Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 362: Hurricane

After riding all night, I was very tired, both the rider and the horse.
But they are all young people and they recover quickly.

Not long after dawn, Zhang Chen was still sleeping when he felt someone attack him, which automatically triggered his passive skill - Noon Sunrise.

There are two best types of women in the world. One is a young woman with a girlish look, and the other is a young girl with a young woman look.

Blake Lively is the latter.

She is obviously only eighteen years old, but when she smiles at you, you just feel like she is seducing you.

Zhang Chen likes girls of this age very much. He has liked older girls since he was a child.

The next day, when the two came out of the hotel, Diane was already waiting outside.

Seeing the two of them holding hands, Diane smiled and joked, "It seems like you guys are having a pleasant conversation~"

Zhang Chen also enjoyed the red sofa in Hollywood.

Behind him, Blake Lively made an 'OK' gesture to Diane, indicating that he had succeeded.

Diane smiled.

Sure enough, Zhang Chen nodded. After discussing acting skills for a whole night, he was now very sure that Blake Lively's acting skills were good enough to handle the role of a female thief.

Seeing Zhang Chen's affirmative look, Diane opened the car door and invited Zhang Chen in. At the same time, she said to Lai Fuli behind her: "Gather at the company tomorrow, and the filming will officially start the day after tomorrow~"

Looking at Blake Lively at this time, her twin ponytails have turned back into a single ponytail, and judging from the luster of her skin, she looks well-moisturized.

The preparation work for "Hold Your Breath" was completed long in advance, not to mention that except for a few shots, most of the time this film can be completed in the studio.

Today they are going to take a trip to the Light to see the first cut of A Quiet Place.

In the car, Zhang Chen behaved normally.

Diane joked with him, "My boss, you don't have to take this too seriously. This is normal in Hollywood and is part of the audition. We will produce many movies in the future. If you want this, you can do it anytime..."

In Hollywood, such deals are not just unspoken rules; they are part of the rules.

Even if you tell others about this kind of thing, no one will care. What people really dislike is people like Harvey who use force.

Downstairs at the new line, Pete took the initiative to greet him.

"Dear Chen, you finally showed up..."

The two hugged each other warmly.

"Chen, has Diane told you that New Line has given very high praise to A Quiet Place? We think this film may make history..."

Zhang Chen is not as optimistic as them. Whether it is "A Quiet Place" or "Hold Your Breath", to put it bluntly, the concept comes first.

This type of movie may do well at the box office, but it is probably still a long way to go to create a miracle.

"Come with me here, I'm ready for the screening room..."

The group went to New Line's internal screening room and began watching the first cut of A Quiet Place.

Theoretically speaking, Zhang Chen does not have the final say on the editing process.

From the moment the film was finished, it had nothing to do with him anymore.

But Xingchen Entertainment is also one of the producers, so Zhang Chen has the final say on whether the film editing is good or not.

Not to mention, this project was originally controlled by Xingchen Entertainment.

After more than 80 minutes, the rough cut was finished.

The post-production has not been completed yet, and the special effects and music have not been synthesized yet. The so-called rough cut is just a picture and rhythm.

But overall it's OK, no major differences.

When other directors shoot movies, they may shoot a scene several times with different camera angles, and then choose the shot that works best when editing.

It's different for Zhang Chen. Before shooting, he already had the complete film in his mind, so there were basically no wasted shots during shooting, and it was not easy for the editor to do it even if he wanted to cut it differently.

"Zhang, let's talk about the schedule~"

After watching the rough cut, Pete came over and they started discussing it in the screening room.

“Can A Quiet Place really be shown in mainland China?”

This is Pete's main concern.

"Of course, A Quiet Place is a Sino-US co-production, which meets all the requirements of a co-production. In addition, it has investment from China Film Group Corporation, and we have a very good relationship with China Film Group Corporation, so you can rest assured..."

Regarding this, he made a special trip to China Film Studio before coming.

Han Sanping patted his chest and assured that there would be no problem.

How could there be a problem?

All the procedures of "A Quiet Place" are in compliance with regulations. In addition, China Film Group has been under great scrutiny recently due to "The Promise", and it is in urgent need of a good work to support the situation.

It is said that recently, due to the losses caused by the investment in "The Promise", China Film Group has even reduced the annual limit of support funds, causing complaints from those directors.

Not every director in the film industry is Zhang Chen. There are many directors who cannot attract investment. If they want to shoot something, they need to apply for assistance funds from China Film.

In previous years, the amount given by China Film Corporation was pretty good, about 100 million per person. However, this year, due to the huge losses of "The Promise", the support was cut in half.

"If that's the case, that would be great."

Xinxian chose to cooperate with Zhang Chen in order to open up the mainland market.

It is very difficult for Hollywood movies to enter the mainland. There are only 10 movie quotas a year, which are not enough for the six majors. How could it be possible for a second-rate studio like New Line to get them?

