Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 335: Twilight

Off topic: The censorship has been really intense these past two days, and any new chapter with even a little witty remark will be censored.

……

It is easy to understand why Stephenie Meyer wanted to meet with the head of the company before deciding whether to sell it. "Cube" is just a small, unknown company without any famous works. Stephenie Meyer probably couldn't find any other buyers, so she considered such a small company.

Just like Summit Entertainment in later generations.

Originally, Zhang Chen was planning to fly to New York in person, at least to show respect or something. This is generally the routine in China.

But Diane said it was not necessary, as that would only make us lose the initiative.

Then let's do as Diane said and adapt to local conditions.
Zhang Chen continued filming and it took another day before he finally completed the filming.

After nearly two months, "A Quiet Place" was finally completed.

"Zhang, you're such a quick shooter~" Pete from New Line came up and hugged him with a smile.

He is a representative of New Line Studios and one of the co-producers of this drama. He was here to monitor the entire filming process.

Although quickshooter is not a nice word, Zhang Chen is indeed one.

In fact, this speed is already considered slow.

There are not many scenes in "A Quiet Place" and the plot is not complicated. The reason why it took so long to shoot is that this is their first collaboration with New Line. Otherwise, with Zhang Chen's previous shooting speed, it should have been even faster.

"The rest is up to you. Be sure to protect the film~"

The director's job usually ends at the end of filming. In Hollywood, the director is not usually the one doing the editing.

Because each scene is shot one by one by the director, it is like his own son, so when editing, he may be reluctant to discard anything.

For this reason, editing is generally done by professional editors. Of course, the editor must also fully follow the director's ideas.

"Don't worry, I'll let you know once the rough cut is out. I believe it will be an excellent work~"

Pitt was on the set during the entire filming process. Although the effect can only be seen after editing, based on his experience, the quality of "A Quiet Place" is not bad.

"Pay special attention in the later stages, especially in the special effects~"

This kind of movie actually plays with the setting that monsters are extremely sensitive to sound, and any sound may lead to the monsters chasing them.

So the entire play has no more than 20 lines, and there is basically no sound. In this case, the sound effects are crucial.

The atmosphere is basically created entirely by sound effects.

At the beginning of the film, as long as this setting is established, all subsequent stories are within this setting, which is equivalent to a moat.

As long as the audience recognizes this moat, it will be easy for them to get into the play.

On the contrary, if this setting is not accepted, the whole play will seem full of loopholes.

This is probably how the negative reviews in later generations came about.

"Would you like to have a drink together tonight to celebrate~"

There is no such thing as a wrap party in Hollywood, but there is a similar culture.

Zhang Chen shook his head: "Sorry, Pete, I have some personal matters to take care of tonight, I have to go out~"

"Oh, that's a pity. If you want to go out, do you need a car to take you there~"

"If you can, that would be great."

Zhang Chen doesn’t have his own car in the United States, so traveling is indeed not very convenient.

……

In the evening, Zhang Chen received a call from Diane on his way out.

“Boss, I got the latest news that Stephenie Meyer contacted Warner a while ago, probably because she thought Warner had adapted Harry Potter and might be interested in Twilight, but she was rejected.

In fact, she applied to many companies, but no one was interested in Twilight, so we should be her only choice..."

"Then why does she have to meet me once before deciding whether to sell it to us~"

"Maybe she wants to wait for a better price. I offered her $200 million. Or maybe she wants to make sure you will make a movie according to her ideas. I said before that her requirements are very strange. It must be a romance movie, and she must be one of the screenwriters..."

Not long after, Zhang Chen appeared at the door of the cafe as promised.

As the visitor bell rang, Zhang Chen walked into the cafe and saw Diane and Stephenie Meyer sitting in the corner.

After sitting down, Diane introduced the two people.

"Ms. Meier, you requested to see me. You must have something to ask me. Let's start now."

Americans don't like to beat around the bush when talking about things, and Zhang Chen doesn't like it either.

Stephenie Meyer is pretty good-looking, and should be considered pretty among writers.

It is said that this person was originally a housewife and had no writing experience.

One day she had a dream. She dreamed of a young girl and a handsome and charming man sitting on the grass and talking about love. Then "Twilight" was created.

No one expected that the book would become a bestseller as soon as it was published, and she became a bestseller as well. Well, this must be a love-brained person.

In fact, the plot of "Twilight" is very simple, a bit similar to the domestic "The Domineering CEO Falls in Love with Me".

