Became the best actor, the system just finished loading

Chapter 417 Are you a cheater too?

Zhonghao Entertainment hasn't been very prolific in film production this year, releasing only a few movies that didn't perform well at the box office.

The most outstanding film is probably Guo Fan's "My Old Classmate". This movie, which cost less than 10 million yuan to make, grossed more than 500 million yuan during the summer and back-to-school seasons.

The return on investment is unbeatable.

This result surprised everyone.

It's quite obvious that this film, "My Old Classmate," was heavily influenced by "First Love" and "You Are the Apple of My Eye."

Since the success of "First Love" and "You Are the Apple of My Eye," many copycat films have emerged.

Box office revenue has generally hovered around tens of millions.

Although the box office wasn't high, the cost was also low. If the cast consisted entirely of newcomers, the total cost would be around ten or twenty million.

It's quite normal for a movie to earn tens of millions.

These days, what business can make ten million? Apart from crime, there are very few things that guarantee a 100% profit margin.

However, there aren't many films that gross over 100 million yuan.

After all, it's something that follows the trend, and people will compare it to "First Love" and "You Are the Apple of My Eye". If it's too far behind, moviegoers won't buy it.

It's amazing that Guo Fan's movie could gross 500 million yuan.

Even Qi Hao looked at him with new respect.

Could this guy be a cheater too?
A little research will reveal that Guo Fan's film is genuinely good.

He bought the copyright to "My Old Classmate" and started selling nostalgia around that concept.

Even after many years, many people still remember their deskmate, especially the one of the opposite sex. At the age when one is just beginning to experience romantic feelings, who wouldn't have some thoughts about their deskmate of the opposite sex?

The entire cast consisted of newcomers, whose salaries amounted to less than 10% of the total cost, and many people were also cast in cameo roles.

Even An Feng made an appearance.

He even hired An Feng as a producer and added the character of Senior Sister Crystal to the film, with the school setting being the same as that in "First Love".

Qi Hao was also listed in the producer section.

It makes it seem like Qi Hao was involved in the movie.

They're shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon.

Since they're all movies produced by the same company, there are no copyright issues involved.

Furthermore, the distribution was also handled by Zhonghao Entertainment, which allowed them to maximize marketing efforts with minimal investment.

As soon as theaters saw that Qi Hao was the producer, An Feng made a cameo appearance, and that it was produced by Zhonghao Entertainment, they immediately increased the number of screenings.

The box office exceeded 100 million in its opening week.

It easily grossed over 500 million yuan in just one month.

What about the production fee?

Qi Hao looked at Guo Fan, who had come to claim credit. Although he was criticizing him, he actually admired him.

As a filmmaker, I admire directors with real talent.

And as a boss, it's even less likely that you'll dislike an employee who earns you as much profit as possible with minimal cost.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have invited Guo Fan to their home.

Qi Hao rarely goes to the company these days.

He said he trusted the management, but actually he didn't want to leave his pregnant wife.

If there is important official business, invite people to your home.

"Hehe, all the money I earn is yours, boss. Why would I care about such a small amount? Boss, can I sign with Zhonghao now?"

Guo Fan remembers very clearly that the company rules were:

For art-house films, winning Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film, Best Director, or Best Screenplay at a specific film awards ceremony allows one to sign with a company and become a contracted director.

Or other prestigious awards are also acceptable.

For commercial films, as long as the box office exceeds 100 million after the film's release, the cast can sign a contract with the company.

Of course, this box office of over 100 million cannot be the box office of 600 million after the production cost.

Currently, Zhonghao Entertainment has signed quite a few directors.

"Sign if you want. What are you planning to film next?"

Qi Hao didn't care; even if they didn't sign, he would still have to invest.

Do you know Liu Cixin?

Guo Fan clearly already had a plan, and his request to sign with Zhonghao Entertainment was also a prelude to this.

"Yes, I know. I've seen him a few times."

Qi Hao is also considered to be involved in the cultural field, and he occasionally attends cultural conferences, where many literary creators are among the attendees.

"He has a novel called 'The Wandering Earth,' which I really liked after reading it. Could we make it into a movie?"

At this point, Guo Fan stopped beating around the bush.

You can use techniques to persuade your boss, but you can't treat him like a fool. Some of his past actions were out of necessity, after all, he needed an opportunity to prove himself.

Now that the proof is complete, it's natural to be more obedient.

"The Wandering Earth... that sounds interesting, but the cost of making it into a film is no small amount."

Qi Hao has read many of Liu Cixin's novels; he can even recite them from memory.

“I talked to Mr. Zhang Chenyu, and he said that if the cost of a movie like this is reduced to the extreme, it can be made for about one or two hundred million yuan.”

Guo Fan carefully observed Qi Hao's expression.

Seeing that Qi Hao's expression didn't change much when he heard about the 200 million, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, when it comes to costs, there are ways to play the game with minimal resources and ways to play the game with substantial resources.

you get what you pay for.

To achieve Guo Fan's ideal state, 200 million is really not much.

"You're talking about production costs, right?"

Qi Hao isn't so easily fooled. Two hundred million isn't a lot for him. If it were really going to be "The Wandering Earth," the budget would be cut too much.

