Chapter 109 The Second James Wan
“I haven’t congratulated your company yet, congratulations on your “New Police Story” box office success.”
Just a few days ago, “New Police Story” "Story" was released, with a box office of 43 million in the mainland and 21 million in Hong Kong.
The mainland box office is actually a bit underwhelming, with 43 million, and the literary film "2046" also took 30 million.
But the Hong Kong box office is okay, 21 million Hong Kong dollars. As mentioned before, if it exceeds 10 million in Hong Kong, it is considered a big hit, so this number is not bad.
Moreover, the Hong Kong box office of "2046" was only 6.4 million, which made Cheng Long look a little better.
Huo Wenxi was grateful on the face, but she knew the pain in her heart.
"New Police Story" is the first film between Emperor and Cheng Long. It claims to have invested 120 million Hong Kong dollars. This is an exaggeration. The real cost is about 80 million Hong Kong dollars.
Judging from the box office, this movie must have lost money.
Even if overseas copyrights are included, it is estimated that there will still be a loss, but not much.
Huo Wenxi is quite famous in the brokerage industry. Speaking of agents, Wang and Chang are the best in the mainland, and Huo Wenxi is the best in Hong Kong.
She now has many big names, including Xie Biwang, Twins, etc., who are all very popular idols.
After three rounds of drinking, Zhang Chen became a little impatient and simply said: "I'm sorry that I can't cooperate with Emperor for the release of "Shark Beach" this time. Manager Dong should have told you."
Huo Wenxi nodded: "It's a pity, but we still have a chance to cooperate next time. I heard that "Dark Invasion 2" is already in production. Next time our Emperor will definitely show our sincerity. "
Huo Wenxi's words are very beautiful. She knows why she was eliminated, but the relationship needs to be repaired slowly.
Seeing that he didn't talk about business anymore, Zhang Chen might have found an excuse to leave, so he simply got straight to the point:
"Director Zhang, I won't beat around the bush here. I came to you today because I heard about "Eden Lake" "Project, I want to find out if there is a suitable role for our Minyi...
No main role is required, even a supporting role is fine. I just want our Minyi to look good. "
Huo Wenxi finally revealed her purpose, but she was still somewhat self-aware. She didn’t want a heroine, so she probably heard about it.
Zhang Chen shook his head: "I'm sorry, Miss Huo, I only have the right to make suggestions for the heroine in this project, and I can't get involved in other roles."
It's not a relationship, it's not a relationship, and there's still a little bit of resentment, so Zhang Chen won't do this favor.
Even if he could really brush his face, he would definitely stick to his good relationship with him.
For example, Sister Jiuyi, she works so hard every time.
"Besides, the candidate for the heroine has actually been decided."
In order to avoid further entanglement, Zhang Chen blocked the other party's conversation in advance.
Sure enough, Huo Wenxi was a little disappointed when Zhang Chen said this, but she still didn't give up: "Then can I know who the flower will be?"
Zhang Chen glanced at Dong Jianqiang, who nodded and said: "Yes. Zhang Ziyi, her agent officially replied to me an hour ago, willing to take this role."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Dong Jianqiang again, and the latter nodded affirmatively, which meant that the news was true and not for the sake of it. An excuse to send Huo Wenxi away.
"So, I'm sorry, Miss Huo~"
Huo Wenxi waved her hand after hearing this, "It doesn't matter, I have a second suggestion~"
"Huh?" They both looked over.
“Director Zhang does not consider cooperating with our Emperor. Co-productions are the trend at present. Star Films can cooperate with Emperor to complete a film. Our Emperor has rich star resources and is eager to cooperate with mainland actors. A collaboration with an excellent director.”
This was actually not Yang Shoucheng’s intention, she fought for it from Yang Shoucheng.
Yang doesn’t like mainland movies at all now, but Huo Wenxi has a different view from him.
"Dark Invasion" is Zhang Chen's first movie. The box office of his first movie was HK$22 million, which was higher than Cheng Long's "New Police Story".
This is not something just anyone can do.
And it is said that "Dark Invasion" also performed very well at the box office in North America.
She felt that Zhang Chen was not a simple person.
“Didn’t you guys contact Director Jiang Wen?” Zhang Chen asked back.
Huo Wenxi was surprised: “Where did Director Zhang hear this news?”
Zhang Chen smiled and said nothing, and then the latter said: "Director Zhang's information channels are really well-informed."
After a pause, he said: "Fortunately, we are not competitors. We do have this plan, but We haven’t taken any action yet. One of the purposes of my coming to the mainland this time is to visit Director Jiang Wen. Please keep this secret for us, otherwise it will be bad if someone intercepts us.”
< br>Of course she said this in a polite way. In fact, Yang Shoucheng was already in contact with Jiang Wen at this time.
"Of course, we are not those troubled people. As for the cooperation you mentioned, let us think about it."
Of course Zhang Chen didn't hear about it from any source. It is based on the memory of later generations.
As for co-productions, he doesn't consider them. Emperor is not the only company in Hong Kong. He does have a few scripts in his head that are suitable for co-productions, but he can definitely find Golden Harvest, Anle, and Media Asia to cooperate.
......
North America
"Dark Invasion" was finally released after three weeks of release, with a total box office of 52.1 million.
In dollars, of course.
A foreign language film has won the box office championship for two consecutive weeks. Although it is the off-season, it is still very impressive.
