"The Flying Piano Boy" did not receive very good publicity in North America, because the investment cost of the film was only 8 million US dollars, and there was not much money that could be spent on publicity.
The key North American market is full of Hollywood blockbusters, and it is not easy to do well in publicity.
There are many blockbusters this year. "The Lion King" will be released in June, "True Lies" and "Forrest Gump" will be released in July, but the promotion of these movies has already started.
"True Lies" starring Schwarzenegger, director James Cameron, "Forrest Gump" director Robert Zemeckis, actor Tom Hanks, these two movies Just having the names of the main creators printed on the poster is enough to attract movie fans.
Not to mention "The Lion King", it is a movie that Disney strongly promotes, and the promotion is all-round.
...
"The Flying Piano Boy" did not have enough publicity. It is still a French drama film, so the film schedule is naturally very average.
When Jessica and Hardison arrived at the theater, they found that the entire theater was not even 30% occupied.
Although some more audiences came near the opening of the movie, the attendance rate definitely did not reach 35%.
For a new movie that has just been released, such attendance is certainly poor.
Moreover, this show is the only show in this cinema, which shows that the film schedule is very low.
But Jessica and the others are not surprised. The attendance rate of this type of drama film is generally not very high, and they have seen many that are lower than this.
Jessica and Hardison are neighbors. She originally didn’t want to come to the movie, but Hardison told her that a movie about piano was released today, and she became interested. Dison came to the cinema together.
She has played piano since she was a child, so she usually likes to watch movies related to music, and it would be better if it is related to piano.
Unfortunately, there are very few such movies, and they are usually biopics.
She was pleasantly surprised by "The Piano Lesson" released last year. Although this movie had a lot of female themes, the music part was also very good.
Jessica was deeply impressed by the piano music composed by British composer Michael Nyman for the film.
Michael Nyman is good at using simple melody overlapping and classical orchestral techniques. Before this, Jessica had not seen that modern minimalism could carve out melody to such an extent.
When she was in the lobby just now, Jessica took a special look at the poster of "The Flying Piano Boy". In addition to the director and actors, the soundtrack director was also marked on it.
“Y-Chou” is a Chinese.
When she saw that the scorer was Chinese, Jessica was slightly disappointed. There seemed to be no well-known composers in China. This was also the first movie she had seen where a Chinese was the score director. Y-Chou had even heard of it before. Never heard of it.
Next to him, Hardison was very excited. He had always wanted to ask Jessica out to watch a movie, but he never had the chance. Today he happened to see a movie about piano. His eyes lit up and he ran over Invite Jessica.
As expected, Jessica agreed.
It no longer mattered whether the movie was good or bad. He was very happy to watch the movie with Jessica.
Before the movie started, Hardison turned his head and asked Jessica in a low voice, "Are we dating?"
Jessica looked at Hardison, shook her head and said, "Of course not."
"How about we go have ice cream later?"
"Hardison, sixteen I won’t date any boys before I’m 10 years old,” Jessica said seriously.
Hardison pouted, they were only thirteen years old. If they had to wait until they were sixteen, there would still be more than two years.
"Then when you are sixteen, can you be the first to date me?" Hardison asked again.
"Maybe."
What else did Hardison say, Jessica said, "The movie has started."
He looked up and the movie had indeed started.
The movie is very good, the plot, shooting techniques, and actors are all very good, and the interaction between the male protagonist and his neighbor’s sister is also very attractive to Hardison, and he watched it with gusto.
Jessica was a little disappointed.
The movie was indeed good, but she came here for the piano.
The young male protagonist plays the piano very well, and the experience of the young male protagonist can also resonate with Jessica. However, there are no original songs in it. The young male protagonist plays some well-known classical music.
This is completely incomparable with "Piano Lesson".
Sure enough, the unknown soundtrack director just doesn’t surprise people.
She was even a little confused, did this movie really need a soundtrack director? Isn't it just to bring over some well-known classical music? Mainly to highlight the young male protagonist’s piano skills.
Even if she were replaced as the soundtrack director, she would still be able to complete the task, maybe even better.
But soon, Jessica discovered that she was wrong.
When the young male protagonist secretly played the piano at his grandfather's house, Jessica originally thought it would be a well-known piece, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a very light and interesting original piece.
This song is very simple, but the melody is very out of the ordinary. It matches the mood of the little hero at the moment, and it is perfect.
Well, it seems that the soundtrack director did nothing. At least the improvisation of the young male protagonist was done very well.
But with "Piano Lesson" in front of it, the soundtrack here seems ordinary.