Guo Fan truly lives up to his reputation as a conman. It's likely that none of the actors involved will receive high salaries.

"Yes, I don't know much about publicity and distribution either, but our company does the distribution itself, so the cost shouldn't be too high."

Guo Fan then pretended not to understand again.

However, he wasn't entirely talking nonsense.

Zhonghao Entertainment integrates film investment, production, and distribution, and its operations are indeed more cost-effective than those of other companies.

Moreover, the company has a good relationship with new marketing platforms such as Tencent and Sina, making it easier to negotiate lower prices.

"Shall we start filming now?"

Qi Hao doesn't care much about whether it's 200 million or 300 million; what he pursues is the quality of the finished film and how the movie will improve the company's overall business level.

It may even have a positive impact on the entire Chinese-language film industry.

"Hehe, this is a bit difficult."

Guo Fan, who had been full of fighting spirit, suddenly became somewhat dejected and sighed, "The technology is not mature enough yet. Boss Zhang needs to overcome some visual effects technology. The movie may also need to build sets. I estimate it will take at least five or six years to shoot."

"what?"

Qi Hao was completely taken aback.

“Boss, you’re a director too. If I ask you to shoot this, can you just shoot it directly? Even if you hire a Hollywood team, you can’t just do it directly. Besides, this project is such a good training opportunity for the special effects team. It allows them to make a movie and train the special effects team at the same time. We can’t let the opportunity go to a Hollywood special effects company.”

Guo Fan quickly explained that he also knew that the concept of five or six years was a bit exaggerated.

However, science fiction movies are different from campus romance movies.

The campus romance film was prepared and started filming in half a month, and wrapped up filming in a month and a half.

The pre-production stage of a science fiction film can take one or two years, not to mention the need to develop special effects software and overcome technical challenges.

"If it takes five or six years to film, how will you survive?"

Qi Hao was amused by him.

However, I also believe that Guo Fan really put in the effort to study it.

It's not something that can be done on a whim, just by opening one's mouth, to revitalize Chinese science fiction films.

"I just signed with a company. I heard that the director signed a contract with a guaranteed monthly salary of eight thousand yuan."

Guo Fan had found out everything.

"..."

Qi Hao was speechless; he was truly impressed by their shamelessness.

"Ahem, there's one more thing. I contacted Liu Cixin, and he said that China Film Group wants to buy it. China Film Group has already agreed to the price he offered. Boss, what do you think we should do?"

Guo Fan rushed to find Qi Hao because he was worried that China Film Group would beat him to it.

"China Film Group..."

Qi Hao was slightly surprised. When did Han Sanping develop such great courage?

If this movie takes five or six years to make, then by the time it's released, Han Sanping will probably have already retired.

After thinking about it, he gave up on trying to bribe Liu Cixin with money.

China Film Group is an industry giant, and it's unlikely that money alone can snatch the copyrights from them.

Qi Hao took out his phone and called Han Sanping directly.

They didn't ask Guo Fan to leave, since it wasn't a big deal to begin with.

The matter was resolved a few minutes later.

Qi Hao and Han Sanping exchanged a few polite words before getting straight to the point, saying that one of their directors had taken a liking to the novel "The Wandering Earth" and wanted to adapt it into a movie.

They asked China Film Group if they could part with the copyright and buy it back at double the price.

Actually, the copyright agreement hasn't been signed yet.

Due to the procedures of state-owned enterprises, even if the price has been negotiated and everything is agreed upon, it won't be finalized for at least a month or two.

Unlike Zhonghao Entertainment, once they find a script they like, they can resolve all the issues in three days.

However, Qi Hao did not rush up to intercept the prize.

He implicitly acknowledged that the copyright already belonged to China Film Group.

Han Sanping was not offended at all; on the contrary, he was overjoyed.

He bought the rights to the novel because he was frustrated by the lack of science fiction films in mainland China, which was almost a blank slate.

Over time, it caught the attention of those above.

As the godfather of mainland Chinese cinema and the head of China Film Group, this kind of question became his problem.

In order to avoid leaving any problems before retirement, Han Sanping directed China Film Group to begin purchasing science fiction copyrights.

I plan to help find a director and investors in a while to try and fill this gap.

"Okay, I agree."

Now that things have come to this, Qi Hao is no longer dragging his feet.

Qi Hao had read the original novel, and it truly was a pinnacle of Chinese science fiction.

Because of the strong development of animated films abroad, Qi Hao dared to continuously invest in domestic animated films.

The same principle applies to science fiction movies.

As a top player in the industry, if Zhonghao Entertainment doesn't get involved in science fiction, then other film companies have even less ability to make science fiction movies.

Moreover, Guo Fan has already proven himself.

Qi Hao didn't really care about the 500 million yuan box office of "My Old Classmate".

If Zhang Yimou were to direct a sci-fi film like this, the budget would probably be at least 10 billion yuan.

Guo Fan is confident that he can make it with a cost of two to three hundred million.

However, judging from the methods and control that Guo Fan demonstrated during the filming of "My Old Classmate," he is still very likely to succeed.

I plan to invite Wu Jing to play the role.

Guo Fan has already proven himself.
(End of this chapter)