Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 413 You plot against me, I plot against you

"Zhang, you don't have to be like this..."

Eli Ross suddenly patted Zhang Chen on the shoulder.

Alexander Aja also gave him a hug: "Yes, Zhang, we are both horror filmmakers. We are very strong inside, not as fragile as you think..."

"Oh my god, is this the legendary Chinese tenderness?"

Everyone started talking at once, leaving Zhang Chen completely confused.

"Wait, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

James Wan smiled and gave a hug as well: "Okay, I know you're worried that we'll be embarrassed, but there's really no need.

You are willing to provide the brothers with a job opportunity, we can’t thank you enough…”

After listening to other people's statements, Zhang Chen finally understood what was going on.

Feelings like they thought they were taking care of their egos by bundling the two films together.

He finally realized that he had been thinking wrong.

Most directors are not as prolific as him.

It is considered good to have one work published in a year.

Many of them take several years to produce a work.

Just like Eli Roth, after the market response to Hostel was good, he immediately started making a sequel, but even so, Hostel 2 would not be released until two years later.

In other words, the director's window of opportunity is very long.

They are not like actors who can work seamlessly.

It is common for a director to only get a job once every few years.

Zhang Chen had previously anticipated that these horror film masters would look down on movies like "Crocodile Storm" because they were indeed mediocre.

But he thought wrong.

There are indeed some directors who are selective about scripts and would rather not shoot a film if the script is not good, but they are all awesome directors.

In reality, there is no choice at all, and you have to grab any job opportunity immediately.

The director of "Deadpool" was only paid $25. Can you believe it?
Why would we accept it even if the price is far below the market price? Because this is an opportunity, an opportunity to become famous.

Zhang Chen thought that everyone present was a master of horror films and was quite impressive.

I won't bow down for a few pieces of silver.

But he overlooked the fact that horror films are a niche genre all over the world, with box office revenue generally not exceeding 2000 million U.S. dollars, and the director's pay is unlikely to be too high.

But even the horror film master needs to eat.

Last time it was "I Saw the Devil", this time it's "Crocodile Storm" and "Dead Silence".

Zhang Chen acted as if he was distressed about not being able to find a director, but come on, this is Hollywood.

Hollywood has nothing else but as many film and television talents as it can find from all over the world.

The members of the Huala Gang naturally thought that Zhang Chen was taking care of their self-esteem.

Zhang Chen offered them a job opportunity, but since they were all friends, he was afraid of hurting their self-esteem, so he deliberately said that he was asking for their help.

I can only say that he is so nice.

"This is a good script, and no director would refuse it. So, next time you have such an opportunity, just tell us directly. We would love it and would not feel embarrassed..."

In the end, it was Alexander Aga who spoke for everyone.

Others echoed.

Zhang Chen looked at everyone. Should he explain or not for such a beautiful misunderstanding?

"Okay, I was overthinking it. If you don't mind, there will be endless good projects coming to you in the future..."

In the end, Zhang Chen decided to continue with this character.

But he is not bragging. Cube is positioned as a cult film. In addition to the "Hold Your Breath" series, it will continue to copy other series, such as "The Purge", "Paranormal Activity" and "Happy Death Day"...

These are all series, enough for them to shoot for several years.

Due to a series of misunderstandings, Zhang Chen's status in the hearts of the members of the Huala Gang has greatly improved. He can not only help other members, but also knows how to take care of everyone's emotions.

Such a person deserves to be a boss~
……

The next day, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is a giant company, and Warner Bros. Pictures is just one of its branches, but it is also a giant, one of the six major companies in Hollywood.

The person Zhang Chen is going to meet today is a senior producer from Warner Bros. Pictures.

In the office, producer David Heyman is checking the work progress of his subordinates.

"Is everything going well with Harry Potter?"

"It went smoothly. I just came back from there yesterday. The young actors were all very well behaved." replied assistant Jim.

David Heyman is the producer of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Hearing this, he nodded.

There were some troubles with "Harry Potter" some time ago. The director was replaced by David Yates, and the young actors were no longer satisfied with the fixed pay. They clamored for a salary increase, and they wanted a huge share of the box office.

Of course the head office would never agree.

Getting a share of the box office revenue is a treatment only available to top Hollywood actors.

The success of the Harry Potter movies is all due to the strong popularity of the IP and the company's strong promotion capabilities, and has nothing to do with the actors~
To this end, David Heyman came up with a shady trick and tricked them into changing the box office sharing to profit sharing.

Of course, you must deal with their lawyers beforehand.

Hey, the process is simpler than you think.

The young actors are very excited and are still immersed in the fantasy of getting rich overnight. But they will cry after the movie is released.

