Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 553: Global Arm Wrestling
The influence of the opening ceremony actually only became apparent on the second day.

Turn on the TV, and all the news is about the opening ceremony, all kinds of sighs~
Not only foreigners were shocked, but our own people were too.

On the bus, strangers would talk about the big footprints and the lighting ceremony.

It's really amazing.

Zhang Yimou's reputation also reached an unprecedented height because of the opening ceremony.

The name of the national teacher spread like wildfire.

The grievances Athens suffered in the past eight minutes were returned in an exponential form.

Of course, some people noticed the post by Zhang Chen, but it didn’t cause any stir at all.

There are too many people who express their feelings like him.

As I said, right now, all of China’s attention is on the Olympics, and the entertainment industry has rarely lost focus.

……

Hollywood, Universal Pictures
A group of Universal's senior executives gathered in the conference room, including CEO Ron Meyer, and sitting opposite him were Roland Emmerich and Harald Klusser.

"Gentlemen, does anyone know what the global box office of 2012 is?"

Harald complained in his tone. Without waiting for anyone to answer, he said, "8 million US dollars, gentlemen, it's 8 million US dollars, and this 8 million US dollars should have been ours..."

Harald Klusser is a producer who has worked with Emmerich for a long time. In the original time and space, "2012" is a project conceived by the two together.

The people from Universal Studios on the other side were also in a bad mood, because "2012" was originally their project, but it was Warner Bros. that got there first, so Emmerich's project was forced to be terminated.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present could no longer remain calm.

"Yes, if it wasn't Warner Bros., but we were the first to make "2012", then these box office revenues would belong to us..."

The executives were indignant, feeling the fat in their mouths flying away.

Emmerich didn't say anything, but he had similar thoughts in his mind.

He was surprised that Zhang Chen had the same idea as him, but he felt even more sorry for the box office of $8 million.

"Warner Bros. is too greedy, these guys stole our projects, made a lot of money for themselves, but they are unwilling to give up a little.

They wanted the rights to use King Kong in Pacific Rim 2, we just asked for investment, but they rejected it without hesitation..."

The person who spoke this time was Philippa Boyens, the producer of the Universal version of "King Kong".

"And The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. This movie has also been stopped in China. This is obviously the work of that Chinese man. I heard that the director of 2012 has great influence in China, so China Film Group Corporation will stand up for him..."

The speaker is Sean Daniel, one of the producers of "The Mummy 3".

Ron Meyer was at the top, seeing it all.

He knew everything that everyone said, especially the last one. Universal received an official notice from China Film that "The Mummy 3" was removed from the shelves for defaming Chinese historical figures.

Universal made a compromise and re-edited the film, cutting out all the shots involving the Terracotta Warriors, but it still failed to pass censorship.

This made him very angry. Universal is one of the six major Hollywood studios, but it was given a hard time in the Chinese market.

In his opinion, you stole my project, so it is reasonable for me to ask for a role in your new project.

The right to use King Kong is just a means of restraint.

But Warner banned the project "The Mummy 3" through China Film, which crossed the line and they must be taught a lesson.

How to teach a lesson?

It's simple, the same method used by Warner.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Translated it means an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Or give them what they have given you.
Draw your sword and kill you~
Ron looked around the room and said in a deep voice, "I heard that they are planning a play where the White House is occupied by terrorists..."

"Yes, I've heard of it too. It's called "White House Down"~"

"How about we make a movie with the same theme, Mr. Roland Emmerich? I wonder if you are interested in personally teaching a lesson to the Chinese guy who stole your project..."

For a moment, all eyes were on Emmerich.

The latter was silent for a few seconds: "Of course, I'm very happy to~"

He was very happy to teach that guy a lesson in person.

After "2012", Zhang Chen became the number one director of disaster films, and this alone made Emmerich quite unhappy.

"Great, you can ask for any resources you need..."

Ron was determined to teach the other party a lesson.

Only when the other party is scared will Warner consider the possibility of cooperation.

"Of course, I need the script to appear in front of me as quickly as possible, and the script must be approved by me, otherwise I won't shoot it~
In addition, the investment must not be less than 100 million US dollars..."