But with this soundtrack, Jessica became more interested in the movie.
It’s pretty good. I can barely give it a passing grade in terms of music.
As the movie progressed, Jessica suddenly discovered that after the movie entered the middle and later stages, there were suddenly more soundtracks.
In the early part of the movie, except for the young male protagonist playing the piano, there is almost no other music, and there is a lot of blank space.
But in the middle and later sections, even if the young male protagonist does not play the piano, there will be a lot of soundtracks. In addition to the piano, there are other orchestral music, which is a lot richer.
In the middle of the scene where the young male protagonist reunited with his neighbor’s sister, the young male protagonist played an impromptu song, and Jessica was stunned.
This song... was also written by that Chinese musician?
The beautiful piano sound, combined with the back of the heroine on a rainy day, and the affectionate eyes of the young hero, Jessica held her breath, for fear that her voice would affect this wonderful picture.
The music is so good and the director is so good at filming!
Hardison looked envious when he saw this scene. He even wondered if he also wanted to learn piano?
And this is not over yet.
When the little male protagonist’s grandfather passed away, Jessica originally felt a little sad, but when she heard the song "Tears" played by the male protagonist, her tears began to flow in her eyes along with the music. .
This piece of music is not a very sad one, but the plain melody pierces Jessica's heart every time.
This is a minimalist piece.
Some people think that minimalist music is a rebellion against progress, a corruption of modernity, too repetitive and boring, without advancement of phrases, and a surrender of refined art to popular art.
And their views also illustrate a problem, that is, this type of music is loved by the public.
Moreover, movies are popular art, so it is very suitable for such a song to appear in the movie.
Jessica has studied piano since she was a child and is in contact with classical music every day. However, she is not so arrogant that she thinks popular music is unworthy. On the contrary, she likes to listen to popular music with strong melodies. .
For the first three songs, every time a song appears, Jessica has to change the soundtrack and guide Y-Chou to re-understand it.
After the last song "Croatian Rhapsody" appeared, Jessica had to re-review the movie for the fourth time.
This score director is simply a genius of melody.
Jessica puts most of her energy into music, while Hardison enjoys the plot of the movie more, especially in the middle and late stages when the young male protagonist shows off his power to help his grandfather realize his dream and help his father regain his company, and finally went on stage to perform a symphony. These scenes looked so exciting.
Compared with the original version of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" shot by Zhou Yan, the French version is indeed a bit more enjoyable and less restrained. The young male protagonist is like a boss behind the scenes, taking control at a young age. everything.
The interaction with the heroine is also more unrestrained.
When the movie ended, the lights in the theater came on and everyone else started to walk out, but Jessica sat motionless in her seat.
She wanted to see the names of the soundtracks that appeared in the movie. The names of some of the songs were reflected in the movie, such as the song "Tears" composed by the young hero after his grandfather passed away, and the last one "Croatian Rhapsody" performed in the Concert Hall.
But the name of the song that the young hero secretly played at his grandfather's house and the song that the young hero played impromptuly when they reunited with the heroine were not shown in the movie.
It wasn’t until the end that Jessica finally saw the names of these two songs.
The first song is called "Secret Joy" and the second song is called "Reunion".
Jessica also confirmed one thing. These songs were all composed by the soundtrack director Y-Chou himself.
The music that appears in the movie is not necessarily composed by the soundtrack, but some are samples, such as the classic songs such as "The Clown's Morning Song" and "Rondo" in this movie.
There are also some original tracks, which may have been written by others invited by the soundtrack director.
That’s why Jessica paid special attention to the creator.
But unfortunately, the names of some soundtrack clips did not appear in the movie.
When the movie credits ended, Jessica stood up and walked towards the door of the theater.
Halfway through, Jessica suddenly asked, "Will this movie be scheduled for tomorrow?"
"It should... definitely be."
Hearing that Jessica might want to watch it tomorrow, Hardison didn't care whether the movie was scheduled for tomorrow or not, so he directly answered in the affirmative.
The big deal is that he can just pay for the cinema to add one more show. It doesn’t cost much anyway.
"I want to come over tomorrow and listen to the music inside."
"No problem, I'll cover it." Hardison said, patting his chest.
In the lobby outside, Hardison went straight to the ticket office.
"Hello, is there a screening of "The Flying Piano Boy" tomorrow?"
The conductor looked a little strange when he came out of the theater. He should have been watching it when he came out after the show. Why do I need to buy a ticket after watching this movie?
"Yes, the same time tomorrow."
"Well, give us two tickets."
"Okay."