David Heyman took a sip of coffee and looked at his watch: "By the way, what time is our appointment with that Chinese guy?"

"Ten o'clock."

Jim's tone was relaxed, and he also looked at his watch. It was five minutes to ten.

"Boss, I don't understand why we have to waste our time on such boring things. A Chinese person makes a science fiction film. My God, when will the Chinese be able to make science fiction films? It's ok for them to make kung fu films and action films, but making science fiction films, I think it will be a disaster..."

David Heyman nodded in agreement, "I think so too, but there's nothing we can do. The vice president personally gave us this order, so we have to go even if it's just a formality..."

Jim was very good at observing people's expressions and he had guessed David Heyman's attitude a long time ago. His words just now were just to follow his will.

Sure enough, David Heyman was not optimistic about this project.

Seeing that there was no one around, Jim suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Boss, can we also..."

Jim said, gesturing, "Just like we did to the Germans two years ago~"

In the past few years, due to the adjustment of Germany's tax-free policy, a large number of Germans invested their spare money in Hollywood, resulting in a large number of compilation films, and then they almost lost all their money.

Since then, the movie platter has become synonymous with "slaughtering pigs".

David Heyman hesitated for a moment, but finally shook his head: "I'm afraid this won't work. This involves the official power of China. If we cheat them, it may affect the headquarters' strategy in China..."

After hearing the serious consequences, Jim shut up. He was a cunning man, but not a fool.

If the company's interests in China are damaged because of this small profit, not only him, but even David Heyman will be in trouble.

As he was speaking, the pager on the table suddenly rang: "Mr. Heyman, the Chinese guest who made an appointment has arrived."

"Okay, Maria, please ask them to wait for me in the reception room. I'll be out soon~"

Releasing the intercom button, David Heyman stood up, straightened his tie, and walked out the door first. Behind him, Jim hurriedly followed.

Reception room

After the two sides met and Zhang Chen and others introduced themselves, Jim also introduced everyone on the Warner side.

David Heyman said very gentlemanly: "Oh, young Chinese director, I know you. Your "The Shallows" and "Taken" are very good, especially "Taken", which is a type of film that all men like..."

David Heyman acted very approachable, without any airs of a big producer. While speaking, he even imitated Liang Jiahui's classic moves in the movie.

The three people opposite smiled, and Zhang Chen said: "Thank you~"

"Okay, everyone's time is valuable, tell us about your project~"

Seeing David Heyman got straight to the point, Zhang Chen was happy and didn't need to continue the small talk.

"Pacific Rim is a science fiction film about mechas and monsters. Here is the script and related materials..."

While Zhang Chen was speaking, Diane distributed the information to everyone.

There were not only David Heyman and Jim from Warner, but also people from the evaluation department, as many as seven or eight of them.

When everyone received the information bag and opened it, the first thing they saw was the concept rendering.

A huge robot, towing a boat as a weapon, and opposite him is a huge monster with a hideous face.

Next to the robot and the monster are tall buildings. Obviously, these two are huge guys.

"It's interesting~"

This was David Heyman’s first reaction when he saw the concept art.

Continuing to flip through the pictures, the second one shows a dark coastline. Three huge mechas hung by helicopters are suspended in the air. Under the light, the huge metal texture exudes a strong sense of oppression.

Turning over, the third picture is an upward view - a huge mecha passes over the head.

The first-person perspective is very immersive.

Continue flipping, the scene of the battle between mecha and monsters...

Seeing this, David Heyman and Jim beside him looked at each other. It seems that this Chinese project is not as bad as they imagined.

“The story is set around 2050, when a space-time wormhole appears on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and extraterrestrial monsters invade the Earth through the wormhole.

The first monster appeared in San Francisco. Planes, cannons and tanks fought against it for three days but failed to kill it. Finally, a nuclear bomb was used to kill the monster, but San Francisco was also severely polluted and could no longer be lived in.

Then, every once in a while, there would be monsters invading, sometimes just one, sometimes two. China, Japan, and Sri Lanka were all invaded by monsters, and Japan was even destroyed...

Although humans still won in the end, it was a tragic victory, and because nuclear bombs were used in the process of destroying the monsters, that area was no longer habitable. This is how Japan was destroyed..."

Zhang Chen was describing the background of the story, and someone in the evaluation team was trying to hold back his laughter. It was obvious that he understood the feud between China and Japan, and even in the movie, they were thinking about destroying each other. Zhang Chen continued: "Humanity realized that they could no longer use nuclear weapons to deal with monsters, and began to look for alternative methods. Eventually, all countries reached a consensus that they could only use physical means.

From then on, countries began to put aside their prejudices, share resources, and start making their own monsters - mechas.

