Chapter 443 Fifty Million Dollars
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan sat on the sofa in the living room and thought for a while.
What Hong Ben said should be true.
When Zhou Yan was in Canada before, he heard similar news, but he didn't expect that after such a long time, the budget issue was not resolved, and the conflicts within the crew became more and more intense.
The budget of "Titanic" should be increased by another 30 to 50 million US dollars.
Fox should be able to raise this money by tightening his belt.
But looking at it like this, Fox doesn’t want to spend any more money on it. After all, they have already spent more than 100 million US dollars, and the risks have already been raised.
Now if you invest another 30 to 50 million in it, the risk factor will increase a lot.
The key is that Fox has other plans, all of which cost money. They can't stop the company's other plans just for the sake of "Titanic". They can't afford to gamble.
After thinking for a while, Zhou Yan called Zhang Youan and asked him to inquire about the situation of "Titanic".
But as soon as Zhou Yan finished speaking, Zhang Youan said, "No need to ask, I know about this. There was indeed something wrong with the budget of "Titanic". Just halfway through the filming, they discovered that too much money was spent. According to the current situation, Even if the movie is finished, there won’t be any money left for the promotion.”
Zhou Yan pursed his lips. If there is no cost for the promotion, then the movie might as well not be made.
For commercial films, publicity and distribution are so important.
“How much is the shortage?”
“The news I heard is that there is a shortage of 100 million US dollars.”
Zhou Yan was surprised, "How is it possible that Xuanfa can ask for so much money? Moreover, by now the film has been filmed, the early stage setting costs have been spent, and the rest is the most expensive post-production. With this 100 million US dollars, Xuanfa It’s almost as good as in the later period.”
Hong Ben said with a smile, “100 million US dollars is definitely not needed. Fox released such news to make it easier to negotiate later.”
Zhou Yan clicked his tongue and said, "They are not afraid of scaring away investors."
"The investment threshold this time is too high. Even if it is not 100 million U.S. dollars, it will definitely be 30 to 50 million U.S. dollars." It’s necessary, but most people can’t get to the table.”
Zhou Yan thought for a while and asked, “Is there any chance we can participate?”
After receiving Zhou Yan's advice and hearing Zhou Yan talk about it, Zhang Youan guessed that Zhou Yan might be interested in investing in "Titanic", so now that he heard Zhou Yan ask this, he was not very surprised.
"It's difficult. Fox is also targeting the other eight major companies. We have no advantage in participating. Moreover, the cost is too high, and we may not be able to raise so much money."
Tomson's development has indeed been good in recent years. Zhou Yan has helped them make a lot of money, but they can't afford tens of millions of dollars now.
Nowadays, it may be difficult for Tomson to pay 50 million yuan, but 50 million US dollars is a no-brainer.
Otherwise, Xu Feng will have to attract investment, but it is not easy to attract investment of 50 million US dollars.
Even if Xu Feng continued to support Zhou Yan, it would be impossible for him to do this.
To be honest, if we can really get 50 million US dollars, wouldn’t it be safer to give the money directly to Tomson Group to develop real estate?
The risk is too high to invest so much money in a movie.
James Cameron's record is indeed brilliant, but this time the plate is so big that many people dare not get on the bus.
Zhou Yan nodded, he also understood Tang Chen's current situation.
"If I can get this money, what are the chances of getting on the bus?"
On the other end of the phone, Zhang Youan licked his lips, "If I really have money, the possibility is about 10%. The key depends on the attitude of the other companies. If no one else is willing to get on the bus, then Fox will have to look for you. But how much can you really get?"
How much does Zhou Yan have on hand? As for money, Zhang Youan probably knew that he probably wouldn't be able to get so much money together.
"Didn't we invest in "The Sixth Sense" before? We made a lot of money."
"That's not enough."
Zhou did make a lot of money by investing in "The Sixth Sense", but the money he got was probably still some distance from US$50 million.
Besides, even if you have enough money, you can’t just put all the money in, right?
It is too dangerous to advance so boldly.
But... Zhang Youan thought of the Zhou family.
He doesn't know much about the Zhou family's business, but he knows a little more than most people. If the Zhou family is willing to pay at this time, it is possible to shell out 50 million US dollars.
"If you have any ideas, I can help you communicate." Zhang Youan said again.
Zhou Yan nodded and said, "Okay, you can go and ask for me. When the matter is completed, I will give you a commission."
"Haha, forget about the commission. If the matter is completed, I will give you a commission later. Just give Tomson some small jobs for publicity. "
"Don't worry, even if things don't work out, Tomson will still be able to drink some soup during the later stages of the film's release."
