Although Zhou Yan just wanted to see how it felt, the Backstreet Boys' performance still surprised him.
The score and lyrics Zhou Yan gave them were relatively simple, with no arrangement. If it was just a singer singing, it would definitely be fine, but since they are a group, it is not that simple.
On this night, they arranged a set by themselves. They arranged the alto and bass in a decent way and even did the harmony.
Although the work was not particularly good, they did not have much time after all. It took them one night to make it, which was already very good.
Seeing how serious their attitude was, Zhou Yan also adjusted it for them and even briefly arranged a song for them on the spot.
Doing this has wasted another hour.
In the end, Zhou Yan asked someone to record it for them, and then said to the boys, "Okay, you go back to sleep. I will have this demo sent to New Balance."< br>
Nick asked innocently, "Y, can you sing this song to us?"
Kevin smiled and patted Nick on the head, "Fool, send me the demo. , Aren’t you just going to sing for us?”
“Really?” Nick looked at Zhou Yan. Although the captain said this, he still waited for Zhou Yan’s answer.
Zhou Yan nodded, "Of course, don't worry, go back and rest. This day and night will not be easy for you."
Facts have proved that the Backstreet Boys are indeed suitable for this song, although the performance of the main song is slightly worse. But it shouldn’t be a problem if you practice it. The key is that you can sing the chorus very well, and it has a particularly youthful feeling.
Hearing Zhou Yan's affirmative reply, the young men finally showed relaxed smiles on their faces.
For this song, their spirits have been tense from last night to now.
They got the score last night, and they just tried singing it briefly and felt the charm of this song.
This song will definitely become as popular as "yellow", or even more popular than "yellow", because compared to the style of "yellow", this song will be more popular with North American fans.
"We Are Young" is somewhat similar to the theme songs of some sports events. It is easier to spread, especially the chorus lines, which are very catchy. After listening to it once, it will keep looping in your mind.
The feeling of hearing "tonight, weareyoung" is the same as the feeling of hearing "wearethechampionsmyfriends", which can make people's hearts surge.
Knowing that this is a song that is destined to be a hit, they certainly don’t want this song to slip away from them, so they stayed up all night last night and wanted to perform better and win. Zhou Yan’s approval.
And now Zhou Yan's affirmative reply made them feel that their efforts were not in vain.
Kevin smiled and said, "I'm afraid we can't go back to the hotel to sleep. We have to go to Phoenix as soon as possible. There are performances there, but we can sleep in the car."
Hearing what they said, Zhou Yan nodded The head said, "That's okay."
I have to say that it's not easy for these young guys. I heard that they just finished three consecutive performances, and they didn't have a few days of rest in between, but they still Spent a lot of time with him.
People often say that he is very busy, but compared with these young men, he is relaxed.
……
After Zhou Yan separated from the Backstreet Boys, he was thinking of finishing the arrangement of "Someone Like You" for Maria when he had time tomorrow and the day after returning to China, but as soon as he returned to the hotel, he received a call from Zhang Youan.
"Where is it?"
"Hotel, what's wrong?"
"I have something to report to you. The matter of "Shutter Island" has been discussed. According to the novel licensing model, the novel licensing fee is US$1.8 million, and the screenwriting fee is US$770,000, a total of US$2.57 million."
Zhou Yan couldn't help but give a thumbs up, Zhang Youan. With some skill, he was able to negotiate the price down to US$2.57 million, which is already the top price in Hollywood.
Although Shane Black just sold his script "The Secret Service" for US$4 million, this is not representative, because US$4 million is a record-breaking amount in the screenwriting world.
Most of the top screenwriters can earn one to two million US dollars.
“Two million and a half million dollars is already very good.”
Zhang Youan smiled and said, “Warner has an additional condition.”
“What additional condition? ”
"Unless there is force majeure, the novel "Shutter Island" must be published within eighteen months, starting from the day the contract is signed."