Resources from all over the world began to gather towards the most developed countries in the Pacific Rim. Various technical difficulties were overcome one by one, and with the sharing of technology, the mechas of various companies were gradually put into production.

After that, humans gradually gained the upper hand in the battle between humans and monsters, but there were exceptions. Once, a high-level monster of level three came out of the wormhole.

The combat power of the third-level monsters is not comparable to those of the previous second- and first-level monsters.

The mechas from China, the United States and Russia went into battle at the same time, besieging the monster, but were still almost killed by the monster.

In the end, the monster was killed, but most of the Three Kingdoms' mechas were also destroyed, and almost all of the pilots were killed.

Binbin was the Chinese pilot and the only mecha pilot who survived the battle.

Although the monster was killed in that battle, it eventually broke through the coastline and entered the interior.

When the monster died, its body happened to fall near the zoo, and its poisonous blood contaminated the animals and staff in the zoo.

The monster's blood was poisonous, and a large number of contaminated animals and staff died. Only a young panda survived, but it was also seriously injured.

Binbin lost his partner in that battle and chose to withdraw from the front line out of despair. In order to make up for his inner anxiety, he took on the task of taking care of the panda and became its keeper.

The relationship between man and beast is getting better and better, and Binbin named the red panda Honghuang.

After Honghuang was infected by the poisonous blood, he gradually underwent some unusual mutations. His body became increasingly larger and more difficult to control.

The country felt that this was an opportunity to uncover the secrets of the monsters and began research on the primitive world.

As the only person that Honghuang cares about, Binbin also joins the project team to help control Honghuang.

As it mutated, Honghuang became more violent. Binbin still tried to communicate with it, but most of the time, he had to use mecha to violently subdue it.

Gradually, Honghuang got used to interacting with Binbin's mecha.

At this time, more advanced monsters came to the earth through the wormhole again, and all of mankind’s most advanced mechas were destroyed.

In desperation, governments could only order retired mechas in the rear to take over temporarily, and Binbin was among them.

The retired mechas were also no match for the monsters and most of them were destroyed. At this time, Honghuang happened to undergo another mutation and finally became an adult.

The adult form has a strong sense of territory. Honghuang sensed the breath of the monster and appeared near the battlefield.

When the two monsters met, they were extremely jealous of each other.

The monster abandoned the other mechas and fought against Honghuang.

But Hong Huang was no match for the monster either. In the end, Hong Huang used the tacit understanding he had developed when playing with Bin Bin's mecha to defeat the monster, but during the battle, Hong Huang also fell into a space-time wormhole~"

Zhang Chen was talking about the second version of the script, which had some improvements in rationality compared to the first version, and strengthened the growth lines of He Binbin and Honghuang.

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, no one in Warner on the opposite side spoke.

David Heyman looked at his assistant again. These Chinese people were much smarter than they thought.

"You guys are very smart. The design of the mecha is obviously trying to take advantage of the popularity of Transformers..."

David Heyman felt he had seen through the essence of the film at a glance.

"Not only that, from Honghuang's design, it can be seen that you want to create a giant beast belonging to China, just like King Kong in the United States and Godzilla in Japan~"

As soon as David Heyman finished speaking, the staff members behind him immediately showed relieved expressions.

When they heard the background of the story just now, they had a sense of déjà vu. So that's how it was.

"Yes, you are right. We want to take advantage of the popularity of Transformers and create our own monsters..."

Zhang Chen didn't feel embarrassed at all about being exposed; this was what he had always thought.

Even if David Heyman didn't say it, he was going to say it.

David Heyman did not express his opinion, but instead asked the people behind him: "What do you think?"

Someone raised his hand: "I'm curious. I saw the concept designs of mechas and monsters in the information, but why is there no panda?"

Zhang Chen shrugged, looking somewhat helpless: "Because we haven't finalized the setting of the panda yet.

The behemoth should be ferocious, but the image of the panda in the international community has always been cute. Our design team has not yet decided which style to adopt, or whether to adopt both styles..."

His answer made several staff members on the other side smile. This is really the image of a panda, silly, harmless, like a fool~
But if you really think of it as a fool, you are wrong. The name panda is actually ambiguous, and the correct name should be panda.

There are some more detailed settings that Zhang Chen did not mention. The appearance of the Honghuang in the movie is not based on the current giant panda, but the more ancient Ba's giant panda.

The Ba's giant panda was larger and more ferocious than the current giant panda.

The so-called iron-eating beast actually refers to the giant panda.

David Heyman felt that there was nothing wrong with the design of the project, so he asked about other aspects.

"What about the budget? What is the budget for this project?"

"One hundred million dollars."

David Heyman thought about it and decided that $100 million was not a high price to spend on a science fiction film, but it should be enough for a project like this.

“How do you hope to work with Warner?”