If their works want to enter the mainland, they can only go through the wholesale production route.

But batch films are bought out once and for all, and after they are sold, the domestic box office has nothing to do with the producers.

Of course they don't want to let go of such a big piece of fat meat.

In this case, co-production is a good way.

But co-production of films is not that easy.

It’s not like other companies haven’t gone down this path and been badly cheated.

Hollywood can defraud foreign funds, and conversely, mainland film companies can naturally defraud Hollywood's investments, not to mention that there is also a non-standard censorship system.

A good movie was ruined because it didn't pass the review.

Therefore, mainland filmmakers like Zhang Chen who can guarantee that they can enter the mainland are particularly important.

"So what about the release date? I heard from Diane that you want to release it simultaneously around the world in July?"

"No, it's too difficult to release it simultaneously around the world. That would require at least six major distributors, and they'd probably get ripped off. What I want is for it to be released simultaneously in North America, Japan, South Korea, and the mainland..."

There are too many countries in Europe, and it’s not a big movie, so it’s difficult to coordinate time.

If "A Quiet Place" wants to be released simultaneously around the world, it will definitely not be worth it, and the distribution cost will be several times or even dozens of times the original amount.

In comparison, it is much simpler to release the film simultaneously in North America and the mainland.

New Line can control the distribution in North America itself.

In the mainland, it is China Film Group Corporation. As for Japan and South Korea, China Film Group Corporation also has fixed partners, so the difficulty is not very great.

This was an attempt by Zhang Chen.

In the previous film, "Taken", he tried the profit-sharing distribution method for the first time. Although the payment cycle was slow, the benefits were obvious.

If successful, Xingchen Entertainment will have completed a leap in distribution channels.

The same is true this time. If you want to release globally, you must have reliable partners around the world. This is a two-way selection process.

A partner doesn’t have to be bigger the better, nor does it have to have a connection. What matters is whether the partner is the right one.

"Also, Zhang, the senior management of New Line is looking forward to further cooperation with Xingchen Entertainment in the future. We would like to know if we can get more involved, such as your Taken series..."

Sure enough, these foreigners are up to no good.

He actually wants to get involved in "Taken".

After the global success of "Taken", anyone could see that this would be a goose that would lay golden eggs.

"Hurricane" has a unique action style and is sought after by movie fans all over the world.

Both the gunfight and the fighting are regarded as classics.

As for its sequel, as long as it continues this style, it will be a waste of money.

Of course, New Line also wants to get involved.

In fact, it is not just Xinxian, many companies have this idea, but they just can't find a way to do it.

Xingchen Entertainment has no shortage of funds or connections, but they have nothing that can impress Zhang Chen.

"Pitt, we are friends, so I will tell you the truth. This may be difficult. The Hurricane is so popular now. The six major Hollywood companies have offered prices to China Film Group, hoping to take over its investment share, but they were all rejected by China Film Group. No one would be stupid enough to give up a project that is sure to make money..."

Zhang Chen's straightforward words made Peter a little embarrassed, but he still insisted: "No, Zhang, maybe there is something wrong with my expression. We are not taking advantage of you. We will exchange something of equal value with you..."

Zhang Chen became interested: "For example?"

"For example, we have the Rush Hour series, Jackie Chan's Rush Hour. We are going to restart this project. We will open up the investment rights of this series to you. In exchange, we want the investment rights of Taken..."

Zhang Chen fell into deep thought for a moment. It turned out that this was the new line's idea.

At first glance, it sounds like a good idea.

Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour" system is also a very successful series. It produced two films in 1997 and 2001, both of which performed well at the box office.

It seems that there is no loss in exchanging such a series with Zhang Chen for "Taken".

But Zhang Chen clearly remembered that "Rush Hour 3" seemed to have lost money, and the film was not able to be released in mainland China.

The censorship doesn’t care whose film it is or how big the production is. If it doesn’t pass the censorship, it won’t pass the censorship, and even the Lord can’t do anything about it.

To put it bluntly, the film and television industry is not a very impressive industry. It has nothing to do with the national economy and people's livelihood, so it is understandable that its management is simple and rough.

Pete looked confident and seemed to be confident in his proposal.

He was relatively familiar with the mainland and knew Cheng Long's status in the country, so he was quite confident about his proposal and felt that Zhang Chen would definitely not refuse.

Zhang Chen did not reject him immediately, but used the tactic of "delaying".

"Well, Peter, this level of cooperation is no small matter. I need to go back and discuss it with China Film..."

Foreign companies have a very stereotyped impression of China. They understand China, but they also don’t understand China.

Although Xingchen Entertainment is the main controller of "Hurricane", China Film has an independent status in the country, so they think there is no problem with Zhang Chen's words.

(End of this chapter)