Since they are reborn, they must be supported by the school beauties.

Chapter 253 Let's work together

Seeing that Zhang Qishuo liked action-packed dramas, Chen Cheng's first thought was Wolf Warrior 2.

The connection between Wolf Warrior 1 and Wolf Warrior 2 is not significant. If he really wanted to make a film, he could have completely disregarded the plot of Wolf Warrior 1 and started directly from Wolf Warrior 2.

However, I'm currently extremely busy and probably don't have time to write a script. But I can come up with a story outline, find a screenwriter to flesh out the plot, and then polish it myself based on the original work. That should be fine.

Seeing his confidence, Zhang Qishuo asked, "Brother, what inspiration have you had?"

Chen Cheng smiled and said, "I have a plot idea that fits the feeling you want, making the audience enjoy it from beginning to end. I'll think about it and improve it, and then I'll show you the finished product."

Upon hearing that there was a chance, Zhang Qishuo immediately smiled and said, "That's great! You'll definitely get your money's worth in the script fee!"

Chen Cheng said, "Brother, forget about the script fee. I'll also invest myself. First, I'll use the script to offset some of the investment share. Second, I'll add some more investment myself. Third, I have a small website, and I'll need to integrate it into the show. What do you think?"

Zhang Qishuo asked in surprise, "You also want to invest?"

Chen Cheng nodded slightly: "It shouldn't be a problem to participate to the best of my ability."

Zhang Qishuo laughed and said, "That's great! I'll give you a 10% stake in your script. Also, do you have a rough idea of ​​the investment scale for the plot you're developing? And how much are you planning to invest yourself?"

Wolf Warrior 2 was filmed in 2017. It is currently 2002. If filming starts next year, it will be in 2003, which is a difference of fourteen years.

Chen Cheng calculated the prices. Taking housing prices in a big city like Yanjing as an example, they were basically nearing their peak in 2017. In 2003, the average price was estimated to be less than 10,000 yuan.

In this case, the purchasing power of the currency is at least five or six times lower.

The investment in Wolf Warrior 2 was nearly 300 million yuan. Based on this purchasing power, it should be around 60 million, or at most 70 or 80 million yuan.

So he said to Zhang Qishuo, "Brother Zhang, this is a war film with a lot of scenes, and some of them may need to be filmed overseas, so the cost will be relatively high, around 70 to 80 million. You don't need to give me 10% of the script, 5% is enough. I will take the remaining 35%, and you can keep 60%."

"War scenes?"

Zhang Qishuo was startled and quickly said, "Brother, you don't want to make a war film too, do you? Take my advice, let's not touch that subject!"

Chen Cheng laughed and said, "It's not a war film. I conceived a story about Chinese special forces showing our country's power overseas. You can think of it as a Chinese version of Rambo."

"Oh……"

Zhang Qishuo breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I'm relieved to hear you say that. A Chinese version of Rambo sounds like a promising project, but if you're a special forces soldier and it involves overseas countries, I don't know if the censors will approve it."

Chen Cheng explained, "I wasn't precise just now. My friend was a former special forces soldier. He was expelled for using violence to punish evil and fight against organized crime, which violated discipline. Then he went abroad to investigate the mastermind behind organized crime who had fled overseas, and that led to this storyline. As for the country, we can make it up. If they call it Somalia, we'll call it Soli."

Zhang Qishuo nodded: "That should be fine. It sounds promising, but an investment of 70 to 80 million is a lot. If you put in 35%, that'll still be 20 to 30 million. Plus, we need to prepare some funds for future additions. Isn't such a large investment a bit too risky?"

Chen Cheng smiled and said, "To be honest, if I were to invest in this film, it wouldn't be in my personal name. I have a website, and I want to use the company registered on the website to invest. The website's gross profit is currently quite good. If we start filming this film next year, funding will definitely not be a problem, and the filming period will be at least half a year, giving us ample time to prepare the funds."

Zhang Qishuo looked surprised: "Brother, what does it mean for a movie to have an investment of 70 or 80 million? ... In mainland China, the only commercial film with a higher investment than that is Zhang Yimou's 'Hero' released this year. With such a high investment, it's probably hard to break even!"

Chen Cheng said, "I don't think it will be difficult to break even. I think Director Zhang's 'Hero' will gross at least 200 million yuan in mainland China. If our film does a good job in promotion and distribution, the box office should be over 200 million yuan. My website can also take on a large part of the promotion and distribution work, which can save a lot of costs."

"Oh right, the website."

Zhang Qishuo remembered the question he hadn't had a chance to ask earlier: "Brother, is your website so profitable? You can easily come up with twenty or thirty million?"

Chen Cheng didn't hide anything from him, saying, "The website's revenue is pretty good right now. It's definitely not a problem to come up with 20 to 30 million next year. It just depends on whether you're interested, brother. If you are, you can take the lead and I'll follow."

Zhang Qishuo leaned closer and asked, "Brother, is it convenient for you to tell me what your website is called? I'd like to take a look when I have time. What kind of website can make so much money?"

Chen Cheng said frankly, "The website is called Xiaonei.com. You can access it by simply entering the pinyin of Xiaonei followed by .com."

"Rennenet?"

Zhang Qishuo's eyes widened in disbelief as he said, "You mean that super popular Renren.com right now? The Renren.com that my son plays on every day?"

Chen Cheng laughed and said, "The one your son is playing on is most likely my Renren (校内网) website."

"Fuck me."

Zhang Qishuo exclaimed in surprise, "You created this website, brother? Do you know how much this website has helped me!"

