Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 227 New Project "I Saw the Devil"

"Damn it Pete, why did you call me like that? Are you trying to show off your sense of superiority?"

"Haha, Zhang, that's not what I meant. You are too sensitive. You Asians are always so sensitive..."

Pitt has worked with Jackie Chan before and knows that some things must be done in moderation. Easterners and Westerners have different values, and some things that they think are unimportant may be considered a violation of principles by Easterners.

He didn't want to offend Zhang Chen for no reason. On the contrary, New Line still wanted to continue cooperating with Zhang Chen. If he messed up the relationship with Zhang, New Line would immediately replace him and send another person to flatter Zhang.

"Zhang, we are good friends. I will pay attention. I promise!"

"Okay, I believe you, so you make this call today..."

"Haha, it's like this. The box office of Eden Lake is very good. The senior management of New Line thinks you are a friend who can cooperate for a long time. Let me ask you, have you decided on the next movie for cooperation? We know that you have registered many scripts in Hollywood..."

"Also, we have something else we want to discuss with you..."

"what?"

"New Line wants to take our relationship to the next level..."

"what is that?"

"New Line wants to sign a priority investment agreement with you. If the scripts you registered are to be made into movies, New Line has the priority investment right under the same conditions..."

Pitt did not hide his purpose at all. His three consecutive films, "The Dark Knight", "The Shallows" and "Eden Lake", were successful in North America. Even a fool would know that Zhang Chen was an untapped treasure, so of course he wanted to take it for himself.

"No, no, no, Pete, I don't want to tie myself to a certain company. Not New Line, not Lionsgate, not Columbia..."

"Damn it, they've already contacted you? You didn't agree, did you?"

Peter was a little furious, and there was a faint voice beside him: "Quickly ask him what conditions they offered. Damn it, I said we should have signed him a long time ago..."

Obviously, Pete is not the only one on his side, and today's call may not be as casual as he said.

Peter on the other end of the phone covered the microphone and said to the bigwigs around him: "Everyone, trust me, let me handle it. Don't forget, I discovered Jackie Chan for Rush Hour. I am more familiar with Asians than any of you."

After getting the boss's approval, Pete let go of the microphone again: "Zhang, you can't do this, we are friends, aren't we? You should at least give us a fair chance to compete. Believe me, Hollywood will never find another producer like me who is so friendly to you Chinese people. Moreover, if you reject us, I will be in trouble..."

Pete is not bragging, he really knows Asians, especially the Chinese.

After all, we have dealt with each other several times.

Compared with interests, Chinese people pay more attention to some intangible things, such as recognition, respect, and the relationship between two people.

So all of Pete's words were said according to this template.

"By the way, Zhang, you may not know this yet, but we are ready to restart the Rush Hour project. Look, I'm not bragging. We at New Line are really very friendly with China..."

But today Pete was destined to be disappointed.

Zhang Chen is different from the Chinese people he knew.

Zhang Chen didn't tell him those empty words at all: "Peter, for the time being, I don't want to be too closely tied to the new line. This is not conducive to my development.

I do have a new project called "I Saw the Devil," but I'm not sure if I'll continue to work with New Line. God knows if other companies will offer better conditions. "

"I Saw the Devil" is indeed his next confirmed work, which is also the one he promised to Jason Statham.

He previously had two alternatives, "I Saw the Devil" and "Law Abiding Citizen."

In terms of plot, "Law Abiding Citizen" is more American, and it satirizes the American judicial system. Its intention is more lofty, but Zhang Chen feels that "I Saw the Devil" can better vent people's emotions.

There is no doubt that if "I Saw the Devil" was made, it would definitely be an R-rated film, but its influence would definitely be unparalleled.

This movie can be explained by an old Chinese saying - every evildoer will receive his due punishment.

Since you have chosen to be a perverted murderer, don't even think about enjoying human rights.

I will torture you in a way that is ten or a hundred times more cruel than yours.

Of course, the male protagonist did this not for justice, but also out of revenge, but even so, it still makes people applaud.

When the title of "I Saw the Devil" was heard, someone on the other end of the phone immediately ordered: "Quick, find "I Saw the Devil". I want to know what kind of story this is..."

New Line's efficiency was still very high, and someone immediately found the script of "I Saw the Devil".

These scripts have been registered with the Screenwriters Association and film and television companies can access them at will.

"It's the type he's good at. We have to take it down..."

After receiving the instruction from the top management, Pitt immediately said, "Zhang, believe me, New Line is definitely your best friend. Think about our previous cooperation, the Eden Lake project, New Line allowed you to invest, and you can choose the heroine at will, and New Line will never interfere.

