China Entertainment special effects started in 1997

In early March, Columbia Pictures President Amy Paschal came to Beijing and, accompanied by Columbia China President Zhou Lixian, visited Jiang Heng at iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Pictures.

The main purpose of Paschal's visit was to discuss the distribution of the profits of "Pacific Rim" and to follow up on the preparations for "Pacific Rim 2".

In terms of box office, the total global box office of "Pacific Rim" reached 939 million US dollars, which was lower than the 974 million of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", ranking second in the 2001 global box office list.

In the North American market alone, "Pacific Rim" achieved a score of 349 million US dollars, far exceeding the 317 million US dollars of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", becoming the annual box office champion in the North American market.

In Japan, the final score of "Pacific Rim" was 28.3 billion yen (about 232 million US dollars), surpassing "Titanic" and ranking below "Spirited Away" with 31.6 billion yen.

In mainland China, the film's performance exceeded the 600 million mark, set at 625 million yuan, which is about 75 million US dollars when converted into US dollars.

In Hong Kong, it beat "Shaolin Soccer" and won 67 million Hong Kong dollars (8.58 million US dollars), and in Taiwan, it won 186 million New Taiwan dollars (5.38 million US dollars).

"Pacific Rim" has accumulated a box office of 669 million US dollars in the world's three major film markets in 2001.

In the other several split box office markets, "Pacific Rim" also performed well, basically ranking in the top ten of the annual box office, and accumulated a box office of 143 million US dollars.

Therefore, the total split box office reached an astonishing 812 million US dollars.

The split income attributed to the producer and distributor is a difficult data to count because of the different split ratios in different countries.

For example, in North America, "Pacific Rim" basically enjoys the treatment of Hollywood blockbusters, with a split ratio of 50%, which means it can get 174.5 million US dollars.

But in mainland China, the film company's revenue share is about 33% of the total box office, about 25 million US dollars.

In Japan, South Korea, and Western Europe, the revenue share is basically the same as that of Hollywood blockbusters, about 40%.

The final total of the shareable box office is 361 million US dollars. After deducting the distribution costs and adding the copyright buyout income of 17 million US dollars, the final total of the shareable income is 349 million US dollars.

Jiang Heng's investment accounts for half, taking 174.5 million US dollars.

The director's salary is 5 million US dollars, plus the 50 million saved by using the "super microcomputer" for special effects.

"Pacific Rim" alone brought him an income of 229.5 million US dollars.

According to the current exchange rate, it is 1.89 billion RMB, which is enough to retire on the spot!

As for Columbia and China Film, they also made a lot of money.

After a long period of financial statistics, accounting, and transfer, it was not until late March that the three companies producing Pacific Rim pocketed their respective profits.

For this reason, China Film Group held a grand "celebration banquet" to congratulate the three companies on their happy cooperation.

At the banquet, Pascal raised his glass to toast Jiang Heng.

"Director Jiang, I never thought that you would create such a successful film. There is a tradition in Hollywood that profitable films should be made until they are no longer profitable. Aren't you in a hurry to make a sequel?"

Jiang Heng laughed, "I also want to release the second part as soon as possible, but you also know that my filming schedule is full. I am afraid that I can't prepare for the second part in the next two years!"

Pascal said regretfully: "That's a pity. Our cooperation is so good, why don't we deepen it? "The Matrix 2" will definitely make money without us, but those who have no experience The mythological themes that have been tested by the market can definitely bring us along! "

Jiang Heng smiled and said: "Mythological themes are basically Chinese faces, shot in the mainland, and the market is mainly in China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. It's hard to say about Europe and the United States!"

Pascal said: "But your previous "Devil's Land" (Lion Camel Ridge) is really popular with American audiences!"

Jiang Heng smiled bitterly: "The original work of that film is very exciting, and the adapted plot and special effects are the best choice. It's hard to say about the subsequent mythological stories!"

Pascal was a little embarrassed when he heard this.

Han Sanping tried to smooth things over, "Ms. Amy, in fact, in addition to Director Jiang Heng, we also have other famous directors in China, and the blockbusters they shoot are also very good."

"Oh, who else?"

"Director Chen Kaige!"

"Chen, oh, I've heard of him, that "Farewell My Concubine" won a big award!"

"He is currently shooting a fantasy blockbuster. Although it is already in the process of shooting, if Columbia is willing to participate, it can invest in special effects production and publicity!"

"Oh, Director Chen's special effects blockbuster, I am still looking forward to it!" Pascal said with a smile.

Zhou Lixian, President of Columbia China, was hesitant. She wanted to say it for fear of offending people, but if she didn't say it, she was afraid that the boss would agree to something.

So she whispered: "Go to the bathroom!"

Although Pascal had drunk a lot of wine, he was still not confused.

He smiled and stood up to say hello, and went to the bathroom with Zhou Lixian.

"What's wrong, Zhou, do you have something to tell me?"

"Yes, don't cooperate with Chen, he is unreliable!"

"No, reliable?"

"Yes, in 1998, he invested more than 70 million yuan in "The Emperor and the Assassin", but only got more than 10 million yuan at the box office, which made the producer lose a lot of money!"

"So miserable?" Pascal was also shocked. Is this the level of the best director in mainland China?

In Hollywood, if we only talk about commercial achievements, he would not be ranked at all!

"Yes, but people here believe that he is a famous director, and many people in China Film also believe in him. The money we have earned with great difficulty is invested in such a person. If things go wrong, we will lose it again!"

Zhou Lixian pays more attention to the box office results. She is not interested in directors like Chen Kaige, but she appreciates Jiang Heng and Zhou Xingxing.

Originally, she represented Columbia Company and participated in the production of "Kung Fu". In the end, she concluded that Zhou Xingxing was really a "difficult" person.

Pascal naturally appreciates commercial directors more, but Jiang Heng no longer needs Columbia and has a tendency to reduce cooperation.

The most important purpose of her coming here is to strengthen cooperation with Jiang Heng, and she also wants to discover other Chinese directors.

"Besides Chen, there is also Jiang Heng. Who do you think can cooperate?"

"At present, it seems that there are only Zhang Yimou and Zhou Xingxing. Zhang's "Hero" is in post-production and he will look for overseas distributors. Zhou Xingxing has received investment from Jiang Heng and is also making blockbusters."

Pascal smiled, "So, China is entering the era of blockbusters!"

"Yes, driven by director Jiang Heng, the Chinese-language film market has recovered in recent years, with an increasing number of audiences and box office, and more investors!"