1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 593 The Publishing Mission in Full Swing

When Ryuichi Sakamoto confided in him, Bertolucci's letters to him were full of good news.

The Last Emperor was first screened in Italy.

At first, Bertolucci and Thomas were quite nervous because when the film was first released, Western audiences felt that the pacing was too slow and the plot was too vague.

After all, the film is about China, about the East, and many of the social backgrounds and customs are too unfamiliar to them.

In short, I don't understand it.

After receiving the first wave of feedback, Bertolucci and Thomas were disheartened.

Unable to recover costs and repay debts?
Wouldn't he be hacked to death by the Italian mafia?!

They borrowed an astronomical amount of money to make "The Last Emperor"!

However, things didn't turn out as badly as the two had imagined. Although they didn't understand it, the audience thoroughly enjoyed the film, captivated by the mysterious Eastern culture depicted in Bertolucci's work.

A while ago, Bertolucci and Thomas recouped all the costs of making "The Last Emperor" after just the first wave of screenings.

Jeremy Thomas, an investor, single-handedly secured a massive $2500 million investment from film companies in Britain, Italy, and France.

That makes it all worthwhile!

And Jiang Xian, the investor, and Today Pictures, the investor, thus very smoothly recouped their investment costs.

In total, Today Pictures invested a total of ten million US dollars in "The Last Emperor"!

This money almost emptied the entire "Today's Film Industry," causing Zhao Zhenkai to call him many times to complain, feeling that Jiang Xian's investment was hasty.

And the investment was already recouped in just the first round of screenings.

From now on, it will all be profitable!
“It’s very good, the foreigners all really like this movie,” Jiang Xian told Zhu’s father.

"That's good, that's good."

Mr. Zhu smiled and looked at Jiang Xian with some anticipation, "When will this movie be broadcast in China? It was made with great fanfare, let us see it too."

"Hmm, it shouldn't take long," Jiang Xian said.

In many people's minds, the film "The Last Emperor" is a film that was banned in China.

But a little-known fact is that we have never banned the broadcast of "The Last Emperor".

Furthermore, "The Last Emperor" was released in China in the late 80s and was later broadcast on CCTV multiple times.

However, the film was not commercially re-released on a large scale across the country, causing this period of its release to be forgotten.

Furthermore, due to the constant spread of misinformation, some people claimed that the film was banned for decades because it contained certain themes.

Furthermore, many internet surfers in later generations were born after 90 and are not familiar with this old movie that was released before they were born, so it is normal for them to have this misunderstanding that it "was never released".

However, in reality, "The Last Emperor" was not banned.

Again.

We gave "The Last Emperor" such great support, and Bertolucci such great support. You should know that, until later generations, this film was still the first and only Western film to receive official approval to be filmed on location in the Forbidden City.

They even filmed inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the area was cleared and the railings were removed for the purpose of filming.

The most prestigious thing was that, because the film crew occupied the Hall of Supreme Harmony during filming, Elizabeth wanted to visit it, but because the equipment could not be moved out, Elizabeth was unable to visit.

And to what extent do we cooperate?
If you need actors, Ying Ruocheng from our Cultural Affairs Bureau can transfer some over for you.

Do you need extras?
2000 officers and soldiers shaved their heads and immediately went into action.

They gave us so much support, but after filming, we banned it. Does that make sense? Isn't this just like our own brains contradicting each other?

So not only was it released, but it wasn't the censored version that was rumored to be showing. It was the same version shown overseas. What Italy showed, we showed exactly.

However, the screening rights in mainland China are now in Jiang Xian's hands. If "The Last Emperor" wants to be released in China, China Film Group and "Today Film" need to negotiate. However, China Film Group has always been short of funds, so it is impossible to squeeze out much profit. Therefore, Jiang Xian has no choice but to negotiate a revenue-sharing buyout.

It's worth mentioning that the main way foreign films enter the Chinese market is through film buyouts.

Buying out a movie sounds sophisticated, but it's actually just a Chinese local distributor, China Film Group Corporation, paying to buy out a foreign film and then showing it in China.

This model started as early as the 80s.

Why did Jiang Xian feel he couldn't get any profit from China Film Group?