Columbia made a lot of money. They only spent a total of 2 million US dollars to buy out the film. The final box office of 52.1 million was a huge profit.
I don’t know how many companies are jealous.
Asian Chen Guofu received a congratulatory phone call from the group’s second-in-command on the same day.
Lionsgate also took advantage of the trend to announce that they have purchased another script "Orphan" written by Steve Chang himself, and have officially approved the project. The casting process has been completed and filming will begin soon.
New Line is the happiest because they have already collaborated with Zhang Chen on "Eden Lake" and the writer and director are both Zhang Chen, making it the easiest to replicate the success of "Dark Invasion".
North American audiences find this year strange, as Chinese films seem to suddenly become more powerful.
First of all, "Hero" came out, opened in 2,000 theaters, won the box office championship in the first week, and finally took in a box office of 53.17 million US dollars. Then came "Dark Invasion" with a completely different theme. It opened in 1,800 theaters and was also the weekly box office champion. It finally took in 52.1 million box office, which was 1 million less than "Heroes".
The media are the best at making things happen.
[Chinese-language films continue to stage counterattacks]
[Chinese films are on the rise]
[Hollywood local films are losing to foreign films]
[We can’t beat kung fu films, but we can’t beat horror films Can't beat it? 】
There are various theories, and many companies have analyzed this phenomenon. They concluded that Chinese filmmakers have mastered the traffic password of Hollywood.
Then some Hollywood companies who wanted to pick up the slack went to China to hunt for films, hoping to replicate the miracle of Colombia.
Actually, this is not the first time this scene has appeared. The last time was in "Red Zone".
"Red Zone" is a Hong Kong film. For Hollywood, it is a completely foreign language film. However, the number of film openings is as high as 1,794, which is unprecedented in scale.
Its box office in its first week was 9.86 million US dollars, and it was also the weekly box office champion that year. The final box office was 32.39 million US dollars, breaking the box office record for non-Hollywood movies in North America.
Does it feel very familiar, the same recipe, the same taste?
Yes, "Hero" and "Dark Invasion" are simply replicas of "Red Zone", exactly the same.
It’s just that the former is a kung fu movie and the latter is a horror movie.
Columbia executives were collectively excited when they received the final box office data of "Dark Invasion".
Then someone thought of New Line.
Back then, New Line discovered "Red Zone" and it became an instant hit.
Then he continued to cooperate with Cheng Long, "A Good Man", "A Simple Mission"...
Several consecutive films made New Line Direct a lot of money, and established his position in the circle.
New Line can do it, why can’t Colombia.
Colombia executives immediately contacted Chen Guofu and asked him to take advantage of the time lag to win Zhang Chen's new film as soon as possible.
At this time, the news has not spread back to China, but Zhang Chen has already received the news, and it was Dai An who told him.
Then Zhang Chen received another call from Pete.
"Zhang, I really can't wait to see you."
"Come on, Pete, if you have something to say, I'm not interested in men."
When the call came, Zhang Chen was doing exercises with Sister Jiuyi. He had been neglecting her for several days, and Sister Jiuyi started to complain.
"Zhang, did you know that "Dark Invasion" was released in North America? The final box office was 52 million..."
"I know, but it has nothing to do with me. I sold the copyright to Colombia a long time ago."
It is false to say that he has no regrets. Anyone who sees the things he sold for 2 million can transfer them. I don't think I would feel good if I sold my head for 50 million.
But it’s useless to feel uncomfortable, he can’t earn this money.
Instead of worrying about this, it is better to focus more on the promotion of "Shark Beach".
"But you are famous, Zhang, and you are now a hot director in Hollywood. People say you are the second James Wan..."
The James Wan he was talking about was James Wan, the director of "Saw" and another Chinese legend.
“Come on, I don’t want to be the second best, I am Zhang Chen, the unique Zhang Chen...”
“Haha, yes, to hell with that James Wan .
Zhang, please give me an accurate date as to when we can start shooting. The crew has completed preparations and is just waiting for you. You don’t know how many of your fans have called the company to ask about "Eden Lake" in the past two days. "When will it be released?"
Peter's anxiety was palpable, and Zhang Chen thought for a while and replied: "It will be early December at the earliest."
"Oh my God, couldn't it have been earlier?" complained Pete on the other end of the phone.
"Impossible, my new movie will be released on November 19th. I have to make it smooth before I can be in the mood to shoot "Eden Lake"."
"Okay."< br>
"By the way, have you decided on the male protagonist? If not, I will recommend an actor to you."
"Zhang, we agreed..."
Peter thought Zhang Chen wanted to negotiate terms again.
The heroine has been given to you, but the hero will not be spared either? That would be too ugly to eat.
“No, no, no, you misunderstood. The actor I recommended is not Chinese, but a white actor.”
“Oh, let’s have a listen, but I don’t guarantee that I will definitely adopt your suggestion. Opinion." Peter said more conservatively.
“Of course, I’m just making a suggestion.”
Zhang Chen on the other side of the phone shrugged, and then said the name: "Jason Statham, a British actor, starred in "Two Smoking Barrels". If possible, I hope that the male protagonist will be played by him."
"Why, you are very optimistic about him?"
"Yes." Of course, a strong man who has been popular for decades.
"Okay, I will pay attention."
The success of "Dark Invasion" still has an impact, at least New Line is not so insistent on the character.
After all, Zhang Chen is the most famous one.
(End of this chapter)