Americans just don't have much experience, and any random trick can make a book a bestseller.

Later, when you saw that Qidian.com had an overseas version and that short dramas could be exported, you realized that these foreigners had actually not seen much of the world.

"gentlemen……"

"You can call me Zhang~"

"Okay, Zhang, Diane has told me a lot before and made some promises, but I still want to talk to the person in charge who will be adapting my work in person. I want to know what his specific plans are."

"Oh, what did Diane promise you?"

"She said she would try her best to adapt the film according to the original work, and promised that I would be a member of the screenwriter team. She also said that this would be the first film of your new company and that she would invest her greatest efforts in it..."

After Stephenie Meyer finished speaking, Zhang Chen took a sip of coffee and said, "Diane is right. I know you want to restore the original work as much as possible. This does not conflict with us and can be written into the contract. The position of screenwriter can also be included. But I have to correct one thing. Twilight is not our first work. It can only be regarded as a test work for us. We imitated Warner Bros.'s test work for Harry Potter..."

Hearing that Zhang Chen was willing to restore the original work as much as possible and was willing to write it into the contract, Stephenie Meyer was already relieved.

This is what she cares about most.

"I have another question, which may be a little offensive..."

Zhang Chen shrugged and indicated that he could go ahead.

"You are an Asian. I am worried that your understanding of European and American vampire culture may be distorted..."

Zhang Chen sat up straight, with a smile on his face: "You don't need to worry about this. I'm just the boss of the company. The specific projects are handled by Ms. Diane. She is a native American and knows a lot about vampire culture..."

"Okay, I have one last question about the adaptation fee. Is $200 million..."

Stephenie Meyer apparently felt that the $200 million adaptation fee was a bit low.

Zhang Chen interrupted her directly: "Sorry, ma'am, $200 million is the limit we can offer. Although Twilight is a bestseller, I think you also know that Hollywood film and television companies are not optimistic about it. We are actually gambling.

The only thing I can promise you is that we will try to make it as good as possible, with a cost of no less than 2000 million US dollars, and I promise that it will be released before 2008. Of course, we also need the priority investment rights for all sequels and derivative works..."

Stephenie Meyer actually understands the specific situation of "Twilight" better than Zhang Chen. She has invested in so many companies, but all of them have fallen on deaf ears. Some even told her clearly that they would not do such a project.

Otherwise, the previous life would not have fallen on the head of Summit Entertainment.

You should know that before "Twilight", Summit Entertainment was just a small company specializing in cult films, and its most famous work was "Wrong Turn".

Zhang Chen also had his own little plan in mind.

It's a buyer's market now, and Stephenie Meyer has no choice but them.

So he can lower the price as much as he wants.

After the first film becomes a hit, there will definitely be others who want to share the pie.

By then, the adaptation fee will definitely return to a normal price range.

But they have a priority investment rights agreement, which ensures that they will always be the banker.

Of course, the sequel will definitely have to give up some profits, such as giving Stephenie Meyer a certain percentage of the box office share, which is inevitable.

"Okay, I agree to sell you the adaptation rights of Twilight. I hope you can bring it to the big screen as soon as possible."

Stephanie Meyer signed the contract on the spot. Diane and Zhang Chen looked at each other, and the matter was finally settled.

"Believe me, you will never be disappointed. I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

"By the way, the adaptation fee will be deposited into your account within three days."

Zhang Chen smiled and shook hands with the other party, and Diane did not forget to add.

……

After coming out of the cafe, the two discussed the follow-up matters in the car.

"Is 'A Quiet Place' over?"

"Yes."

"Then should we go to our own company tomorrow? We have a new boss and everyone is nervous. Also, we need you to decide what to shoot for the first production after the establishment of our company..."

Zhang Chen nodded: "There is no need to rush to make Twilight. Let's find someone to adapt the script first. The box office of this kind of movie mainly depends on fans. It's a good opportunity to expand the fan base during this period. The more fans of Twilight there are when it is released, the higher our box office will be..."

Zhang Chen has his own considerations. In addition to wanting to accumulate some book fans, there is also the issue of cost.

The original empty "Twilight Saga: Twilight" had a production cost of 3700 million, and no one knows how the money was spent.

It's just a love movie, with no big stars and no grand scenes, so why did it cost so much?

All I can say is that the cost of making movies in the United States is high.

This cost would be a big production in China, but here it is just a medium investment.

(End of this chapter)