" If you say that, I feel relieved.”
The volume of "Titanic" was so big that some of the hair leaked from the seams of the hand in the later stage, which was enough for Tomson's branch in the United States.
Tomson’s current branch in the United States cannot accept large jobs, but can only accept small jobs and slowly grow.
Whether or not you make money is secondary. The main thing is to show your face and let everyone know that Tomson exists.
......
After talking to Zhang Youan on the phone, Zhou Yan also calculated the funds on hand.
Over the years, he has also saved a lot of money, some tens of millions of yuan, and this is all from his personal treasury, not including his shares in Qizhi and Zhou.
Zhou Yan did not intend to use the money at home. He wanted to pay some money himself, and then ask Zhou and Qizhi to contribute some money.
Of course, even if the three companies are together, it is not easy to pay for it.
His brother Zhou Hong is easy to talk to, but the key lies with Huo Siqi.
The money in Qizhi's account has not been touched much, and Huo Siqi may not be willing to touch such a large sum of money now.
...
What Zhou Yan originally thought was that there was no need to rush into this matter, and he could wait for Zhang Youan to get in touch first.
But what Zhou Yan didn't expect was that he received a call from Zhang Youan at around eight o'clock the next morning.
Zhang Youan brought him good news, "I briefly communicated with Fox, and they expressed their willingness to talk to us."
"That's a good thing, then you can continue to follow up. .”
"Well, they are still biting on the figure of 100 million U.S. dollars, and they probably won't let go for a while."
"What's the use of them biting on this figure? Do I really pay them 100 million U.S. dollars? Can they use up all the money? Besides, if I pay so much, they have to give me a corresponding share."
If it really costs 100 million US dollars, Zhou Yan can't do it. .
It is impossible for him to come up with such a large amount of money. Fifty million US dollars is already the limit, and it depends on whether Huo Siqi agrees.
“We can definitely talk about it, but it will take some time.”
"Then let's talk to them. If we can negotiate less than 50 million US dollars, we can consider cooperation."
"Okay, I'll go talk to you and you can coordinate the funding issues. As for the sharing Let’s discuss such issues after the amount is determined.”
“No problem.”
……
Zhang Youan’s phone call made Zhou Yan have to speed up the preparation. The footsteps of money are gone.
After hanging up the phone, he called Huo Siqi directly.
After receiving the call from Zhou Yan, Huo Siqi smiled and said, "Third brother, how did you know that I returned to Yanjing? I was still thinking about calling you this afternoon. What you said last time, second brother He said he would take care of it and there was no need for me to take action."
"Well, my brother called me," Zhou Yan curled his lips and complained, "Brother Siqi, I just called you. "Tell me about it on the phone." Huo Siqi said with a smile, "Why are you two so angry? Why don't I call him and tell him about it?" Maybe you still have to blame me.”
“You just want to protect yourself”
"That's not true." Huo Siqi laughed and asked, "Since I am no longer needed for the electronics factory, why are you calling me now? Do you want to treat me to a drink?"
"Yes, Do you have time to have a meal together at noon? "
"Let's have a drink at noon... OK, tell me a place."
"Come to my house."
"No problem, see you at noon."
...
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan called the restaurant next to him to order a table of food, and then went to the study to work.
At eleven o'clock, the doorbell rang outside, and Zhou Yan got up to open the door.
Huo Siqi stood outside the door, holding a thick paper box in his hand.
As soon as the door opened, Huo Siqi raised the cardboard box in his hand and said, "Brother has brought you something good."
"What is this?"
There is no sign on the outside of this cardboard box, so you can't tell what's inside.
"Wine."
"What kind of wine do you need to bring here? Are you afraid that there is no wine in my house?"
Zhou Yan doesn't drink much, but He keeps a lot of wine at home, especially Moutai, which he has in most vintages.
This year I asked Huo Siqi to come for dinner, and Zhou Yan was ready to open a bottle of ten-year-old Moutai.
"All you have at home is Maotai. Drinking it is not interesting. Let's drink something special today."
Looking at Huo Siqi's mysterious look, Zhou Yan became interested.
After the two entered the living room, Huo Siqi placed the box on the table, then opened it to reveal the two bottles of wine inside.
The two bottles of wine look unremarkable, just ordinary large glass bottles.
There is a red lid and a large label on the bottle with two large golden characters on it: Dongjiu.
“What’s so special about this wine?”
