The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 272 Conan the Barbarian

Xu Guanwu still shook his head, thinking that I am familiar with Detective Conan, but it is obvious that the Conan mentioned by Edward is two people.

Edward Pressman couldn't help feeling depressed. Xu Guanwu didn't even know about Conan, so how should I persuade him to invest in it next?

"Hey, Xu!" At this time, Richard walked over from the crowd, "What are you talking about?"

"This gentleman is asking me about "Strange Legend" and Conan." Xu Guanwu said with a smile, "Who the hell is he?"

"Oh, Conan is the name of a fantasy novel about a muscular, fur-clad, sword-wielding savage," Richard explained with a laugh. Welcome, does this gentleman want to make it into a movie?"

"Exactly, I already have a script, as long as the funds are in place, I can shoot." Edward immediately said with a smile.

"It's not that simple. As far as I know, there were film companies who wanted to shoot a film based on Conan before, but found that the copyright of this novel has been frozen, and it is impossible to obtain authorization to adapt it." Richard directly pointed out that Edward There is something untrue in the words, "Moreover, this movie of Conan requires a lot of special effects. The investment of several million dollars cannot support the entire shooting. The final investment may be as high as tens of millions of dollars. Do you think that my friend Apart from investment, I don’t care much about the specifics of filming, so you want to cheat him out of money?”

Xu Guanwu couldn't help but gloomy face when he heard this, if it was true what Richard said, then he would really be regarded as a fool with a lot of money.A film based on a best-selling novel would have no chance of being released in the US, Europe, etc. without prior authorization.

And if you want to qualify for the screening, at least you have to pay a high price, which will be a huge expense.Anyway, your video has already been shot, if you don’t pay the copyright fee, it will just rot in the warehouse, and you won’t earn a penny.Forcing investors to have to pay out again.This unlucky and tragic investor is undoubtedly Xu Guanwu.

Moreover, the investment in this film exceeded tens of millions of dollars, which can really be said to be astronomical in the 70s. "Star Wars" and "Jaws" are so profitable, and the investment is only more than 1000 million US dollars.No matter how popular this Conan is, it is impossible to surpass these two, so Xu Guanwu has to invest such a large sum of money in it, unless it is the "Terminator" series or the "First Blood" series.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Darryl, please don't get me wrong. I'm already talking about the copyright issue, but I just need a little money to turn around." Seeing that Richard's and Xu Guanwu's eyes were not friendly, Edward quickly explained with a smile Said, "And I have even found the protagonist, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger! He is Mr. Olympia for six consecutive times, and he is definitely the best candidate to play Conan."

Hearing what he said, Xu Guanwu seemed to remember that Schwarzenegger had acted in such a movie, which seemed to be called "Conan the Barbarian".And it seems that the box office is not bad, because the sequel "Conan the Destroyer" will start filming immediately.In the new century, someone also filmed "Conan the Barbarian King: Sword of the King". Although the special effects are gorgeous, the plot is a bit cheating.

After listening to Richard's explanation, Xu Guanwu knew that it was perfect for Schwarzenegger to play the barbarian, but the investment of tens of millions of dollars and copyright disputes made him hesitate for a while.In fact, for Xu Guanwu, spending tens of millions of dollars to buy Intel and IBM stocks is more profitable than making this Conan movie.Moreover, American movies are just a tool for Xu Guanwu to make money. He didn't want to invest a lot of money to expand the American movie market.

"How high is the cost of your movie?" Xu Guanwu asked after thinking about it.

"Uh..." Edward was about to say that it only took a few million to start, but Richard stared at him so hard that he didn't dare to talk nonsense.

"I think at least 2000 million US dollars." Edward said in a low voice.

puff!Xu Guanwu almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, at least 2000 million US dollars? ! What was the concept of 2000 million at that time, equivalent to about 1000 million in Hong Kong dollars, it can be invested in the acquisition of several office buildings, and the value can be increased by at least [-] times in the future, which is much more profitable than shooting Conan.

Moreover, the shooting cost is only 2000 million, and there will be publicity costs later, which will not be much less than the production cost.With a total expenditure of more than 3000 million US dollars, at least the box office must reach 70 million US dollars to recover the cost.In the [-]s, there were definitely only a handful of movies with a box office of over [-] million.No matter how you think about it, you feel that the risk is too great, so Xu Guanwu dare not invest.

"Sorry, the investment in this movie is really too big. I don't think I can afford it personally." Xu Guanwu waved his hand. Now he has two blockbusters, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Wars", investing in new movies Not much interest.

When Edward Pressman heard this, he was extremely disappointed.Xu Guanwu, a wealthy Chinese man who is not short of money, is his greatest hope, and he has always heard stories of his generosity.But now that even he refuses to invest in filming, wouldn't his hopes be shattered? !

"Mr. Xu, that is really a good movie, it will be a hit, I can assure you." Edward Pressman shouted excitedly.

"Sorry." Xu Guanwu shook his head and said.

"You've heard Xu's answer too, let's go find someone else to try." Richard waved his hand, "Xu, how about we go have a drink together?"

