Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 522 MULAN
The script for Disney's "Mulan" is complete and is currently undergoing final revisions and polishing by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

Because she had been too busy, Li Qiutang had really neglected this drama.

It wasn't until his colleague brought out the proposal for "Mulan" that he remembered that Disney's "Mulan" had already started.

Zhang Zhao discussed more than just the "Pacific Rim 2" project in the United States. "This time, Disney took the initiative to approach us and wanted to collaborate with us on 'Mulan'."

"What kind of cooperation method?"

"Disney values ​​the Chinese market and hopes to make a live-action version of 'Mulan'." At this time, Disney had not yet been poisoned by political correctness and could still consider film production from a normal business perspective. "They hoped that we, as their Chinese partner, would assist them."

"Don't you want our investment?" Li Qiutang retorted.

Zhang Zhao shook his head: "Would Disney Princess series even want our money?"

He continued, "Disney wants to choose a Chinese director to make this film."

"Hmm," Li Qiutang responded, then noticed Zhang Zhao and the others looking at her. "Wait, Disney doesn't want me to take over, does it?"

"I think they do have that intention."

"Didn't you tell them that my projects are booked up for five years from now?" Li Qiutang is simultaneously promoting "The Wandering Earth" and "The Butterfly Lovers," plus some production work, so he really doesn't have time to film anything else.

"They didn't explicitly say they wanted you to film it; they just asked us to bring this proposal back for you to study."

Li Qiutang smiled helplessly and said, "We had a car crash."

"Huh?" The group asked, puzzled.

“Before you guys came back, I went to Guo Fan’s studio to watch some films. I promised Guo Fan that after he finished two low-budget films, I would arrange a big-budget film for him to practice with. I talked to him all night and suggested that he direct ‘Mulan,’ a historical war epic,” Li Qiutang said slowly. “Do you think this clashes with our own project?”

Autumn was only invited as a partner of Disney in China; the "Mulan" project was not Autumn's responsibility. If she really had to choose, Autumn would definitely prioritize her own projects.

Zhang Zhao raised his concerns: "Isn't it too risky to make historical war films now?" It must be admitted that the boom period for historical war films in China has passed.

The most recent memorable domestic period drama is "Dragon Blade," released at the beginning of this year, starring Jackie Chan. It had a budget of 4 million yuan and a box office of 7 million yuan, resulting in a complete financial loss.

The market is bigger now and audiences are more enthusiastic, but making a period epic is riskier than it was 10 years ago!

But Li Qiutang still felt that the risk was worth taking.

"It's precisely because the market is so big and the audience is so enthusiastic that we should try to do it again. Now is the best time for the Chinese film market. If we don't do it now, we don't know if we'll ever have such a good opportunity again."

This year, the total domestic box office has exceeded 400 billion yuan. Li Qiutang and Zhang Zhao have a relatively consistent judgment on the future market: in the next 3-5 years, the market will continue to rise, and the total market value will probably reach around 700 billion yuan. However, both of them believe that the current market chaos will be uniformly rectified in 3-5 years, such as the abuse of ticket subsidies - film companies also deeply resent ticket subsidies, feeling that they are paying online platforms to grab market share, and some companies even believe that ticket subsidies are another form of buying box office, calling on relevant departments to stop ticket subsidy behavior - as well as the phenomenon of inflated box office figures.

The industry will experience a period of adjustment, after which it will once again experience rapid growth.

Li Qiutang certainly knew that a black swan event would sweep the globe, but this assessment was reasonably plausible. It's just that no one knew this growing pain would last so long and be so intense.

The production cycle of a blockbuster is very long, and the company's decision to launch "Mulan" at this time is just in time to catch the market peak as predicted.

"Nobody was optimistic about animated films before, but we still made 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back', didn't we?"

"When we invested in 'Wolf Warrior,' we were called fools, but it still made over 5 million yuan."

It's the same principle. "Then should we cancel our plans for Disney?"

"Why push it away! It's just a co-production shoot, we can do that too, we can learn from Disney's skills."

But Zhang Zhao had a daring idea: "Didn't Disney ask us to help them find a Chinese director to make 'Mulan'? How about we recommend Guo Fan to them?"

"What you're thinking?" Li Qiutang guessed Zhang Zhao's purpose. "I'm afraid it won't be easy. Disney is a huge and wealthy company. Would they cooperate with us?"

"It all depends on human effort. Both companies' 'Mulan' projects are just getting started. Rather than having a bloody showdown later, it's better to have a good start and agree on terms. It's better than a lose-lose situation."

In overseas markets, even ten autumns combined might not be able to beat Disney, but the main market for "Mulan" is clearly China, something Disney knows better than anyone else, otherwise they wouldn't have wanted to hire a Chinese director. In this context, Disney might not be a match for autumns.

“Disney says it will be released in the summer of 18, but I don’t think they will be able to release it in 19 or 20,” Li Qiutang said. “You should negotiate this. It would be best if you could reach an agreement, but if you can’t, we are not afraid of Disney.”

Li Qiutang asked the overseas business manager to leave first, while she and Zhang Zhao discussed other work matters.

Li Qiutang told Zhang Zhao about the organization's invitation to participate in the Changchun Film Festival reform pilot program, wanting to hear his thoughts.

Li Qiutang can't do this kind of work alone; he definitely needs to build his own team. No matter how capable he is, he can't do so much on his own.

Zhang Zhao's reaction after hearing Li Qiutang's story was not much better than Li Qiutang's at the time.

Zhang Zhao, who is over 50 years old, is still passionate about the film industry and was speechless when he heard the news.

The Changchun Film Festival is indeed not very prestigious now, but that is precisely why the reform tasks are so challenging and tempting.

No filmmaker could resist the temptation to reform a national film festival.

"You really want us to do it?"

"They said they wanted us to offer suggestions and advice, and it seemed like they wanted us to do auxiliary work, but they also asked me to write a detailed report and report to the ministry in a while. I'm not sure what to do."

“It’s okay, just let us do it.” Zhang Zhao was very excited. Now he was very glad that he chose Qiutian instead of LeEco in 11.

At LeEco, how could he have had the opportunity to participate in the preparation of Changchun Film Studio Park? At LeEco, how could he have prepared for the establishment of a movie theater? At LeEco, he had even less of an opportunity to participate in the reform of the Changchun Film Festival.

"When are you going to give the report?" The gift Li Qiutang gave him was really too much.

"I don't know, I haven't finished writing my report yet. Besides, it also depends on the leader's schedule. We'll definitely work with his schedule, not make him accommodate ours."

"Which leader? Minister X or Bureau Chief X?"

"The biggest one."

"He's in charge of this job?"

"Where is the best place to ask this?"

"That's impressive. I'll go back and do some work on it. Show me your report when you've finished writing it." Zhang Zhao left excitedly.

(End of this chapter)