"We have reserved 25% of the $ million investment for Warner, and Warner will be responsible for the global distribution of the film."

David Heyman frowned. A 25% share is 2500 million US dollars, which is not a small amount.

“I’m sorry, but I think it’s a risk to invest $2500 million in a Chinese science fiction project that is being run by a team without any science fiction experience.

I have two options here:

First, the production team should be handed over to an experienced Hollywood team, and the leading actors should be replaced by white actors. Warner can help recommend this.

Second, if the above conditions cannot be met, then Warner is only willing to take over the distribution business~"

David Heyman's attitude is very strong. He wants to take advantage but doesn't want to take any risks.

Assistant Jim also assisted: "Yes, China has never had a successful precedent for science fiction films. I think it is more feasible to replace the director and actors with white actors..."

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chen shook his head and said, "This is impossible. First of all, this is a Chinese project. We are going to make a Chinese science fiction film.

Only with our participation can this film be made into a co-production and enjoy the treatment of a co-production.

This is the bottom line!

So we have the final say on the creative team.

Even without you, we can still complete it ourselves. Asking Warner to invest 25% is nothing more than hoping that everyone's interests are aligned. If you think this is risky, then we can look for other companies. I think in addition to Warner, the other five companies must be interested in the Chinese market..."

Zhang Chen's tough attitude immediately made David Heyman frown. He didn't expect the other party to be so tough and use the other five to pressure him.

The Chinese market is indeed a piece of cake coveted by the Big Six.

After joining the WTO, China must open up its own film market, but it is others who have the final say on who can enter and who cannot.

Seeing that the negotiations were about to reach a deadlock, Jim immediately changed the subject and said, "Let's talk about the special effects. How are you going to do it? The biggest selling point of this film is the special effects. I suggest that Warner Bros. do it. If that's the case, maybe we can consider making an appropriate investment..."

Zhang Chen knew that this was another trap.

Jim's meaning is very clear, which is to contract all the special effects to Warner. If this is the case, then Warner will just spend whatever amount it wants.

In the end, the little money they invested might be fully earned back from the special effects, so wouldn't that be just making money for nothing?

These guys in Hollywood are really ruthless.

Seeing that Zhang Chen didn't say anything, Jim was afraid that something might change, so he continued to persuade him: "After all, you are just a Chinese company. I think Warner knows more about special effects than you do."

It sounds reasonable, but it's actually all bullshit.

Zhang Chen didn't say anything this time, but instead winked at Trist beside him.

Trist also realized that it was time to show his value, so he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, I'm the special effects manager for this movie, and I'll answer your questions about the special effects.

First of all, we are not planning to take on the entire special effects package, but rather to subcontract it to different special effects companies based on function, scenario, and level of difficulty.

It has been preliminarily determined that Industrial Light & Magic will be responsible for the main part, and another 3 to 5 special effects companies will be found to be responsible for the rest..."

When Jim heard the other party say this, he knew that he was an expert in the business, and it would be impossible for him to make a fortune from special effects.

David Heyman was a little annoyed when he saw that the other party had not responded to two consecutive proposals and Warner had not gained any advantage.

If the vice president hadn't personally instructed him to do this, he might have started cursing by now.

"Okay, I have a general understanding of this project. Warner needs to do an internal assessment, which will take about ten to fifteen days. If there is good news, Warner will inform you..."

David Heyman is ready to see off his guests.

You can't expect to make money by cooperating with Warner without doing anything. There is no such thing in the world.

He planned to leave the other party alone for a few days to dampen his arrogance.

Zhang Chen and the other two stood up and prepared to leave.

Zhang Chen complained in Chinese: "It seems like there's no hope. Diane, when is our appointment with Universal?"

"The day after tomorrow, Boss~"

"Oh, then go back and prepare well~"

After they left, a member of the Warner evaluation team suddenly came up to David Heyman and said, "Mr. Heyman, I just heard them say in Chinese that they have an appointment with Universal the day after tomorrow..."

"you sure?"

"Sure, they just said it in Chinese, and I happen to speak Chinese~"

David Heyman was silent for two seconds: "Okay, I know about this. Also, please keep it secret for the time being. By the way, what's your name?"

"XXX~"

"Okay, I'll remember your name."

David Heyman left with his assistant, and that man was secretly happy, as if he had just seized an opportunity to succeed.

Outside Warner headquarters, the three of them waited until they returned to their car. Diane then dared to ask, "Boss, do you think our little trick just now will work?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "I don't know either, but when I was explaining the background of the story just now, when I mentioned that Japan was destroyed, a Chinese guy laughed at the back, which means that he at least understands Chinese and Japanese culture. I bet he also understands Chinese~"

(End of this chapter)