After buying the tickets, ha Dison returned to Jessica, shook the ticket in his hand, "Done."
"Thank you." Jessica smiled and nodded.
On the way back, Jessica was still thinking about the music in the movie.
I don’t know when the soundtrack of this movie will be released. If the soundtrack comes out, she will definitely buy it. She has listened to the soundtrack of "Piano Lesson" many times.
But what Jessica didn’t know was that if she had looked carefully at the content of the lower half of the poster just now, she would have discovered that it had actually been written on the poster, from "The Flying Piano Boy" Most of the original tracks have been included in the music album "Piano Boy".
As long as she wants to listen to it, she can go to some larger record stores to find this album.
……
Of course, not everyone didn't notice.
For example, Kahn in New York saw the news of the music album "The Piano Boy" immediately. He was surprised at the time that the soundtrack was released just after the movie came out.
After watching the movie, Kahn went to a record store he was familiar with to look for it, and he actually found it.
When Kahn bought the album and listened to it, he realized that he had been "cheated".
Although this music album is called "The Piano Boy", it is not the soundtrack of "The Flying Piano Boy" at all. The songs in this movie account for less than one-third of the album. .
However, he was willing to be deceived in this way, because he found that "The Piano Boy" is simply a treasure album. Except for a few songs in the movie, the other songs are also very good.
Kahn even feels that the other music in this album is better than the music in the movie.
"Kite", "Forever Together", "Summer", "Wind", these songs really get better and better the more you listen to them, and the album is very rich in elements. In addition to the first few soothing ballads, there are also There are songs like "Awakening" that make people's blood boil.
The only regret is that this album does not contain the song "Tears" from the movie.
After reading the introduction of the album, Kahn realized that this music album had actually been released in other countries long ago, and the songs in it were composed by the composer Y-Chou for the movie.
In addition to this movie, there are two other Chinese movies. And he was also surprised to find that "The Flying Piano Boy" was actually a remake of "The Flying Piano Boy" directed by Y-Chou himself.
He couldn't help but sigh, who is this Y? He only composes such good music, but he can also make movies, and it seems that Y's directing skills are not bad, and he is the first in the film. This short film won the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.
The original version of "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly" also performed very well and was the first movie to rank among the top ten at the Neon box office in the past ten years.
……
On May 3, when Zhou Yan was reading at home, he received a call from Zhang Youan.
"Unfortunately, the box office performance of "Flying Piano Boy" in North America was not high, with only more than 300,000 US dollars on the first day."
After the call was connected, Zhang Youan said A bad news.
Zhou Yan was a little disappointed when he heard that the amount on the first day was only over 300,000 US dollars.
Three hundred thousand US dollars is really a bit small.
However, he had not had high hopes before, so when he heard this result, he was not particularly disappointed.
And he was disappointed mainly because he knew that Xu Feng would probably be disappointed.
Throw a peach in return and give him a plum in return. Xu Feng is so kind to Zhou Yan. Of course, Zhou Yan also hopes that Xu Feng can make money.
"As expected, does Sister Feng know this news?" Zhou Yan asked.
Hearing Zhou Yan first ask Xu Feng, Zhang Youan suddenly laughed, "Mr. Xu already knows, she told me this news. However, I only told you half of this news, and the other half Yes, although the box office of this movie on the first day was only more than 300,000 US dollars, the box office in the first three days reached 2.1 million US dollars, and it increased a lot in the following two days.”
The first day was more than 300,000, and in the third day it reached more than 2.1 million. The following two days added up to 1.8 million, with an average of 900,000 per day. This increase is quite high.
Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "That means the movie's reputation is not bad."
"Yes, the reputation is not bad, so the box office increased a lot in the next two days, especially on the third day , the single-day box office reached 1.2 million US dollars. According to the current situation, the follow-up performance should be good. Judging from the current results, the final box office should be higher than "Farewell My Concubine"."
" The box office of "Farewell My Concubine" in North America was more than 5 million US dollars. Now "The Flying Piano Boy" has received 2.1 million US dollars in its first weekend. It will definitely be no problem to exceed 5 million US dollars.
However, Zhou Yan feels that there is no need to compare it with "Farewell My Concubine" because the latter is a white film and will definitely be more accepted in North America.
The genres of the two movies are also different. "Farewell My Concubine" is an art film, but the latter is not.
And the investment costs of the two movies are also different, with the latter more than twice as much as the former.
The reason why Zhang Youan compared "Farewell My Concubine" was because of his own thoughts.
Although there is no competition between Zhou Yan and Chen Kaige, as they are both contracted directors of Tomson, in Zhang Youan's view, there is naturally a situation of "competition".
