The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 76 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

"No wonder they found me, otherwise who would spend a lot of money to take over this mess." Xu Guanwu muttered with self-deprecation.

Richard and David are indeed well-known producers in Hollywood. A sharp mouth can almost coax a bird from a tree down.

They talked endlessly to Xu Guanwu about how creative the film was, how grand the scene was, how twists and turns the plot was, and how terrifying the atmosphere was...

The purpose is to make Xu Guanwu obediently pay for this "unfinished film".

Needless to say, Xu Guanwu also knew that this movie was very popular, but he didn't want to be too positive.

"Is that so? Oh, there is such a plot? It's a pity..." Xu Guanwu dealt with it casually, but he was thinking about how to fight for the box office share in the hands of the screenwriter and the two producers.

"Jaws" was the first film to be released simultaneously in the United States. It was an instant hit and caused a huge sensation. The cumulative box office in North America exceeded [-] million US dollars.

The screenwriter's 10% net profit is tens of millions of dollars, which can be called the most profitable script ever.

Perhaps when Richard and David signed the contract, they would not have thought that the film would be such a hit.

"Stanley, David and I have talked so much, are you interested in investing?" Seeing Xu Guanwu's casual performance, Richard asked a little displeased.

"It sounds like your movie is really good, but the investment is really too high. I need to invest at least tens of millions of dollars to finish this movie." Xu Guanwu pondered for a while, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Ten million dollars is a lot of money, so in order to protect my interests, I want to get all the net profits of the entire film." Xu Guanwu set out his own conditions.

"It's impossible, we've already signed the contract. David and I will get 40% of the net profit, the screenwriter will get 10%, and the other 2.5% will go to the director." Richard flatly refused.

"But if the film is not made, all your profits will be zero." Xu Guanwu glanced at Richard and said, "Well, I won't let the two of you suffer, and I will give each of you 100 million for the production fee $50 from the screenwriter. If you agree, I can invest now. If you don’t agree, then there’s nothing I can do.”

After Xu Guanwu finished speaking, he closed his eyes and put on an inscrutable look.

"This..." Richard and David looked at each other, and they saw puzzled and shocked expressions on each other's faces.

The production fee of 100 million US dollars was considered a lot of money at the time.

After all, the investment to make a movie is only a million dollars.

"Sir, please let us discuss it before giving you an answer?" Richard said.

"Okay, I'll give you one day to think about it. If there is no reply tomorrow, I will leave the United States and return to Hong Kong." Xu Guanwu nodded and said.

Richard agreed with David and got up to leave.

Lei Shidong looked at Xu Guanwu with great interest, "It seems that you are really optimistic about that movie, and you are willing to pay 200 million US dollars to buy 40% of the net profit."

"Didn't I remind you that this film will definitely be a hit?" Xu Guanwu said with a smile, "If you want to participate in the stock right now, there is still time."

"Forget it, I'm not as courageous as you. If I don't make a million dollars, I can't explain to the board of directors." Lei Shidong waved his hand.

Xu Guanwu smiled slightly and didn't say anything more.

The current Lei Shidong has not experienced that serious fire, so he has not seen life and death reborn from the ashes, and his actions seem a bit conservative, without the indomitable drive that he had since then.

……

While waiting for Richard and David to reply, Xu Guanwu picked up the script that he hadn't finished reading last night, and looked through it in turn looking for projects that could be invested.

He has accumulated tens of millions of dollars in his hands now, and he can't digest all of them when he brings them back to Hong Kong. Only a country with developed capital like the United States can absorb them.

Xu Guanwu also planned to use all the money to invest in film production, so that Hong Kong films can be matured in advance.But he was afraid that the prematurely mature Hong Kong movies would fall into the crazy situation of the 90s, so Xu Guanwu put out this idea again.

"Before you put a bridle on Hong Kong movies, don't let them eat too much." Xu Guanwu muttered.

In his mind, if Hong Kong films want to continue to develop steadily, they must be subject to some constraints.

Just like if the market economy is not restrained and develops wantonly, it will lead to economic crisis from time to time.

Therefore, there must be some means of control.

Hong Kong movies lack such a means of regulation.

In the 80s, the major film companies still restrained themselves.

The three theater chains of Golden Harvest, Debao, and Golden Princess all advocate making good films, good films.

But in the 90s, the establishment of Xinbao Cinemas and Yonggao Cinemas, in order to supplement the schedule of the theaters, gave bad movies a chance to be released.

The shooting time of bad movies is short, the requirements are low, and big-name stars are hired in order to sell well. Therefore, actors all go to play bad movies in order to get higher remuneration.

Bad money drives out good money, and over time, Hong Kong is full of bad movies.

The overall box office has dropped again and again, from 12 billion Hong Kong dollars at its peak all the way down. In 97, the overall box office in Hong Kong was only [-] million Hong Kong dollars.

If you take into account the factors of ticket price rise and inflation, this result will drop even further.

The root of all this is the establishment of new theaters.

"If we want to ensure the stable development of Hong Kong movies, we must put an end to the emergence of a fourth theater." Xu Guanwu muttered to himself while flipping through the script, "But why should I think so much? The purpose of making movies is to It’s just to make money. When the Hong Kong film market is booming, make a little more money. Then go to the mainland to invest in buying a house and make a lot of money.”

Xu Guanwu said with a smile that although he likes Hong Kong movies, he has no idea of ​​being a hero and trying to turn the tide when the building is about to collapse.

He flipped through the scripts one by one in his hands, and there are many novel works among them.

However, Xu Guanwu knew that his vision was limited. He didn't remember the few movies he had seen or heard, so he couldn't guarantee 100% that it would make money, so he had no choice but to give up.

"When I look back, I have to study hard and learn how to be a qualified producer, so as not to go deep into Baoshan but return empty-handed." Xu Guanwu muttered.

If one of the scripts he gave up today made a lot of money, Xu Guanwu knew that he would be depressed.

""One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? The name sounds familiar." When Xu Guanwu turned to the last script, he couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw the title on it.

He quickly opened it and read the script.

"McMurphy, Chief... Isn't this the article that was published in the high school Chinese textbook?" Xu Guanwu suddenly called out.

He suddenly remembered that when he was in high school, he had seen the script fragment of this movie in "Chinese Reader".

Although the content has been very vague for him after many years, there are still some fragments in his mind.

He still remembered that at the end of the script, the chief suffocated McMurphy, who had become an idiot, with a pillow, and then broke out of the madhouse by breaking the window.

"Since this film can be published in "Chinese Reader", it must have made a great achievement." Xu Guanwu said with a smile, "Perhaps when "Chinese Reader" publishes this script again in a few decades, it will mention that this movie was made by The Chinese invested in the filming. Then I will be famous for thousands of years.”

Xu Guanwu was very happy to discover this "Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by accident.What made him even more happy was that the next day, Richard and David finally gave in and agreed to the conditions offered by Xu Guanwu.

(End of this chapter)