Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 109 The Second James Wen

"I haven't congratulated your company yet. Congratulations on the box office success of your New Police Story."

Just a few days ago, "New Police Story" was taken off the screen, with a box office of 4300 million in mainland China and 2100 million in Hong Kong.

The box office in mainland China was actually a bit disappointing, at 4300 million, while the art film "2046" made 3000 million.

But the box office in Hong Kong was okay, at HK$2100 million. As mentioned before, a movie in Hong Kong is considered a big hit if it can take over HK$1000 million, so this number is not bad.

Moreover, the box office of "2046" in Hong Kong was only 640 million, which made Jackie Chan feel a little better.

Huo Wenxi expressed gratitude upon hearing this, but he knew the pain in his heart.

"New Police Story" is the first film co-produced by Emperor Entertainment Group and Jackie Chan. It is said to have invested 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars, which is somewhat exaggerated. The actual cost is probably around 8000 million Hong Kong dollars.

Judging from the box office, this movie definitely lost money.

Even if the overseas copyrights are included, it is estimated that it will still be a loss, but not much.

Huo Wenxi is quite famous in the agent business. Speaking of agents, the best in the mainland are Wang Chang and his partner, and in Hong Kong, it is Huo Wenxi.

She now has a lot of big names under her, including Xie Bi Wang and Twins, who are all popular idols.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Chen lost his patience and said, "I'm sorry that we can't cooperate with Emperor Entertainment Group on the release of The Shallows. Manager Dong should have told you."

Huo Wenxi nodded: "It's a pity, but we still have the opportunity to cooperate next time. I heard that "Dark Invasion 2" is already in production. Next time, we at Emperor Entertainment Group will definitely show our sincerity."

Huo Wenxi's words were very nice. She knew very well why she was eliminated, but the relationship needed to be repaired slowly.

Seeing that Zhang Chen might find an excuse to leave if he didn't talk about the main business, he just got straight to the point:
"Director Zhang, I won't beat around the bush. I came to see you today because I heard about the Eden Lake project. I wanted to find out if there is a suitable role for our Min Yi...

I don’t need a main role, even a supporting role is fine, I just want our Minyi to show her face.”

Huo Wenxi finally told his purpose, but he still had some self-awareness and did not take the female lead, probably because he heard the news.

Zhang Chen shook his head: "I'm sorry, Miss Huo, I only have the right to advise the heroine in this project, I can't get involved in other roles."

They are not related and there is even a little grudge between them, so Zhang Chen will not help.

Even if he could really use his face, he would definitely choose those with whom he has a good relationship.

For example, Sister Jiuyi, she always works so hard.

"Besides, the actress has actually already been chosen."

In order to avoid further entanglement, Zhang Chen interrupted the other party in advance.

Sure enough, Huo Wenxi was a little disappointed when he heard Zhang Chen say that, but he still didn't give up: "Then can I know who will win?"

Zhang Chen glanced at Dong Jianqiang, who nodded and said, "It's Zhang Ziyi. Her agent officially replied to me an hour ago, saying that she is willing to take on this role."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Dong Jianqiang again, and the latter nodded affirmatively, which meant that the news was true and not an excuse to get rid of Huo Wenxi.

"So, I'm sorry, Miss Huo~"

Huo Wenxi waved his hands after hearing this, "It doesn't matter, I have a second suggestion~"

"Huh?" They both looked over.

"Director Zhang is considering cooperating with Emperor Entertainment Group. Co-production is the current trend. Star Films can cooperate with Emperor Entertainment Group to complete a film. Emperor Entertainment Group has abundant star resources and is eager to cooperate with excellent directors from the mainland."

This was not actually Yang Shoucheng's idea, but she fought for it from Yang Shoucheng.

Yang now looks down on mainland movies, but Huo Wenxi has a different opinion from him.

"Darkness" is Zhang Chen's first film, and it grossed 2200 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, which is higher than Jackie Chan's "New Police Story".

This is not something that just anyone can do.

It is also said that "Darkness" also did very well at the North American box office.

She felt that Zhang Chen was no ordinary person.

"Didn't you 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 the latter said, "Director Zhang's information channels are really well-informed."

After a pause, he continued, "Fortunately, we are not competitors. We do have this plan, but we have not put it into action. One of the purposes of my coming to the mainland this time is to visit Director Jiang Wen. Regarding this, Director Zhang, please keep it a secret for us, otherwise it will be bad if someone intercepts it."

Of course, she said this out of politeness. In fact, Yang Shoucheng had already contacted Jiang Wen at that time.

"Of course, we are not the kind of people who would bother with other people's business. As for the cooperation you mentioned, let us consider it."

Of course, Zhang Chen did not hear it from any channel, but deduced it based on the memories of later generations.

As for co-production, he didn't consider it. Emperor Entertainment Group is not the only company in Hong Kong. He did have a few scripts in his mind that were suitable for co-production, but he could just ask Golden Harvest, Emperor Entertainment Group, or Media Asia to cooperate with him.

……

北美
"The Darkness" was finally taken off the screen three weeks after its release, with a total box office of 5210 million.

Of course it’s US dollars.

A foreign language film has won the weekly box office championship for two consecutive weeks. Although it is the off-season, it is still impressive.