There are only so many resources in the company. If you give more here, you should give less there.
As Zhou Yan's manager, Zhang Youan naturally hopes that Zhou Yan can beat Chen Kaige in front of Xu Feng.
“There is even better news.” Zhang Youan continued, “We commissioned an agency to randomly check a total of twenty-five record stores of different sizes. In the past two days, the sales volume of "Piano Boy" has increased sharply. On average, each record store sells seven copies of "Piano Boy" every day."
Zhou Yan didn't understand the meaning of these data. "Is this data good?"
"It's very good. , After all, it has just begun, and the publishers we cooperate with in North America have already added orders to the factory.”
The number of first-production copies produced by the North American publishing company was already a lot, 120,000 copies.
The reason why Tomson was able to negotiate such a high number of first releases with the other party was because the album "Piano Boy" achieved very good results in Neon.
Although it was not a big hit in Europe and the United States, it sold well. The distribution company estimated that the first batch of 120,000 copies should be no problem.
But now it seems that these 120,000 copies are obviously not enough.
Although an average of only seven records are sold per record store every day, sales will increase as the movie is slowly seen by more people.
And when the distribution company sees that the record has good prospects, it will also invest more money to help promote it.
In the past, they only marked the information about the music album of "The Piano Boy" on the movie posters. Now they can spend more money to make posters specifically used to promote the music and put them in movie theaters.
As publicity increases, sales will inevitably increase.
Not only North America, but also distributors in Europe are increasing orders. After North America, movies will also be released in Germany, Italy and other European countries.
"If that's the case, then I'm relieved." Zhou Yan thought for a while and asked, "When will my next batch of royalties be paid?"
I heard Zhou Yan ask Regarding royalties sharing, Zhang Youan asked: "Are you short of money recently? Didn't Shiseido's endorsement fees cost one million when they were received? Has it been spent so quickly?"
Zhou Yan smiled sheepishly, "It was a bit of an impulsive purchase. I bought a Steinway B211 hanger for the recording studio."
"Steinway...uh, how much did it cost?" Zhang Youan doesn't know much about pianos. Quotes.
"Specially customized, just over one million."
Zhang Youan twitched his lips. Before, he said that Zhou Yan only knew how to work, but he didn't know how to spend money. Now he realized What he said was totally wrong.
It’s not that Zhou Yan doesn’t know how to spend money, it’s that he doesn’t spend small amounts of money. Once he spends it, it’s big money.
For more than one million, he bought a piano. Zhou Yan was really willing to give it up.
But this is all Zhou Yan's own money. As long as Zhou Yan does not break the law or engage in some evil activities, he, as an agent, will not interfere with how he spends his money.
"Okay, I'll help you with the reminder later. How much money do you have on hand?"
"Six to seven hundred thousand, probably."
"There's something going on recently. Didn’t spend a lot of money..."
"I'm going to order another one."
"..."
Tsk, tsk, one million-level piano is not enough, so I have to order two. This is really a waste of money. ah.
"Okay, I understand. The next batch of money should arrive soon. I will help you urge Shiseido to settle the balance as soon as possible."
< br>Speaking of the final payment, Zhang Youan thought of another thing.
"Oh, by the way, there are several companies here in Neon that have contacted us and want you to help them shoot commercials and write songs. The prices are not low."
Shiseido's After the advertisement was aired, the response in Neon's home country was very good, and other brands also took notice.
When these brands learned that the advertisement was also shot by Zhou Yan, they called Zhang Youan.
Hearing that other companies approached him to shoot advertisements, Zhou Yan refused without even thinking, "No, I don't have the time. The last time I helped Shiseido shoot an advertisement, it was all because I was there." , what a coincidence.”
In fact, there is another key reason, that is, Shiseido’s spokesperson is Wang Zuxian. The main reason why he works as a spokesperson for Shiseido and helps them shoot advertisements is because of Wang Zuxian.
Although he is very short of money now, there are many places to make money, and he will not go out to shoot advertisements for those brands.
And he is not really short of money, he just doesn't have enough money for the time being.
We are really short of money. Qizhi Company has made a lot of money, and he can share a lot if he wants.
Qizhi is the advertising design company they founded together with Huo Siqi. With Huo Siqi’s connections, the company’s business is not worried at all. It has received several large orders. Recently, their design department has been overwhelmed. Still hiring.
Zhou Yan refused, which was also expected by Zhang Youan, "I understand, your studio is opening, do you want to hold an opening ceremony?"
"Have done it."
"Huh? Have done it?"