Xu Guanwu nodded, and walked aside with Richard.Edward was left standing there blankly, his face was uncertain, as if he had changed his face.

……

"Ah Wu, that person froze there, he seemed very pitiful." Zhao Yazhi whispered.

"Mrs. Xu, don't worry about him. There are a lot of people like this in Hollywood." Richard smiled and said, "If you look pitiful and take care of everyone, even the richest man in the world can't support him." of."

Xu Guanwu also nodded, "If he only needs an investment of about 1000 million U.S. dollars, I can still try to invest. Now the cost alone is 2000 million U.S. dollars, which is really scary."

"Why, do you think that if the cost is 1000 million, there will be a profit?" Hearing what Xu Guanwu said, Richard couldn't help but perk up his ears, and regained his energy.

"You also said that Conan's novel is very popular among teenagers, and I think fantasy-themed movies will always attract some boys to watch." Xu Guanwu said with a smile, and couldn't help but think of the extremely popular series of movies " The Lord of the Rings.

"Since you're so confident, I'd like to invest in it." Richard said, looking at Edward who was still standing there blankly.

"More than 2000 million US dollars, can you pay for it yourself?" Xu Guanwu asked suspiciously.

"I can't even pay 1000 million US dollars, but Fox should have 5000 to [-] million US dollars in its books." Richard said with a smile, "I want to pull this project into the company. Not bad, at least you won’t lose a lot of money.”

"The cost of more than 2000 million U.S. dollars, plus the promotional expenses of more than 1000 million U.S. dollars, are you sure Fox will pay this money?" Xu Guanwu couldn't help being surprised.

"You don't know this. In fact, there are different ways to calculate the cost of a film." Richard laughed. , setting and other requirements are not so strict, it is very common to cut the cost of the movie by half.”

Xu Guanwu nodded his head clearly. If Shaw Brothers is as humble as Shaw Brothers, and only shoots in the studio, all exterior scenes will use indoor sets, rent costumes and props as much as they can, and use any special effects to survive. Save a lot of money, but the quality of the film is just a matter of opinion.

"With such a method, what about the quality of the film, won't it become a bad film?" Xu Guanwu said worriedly.

"It depends on the ability of the director and producer." Richard said proudly, "Many people can't make a good movie with a lot of money, while some people can make a movie with only hundreds of thousands of dollars." A blockbuster film. The reason for this is to see the scheduling and ingenuity of the director and producer. A good producer should know where to save and where not to save, and a good director can perfect the production Carry out the human mind."

"I see." Xu Guanwu nodded, then glanced at Richard with a smile, "However, it seems that you are secretly praising yourself?"

"Hey." Richard smiled, "Xu, do you really think that if the investment is only 1000 million, it will definitely make money?"

"It's about the same, but don't trust my judgment too easily. You must know that I rely on guesswork." Seeing Richard's eagerness to try, Xu Guanwu hurriedly took a precautionary shot to prevent the movie from being a blockbuster. , and let Richard blame himself.

"I don't believe who you believe, don't worry, I will be careful myself." Richard said with a smile.

Seeing that he was so confident in himself, Xu Guanwu couldn't help but nodded with a wry smile.

……

After a while, the red carpet show ended and the awards ceremony officially began.

There are also talk shows and song and dance performances. These are programs that the American people love to hear and see.

Xu Guanwu knew that the United States not only had talk shows in coffee shops, small theaters, and on the streets, but also on TV. Those people used various methods such as ridicule, satire, and cursing to express their views on the incident.The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Ellen Show, etc., have very good ratings, and the most important thing is that the investment is low.

Brothers Xu Guanwen and Xu Guanjie's "The Annunciation of Two Stars" was actually inspired by American talk shows, and the stand-up comedy that became popular in Hong Kong was actually a form of talk shows.

American talk shows are similar to Chinese stand-up comics, but cross talks focus on routines, the rhythm is relatively slow, the burden is more foreshadowing, and there is less interaction with the audience; while talk shows are all short jokes, three or five sentences Talking is just a burden, the rhythm is relatively fast, and it pays attention to the interaction with the audience.

Of course, this is not to say that cross talk is inferior to talk show. Both have their own advantages, and both are the art of language.

Xu Guanwu can also listen to cross talk, talk shows are also fine, and he is not picky.And today's talk show, it seemed that even he was included in it.

"I often want to go to Hong Kong to experience it, not to learn 'Ada' kung fu, but to learn how to invest in movies." The talk show artist said solemnly, "I will take all my net worth, 100 million US dollars Go invest, and a year later, I will be a billionaire. It’s just that I need to find a stable partner, and I can’t make so many news as soon as I become famous...”

"Damn!" Xu Guanwu cursed from below, clearly talking about him and Stallone.

Sure enough, Richard looked over with a very ambiguous smile.

"Can Stallone still do it now?"

"Why can't it be done?" Xu Guanwu glared at him, "If it can't be done, it must be done."

"Hollywood doesn't know how many stars like him who became popular and then fell silent immediately." Richard curled his lips, "It's a pity that "Rocky" is such a good movie, if it can't be made into a sequel because of him, that's too It's such a pity now. Why don't we find someone else to shoot it?"

(End of this chapter)