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "This condition is not very difficult. "
They had already made plans to make "Shutter Island" into a novel. It would not be difficult to publish it within one and a half years. If Zhou Yan is willing, it can be published within this year.
"I know it's not difficult for you, but I can't tell the truth to Warner. I told them that you have been very busy with work in the past two years and can't spare time to do it. Ask them to relax the time limit. To five years.”
“It seems they didn’t agree.”
"Of course they don't agree. The reason why they set the time within eighteen months is that they hope that the publication of the novel will have a positive impact on the box office of the movie. If it is relaxed to five years, it will be of no use to them."< br>
Hearing the pride in Zhang Youan's tone, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "In order to complete the novel within eighteen months, they must have agreed to some conditions for you, right?"
"Otherwise, You are smart, yes, they agreed that before the movie is released, you can get a certain amount of bonus for every sales volume of the novel. If the book sells more than one million copies, you can get 1.2 million US dollars. , it is still very generous. If the sales volume reaches two million, the bonus will be higher than the money received this time."
Hearing this reward condition, Zhou Yan couldn't help but click his tongue. , Warner is indeed generous enough.
But Warner is not at a loss. The "Shutter Island" novel can really reach two million sales before the movie is released. The money Warner can earn will be more than two million US dollars.
They are not stupid, and they calculate the accounts clearly.
If nothing else, a novel with sales of two million can at least save Warner several million in publicity expenses.
Why do Europe and the United States like to adapt literary works so much? Isn’t it because movies adapted from literary works are so popular, whether they are classics like "Sense and Sensibility" or "Les Misérables", or they have some current influence Powerful novels or autobiographies of celebrities are very popular among directors.
For example, the film history classic "The Godfather" is adapted from Mario Puzo's best-selling book of the same name, and "The Shawshank Redemption" is adapted from Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank" Prison Redemption.
Chinese directors also like to adapt literary works, but in this matter, directors from the two countries are fundamentally different.
At least at this stage, when Chinese directors adapt literary works, they actually don’t pay much attention to the fame of the author and the popularity of the work, because the novel will not bring much promotion to the movie. For example, "Raise the Red Lantern" or "Farewell My Concubine". Before the movie came out, not many people knew the original novel. Even after the movie came out, not many people knew the original novel.
If you go to the streets of China and ask random people, you may know about these two movies, but most likely you will not know what the original novels are.
Hollywood attaches great importance to the popularity of authors and works, and their main focus is on best-sellers.
Of course, they are also very willing to spend money on film and television adaptation fees. It is very normal for a book with a slightly higher sales volume to cost more than one million US dollars to adapt.
In China, if the author can get an adaptation fee of tens of thousands of yuan, it is already a sky-high price. This is not only a gap in economic level, but also a gap in film development models.
Zhou Yan has no ambitions for this bonus. After the publication of "Shutter Island", he will be very satisfied if it can sell hundreds of thousands of copies.
It is not impossible to exceed one million copies, but it needs to be distributed together with the movie, or after the movie is released.
The popularity of the movie will in turn drive the sales of the novel.
But this is obviously different from what Warner wants. They hope that the novel will sell well before the movie is released to drive the movie's box office.
Zhou Yan wants to take advantage of movies, and Warner also wants to take advantage of novels.
"Now that the cooperation has been negotiated, who are they going to find as director? Can Martin Scorsese be invited?" Zhou Yan is more concerned about this issue.
Zhang Youan said with a smile, "I was about to tell you this. The director has basically been decided. It is Martin Scorsese. I heard that he agreed immediately after seeing the script. Directed. Now that the cooperation has been negotiated, Warner wants to arrange for your screenwriter to meet with the director to communicate. Now let me ask your opinion. Is that okay in the next two days?"
"No problem? .” Zhou Yan agreed, “Let’s meet him before I go back.”