"Well, I took the students to do it briefly."
"That's it, I also want to make it a lively event to let everyone know that you have opened a studio.”
“I won’t do it for the time being.”
"Okay, I understand. Let me just say this first. I haven't visited your studio yet. I will go to Yanjing in a while and I will come and sit at your place."
"Okay."
......
The second time Zhou Yan heard about the box office performance of "The Flying Piano Boy" in North America was six days later, and it was Xu Feng who told him personally.
Because the news was so good, Xu Feng couldn't help but call him personally to tell him.
This time Xu Feng told him about the box office data of the previous ten days. In just ten days, the box office revenue exceeded 6.5 million US dollars.
Although the single-day box office has dropped every day, the drop is not bad, and the overall box office is relatively stable. Looking at the current situation, there should be no problem with the final box office exceeding 10 million US dollars.
“We estimate that it will exceed 10 million US dollars, but data provided by an organization shows that the final box office of the movie can exceed 20 million US dollars. I can’t believe it myself.”
"Professional institutions should conduct more comprehensive data analysis." Zhou Yan said.
"Well, I have read their analysis report, and it probably means that the box office data of "Flying Piano Boy" is stable and has sufficient stamina. According to the current downward trend, it should be able to exceed 20 million US dollars."
"If it can exceed 20 million US dollars, then your investment will make money."
"It can make a lot of money. If the movie can eventually exceed 20 million US dollars at the box office in North America, then the total box office will be very promising. It’s over 40 million US dollars and has already passed the profit line. It’s a pity that I didn’t invest more at that time, otherwise I would have received more.”
Although Xu Feng said this, he actually didn’t regret it too much. , attracting people to invest is not just for money, but also for the resources in the hands of these investors.
The distribution and promotion of movies rely heavily on resources.
If you don’t share the money with others, why should they help you? The film industry is like this. You help me and I help you to build a network of connections.
Xu Feng has been really good recently. She signed Zhou Yan before, just because she was optimistic about Zhou Yan's talent, and whether she could make money was secondary.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yan turned out to be a money-making machine.
Since signing Zhou Yan, Tomson's profits have been rising steadily, and now her company's business is getting bigger and bigger.
If it continues to develop, it can even feed back to the Tomson Group. Among other things, Tomson Film Company's current cash flow is very high. If there is not much investment in the past two years, they can save a lot of money. Got a lot of cash.
“Well, it’s good if you can make money.”
Xu Feng suddenly smiled again and said, "Don't worry, I'll call you the balance in a few days."
Zhou Yan was stunned for a moment, he didn't even mention the money, "Actually, I..."< br>
"I heard from Zhang Youan that you have been spending a lot of money recently. Don't worry, I won't owe you your hard-earned money."
Zhou Yan didn't show any pretense, "Then thank you Sister Feng. . ”
“It’s your own money. Why did you thank me? I would have given it to you earlier.”
Zhou Yan’s arrangement for the film’s soundtrack was negotiated in two stages.
For the first time, they only discussed licensing. The licensing fee for the soundtrack alone was one hundred thousand dollars.
But later Olivier packaged the film's soundtrack to Zhou Yan, and the packaging fee was 400,000 US dollars. This 400,000 US dollars included the initial 100,000 US dollars.
Zhou Yan only received the first batch of money in the early stage, but not the subsequent batch.
Zhou Yan takes 90% of the next three hundred thousand US dollars, which is two hundred and seventy thousand US dollars.
If he can get this money, it will be more than enough to buy a Steinway b112, and he can also do other things. Recently, he is considering whether to purchase some real estate or real estate.
"I mainly need to buy some things recently, so I spent some money."
"You know, pianos cost more than one million, and I have to buy two more." Xu Feng haha He smiled and said, "It's okay. Money is a bastard. We'll make more after spending it. If it doesn't work, let Zhang Youan ask Zhou Xingchi for an invitation. If you score the soundtrack for "Westward Journey", wouldn't your salary be 800,000?"
"Haha , It’s not like this.”
When Zhou Yan signed the contract with Caixing Company, the terms of remuneration payment had been agreed upon. Caixing Company would pay Zhou Yan’s entire remuneration within six months after the filming of the film was completed. , no later than September 1995, that is, no later than next fall before the start of school, Zhou Yan can get all the money.
I'm not a fool. It's impossible for me to pay the soundtrack director's salary before the filming of the movie has even started.
Not to mention the remuneration for post-production work such as scoring and directing, the remuneration of many actors is paid after the filming of the film is completed, and may be paid in installments. (End of this chapter)