Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 438 Taken Down! "Saw"! Mrs. Chung's Acting - Annie Sees Through It? You've Come at the Right Time!

"We'll take the remaining 30%."

I, Ma Xun, will suffer a slight loss; I only need 5%.

How about James, Ray... and you guys get 15% of the remaining 25%?

Anne...how about you get 10%?

Ma Xun went directly to Los Angeles this time. After getting off the plane, he went straight to an office building near Hollywood and met with Cherie Chung.

Of course, it wasn't just Cherie Chung, but also Anne Hathaway and James Wan.

Anne came alone, while James Wan came with his good friend, Rey Wonar.

This Reykhaner, anyone familiar with "Saw" knows who he is, this guy wrote, directed and starred in it.

However, the most important thing right now is to distribute the 'benefits'.

This benefit naturally comes from Columbia Pictures' investment in "Insidious"... Wait a minute, hasn't this movie been released yet?

Moreover, this was invested in by Colombia.

How did you obtain your benefits?

Of course it's ours! Filming for "The Dark Room" has indeed been completed, and post-production is finished.

With James Wan directing, there were no problems at all during the entire filming process.

Leigh Whannell is back in action, and James Wan has cast a few actors.

Of course, Anne Hathaway and Alyssa Chia are also included.

Jingwen plays a Chinese-American ghost hunter.

I must say, she's actually quite presentable.

Anne plays the older sister of the character "儿" in the film.

It's called "The Shady Room".

So, it's not much different from the original. As for the ghost-catching master not being American... after all, we've incorporated more Chinese ghost theories into it now.

This film itself is quite innovative.

The Ring and Ju-on are quite popular in the United States right now.

Wouldn't it be great if we made a horror movie that incorporated elements of authentic Asian ghost stories?

That's how the entire filming process for "The Dark Room" was completed.

But now that it's time to plan for future releases, Columbia Pictures seems less confident.

The reason for this lack of confidence... is what Ge Luming said.

It's still not as good as Hong Kong ghost movies!

After Ge Luming said those words, the higher-ups at Columbia Corporation really can't pretend nothing happened.

After all, Ge Luming is currently the head of Columbia's Asian branch.

Moreover, his achievements in Asia are quite remarkable.

It truly deserves the description of being magnificent.

Check out the recently released film "Hero".

This film set a box office record for Chinese-language films released in North America.

They also won the weekly championship twice.

This can already be described as phenomenal!
The credit for "Hero" should certainly go to Ge Luming.

Moreover, given her success, years of experience, and fluent Mandarin, Ge Luming is a natural speaker.

He must be a China expert, right?

If that's the case, then if he were to say anything about "The Haunted House," such as saying that it's inferior to Hong Kong horror films, then...

That must be an important opinion!
Therefore, Columbia Pictures currently lacks confidence in this film.

How to do?
No matter what, the film "The Infernal Chamber" has already been filmed, so it can't be left unreleased.

Since that's the case, why not share the risk?

This is standard hype in Hollywood.

The previous Titanic... that's definitely not a good example.

but!

We don't have any major problems with this one.

The total investment for "Insidious Room" was only $1500 million.

This investment would be considered a large investment outside of Hollywood, but in Hollywood, it's just a low-budget film.

Therefore, Columbia did not take it too seriously.

Just bring in a small company to share the risk.

In this way... Ma Xun's plan is successful!
That was the plan all along, and now everything is going according to his plan. This matter... of course!

We have to follow my plan, just like why Ge Luming dislikes this movie so much.

Wasn't that instructed by Ma Xun?

However, Ma Xun will absolutely not tell anyone about this.

In any case, he had already given Garmin two shares of Warren Buffett's stock, worth more than $30.

Cough cough, just two strands, anyway, that doesn't sound like much.

But that's just how valuable the stocks owned by the stock market guru are.

Leaving aside the details, anyway, Ma Xun and Ge Luming have performed this kind of duet many times.

Everyone is highly proficient in both procedures and teamwork.

So, the key point is, of course, how to distribute these benefits.

It was originally planned that Anne Hathaway would act as the white glove.

Therefore, she should naturally be given shares.

Golden Harvest, as the investor, remained behind the scenes, but aimed to acquire a large stake.

The key question is, why did they bring in James Wan?

Mrs. Zhong, Chu Hong, also didn't quite understand this point.

However, Ma Xun must have his reasons.

Actually, it's not hard to understand at all. It's because Ma Xun has his eye on James Wan and his "Saw" movie!
In fact, the movie "Saw" is also going to be released, and it's also being invested in by Columbia Pictures.

But there's still a problem, which is... a lack of confidence.

Playing the same trick twice?

This is nothing new; after all, this film had a smaller budget than "Insidious".

Only 1000 million.

Therefore, some people have come forward to say that this movie also has problems.

No one should think much of it.

But this is not enough.

Ma Xun is planning to watch the entire "Saw" series.

And now...

After hearing about Ma Xun's 'new' company equity model, James Wan spoke quietly with Reignard.

No problem, of course we should discuss it properly.

Fortunately, they didn't take too long.

"Is it just a matter of us continuing our directing and screenwriting work?"

This statement is a bit strange, but everyone understands what it means.

Ma Xun nodded. "That's right." Then, he emphasized, "How you two divide it is your own business."

This gave James Wan and Leigh Whannell a lot of freedom.

But this is still a bit strange.

At least, Anne Hathaway didn't quite understand it.

"Just James as director and Ray as screenwriter?"

Annie asked a question that seemed rather trivial on the surface, but in reality, she was implying that the director's and screenwriter's "work" was only worth this share of the profits.
Wouldn't we be at a disadvantage?
Ma Xun was very clear about this issue.