Very simple.

In one case, China Film Group Corporation bought the theatrical rights to "Superman" (1978) from Warner Bros.

How much did it cost?

It cost $5!
This version of Superman was directed by Richard Donner.

In a sense, this movie is the true beginning of the "Superman" series, the first "Superman" film.

It is considered a milestone in superhero movies.

It was also the first film series to pioneer a new era of visual spectacle in Hollywood.

Released in 1978, it grossed over $3 million worldwide!
Yes, most people probably watched it in their childhood. Christopher Reeve played Superman, the one who, in order to bring his girlfriend Louise back to life, went on a crazy lap around the Earth, turning back time.
Incidentally, Marlon Brando also appeared in the film. He played Superman's father, appearing on screen for 10 minutes and earning a whopping four million dollars!
This film, a classic in film history and a box office hit worldwide, was acquired by China Film Group for only $5.

Jiang Xian certainly didn't expect to squeeze any money out of them.

In other words, he doesn't expect to play the one-time buyout game with China Film Group.

What does "one-time buyout" mean?

To explain, there are two types of buyouts:

One type is a one-time buyout, which is very simple; it involves paying the full amount upfront. This is the most common form, and most buyouts fall into this category.

There is another type called revenue-sharing buyout. What does that mean? It means that under this model, when the total revenue of a film in Chinese cinemas reaches a certain level, the foreign production company can receive a certain share of the film's revenue in addition to the buyout price.

For example, "The Expendables 2", "Immortals", and "Mirror Mirror" are all movies that were bought out through a revenue-sharing model.

However, it wasn't until after 2000 that revenue-sharing films gradually became popular, and in 2005 the buyout quota was expanded to 30 films. Of these, about 4 to 5 were Hollywood or American films, while the majority of the others came from Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, Latin America, and other regions, or were international co-productions.

If "The Last Emperor" were bought out in a lump sum, Jiang Xian estimated that China Film Group wouldn't have to pay much in total. But if it were a revenue-sharing buyout, then "Today's Films" would have a good share.

Furthermore, the film "The Last Emperor" has not been widely re-released commercially in China.

That's such a loss!

China Film Group has too many good films in its portfolio, but it doesn't know how to use them, wasting too many good films and letting too many classic movies tarnish their reputation.

This time, Jiang Xian had to change the status quo. After all, every extra movie ticket for "The Last Emperor" would bring money into his account, so he definitely needed to organize more re-releases.

At Sanlian Bookstore, the publication of *The Little Prince* quickly became the publisher's top priority and was proceeding at full speed. However, the editors who were commissioning the manuscript were facing some challenges.

Based on the usual practice for publishing each work, several authoritative and influential writers are invited to write prefaces for the work.

Who should write the preface for "The Little Prince"?

This put the editor in a difficult position.

"The Little Prince" is a children's literature novel, and it is only right that several children's literature authors write a preface for "The Little Prince".

However, it seems that none of the currently popular and well-known children's literature authors are quite qualified.

Who should we invite?

We can't exactly invite Zheng Yuanjie, the author of "King of Fairy Tales," can we?

Sanlian Bookstore has had too many tough times and has never encountered a situation like this before, where the author of the work to be published is so famous that it seems that other writers are not qualified to write a preface for him.

Left with no other option, the editor who was compiling the manuscript reported the matter to Fan Yong, who was also stumped upon hearing it.

It seems that only a few literary giants, those who hold sway over the literary scene, are qualified to write prefaces for Jiang Xian.
Ba Jin?

Bing Xin?

Jin Jin?

Zhang Tianyi. Yes, he just passed away a couple of years ago.

Oh dear, Fan Yong realized that writing a preface for Jiang Xian would come at a considerable cost.

However, Jiang Xian is indeed worthy of the effort that Sanlian Bookstore has made for him.

Because Jiang Xian's reward to them will definitely be worthy of their efforts.

Based on this idea, Fan Yong, who had the most connections at Sanlian Bookstore, began to use his network.

Asking a literary giant of this caliber to write a preface, whether by letter or phone, would be too presumptuous, so Fan Yong had no choice but to visit him in person.