Columbia made a ton of money. They only spent $200 million to buy out the film, and the final box office revenue was $5210 million, which was a huge profit.

I don’t know how many companies are jealous of this.

On the same day, Chen Guofu from the Asia region received a congratulatory call from the group’s second-in-command.

Lionsgate also took the opportunity to announce that they had purchased another script written by Steve Chang, "Orphan", and had officially launched the project. The casting work has been completed and filming will begin soon.

New Line was the happiest because they had already collaborated with Zhang Chen on a film called "Eden Lake", and both the screenwriter and director were Zhang Chen, making it easiest to replicate the success of "The Dark Side".

North American audiences found this year very strange, as Chinese films seemed to have suddenly become very popular.

First, Hero came out of nowhere, opening in 2000 theaters, winning the weekly box office championship in its first week, and eventually taking in $5317 million. Then came The Darkest Thing, a completely different subject matter, opening in 1800 theaters, also winning the weekly box office championship, and eventually taking in $5210 million, just $100 million less than Hero.

The media are the best at making trouble.

【Chinese-language films continue to stage a comeback】

【Chinese films are on the rise】

[Hollywood local films are inferior to foreign films]

[We can’t beat Kung Fu movies, and we can’t beat horror movies either? ]

There are various theories, and many companies have analyzed this phenomenon. They have concluded that Chinese filmmakers have mastered Hollywood's traffic code.

Then some Hollywood companies that wanted to take advantage of the situation went to China to buy films, hoping to replicate Columbia's miracle.

In fact, this kind of scene is not the first time it has appeared. The last time was in "Rumble in the Bronx".

"Rumble in the Bronx" is a Hong Kong film, which is a completely foreign language film for Hollywood, but it opened in 1794 theaters, an unprecedented scale.

Its first week box office was 986 million US dollars, which was also the weekly box office champion of the year. The final box office was 3239 million US dollars, breaking the North American box office record for non-Hollywood films.

Does it feel familiar? Same recipe, same taste.

Yes, "Hero" and "Darkness" are simply copies of "Rumble in the Bronx", exactly the same.

The only difference is that the former is a kung fu movie, while the latter is a horror movie.

Columbia executives were collectively excited when they received the final box office data of "The Dark Tribulation".

Then someone came up with New Line.

New Line Entertainment discovered "Rumble in the Bronx" and it became an instant hit.

Then he continued to work with Cheng Long, "A Good Man" and "Simple Tasks"...

Several consecutive films made New Line earn a lot of money and established its position in the industry.

If the new line can do it, why can't Columbia do it?

Columbia's top management immediately contacted Chen Guofu and asked him to take advantage of the time difference to get Zhang Chen's new film as soon as possible.

The news had not yet been reported back to the country at this time, but Zhang Chen had already received the news, which was told to him by Diane.

Then Zhang Chen received another call from Pete.

"Zhang, I really can't wait to see you."

"Come on, Pete, let's talk about it. I'm not interested in men."

When the call came, Zhang Chen was exercising with Sister Jiuyi. He had ignored her for several days in a row, and Sister Jiuyi was starting to complain.

"Zhang, did you know that The Darkness has been withdrawn from theaters in North America? The final box office was 5200 million..."

"I know, but it has nothing to do with me. I sold the copyright to Columbia a long time ago."

It would be a lie to say that he has no regrets. Anyone would feel bad if they saw that something they sold for 200 million yuan was sold for 5000 million yuan.

But there's no point in feeling bad because he can't earn that money.

Instead of worrying about this, it is better to focus more on promoting "The Shallows".

"But you are famous, Zhang. You are now a hot director in Hollywood. People say you are the second James Wan..."

The James Wan he mentioned is James Wan, the director of "Saw", another Chinese legend.

"Come on, I don't want to be second. I am Zhang Chen, the one and only Zhang Chen..."

"Haha, yeah, to hell with James Wan.

Zhang, give me a definite answer, when can we start filming? The crew has already prepared everything and is waiting for you. Don’t you know how many of your fans have called the company in the past two days to inquire about the release date of “Eden Lake”? "

Peter's anxiety was evident in his words. Zhang Chen thought for a moment and replied, "The earliest will be early December."

"Oh my God, can't it be earlier?" Pete complained on the other end of the phone.

"No way. My new movie is coming out on November 11th. I have to finish it before I can shoot Eden Lake."

"Ok."

"By the way, have you decided on the male lead? If not, I would like to recommend an actor to you."

"Zhang, we agreed..."

Pete thought Zhang Chen wanted to negotiate terms again.

You've already given me the heroine, but you're not letting me off the hero either? That's really ugly.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood. The actor I recommended was not Chinese, but a white actor."

"Well, tell me about it, but I can't guarantee that I will adopt your opinion." Pete said conservatively.

"Of course, I'm just making a suggestion."

Zhang Chen on the other end of the phone shrugged and said the name: "Jason Statham, a British actor who starred in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. If possible, I hope he can play the leading role."

"What, you think highly of him?"

"Yes." Of course I'm optimistic about him, a strong man who has been famous for decades.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it."

The huge sales of "Darkness" did have an impact, at least New Line was not so persistent about the characters.

After all, Zhang Chen is the biggest star.

(End of this chapter)