Big names rise

"Hey, Wilson, why are you here? I didn't expect to meet you in China!" Jeff shouted to a tall white man.

That Wilson was also very surprised to see Jeff, "You really linger!" He said and gave Jeff a hug.

Jeff introduced them to each other, and Wilson interrupted Jeff, "Of course I know him, a big man in China, he has incredible power." Although He Mu's impression in the hearts of ordinary Americans is fading, but As a practitioner in the film industry, Wilson certainly will not forget this miraculous boy, and he has dealt with many Chinese filmmakers, and even He Mu's influence in mainland China.

Hearing that Wilson praised He Mu so much, Jeff was also very proud, "You can talk, you kid," and then introduced to He Mu, "This big guy is called Wilson, and he was my friend when he was working at Lionsgate." Little brother." As he spoke, Jeff winked at He Mu with a proud look.

Wilson was very dissatisfied with Jeff's introduction. He waved his big fist and shouted, "You are too shameless. In the company, you are in charge of North American distribution, and I am in charge of overseas distribution. The salary is a little bit higher, but if you say that I am your little brother, I will not admit it even if I am beaten to death."

"So as long as you can't be beaten to death, you will admit it?" Jeff smiled in a Chinese style. It seems that they are very familiar with each other, and they are also old colleagues from Lionsgate. When Jeff left Lionsgate, Wilson was working. In Europe, Jeff had already left when he returned to China, which made him feel very sorry.

It was still early, and the three of them found a cafe to chat about family affairs.During the period, I naturally talked about why Jeff and Wilson came to China. Coincidentally, their purpose of coming to China was the same, and they were all for their own films to get a share of the credits.In the end, none of them got what they wanted, and in the end they all only got the approval qualifications.

The movie that Wilson walked for Lions Gate is called "The Expendables". It is an action movie invested, directed and starred by Stallone. The film gathers Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Li Lianjie, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham and other international action superstars tell the story of a group of mercenaries, which is a bit of a tribute to the classics. Lionsgate won the global distribution rights for this film.The world premiere is coming up next month. Wilson has been running for two months for the film's mainland account distribution qualification, and today he got a definite reply.The only way to enter the mainland is to buy and approve films. He is preparing to return to China. There are many Chinese film dealers in the United States who specialize in the business of approving films. They are all waiting for Wilson's reply.

Hear Wilson's reasoning.He Mu and Jeff looked at each other.What He Mu thought was: This movie is too boring, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, and local Li Lianjie, these people come together Together, even a bad movie can be a big hit at the box office. Movies of this level are only B-level productions in the United States, not top-level A-level blockbusters, but they are placed in China.Absolutely high-end and upscale, this kind of movie has been reduced to the point where it needs to be sold cheaply.what a pity.

But what Jeff thought was that "Cold Heart" would eventually go through Mizuki's film approval channel, and Mizuki had no experience in releasing foreign language films. It would be great if he could use "The Expendables" to practice his skills.

The two could be considered to be in the same mind, and then exchanged a few words in Chinese. Although Wilson had been to China several times, he was not proficient in Chinese and could not understand what they were saying, "Hey, what are you talking about? Why did you suddenly use Chinese? Is there anything you don't want me to know?"

Jeff said bluntly, "Of course, we are planning how to kill you."

"Really, let's hear it, so I can refer to it." A big guy like Wilson also has a naughty side.

Jeff cleared his throat and started to talk about business. Although it was a matter of Shuimu Forest, he still consciously took it upon himself. He was worried about letting a rookie like He Mu negotiate with an old bird like Wilson, " That's right, Wilson, He Mu hopes that his film company can buy the copyright of "The Expendables" in mainland China, how about it, let's talk about it."

In fact, it doesn't matter if the mainland copyright is sold to anyone, Wilson is not obsessed with selling the copyright back to China.Usually the price of this kind of buyout is tens of thousands of dollars, or 10,000+ dollars, which is about 10 RMB or 100 million RMB. It takes between 100 million and 200 million RMB, as long as the box office of the movie can reach the tens of millions level, it will definitely make a lot of money, even if it is a few million more.

However, the potential of "The Expendables" is obviously more than 1000 million. As long as it can be synchronized with North America in time and don't take too long to drag out the pirated version, then tens of millions of box office can still be achieved easily, so Wilson also dared to open his mouth.

"What, 80 is still in US dollars!" In the quiet coffee shop, Jeff shouted directly in English, "Wilson, are you bullying me for not knowing the market in mainland China? 80 US dollars, I haven't I heard that buying out copyright can be sold at such a price in China, what kind of international joke are you making?"