The first person he visited was the elderly Ba Jin, who lived far away in Shanghai and with whom he had a good relationship.

It turned out that Ba Jin had recently suffered a serious fall and was hospitalized.

Fan Yong had no choice but to suppress his desire to ask Ba Jin to help write a preface and instead bought dried fruit to visit him in the hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Fan Yong hadn't even found a ward when he saw an elderly man arguing with a nurse, yelling at her and demanding that the hospital move a certain patient to a private room.

"What rank is he?" the nurse retorted.

Upon hearing this, the old man raised his cane to the sky in anger. "Yes, his rank is not as high as mine, but his international influence is enormous!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Yong realized that it must be because the elderly Ba Jin was anxious and upset.

Upon inquiry, it turned out to be true.

With medical resources so scarce at the time, Ba Jin, a writer's association chairman with no real power, went to great lengths to be arranged to stay in a double room.

However, he couldn't get a good rest in the double room.

This senior scholar came to visit Ba Jin today and was furious to see this situation. He went to the hospital and demanded that Ba Jin be given a private room.

The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the hospital leaders. Upon seeing this senior colleague, the hospital leaders became very nervous and carefully inquired about the situation from him. They then quickly arranged for a nurse to move Ba Jin to a single room.

After much trouble, Fan Yong finally saw the elderly Ba Jin lying in bed in a new private ward and inquired about his condition with concern.

It turns out that Ba Jin was at home organizing books to be donated while standing on a ladder when he accidentally fell off and was seriously injured.

“Oh dear, you were so careless. Leave these things to Xiao Lin. At your age, you can’t handle any bumps and bruises,” Fan Yong said.

Ba Jin also felt frustrated, saying, "I've been thinking and reflecting on it. I always try not to trouble others and want to do more work with my own strength, but with this injury, all the work I have to do has to stop, which is really a pity."

After chatting for a while, Ba Jin asked Fan Yong why he had suddenly come to Shanghai.

Fan hesitated for a moment, then told the truth:

"The reason I came to Shanghai this time was actually to ask you to write a preface for a novel that Sanlian Bookstore was preparing to publish. But given the current situation, it seems that it won't be possible to write it now."

"Oh? What novel?"

"The Little Prince".

Upon hearing the name, Li Xiaolin immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Oh, it's Jiang Xuan's new novel! It's going to be published so soon?!"

"Jiang Xian's new novel?" Ba Jin looked at Li Xiaolin curiously.

"Yes, Dad."

"What are you writing?"

"It's a children's literature story."

Li Xiaolin said excitedly, "This is a children's novel, and it was only recently published. But Dad, don't underestimate this children's literature. I think Jiang Xian's writing is even better than Uncle Ye's. The Lu Xun Academy of Literature listed this novel as the first among this batch of graduation works, and recently the entire literary world has been talking about this novel."

"Oh? It's that good?"

Ba Jin wasn't in much spirits, but he couldn't help but be curious after hearing Li Xiaolin's fascinating story.

"Bring it to me and see."

"Let's go back, let's go back when you've recovered a bit."

"Yes, wait until you've recovered a bit more," Fan Yong added, trying to persuade her.

"Ugh."

Ba Jin suddenly sighed, feeling somewhat guilty. "You all say I got injured at the worst possible time. If I hadn't been injured, if I were healthy now, I could be writing the preface for Jiang Xian's novel right now. Jiang Xian has never asked me for anything before, but this is the one thing I can't do."

"Please don't say that. Actually, I asked you to write the preface on behalf of Sanlian. Jiang Xian is unaware of this matter yet," Fan Yong said.

"That would be even more inappropriate."

Ba Jin was even more upset. "He helped me manage the literary museum, but I can't even do this one thing for him. Here's what I'll do, Comrade Fan Yong, stay in Shanghai for a while longer. When I feel a little better, I will definitely write this preface for you."

Fan Yong quickly waved his hand, "You should rest more and take care of yourself."

As he said this, Fan Yong was deeply shocked.

How deep was the friendship between Ba Jin and Jiang Xian?

Despite being ill, he still insisted on writing this preface for Jiang Xian!

(End of this chapter)