Emmerich's words made the atmosphere in the conference room tense.

"One hundred million US dollars~"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Emmerich's project was certainly worth investing $100 million, but this project was so hasty and required such a high investment, right?

Emmerich took everyone's reaction into consideration and said, "Gentlemen, you can hire someone else, but as long as it's me, the investment will be at least this amount. I must be responsible for my own movie..."

He was telling everyone that although he wanted to teach that Chinese guy a lesson, he would not joke about his own career.

"Okay, one hundred million dollars, and the script will be sent to you soon~"

At the last minute, it was Ron who made the final decision.

……

China Film
Zhang Chen received a call from Warner Bros. while he was chatting with Han Sanping.

David Heyman said on the other end of the phone: "Zhang, the situation is not good. I heard that Universal has also decided to launch a movie with a similar theme to ours, and the director is Roland Emmerich..."

Zhang Chen was stunned: "Fight in a ring?"

"I'm afraid so. Universal has been complaining about us rushing to shoot "2012", and we rejected their investment request for "Pacific Rim 2". They must be trying to put pressure on us or retaliate in this way..."

Zhang Chen suddenly felt a sense of absurdity as if history had been revised.

In the original time and space, Emmerich's "Now You See Me" was copied by "Olympus Has Fallen".

I thought things would be different with the flapping of butterfly wings, but after many twists and turns, the two movies finally met, but it turned out to be Emmerich trying to copy him.

It seems that there is a divine will in the dark...

"It's okay. I'll send you a script later. Please help me file it there..."

He had previously struggled with whether to shoot "Now You See Me" or "Olympus Has Fallen".

The former is a blockbuster with a more reasonable plot and more big scenes.

But in the original time and space, it was the latter who made money.

"Olympus Has Fallen" has a low budget, a faster pace, and better action design.

The action design of "White House Downfall" is very poor. There is no highlight in either gunfight or hand-to-hand combat. Compared with "Olympus Has Fallen", it is far worse.

In terms of action, "Olympus Has Fallen" is indeed more exciting, but its plot does not stand up to scrutiny. The C-130 gunship flew to the front of the White House before the intercepting plane arrived.

Moreover, a propeller plane actually shot down a jet plane. There is no other sci-fi plot like this.

So Zhang Chen specially modified the script and corrected many obvious bugs, at least to prevent the audience from being distracted.

"Why, what happened over there?"

Although I couldn't understand English, I knew something happened just by looking at Zhang Chen's expression.

"Nothing, Universal wants to compete with me..." Zhang Chen told Han Sanping about the collision of subject matter, and he frowned.

"Has The Mummy 3 been cancelled?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Yes, we have officially notified Universal. They have revised it several times, but it has not passed the review..."

"I was wondering why you suddenly turned hostile. It seems you got angry out of shame~"

Zhang Chen was still wondering why Universal suddenly did this, and now it can be explained.

"The Film Bureau owes us a big favor for this incident. If they defame Zulong and things get really bad, they will lose their jobs..."

Han Sanping said with a smile.

Zhang Chen took the opportunity to say: "Can we talk to the Film Bureau and ask them to relax some of the restrictions on domestic films...

Let’s not talk about anything else, just take the subject of "The Mummy", Americans can shoot it and it can be brought into China, but we can’t. This is so unfair.

Since it is the standard, we should treat everyone equally and not engage in double standards.

Whatever they can release, we can release.

Either ban them all together, or don’t ban them at all.”

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he looked at Han Sanping's expression.

“The reason why The Mummy was banned was because it vilified historical figures, not feudal superstition, which shows that there is still room for discussion.

With the acceleration of the WTO process and the rise of the domestic market, the number of imported films will surely increase gradually.

94年是10部，01年从10部变成了20部，说不定什么时候就会从20部变成了40部。

What is the level of Hollywood blockbusters that can enter the mainland? Even in the North American market, they are first-class.

With external competition so fierce, we should at least create convenient conditions internally.

It is inevitable to appropriately relax the review standards.

By then, there will be only blockbusters with all kinds of themes.

If we can’t shoot the subjects that others can shoot, then isn’t that the same as handing over the market to others?”

"Okay, I'll report this to the higher-ups."