Zhou Yan has no research on wine. All he knows is a few well-known wines.
Except for Mao Wujian, he knew very little about other wines.
“There are not many stocks on the market of Mr. Jin who was born in 1981.”
Zhou Yan nodded. It was quite old and quite rare.
Since it was brought by Huo Siqi, Zhou Yan thought it would taste good.
"I have already received the food. It will be here in a few minutes."
"While the food hasn't arrived yet, let's take a sip first. You can find me two cups." ."
"Would you like to drink it now?"
"Well, after eating the food, the taste of the wine will be different. While your tongue is clean, let's try the taste of the wine."
Huo Siqi drank quite decently. After opening the bottle, he poured it down first. Two glasses, then he picked up the glass and swung the hops and smelled the wine.
After smelling the smell of wine, he nodded and said, "Well, this wine is in good condition. You are very lucky."
Then he took another sip, and his whole body became more and more upbeat. As if he was a fairy, with a face of satisfaction, "This taste is right. If you ask me, Maotai Wuliangye is not as good as Dongjiu. Third brother, you should try it too."
Listen to what Huo Siqi said, Zhou Yan was also interested. Is this wine so good?
Out of curiosity, Zhou Yan picked up another glass of wine. He followed Huo Siqi's example and swung the hops first, then smelled the alcohol.
It doesn't matter if you don't smell it, he almost vomited when he smelled it.
“What does this taste like?”
Seeing Zhou Yan’s frown, Huo Siqi laughed, “Is it different from other wines?”
Zhou Yan looked suspicious. "Is this really wine?"
He had never smelled this kind of wine. It was a bit smelly and fishy. It felt like walking into a slaughterhouse in the summer, with the smell of livestock blood foam and hair.
“Take a sip and try it.”
If Huo Siqi had not already taken a sip, Zhou Yan would never have tasted it. Since Huo Siqi had already taken a sip, it at least meant that there was no problem. Then he took a bite.
When he drank it, the fishy smell was much weaker, but it was still there. In addition to the fishy smell, there was also a bit of Chinese medicine. As for what kind of Chinese medicine it was, he couldn't tell clearly.
“This wine tastes so weird...”
Zhou Yan misses Maotai a little bit. Drinking this wine is completely masochistic.
He looked up and down at Huo Siqi, who was full of excitement, and was secretly speechless. He didn't expect this guy to have such a unique taste.
Seeing the disgust on Zhou Yan's face, Huo Siqi smiled and said, "Didn't you ask what's so special about this wine? I'm telling you, this wine can aphrodisiac."
"Can it aphrodisiac? "
"Well, there were many rare animals in Dongjiu in the past. When the Animal and Plant Protection Law was passed a few years ago, the use of these things was banned. In other words, Dongjiu now no longer has these things. ”
"Oh, that's it."
Zhou Yan couldn't help but pick up the wine glass and took another sip, not because it could aphrodisiac, but entirely because the wine had been opened and he felt that he couldn't waste it...
< br>The food was delivered quickly, and the two began to drink and eat. Zhou Yan felt that the wine was not as hard to swallow as before.
If nothing else, the taste of this wine is indeed rich.
When a bottle of wine was about to bottom out, Huo Siqi took the initiative to speak, "Third brother, tell me, why did you ask me to drink today?"
"If I have nothing to do, I can't treat you to a drink?"
"It's nothing, you can't ask for a drink at noon, so don't beat around the bush with me, just tell me if you have anything to do."
Zhou Yan nodded, Without beating around the bush, he said directly, "There's a budget problem with Titanic. I'm going to invest some money in it, but I don't have enough money, so..."
"So you want Qizhi to participate?" , or do you invest the dividends personally?”
“I’m afraid it won’t be enough even if I take out the dividends personally.”
"Is this a lot of money?" Huo Siqi said in surprise, "Don't you know how much money Qizhi has in his account? If you want to pay dividends, you might get a lot."
Zhou Yan held out five fingers.
"Oh, fifty million." Huo Siqi smiled, "It's indeed a lot, but your dividends can cover it. We have more than two in our account now..."
"I mean fifty million US dollars."
The smile on Huo Siqi's face suddenly froze.
He originally wanted to say that Qizhi had more than 200 million in his account, so there was no pressure to come up with 50 million. Unexpectedly, Zhou Yan actually said 50 million US dollars.
Even if all the more than 200 million yuan in Qizhi's account were exchanged, it would not be exchanged for 50 million U.S. dollars, and it was not easy to convert such a large amount of money into U.S. dollars.
(End of this chapter)