You definitely won't lose out!
Who is James Wan?
More than a decade later, he became known as the "Hollywood Antarctic." That's right, every Hollywood movie, especially those related to horror, wanted to have his name attached to it.

Even if he doesn't direct, as long as he appears on the cast list, it doesn't matter what he does.

Okay, then this movie will have a decent box office.

Just like Nanji Ren, they sell brand names.

In other words, Ma Xun's seemingly selfless act of giving up benefits was actually a way to gain a great deal of profit.

It seems like we've come out on the losing end, but in a few years, James Wan will realize he was too naive.

But Ma Xun certainly didn't just intend to take that little bit!

"Mr. Ma! I think this way, Jiahe is at a huge disadvantage!"

Mrs. Zhong has arrived!
She presented a strong image.

Ma Xun's reaction was even more forceful: "Loss? What loss? Mr. Wen is a very promising director. Our optimism about 'The Infirmary' is precisely because of his directing skills, isn't it?"

These words deeply moved Wen Ziren.

However, James Wan himself thought to himself: Wasn't it you, Mr. Ma, who took a liking to me?

But who doesn't like to hear nice things?

Chung Chu-hung, however, seemed to completely disregard Ma Xun's feelings.

"Does this mean we won't pay them anymore when they film movies?"

That's sarcastic enough.

Ma Xun retorted, "I've already said it, what I value is Mr. Wen's talent! Also, the original script for this movie was mine, and I'm confident that Mr. Wen can understand my ideas."

Argue with reason!

James Wan was deeply moved.

However, Mrs. Zhong was unwilling to compromise. "No way! This share distribution is not good enough! I think Mr. Wen Ziren and Mr. Lei should be happy with 10%."

This is about bargaining.

But Ma Xun was absolutely brilliant!

"If that's how it is, Mrs. Zhu, then let's call it quits and find other investors!"

what?
Is the negotiation about to fall apart?
"Hmph! Let's see what other investors you can find!"

The meeting ended badly?!
Annie was completely dumbfounded.

James Wan and Ray immediately tried to smooth things over, saying, "We can still talk, we can still talk."

Unfortunately, Cherie Chung seemed extremely angry and left immediately.

What should we do now?
Is our newly established profit-sharing company just going to go under like this?
……

A small bar.

Ma Xun, Wen Ziren, and Reignard got together for drinks.

"Actually, 10% is fine too."

"Mr. Ma, we are so grateful for your help!"

"Oh, why say so much? I can't stand the ugliness of those capitalists either! Let's drink!"

"Yes, yes, let's drink!"

"Come on, cheers!"

Good heavens, Ma Xun and the two of them are already locked in a fierce battle.

Is it just drinking?

You'd agree to just 10%?

As the three of them chatted, Ma Xun brought up something.

"The reason I argued so strongly is because I admire and respect you both."

"That means..."

"It means we all share the same goals and ideals."

"James, what does 'like-minded' mean..."

"It's because we share the same ideals."

"Oh, I understand."

I need to explain this to Lei.

That's really troublesome.

However, this was for the best, and it soon became a conversation between Ma Xun and Wen Ziren.

Then the conversation turned to another movie.

"If we compromise on Insidious this time, what about Saw?"

"That's...yes! We're just ordinary people anyway, this movie..."

"James, I have an idea, would you like to hear it?"

"Of course, please go ahead."

"Here's the thing, we're corporatizing the IP of this movie. We're setting up our own company, under the names of 'Saw' and you, James Wan, and Ray."

In other words, using this company to connect with major Hollywood studios on intellectual property (IP) is the best way to protect our interests.

"This...sounds complicated, but it seems pretty good."

"Of course, but..."

“I understand. Even if we establish a company, we'll still be a small company, and we'll face them in the future…”

"Do you trust me or not?"

"Mr. Ma! Of course we trust you!"

James Wan nodded vigorously at this moment.

Ma Xun laughed (he was actually a little unable to contain himself), "Then I propose that we set up this company. I can invest in it, and then the shares will be split as follows: I'll get 49%, and you and Lei will each get 51%. What do you think of this equity split?"

There's... no problem! There's absolutely no problem!

James Wan and Ray were both very happy.

"So, you mean we're using 'Saw' as a technology-based investment?"

"That's right, but it also includes both of your names."

Ma Xun's emphasis on the 'name' is extremely important.

The Saw franchise, with James Wan and Leigh Whannell, is the complete work.

These two obviously didn't know about this, so... they agreed!
"Great! So what's the next step?"

"Next, we need to argue our case with those investors."

"This dispute..."

“I have sufficient funds, and we can hire a good enough lawyer.”

"awesome!"

James Wan and Ray were overjoyed.

But at this moment, Ma Xun... was secretly laughing his head off.

All of these actions, including the previous "falling out" with Cherie Chung, were actually a hoax!

He's just a big liar!
It may seem that Ma Xun only got 49% of "Saw", but if you look closely, James Wan and Raymond Lam only got a total of 51%.

In other words, Ma Xun was the one who truly took the lion's share.

As for hiring a lawyer to protect our interests, that's something that Wen Ziren and his team simply can't do.

Lawyers in the United States are very expensive. To put it simply, a good lawyer's consultation fee is now $300-$400 per hour.

This is not something that ordinary people can afford to hire.

At least it's impossible for James Wan and Ray, those two nobodys.

Therefore, Ma Xun is definitely helping them.

But precisely because of this... I got it!

So, after James Wan and Raymond Lam got completely drunk...

Ma Xun then went back.

A big deal was struck just like that!
(End of this chapter)