Han Sanping also realized the seriousness of the problem. He didn't want to go into it any further, so he continued to ask, "Is Hollywood really okay?"

“Don’t worry, if it’s a head-on confrontation between a special effects blockbuster, it’s hard to say what the result will be.

But for this kind of action movie, I can be Emmerich's ancestor~
Besides, for this kind of film, whoever is released first will definitely get the advantage, there is no way he can be faster than me~"

"So confident?"

"What can he compare with me? He hasn't even finished writing the script yet, but I've almost finished the set design~"

Although "White House Down" is a story about the United States, it was chosen to be filmed in Canada because of the tax refund policy here.

The crew has recreated the White House one-to-one in Canada. All exterior scenes will be shot here, and the remaining interior scenes will be shot in the studio.

This not only speeds up shooting, but also reduces costs.

For film projects, reducing costs means making money.

Seeing Zhang Chen's confident look, Han Sanping also felt relieved.

"Okay, let's not talk about these annoying things. Can you help me with the screening schedule for Wall-E?"

Han Sanping smiled again at this time: "Are you so optimistic about this cartoon? Why do I feel that we have made a mistake again this time..."

"WALL-E" is an animated film produced by Picasso. It was originally on the list of films to be introduced, but the people at China Film Group were not optimistic about it. They felt that the whole film did not have a single line of dialogue and the box office would probably not be good, so they gave up.

Then it was bought back by Star Entertainment in the form of a batch of films.

A very good animation, suitable for all ages.

I have to admire that Pixar is really good in the field of animation.

In its previous life, the film’s global box office was 5.3 million U.S. dollars, and that was even before it was released in mainland China.

Based on this box office revenue, it should have at least exceeded 100 million yuan in mainland China.

And the cost for Star Entertainment to buy the batch of films was only US$30.

It's a real bargain.

Not surprisingly.

In 2008, the wholesale film market was basically blank. The domestic market had not yet been developed, and Hollywood had not recognized its value.

Not to mention 2008, this was also the case in 2010.

In 2010, "The Expendables" entered China as a batch film with a buyout price of US$50.

That was with stars like Sylvester Stallone and Jet Li, and it was only $50.

People haven't even realized that this is a gold mine.

Then it developed rapidly, and by the time of "The Expendables 2012" in 2, the buyout price had become 800 million US dollars.

……

August has passed quickly and summer is coming to an end.

This summer seems to have passed without me having a good time.

A group of foodies from Xingchen Entertainment simply arranged a food stall in the evening.

Beer, barbecue, crayfish~
Catch the tail end of summer.

Pour beer, edamame, peanuts, some grilled skewers and small seafood~
"I heard that Twilight didn't do well at the domestic box office~"

Dong Jianqiang was chatting while shelling edamame.

"It's not good. This kind of vampire theme is not popular here..."

"Twilight" is a batch film, and the importer is not Star Entertainment, so the box office performance has little to do with Zhang Chen, and he doesn't care.

"I saw it, and to be honest, it's really bad. I don't understand how such a movie can sell such high box office around the world..."

The person who said this was Ning Hao, and he was the only one who dared to say that he and Zhang Chen were childhood friends.

Zhang Chen didn't mind: "It's a fan movie. Do you understand? A fan movie, as the name suggests, is made for fans. In other words, if you are not a fan, you are not the target audience..."

Ning Hao shook his head again: "How can there be such a movie in the world? Isn't film art always aimed at the general public?"

"Who said that? Aren't art films always made for a small audience?"

"Uh..." Ning Hao was speechless for a moment.

……

Somewhere in Magic City
Guo Xiaosi came out of a movie theater with a ticket for "Twilight" in his hand.

He is a fan of "Twilight" and came here specifically to watch it.

He found that the movie was very well made and restored the scenes in the novel to a great extent without any major changes.

He likes this form very much.

Although he heard some audience members complaining that the movie was incomprehensible after the show, Guo Xiaosi still thought it was a very good movie.

A very good reason is that the degree of restoration is very high.

For a moment, he thought of his own "Tiny Times".

If "Twilight" can be made into a movie, why can't "Tiny Times"?
(End of this chapter)