Even though it was agreed that the male lead would go to New Line, in the end it was still according to your idea. Jason Statham was the actor you favored, and New Line agreed without hesitation. We are sincere enough. Believe me, Zhang, Hollywood will never find another partner as generous as us..." Pitt's words left Zhang Chen speechless.

Because what they said is true.

Although Jason's role is suitable for him because he is himself, it is indeed, as New Line said, a way of giving face to Zhang Chen.

"OK, I admit that among the companies I'm currently working with, New Line is indeed the one that satisfies me the most."

"Haha, that's right, I said, we are friends, Xinxian has always been generous to friends.

How about we still cooperate on the new project, and follow the same model as before? We all have a pleasant cooperation, don’t we? "

Pete obviously wanted to finalize the matter over the phone, but Zhang Chen shook his head decisively: "No, Pete, I want to increase the share of the box office and DVD peripherals to 30% this time..."

"No, Zhang, you can't do this..."

Pete's reaction was huge because this involved real money.

The last time they worked together, even with the support of "The Dark One", Diane only managed to secure 20% of the box office and peripheral revenue for Zhang Chen, as well as the right to decide on the female lead.

In the beginning, New Line was very stubborn and would rather give 30% of the box office share than share with other companies.

Just kidding, the bulk of B-movies have always come from DVD rental and sales business, like "Romeo Must Die", which grossed over 2000 million at the North American box office, but earned as much as 4000 million U.S. dollars from DVD rentals.

But this time Zhang Chen was clearly prepared: "No, wait a minute, I haven't finished yet..."

Zhang Chen paused before continuing, "30% of the box office and DVD peripheral revenue. I want to use Jason Statham as the male lead. I don't think you would have any objection. You have the right to make suggestions for the other important villain, but I have the final say on whether it will work or not. These are the basic conditions. In addition, there is another prerequisite for our cooperation, which is that we will not start until the revenue from Eden Lake is received..."

Zhang Chen had no intention of giving the other party a chance to refuse and directly revealed his cards.

He is not the one asking for help now.

There was suddenly no sound from the light source, and it was obvious that they were discussing something.

In Pete's office, several old guys looked at each other, and one of them spoke first: "Pete, what do you think?"

Pitt knew that these guys wanted to consult his opinions, so he got straight to the point: "The share was already 20% last time, and it will be increased this time. This is within our expectations. I am not worried about the role. Facts have proved that Zhang will not mess around. Jason Statham has accumulated some popularity in "Eden Lake", so it should be no problem for him to continue to star in "I Saw the Devil".

He did not mention the most crucial final editing rights, which is very important. I guess he knew that we would not give it to him even if he mentioned it.

I think the really tricky part is the last one. He asked us to consider new cooperation after the settlement of Eden Lake. This is obviously to prevent us from using the same trick as The Lord of the Rings to fool him..."

"The Lord of the Rings" is a classic series of films produced by New Line Cinema, and director Peter Jackson is one of the co-producers.

However, New Line used financial fraud to significantly reduce the dividends of Peter's Wingnut Pictures.

The same thing happened with what Warner did to the young actors in the Harry Potter film. They promised to share profits with them, but in the end they turned the globally popular Harry Potter into a loss-making film.

If there is a loss, where will the profit come from? Then the profit sharing agreed upon before will naturally become invalid.

I can only say that Hollywood is truly shameless when it comes to money.

That’s right, they even dare to cheat Wall Street’s money, so whose money would they not dare to cheat?

So Zhang Chen had to be on guard.

"Then what should we do? Just agree to it?" said one of the senior executives.

"Let me remind you that we still need to consider this carefully. If we disagree, other companies may not disagree."

Pete's words once again made everyone realize the urgency. Although Zhang Chen was very weak compared to them, they were the ones who wanted to sit at the table now.

"I think we can give him an advance on the box office share. As for the DVD and peripherals, it's impossible to pay them all at once. We can just wait and see the results. If this one is really worth our attention, then we'll do it according to the contract. If not, then we'll also do it according to the contract..."

"I think it's okay~"

"I agree too."

Several people smiled knowingly, and it was obvious that they had the same idea.

Don't think that everything will be fine once you sign the contract. Don't forget, this is Hollywood and there are many things that can be done.

Even Wall Street professionals can't find out what's wrong with the way they do their accounting, so how could a foreigner be able to overthrow them?
A minute later, Peter's voice sounded again: "Zhang, we agree to your terms. After Eden Lake is released, we will advance your box office dividends as soon as possible. As for the peripherals, we settle accounts every three months. When we settle accounts, we will also calculate your share. How about this?"

Zhang Chen thinks it’s okay.

"Well, I wish us a pleasant cooperation. We will start preparing for the new movie. If you have any requirements, please let me know at any time."

(End of this chapter)