Entertainment tycoon since 83

Chapter 266 Shocking the World
A biopic like this costs 20 million.

The key is still a tragic biographical film.

Even if you make a biopic about those gangsters, it might even have higher box office than this one.

Can the box office in Hong Kong reach 10 million?
Well, I did win the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival in my previous life.

In theory, it shouldn't be difficult to sell it for more than one million dollars.

But Huang Ze still understands those overseas film producers, and this film is very suspenseful.

You either have to be curious or profound enough to attract the audience.

But a biopic about an East Asian movie star from sixty or seventy years ago?
Who is that?
No desire to buy!
You could probably make a biopic about Rocco Siffredi that would be more appealing to studios than this.

After all, he is gifted and has made more than a thousand films in total, although these films have simple plots, relatively few actors and only a few lines.

"Have you thought of replacing some supporting actors with low pay and good acting skills?"

Since they agreed to his investment, Huang Ze wanted to cut the budget out of a businessman's instinct. The less loss the better.

"The soul of this film lies in the heroine. It is enough to find a heroine with box office appeal."

"This." Guan Jingpeng shook his head slightly.

"We have already decided on the other supporting roles. We are just missing the leading actress. We originally wanted to ask Mrs. Huang to play Ruan Lingyu..."

"Of course."

Huang Ze understood that the other party would not change it, and it had already been confirmed with the other actors. It would not be good if he suddenly changed his mind, so he stopped trying to reduce the budget.

Then, Huang Ze would not be willing to accept half of the investment.

There is no way. The more you invest, the more you lose.

Anyway, you can gain fame by investing less, so who would invest 10 million?
But Huang Ze couldn't say that I think you will compensate, so he thought about it and said to Jackie Chan.

"If you give me half, I'm embarrassed to take it!"

"You guys have already discussed the investment and everything, and I'm suddenly interfering. Isn't that stealing someone's love?"

"Taking love away and taking away half of it is a bit too much."

"How about this, I'll just take 10% as a token of my appreciation, and leave my wife's name as the producer so she can get involved."

"Isn't 10% too little?" Jackie Chan said on the phone, "How about I give you half? You're welcome. We're on good terms. Maybe we'll work together in the future."

"No, I feel embarrassed to take too much, just 10%."

"Since you said so, then fine, 10 percent." The investment was finalized in a few words, and Jackie Chan immediately turned the topic to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". "Director Huang, how much did your Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon take in the U.S. box office? I heard it's over 10 million?"

"It's over." Huang Ze sighed.

“But who knows what the final box office will be?”

"I did attract a lot of fans to the theaters in the early stages, but after these fans have finished watching the movie, the box office may not be as high as expected."

"I'm guessing! In the end, it will probably be the box office of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

"That's not low. If I could have a movie that made such a high box office in North America, I would jump for joy even if my foot was in a cast."

"If you have a chance, stick to it and you will succeed!" Although Huang Ze knew what the other party meant by saying this, he would not provide Jackie Chan with any support other than verbal support for the time being.

Everything will have to wait until the box office of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is settled, and then we can negotiate the terms.

Otherwise, Jiahe would always think he could still do something.

You have to make them face the reality.

The key is to attract Jackie Chan. Unless the other party wants to fall out with Jackie Chan, as long as the box office of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" can exceed 50 million, he will have to agree to more outrageous conditions proposed by himself.

Of course, it can’t be too late to talk about cooperation. If it is too late, when "Rumble in the Bronx" appears, the other party may think that they can break into Hollywood with their own abilities.

We need to grasp this timing well. Jackie Chan seemed to have heard the hidden meaning of Huang Ze's words, "Hey, come on, Director Huang, I have to go to film, can we talk another day? I will call someone in the company to discuss the 10% share."

"Okay, you're busy."

After hanging up the phone, Huang Ze returned the mobile phone to Guan Jingpeng, "It's settled. By the way, Gong Xing won't play the female lead because her age is not suitable. Wasn't Ruan Lingyu 25 when she died? So let's find an actress around 25."

"The heroine of this film needs to have good acting skills, wear cheongsam with charm, speak Shanghainese, and have a certain degree of fame."

"I recommend Zhang Manyu."

"Do you approve?"

"Director Huang, there aren't many suitable people." Guan Jingpeng chuckled, "In fact, the actor I was thinking of as a candidate was also Zhang Manyu. Are we great thinkers with similar ideas?"

"That's right!" Huang Ze stretched out his hand and shook hands with Guan Jingpeng.

After finishing what needed to be talked about, Guan Jingpeng left after saying goodbye.

"Why is it only 10%?" After Guan Jingpeng left, Gong Xing looked at Huang Ze with interest.

"let me guess!"

"The other party wanted to give you more shares, but you pushed it away."

"I said I was sorry for asking so much, and I acted very considerately, but in my heart I was actually..."

"Wuwuwu." Gong Xing couldn't continue speaking as her mouth was blocked.

"Stop talking, you know too much."

"Hey, why do you think it will lose money?"

"People abroad don't want to know about it, and people in China think it's too unpleasant. It's definitely not selling well because it's not well-known enough."

"It's better to shoot her than to shoot..."

Huang Ze paused, then smiled and said, "Guess who is the most famous person in our country in the world 49 years later?"

"you?"

"What about me? At most, I am known to many people in Europe, America and Southeast Asia. What about other places? Especially in the vast Africa, how many people know me?"

"Who is that?"

"My name and his have one character in common."

……

After staying in Hong Kong for three days, Huang Ze went to the United States to continue his Oscar-winning campaign, enthusiastically attending various banquets and award ceremonies.

Most of these awards are known to people in the industry, but they are not very well-known internationally.

The Golden Globe Awards are the only award that is quite famous. Huang Ze won the Best Foreign Language Film award, which is considered a gain.

The public relations work lasted for more than two months.

Until early February.

The box office of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" climbed to 60 million US dollars.

But no one cares about this.

As the list of nominations for the 63rd Academy Awards is released.

Everyone was shocked when they saw the list.

Huang Ze's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Makeup, Costume Design, Original Score, and Original Song.

If you count carefully, there are exactly eleven items!
(End of this chapter)