I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 298 Epic Director Zhou Yang

Paimon Pictures.

in the office.

The rich aroma of coffee filled the entire office.

Mark sat at his desk, silently took a sip of coffee, and his gaze fell on the "Devil Knight" documents in his hand.

Sunlight streamed through the glass window, casting a shadow of melancholy upon him…

Not far away, Zhou Yang leaned lazily on the sofa, swirling his wine glass and taking a casual sip. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression relaxed and detached, as if he had nothing to do with everything around him.

Mark finished reading the last page of information, slowly raised his head, and cast a complicated look at Zhou Yang.

When Mark first started paying attention to Zhou Yang because of the potential of the Chinese market, he only thought of him as a marketing opportunist.

But when Saw grossed $100 million at the box office with an astonishingly low budget, Mark was completely shocked.

After the initial shock, he maintained the arrogance typical of Hollywood filmmakers, attempting to package all his films, including the sequels to "Saw," with prejudice...

However, unexpectedly, this arrogant attitude caused him to miss out on the distribution rights for "Saw 2" and a series of major IP projects with global market potential.

“Zhou, we’re quite interested in this movie…” After a brief silence, Mark smiled and looked at the young Chinese man.

Since the global success of "Black Robe Alliance", he has been paying close attention to the developments in China.

Meanwhile, in China, Zhou Yang's outrageous actions never disappointed him...

He is like a clown jumping around and an absurd performance artist, yet he always manages to gather countless topics around him, become the focus of everyone's attention, and turn it into box office success.

After seeing the movie "The Devil Knight" behind the 100 million yuan endorsement fee, Mark finally decided to talk to Zhou Yang, taking advantage of the promotional opportunity for the release of the movie "Twilight".

Over the past few months, he has been constantly replaying the opportunities he missed in his mind.

The sequel to the Saw series, the global distribution rights to The Black Robe...

These mistakes infuriated the board of directors.

This time, he absolutely cannot miss out on the "Devil Knight" project.

At the very least, I need to see this project for myself.

“Mr. Mark, you should know that our partner company is now [Warman Pictures]…” Zhou Yang looked at Mark’s smile and immediately shook his head.

“But, Zhou, I believe you should be well aware that [Warman Pictures] cannot afford the high investment of this film… At best, [Warman Pictures] is just surviving right now… We won’t let you completely abandon [Warman Pictures]. We can co-produce and distribute this film together…” Mark smiled sincerely, and after speaking, he slowly handed an investment form to Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang took the investment list and glanced at it, then looked at Mark, whose eyes remained fixed on Zhou Yang: "We can invest $1200 million... about 40% of the investment in this film..."

“1200 million US dollars, 40% is not enough, at most 10%…” Zhou Yang shook his head immediately after hearing this number.

How much investment do you estimate?

"$1.2 billion!"

Upon hearing this figure, Mark was immediately shocked: "If I remember correctly, the most expensive film you've ever invested in, 'The Black Robe Alliance,' only cost $300 million..."

After saying this, Zhou Yang silently put down his wine glass, narrowed his eyes, and said calmly.

“Yes, but from ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings’ to ‘The Black Robe Alliance’ and then to ‘Wu Hun 3,’ the salaries of my actors have all increased… Of course, it’s not just their salaries that have increased, but also the special effects budget. Times have changed!” Zhou Yang stared at Mark intently.

"But the contracts you give the actors are all based on a base salary plus a share of the profits. Don't try to fool me with that!"

"This is a film that I personally directed and produced."

Zhou Yang did not show the slightest embarrassment at being exposed; he simply smiled calmly and spoke in a firm tone, enunciating each word clearly.

Upon hearing this, Mark stared at Zhou Yang and fell into a long silence.

Zhou Yang met his gaze, his eyes filled with confidence.

A few seconds later, Mark turned his head and looked down at the script for the movie...

This young man...

They have been creating miracles.

And this time...

Who can guarantee that he won't create another miracle?

After a moment, he looked up at Zhou Yang and said, "Okay, but some of the actors will have to be from our company!"

"Apart from the main roles, the rest of the actors are fine!"

"Okay! I also have a small request..."

"any request?"

"I want to incorporate some details from the movie 'Twilight' that won't affect the viewing experience..."

"sure!"

..............................

2004 was a disastrous year for Warner Bros.

Following the global box office failure of "Catwoman," the company pinned its hopes on "Hulk," a film with an investment of over $100 million, to reverse the decline of superhero movies.

However, this highly anticipated film not only failed to turn things around, but also dragged Warner Bros. into a deeper crisis due to its poor box office performance and critical reception.

Following the disastrous failures of *Catwoman* and *Hulk*, coupled with the earlier global flop of *Superman II*, the head of Warner Bros.' investment department ultimately succumbed to market pressure and resigned. In 2005, Warner Bros. brought in a new, younger head, Blunt. Blunt was poached from Universal by Warner Bros. for a hefty sum and had previously overseen several blockbuster film projects, including *Spider-Man*…

……

3 month 26 day.