Wilson blushed, "Excessive asking price, just sit on the ground and pay back, isn't that what the Chinese say." It turned out that he also knew that his asking price was a bit aggressive.

Seeing that Wilson wasn't messing around, Jeff calmed down a bit and continued to bargain, "In this way, cut it in half, $40, and you sell the copyright to Shuimu Forest. I'm afraid this price is rare."

Jeff is really knowledgeable. For an ordinary buyout film, $40 is quite a high price. Of course, "The Expendables" is not an ordinary film. It is the most competitive film in the market. , Li Lianjie alone is more than 40 US dollars, Wilson also understands this, so he didn't directly agree, "If there is no more increase, 40 I can't explain it to Jon when I go back."

Jeff glanced at He Mu and asked him to make up his mind. He Mu smiled slightly, "50, no more."

"Deal!" Wilson was very forthright this time. The $50 has already created the highest buyout price for an approved film so far, and he is satisfied.

In this way, He Mu spent 50 US dollars and more than 300 million yuan to win all the copyrights of the Hollywood action movie "The Expendables" in the mainland. Including other investments, it will cost about 500 million. As long as the box office can reach 2000 million, it will It was not in vain for him to work this trip, he faintly felt that he had picked up a big bargain.

Wilson told He Mu that "The Expendables" is scheduled to premiere globally in mid-August, and I hope he will act quickly so that "The Expendables" can be synchronized with markets such as North America. Even if it cannot be synchronized, it should not be too late. Leakage is a major factor affecting the box office of approved films. Generally, approved films are released in the mainland three or four months after their release in the United States. At this time, online piracy is already rampant. They are foreign language films of average quality. There are even fewer people who go to the cinema to support it, so we must be fast and race against pirated versions.

The copy of "The Expendables" was kept in a safe in the hotel where Wilson was staying. After receiving the full payment, Wilson handed over the copy to He Mu, and Shuimu Forest still had to do a lot of work for it, and actively communicated with China Film , and try to release this action movie in August, so that Shuimu Forest will release two films, "Love Notice" and "The Expendables" in August. Has never released two movies in one month.

In addition, one should not favor one over the other, for "Leng Xin", He Mu will also spend 50 US dollars to buy out the copyright in the mainland, and promote the release of "Leng Xin" in the mainland, which will probably meet with mainland audiences in November. He believes that this The money will definitely be worth the money, and mainland audiences will also like his new look.

Although the release of foreign language films is not in line with He Mu's consistent advocacy of promoting traditional Chinese culture and resisting the invasion of Western culture, an action film that shows off muscles and bullets should not have any cultural implants, and Li Lianjie is also implanted in it.By the way, He Mu hasn't seen this movie yet, so he just bought it for more than 300 million yuan, which was a bit too hasty. !

After getting the film, He Mu immediately summoned Chen Li, Xue Xiangchen, Cai Yiming, Lan Chenxing and other company backbones to go to the screening room to watch the film. Of course, if you have not passed CET-[-], you should not come. This film does not have Chinese subtitles Woolen cloth.

Before watching the film, Chen Li told He Mu that there was a director who wanted to seek investment from him, and whether he would like to meet.

With the success of all the films produced by Shuimu Forest, the film company established by the famous actor He Mu is becoming more and more famous. Many independent directors come here to seek financial support from He Mu.

He Mu doesn't run a philanthropic business, and the company's scale is not big enough to be squandered at will, so he chooses scripts, not literary films, commercial films that follow the trend, he doesn't want to be like Andy Lau, for the sake of his movie dream The movie is broken.Of course, this doesn't mean that He Mu doesn't have pure movie dreams. He has already thought about it. In two years, when Shuimu Forest really rises, he will spend part of the money every year to subsidize new directors so that they can try boldly. , be brave in innovation, maybe he can also discover a Ning Hao and contribute to Chinese films.

According to Chen Li, the director is named Feixing, and he is a well-known director and screenwriter, but they are all in the field of TV dramas. It is his first time to play a movie. Originally, the filming of this movie started last year. Later, he and the investor Fang fell out, the crew broke up, and the actors ran away. In order to make this movie, I had to seek new investors. The name of this movie is "Watchmen: Evil Lost"... (to be continued...)

ps: [ps: The second update, "Watchmen: Lost in Evil" is a very unfamiliar work to many people, but director Feixing's second work "National Witness" is probably heard of, and I strongly recommend Watchmen Readers, as long as you read it all patiently, you will probably like it~]