Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 104: Life should always have some dreams, challenge

Night has just fallen in Los Angeles. A hint of orange and red remains on the horizon. The afterglow of the setting sun shines over the entire city. The glass curtain walls reflect golden light, setting off the flashing neon lights on the streets.

Jason Blum sat on his patio, a gentle breeze blowing through his eyes, swirling a glass of whiskey in his hand.

At this moment, his cell phone rang and Wu Chen's name appeared on the screen.

After answering the phone, Jason listened to Wu Chen's story and smiled slightly.

Although Wu Chen was just testing the waters, it was obvious that Paramount's share was not so easy to negotiate, especially for a Chinese director.

He sighed lightly, smiled bitterly and comforted:
"Wu, they've always been like this. There's nothing we can do about it because they're the Hollywood Seven."

Wu Chen sneered: "It used to be the Big Eight."

Blum shrugged. "So the only independent studio that fell was MGM."

Wu Chen didn't care about Paramount's attitude. The negotiations were tentative, and he had no intention of selling it now. However, he sensed a hint of arrogance in the other party's words.

That is a dimensionality reduction attack by the world's number one box office market on other markets.

What makes him even more upset is Hollywood's stereotype of Chinese directors.

Just like when talking about Zhang Yimou, people only think that he can shoot martial arts action movies in Hollywood. It seems that apart from action movies and martial arts movies, Chinese directors can't shoot other types of movies in Hollywood.

Wu Chen recalled the trial works of domestic directors in Hollywood.

Wu Yusen makes action movies.

Brother Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Tang Jili have also been in Hollywood. Although the former did not make action movies, he failed both in terms of reputation and box office. The latter two also tried to make a living by making action movies, but they are still stagnant.

Wu Chen exhaled and was about to say something when Jason Blum suddenly spoke:
"Wu, I plan to set up a truly independent production company."

Jason Blum watched the last rays of sunset slowly fade away in the distance and said slowly, "Although independent filmmakers have freedom, they always feel like something is missing."

At this point, he smiled and said, "I'm still worried about the name. What do you think is good? Do you have any good suggestions?"

Jason Blum spoke casually, perhaps not holding much hope for Wu Chen's suggestion.

Wu Chen was slightly startled, a hint of surprise flashing through his mind.

Originally, Jason Blum was supposed to officially create the "Blumhouse" brand after 2006, but now it has been brought forward.

"Don't you already have 'Blumhouse Productions'?" Wu Chen thought for a moment, then said, "Why bother coming up with a new name? Just use 'Blumhouse'. And you can just call yourself 'Blum'. How simple and direct."

Jason was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up and he kept repeating: "Blumhouse"

After a moment, he smiled and said, "Okay, it's settled then.

If it becomes a big company in the future, I will have someone record this moment - today is the official starting point of Blumhouse's operation."

Jason Blum said cheerfully, looking forward to the day when Blumhouse becomes a truly big company.

"But if it's still a small company a few years from now, we'll just pretend it never happened."

Wu Chen was happy: "Then I'll wait."

Jason seemed to suddenly remember something, and when Wu Chen was about to hang up the phone, he quickly added:

"By the way, Fox Searchlight also wants your contact information and wants to talk to you."

"Forget it, let's leave it at that for now. We'll talk about the script later!"

Time quickly came to mid-to-late March.

Gu Changwei's "Peacock" has unknowingly reached a box office of over 9 million. The film was originally estimated to have a box office of 2 to 3 million, but because of the Berlin Film Festival, it added several million more.
"Letter from an Unknown Woman," starring Jiang Wen and Xu Jinglei, also performed well at the box office in March.

It grossed 400 million yuan in the first three days of the weekend, and the box office revenue of two theaters in Beijing was nearly one million yuan, making it the box office champion of new films this week, and it seems likely to make tens of millions.

Wu Chen boarded a plane to Hollywood. Although "Buried" was low-budget, it was a hot topic. Lionsgate specially held a premiere to further create hype.

On March 23, the premiere night at the Los Angeles Theater was brightly lit, the red carpet was crowded with reporters and fans, and flash cameras were crackling.

Wu Chen wore a casual jacket, while Christian Bale and Jason Blum wore dark gray suits. The three arrived in the same car.