In the Warner office.

After Blunt cleaned up the mess left by his predecessor, he kept thinking about the future of Warner.

Superhero movies are bound to be the future box office trend, and even after several of his films flopped, Blunt still believes that movies should be made.

However, you need to choose movies that are truly capable of carrying the box office...

So in March, he overruled objections and finally signed on for the film "Batman: Origins".

In fact, Batman: Origins was a film released around the same time as Catwoman. However, the previous director felt that Catwoman had more potential for expansion, while Batman: Origins was considered too dark and gloomy, and the market might not accept it. Therefore, investment in Batman was halted.

The global success of "The Black Robe Alliance" made Blunt realize that "Batman: Origins" might be the future of superhero movies for DV Films, or rather, Warner Bros.

Of course, this movie alone is far from enough...

"Damn it, how does this madman get the audience to pay?"

Blunt put down the box office report for "The Black Robe Alliance" and rubbed his temples.

In the office, the projector was playing a loop of montages of Zhou Yang's "abstract films"...

The black hole effect created by Bao Gong's guillotine, the colorful fusion of the Calabash Brothers and Ultraman...

Every frame challenged the limits of his cognition.

He muttered to himself, somewhat bewildered, yet forced to admit that these "spiritually polluting" films were raking in box office revenue in the Chinese market.

The phone rang abruptly, and the secretary's voice came through: "Mr. Blunt, we just received news... that Chinese director's new movie is called 'The Devil Knight'..."

After hearing the voice on the phone, Brown nodded, then took a copy of Zhou Yang's information...

He has been paying attention to this Chinese man for a long time!

In fact, he had been paying attention to this Chinese man ever since the movie "Spider-Man" was taken off the screens.

Blunt was silent for a moment, then suddenly grabbed the phone and dialed Zhou Yang's number.

“Mr. Zhou, I am Blunt, the new head of Warner.” His tone was unusually gentle: “We may have had some misunderstandings in the past. But there are no permanent enemies in the business world.”

He stared at the poster for "Batman: Origins" on the wall, his voice low: "Instead of wasting resources on mutual animosity, let's talk about cooperation. For example, your 'Dark Knight' needs a global distribution channel, while Warner Bros. has a well-established superhero movie system."

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yang chuckled: "Mr. Blunt, your ex wasn't so polite."

“Because my predecessor was already awakened by the box office data,” Blunt said bluntly. “The Black Robe Alliance proved your market sense…and we need that sense.”

After a brief silence, he added, "Of course, the terms are negotiable."

“Mr. Blunt, thank you for your sincerity. However, the production cost of ‘Dark Knight’ will probably far exceed your expectations…” The person on the other end of the phone deliberately paused for two seconds, then suddenly announced a number under the other party’s questioning gaze: “The initial budget is $1 million! The simplest cooperation model is that you invest $1500 million, and I will give you about 10% of the box office revenue… We will co-produce it…”

"What!" Blunt jumped up from his chair, his eyes wide, staring intently at his phone screen as if trying to penetrate the signal to confirm if he had misheard!
$1 million?
$1500!
10%?

What a joke!
Previous film investments were all under ten million US dollars, and they thought this film would have a maximum total investment of twenty million US dollars, which they could easily fund entirely!

If another "Black Robe Alliance" movie comes out, we can make a fortune with a small investment!
but……

You suddenly tell him one hundred million dollars?
What a joke!
But the person on the other end of the phone said calmly, "The Demon Knight will have 3000 special effects shots, dozens of times more than the Black Robe Alliance..."

Upon hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Blunt's hand holding the phone trembled slightly, and he vaguely imagined the board's spittle flying towards him.

$1500 million is not a lot.

But a 10% share of the box office...

Nonsense, right?
Even if other famous directors made such a condition, they would have to consider it carefully, let alone you, who are just a Chinese director!

Even if you've had several hit movies before, a production budget of $1 million?

Have you ever directed a blockbuster of this caliber?
Blunt found it increasingly unbelievable as he listened!

“Zhou, this price is quite astonishing. I need to know where these investments came from… Why don’t you come over here, and we can talk?”

"Sorry, I'm very busy right now and don't have time to come over. Give me an email address and I'll send you a rough outline of the investment source..."

"it is good!"

After giving Zhou Yang his email address and hanging up the phone, Blunt waited quietly in his office.

About half an hour later, his private email account trembled slightly!

Immediately afterwards...

He saw a brief price list with only a few lines of rough data.

The total cost of actor salaries, special effects, and crew setup amounted to $5000 million, a figure that seems reasonable.

At least, on the surface, nothing seems wrong...

until……

When his gaze fell on the "Director's Fee" section, he froze instantly...

Fuck!
It clearly says $5000 million!
(End of this chapter)