five million meters."

Luo Ji said lightly: "Six million meters."

"Six million and one thousand meters of knife."

Luo Ji smiled disdainfully: "That's it, a [-] million-meter sword."

The old white man from Summit Entertainment looked at Luo Ji and took a deep breath: "You did it on purpose? You always get 100 million more than me."

The CEO of MTV Movies said, "Don't disrupt the order of the venue. Do you still bid?"

"Seven million and two thousand meters of knife." said the old white man from Summit Entertainment.

Luo Ji clasped his fingers boredly: "Eight, million and twenty thousand meters of sword."

Luo Ji saw that Stephanie, who was the least able to hide her emotions in the room, was now frowning and looking anxious.The old white man from Summit Entertainment loosened his tie and said, "Eighty and five million dollars." Luo Ji's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. It seemed that Summit Entertainment's will was still very strong.This price can already buy the rights to adapt most novels in the world.

Could it be that Summit Entertainment also knows that "Twilight" is very popular on the Internet, so the price is still relatively reasonable?Luo Ji decided to break the rule of increasing the price by 100 million.Completely shock the opponent.

Luo Ji didn't change his expression and said lightly: "1000 million."

The old white man from Summit Entertainment immediately withered and said no more.The novel author Stephanie watched this scene anxiously and reached out to touch the old white man's shoulder, but the old white man remained unmoved.

The president of MTV said: "Are you going to increase the price?"

"No." The old white man from Summit Entertainment said.

"So congratulations, Logic, you got the rights to adapt the novel of "The Twilight Saga"."

Hearing this, Luo Ji laughed heartily. Compared with me, do they have such strength?

Stephanie, the author of the novel, suddenly softened like a deflated rubber ball.But she reacted immediately and looked at Luo Ji with a flattering expression.Luo Ji had no expression on his face and ignored Stephanie's overtures.

The old white man from Summit Entertainment turned away from the hostile atmosphere just now and looked at Luo Ji with a smile and said.

"Logic, didn't you say before that you wanted to find a production company? Summit Entertainment will give you the best quote and the best service. Our company has strong production experience..."

Luo Ji stared at the old white man from Summit Entertainment. He had cost him nearly 600 million more dollars. He suddenly became angry and pointed at the door of the conference room.Signal them to leave.

The old man from Summit Entertainment has not given up yet: "We already have a project plan for this movie, and we have our favorite candidates for the producer, screenwriter, art director and director. Our company has taken all the considerations into consideration. do you want……"

After hearing this, Luo Ji became rational.He did not interrupt, but fell into deep thought.

If according to the original time and space, without Luo Ji's interference, there is a high probability that this movie would be acquired by Summit Entertainment, and their adaptation ideas would be of great reference significance.However, because of this competition, it’s hard to say whether they will do something weird or not.

Luo Ji thought for a moment and his attitude improved a lot: "Stop talking and let me think about it. I'll give you an answer in a few days, okay?"

The old white man from Summit Entertainment was very sensible, nodded, and left with the team.

Stephanie, the author of the novel, looked back three times, hesitated, and finally left with the people from Summit Entertainment.

The CEO of MTV Movies walked up, smiled and shook hands with Luo Ji: "It's a pleasure working together, Logic."

Luo Ji put away his street ruffianism and said solemnly, "It's a pleasure to work with you. By the way, are you interested in investing in this movie?"

The CEO smiled and said: "We will not participate."

It seemed that he was not optimistic about his ability to adapt. Luo Ji was not angry. He thought about it and said, "Then do you have any suggestions?"

The CEO of MTV Movies said: "If you need financing, I can introduce you to the Philippine company that purchased the adaptation rights with us before. They may be interested in investing."

"Forget it if they invest. I don't lack money, I lack channels."

"What about global distribution of the movie? I can introduce you to someone from Paramount Pictures."

Luo Ji said, "Sorry to trouble you."

"Okay, let your agent contact me."

Luo Ji called Zhu Haowei over and introduced him to the CEO of MTV Movies: "This is an employee of Logic Pictures and the producer of this project. He will be in charge of this project from now on. I will let him contact you later." "

"Ok."

Luo Ji signed all the contracts, completed all handover procedures, and accepted interviews with reporters.By the time we got back to the hotel, it was already eight o'clock in the evening.Luo Ji washed up casually and then came to the study.

Luo Ji browsed the Twilight Zone section of Reddit.Today's section does not discuss the plot of the novel as usual. What is discussed is that Logic spent 1000 million US dollars to acquire the rights to adapt the novel.

"Is Logic so rich? This is 1000 million yuan!"

"Is Logic going to play the male lead?"

"Logic is a bastard. Even though the author of the novel objected, he still wanted to forcefully acquire it."

Luo Ji browsed through them one by one and probably understood what the public was thinking.After thinking for a moment, he published two voting posts using the section administrator's account.

The first post, please vote, how should "Twilight" be adapted? 1. Based on the original work, it is adapted into a youth romantic vampire-themed movie. 2. Adapt the movie into an action movie with a female protagonist.

"Everyone can write down the reasons for voting and suggestions for adaptation below. The voting will last for three days. When the voting ends, I will contact Logic and let him consider our opinions carefully."

In the second post, everyone is asked to vote whether you agree or not that Logic will play the leading role in "The Twilight Saga".

1. Agree. 2. Objection.

"You can also write down the reasons for voting. The voting will last for three days. When the voting ends, I will contact Logic. He will give me this face."

After doing this, it was already past ten o'clock at night. Luo Ji walked to the bedroom and lay down on the bed to rest.As a result, I just didn't sleep for a while when Fiona called me.

She said: "Stephanie, the author of the "Twilight" novel, just called me. I hope to talk to you tomorrow?"

Luo Ji asked, "What does she want to talk about?"

Fiona said: "She wants to apologize to you about what she said in the newspaper today. She said that it was Summit Entertainment that asked her to do that."

Luo Ji thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "What's the use of an apology? Tell her that I need to see her sincerity in the newspaper."

Fiona immediately said: "Are you sure? She is the author of the original work. If there is a quarrel, it will be very detrimental to the project."

Luo Ji said firmly: "I'm sure, Fiona. It would be fine if she said this in private, but she published it in the newspaper."

"Is there any difference? She had no choice but to do it."

Luo Ji spoke very seriously: "If you don't let the outside world see her apology, everyone in the future will feel that she has offended me and can be easily forgiven by me. I don't want people in Hollywood to see me as a weak person who can be bullied." Fiona, do you understand?”

"I understand."

(End of this chapter)