Chen Cheng asked with a smile, "How much has Renren helped you?" Zhang Qishuo sighed, "My son's biggest dream used to be to drop out of school after graduating from high school. A while ago, he told me he wanted to go to university. I was wondering what had happened to him. He suddenly wanted to go to university. Later, I asked him and found out that he said it would be too embarrassing to only have 'high school' in his Renren profile if he didn't go to university. He asked me to find him a university abroad that he could attend for a fee, just so that he would have something to fill in for the university section in his Renren profile."

Chen Cheng was momentarily speechless, then shook his head and laughed, "I didn't expect Renren.com to have the effect of encouraging study."

Zhang Qishuo looked at him with surprise and asked, "Brother, how come you suddenly started a website again? I heard your website is really popular now, and its valuation is probably over 100 million, right?"

Chen Cheng said, "We haven't raised any funds yet, and we haven't discussed the valuation in detail, but it's definitely worth over 100 million."

Zhang Qishuo clicked his tongue in amazement: "Tsk tsk, little brother, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You're no ordinary person. I used to think it was a waste of your talent to work at that disco, but I never expected you to have such a large business in the blink of an eye. You have a bright future ahead of you!"

Then, he confidently promised Chen Cheng: "Brother, with your skills, once you finish your script, as long as you dare to invest, I won't even look at the script and will go straight to you. Isn't it 80 million? You invest 35% and take 40%, I invest 65% and take 60%! Let's work together! What qualifications and resources are needed, I'll coordinate. If you want to find any actors, I can also coordinate a lower price."

Seeing that he was so agreeable, Chen Cheng smiled and said, "Since Brother Zhang has no problem, it's settled then. We'll discuss it again after the script is finished."

If Chen Cheng were to produce "Wolf Warrior 2," his main goal would be to promote the website on campus and, incidentally, incorporate product placements into the film, making money while also effectively promoting the website.
-
Zhang Qishuo's Bentley drove into the underground parking lot of a high-end club on Chang'an Avenue.

After the two got out of the car, several other well-known directors also arrived one after another.

The staff were already waiting there. Once everyone had arrived, Zhang Qishuo called everyone over and led them to the third floor of the clubhouse via the elevator.

The clubhouse was luxuriously decorated, but due to the era it was built, it inevitably looked a bit outdated, which Chen Cheng couldn't quite appreciate.

Once inside the private room, everyone invited Zhang Qishuo to sit in the main seat. Zhang Qishuo didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly in the main seat, then invited Chen Cheng to sit next to him.

Although the table was filled with well-known directors and figures in the film industry, Zhang Qishuo, while polite on the surface, still acted with a somewhat condescending air. However, this was in line with his actual situation. They had too much unearned income each year, making them typical nouveau riche in the film industry, and the kind of people that all directors and producers desperately tried to curry favor with.

Although Zhang Yimou has already reached a certain level of influence, he is not strong enough to refuse to bow to capital. Everyone knows that the coal market is good this year, and Yuanteng Group has more funds on hand. Since Zhang Qishuo organized this gathering, everyone is willing to come and consolidate their relationships. Maybe one day they will ask the magistrate to take charge.

After everyone was seated, Feng Xiaogang struck up a conversation with Zhang Qishuo with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, I heard that Yuanteng Group is going to allocate more money to film and television next year. Do you know any general direction?"

Zhang Qishuo casually said, "I mainly want to invest in commercial films. Isn't Director Feng good at New Year's films? Didn't he make one this year?"

Feng Xiaogang laughed and said, "Oh dear, last year I made a film called 'Big Shot', and this year I produced one or two films, but I didn't direct any myself. The main reason is that I didn't have any good scripts."

Then, he said cheerfully, "But I talked to Liu Zhenyun, and he has a project idea that I think is pretty good. It's closely related to this mobile phone. I think his concept and entry point are quite good. If we take advantage of the popularity of the interview program, it should become a hit."

Chen Cheng immediately recognized the movie he was referring to as the controversial film "Cellphone" from later generations.

Zhang Qishuo couldn't tell whether the idea was good or bad, he just smiled and said, "When the plan is finalized, Director Feng can contact me and we'll see if we want to invest."

"That's daring!"

Feng Xiaogang said with a smile, "I will definitely bring the draft and plan to you for review when the time comes!"

Zhang Qishuo then looked at Zhang Yimou: "Director Zhang, what are your plans for next year?"

Zhang Yimou smiled and said, "When I was filming 'Hero,' I was already conceiving the script for my next movie. I already have a rough idea. I still want to make a martial arts film. The tentative title is 'House of Flying Daggers.' We will start preparing for location shooting at the beginning of next year. Some work needs to be started in advance, and we will strive to finish filming within the year."

Zhang Qishuo said with some regret, "You're already preparing for location shooting, so the investment should be finalized by now, right?"

Zhang Yimou nodded and said, "It's basically settled, but the specifics will depend on how well 'Hero' performs at the box office."

"clear."

Zhang Qishuo said, "If you have any shares to give up, please be sure to contact me."

"no problem."

Zhang Yimou's polite words were very tactful, and he agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, Chen Cheng asked Zhang Yimou very humbly, "Director Zhang, your new movie should be released overseas, right?"

"Yes, it will be released in North America early next year. The North American distribution rights have already been acquired by a very powerful company there."

Although Zhang Yimou didn't know who Chen Cheng was, he could tell that Zhang Qishuo was very polite to him, so he didn't look down on him.

Chen Cheng nodded, then suddenly exclaimed, "I've already seen your movie. It was incredibly moving. The feeling of excitement I had after watching it lasted for many days before it slowly faded. It's truly remarkable. Just now, I was at the concert, and when I heard their opening song, that feeling of excitement suddenly came back to me. I wish I could find a movie theater tomorrow and watch 'Hero' again!"

(End of this chapter)