As for arranging music for Maria, if I have time after meeting Martin Scorsese. Go help her get it done. If you don’t have time, just write it for her in China and communicate remotely. It won’t have any impact anyway.
"Okay, I'll tell Chris and let him arrange the time."
"It's just these two days, after that it won't work."
"Of course I do I know.”
After hanging up the phone, it didn’t take long for Zhang Youan to reply to Zhou Yan. He told Zhou Yan that the time had been set and it would be tomorrow morning.
Martin Scorsese was also in Los Angeles during this time, and it was very convenient to meet him.
The meeting place was scheduled to be at Warner Bros., so I could go and sign the contract.
......
The next morning, Zhou Yan and Zhang Youan went to Warner Bros., and Chris came to pick them up.
Although they have not known each other for a long time, Chris already has a good relationship with them. After all, Chris speaks Chinese very well and understands Chinese culture relatively well.
When we met again, Chris always had a bright smile on his face.
Things went relatively smoothly this time. They won the script for "Shutter Island" and invited Martin Scorsese to direct it as they wished. With such a lineup, it's off to a very good start.
The key is that Martin Scorsese was full of praise for the script, which also made Chris more confident in the movie. Martin Scorsese has professional judgment and he can say Okay, then the script must be good.
Now the company has decided to hand over this project to Chris. The completion of such a $40-50 million project will undoubtedly be very beneficial to his development at Warner.
On the way to the office, Chris also told Zhou Yan and the others that he would take over the project.
Zhou Yan asked curiously, "Are you going to ignore the business in China?"
"The Yanjing office originally hired a local from Yanjing. He can handle the specific affairs with full authority. I only need to control the general direction. I don't need to stay in Yanjing all the time. Moreover, the movie is now in the early preparation stage, and I am completely There’s time to travel back and forth,” Chris explained.
Zhang Youan smiled and said, "You will have to work hard in the next period. The "Shutter Island" project is not simple, and there are many things to deal with in the early stage. Casting and filming locations all need to be taken into consideration. "
"The casting is done by the director team. I just need to control the budget for them. The three actors Zhou Yan recommended before are all very good, and Mr. Scorsese also approves of the other roles. , the director should have his own ideas.”
A director like Scorsese, unlike An Lee, must have the autonomy to select actors when he directs a movie.
Not just casting, if Scorsese wants, he can assemble a team composed entirely of his people. This is the prerogative of a great director.
"As for the filming locations," Chris added, "We have found several alternative locations and are arranging people to conduct on-site inspections."
Zhou Yan nodded and did not ask any more questions. He said that the United States I don’t know the situation here, and it’s hard to express an opinion.
And he doesn’t want to interfere in this movie and take over the main role. A director like Scorsese doesn’t need him to comment.
The group went to the conference room and signed the contract first.
After the contract was signed, several people waited for a while, and Martin Scorsese hurried over.
As soon as he arrived at the conference room, Martin Scorsese apologized profusely, "I'm really sorry, I'm late."
Zhou Yan said politely, "It's not too late, we have just finished our work."
Martin Scorsese first shook hands with Chris and Zhang Youan, and finally held Zhou Yan's hand, "Y, I have always wanted to see you, and today I finally got my wish."
"Me too." Zhou Yan smiled.
Martin Scorsese is not tall, only reaching Zhou Yan’s chin, and he is probably just over 1.6 meters tall.
He wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses, has a big nose, and the upper half of his face looks a bit like "Uncle KFC."
Compared with James Cameron, Scorsese gives people a more academic feel. The weather is quite hot today, but he still wore a black costume and looked at the board. Upright and meticulous.
Zhou Yan likes Martin Scorsese very much. Among these American directors, Martin Scorsese is definitely at the forefront of Zhou Yan’s heart.
Interestingly, Martin Scorsese is of Italian descent, and there are several Italian directors that Zhou Yan likes very much, such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Giuseppe Torledona. . (End of this chapter)