"You look a lot stronger." Wu Chen patted Bell's shoulder. "It seems you've been eating a lot lately."

"High protein and high calories every day, it's driving me crazy." Bell grinned, "But fortunately, it's almost over."

There were Chinese people at the premiere at the Los Angeles Theater, but the majority of the audience were from abroad.

After the film, the theater burst into applause, and the audience stood up and said:

"Wu, you took such a great photo!"

"It's hard to believe this movie was shot in just 15 days!" "No wonder this movie won the Best Director award at the Berlin Film Festival and Bale won the Best Actor award for the film. The pace and atmosphere are truly amazing!"

"."

Michael Burns of Lionsgate was all smiles when he saw this scene.

Lionsgate can make more money if "Buried" is released well. Obviously, this movie seems to be very popular with the audience.

At this time, Wu Chen, Christian Bale and Jason Blum were on stage being interviewed by Hollywood reporters.

The question is quite standard. How was the filming done in 15 days? Why did you decide to make this movie?
Most of these reporters were probably arranged by Lionsgate. They asked whatever questions they could think of. Basically, they only asked good questions, hot questions that could be easily publicized and become gimmicks.

Of course, some sensitive questions will still be asked.

“Does this film reflect the US government’s performance in the Iraq War?”

Faced with this kind of question, Jason responded lightly, not crossing the line but not avoiding it either.

"Collecting money and doing things, the media here is actually very simple." Jason easily dismissed the media and said to Wu Chen with a smile.

At this moment, a reporter suddenly asked: "Wu, will you still film in Hollywood?
I really like your style of thrillers.”

As soon as these words were spoken, many people looked over.

Everyone wants to know whether the Chinese director Wu Chen will continue to impact Hollywood.

Wu Chen smiled slightly: "Of course, I'm already preparing a brand new work, and I may see it soon."

When these words were spoken, Jason and Bell were both stunned, and the Hollywood media in the audience were instantly in an uproar.

"What genre is your new movie? Will it continue the thriller style?"

"Wu"

"We'll talk about it later. Let's ask about 'Buried Alive'." Wu Chen waved his hand and directly rejected other people's questions.

Wu Chen's actions left the Hollywood media with a helpless look on their faces. They only asked a general question but had no idea of ​​the specific situation.

It's so appetizing.

After the premiere, Jason Blum took advantage of Michael Burns not coming over and quickly asked, "Wu, are you planning to shoot Black Swan?"

Wu Chen smiled and shook his head: "Not really!"

"Huh?" Jason Blum was puzzled.

"It was just decided a while ago, when I was talking to you on the phone the other day." Wu Chen did not hide it from Jason Blum. The two of them had worked together before, so it would naturally be better if they could work together again.

Moreover, other places may not be willing to give Wu Chen such a high share, as can be seen from the performance of Fox Searchlight and Paramount.

"Do you have a rough budget for your new film?" Jason Blum frowned. "You know, I'm planning to launch the Blumhouse brand soon, so I might not have that much liquidity."

"I have two ideas in my mind, one with a larger budget and the other with a smaller budget. I also have to calculate whether the money earned from "Buried Alive" is enough." Wu Chen pondered for a moment and said slowly.

"Commercial film?" Upon hearing this, Jason Blum immediately captured the sensitive information and raised a question.

Wu Chen thought about it and nodded.

"Wu, as a producer, I have to explain the risks to you first."

Jason Blum said to Wu Chen in a rare serious tone:
"If a commercial film doesn't do well at the box office, it's usually harder to recoup its investment than an art film, and the copyright sales price may also be lower.

Because box office is the main source of income for commercial films, if a commercial film has poor box office, it means that the market is not interested in the subject matter, IP, and actors, and the sales price of each copyright will be pushed very low.

Even if art films don’t do well at the box office, they generally have a fixed copyright buyer, and after winning awards, they can sell well and enter long-tail markets such as film festivals.”

After listening to this, Wu Chen nodded silently.

He knows all of this, which is why many current domestic directors like to make art films.

On the one hand, there is the inherent concept that film is art;

On the other hand, making commercial films is indeed not a thankless task. If it is not done well, the loss will be millions or tens of millions.

Who can withstand such huge losses several times?
Although Zhang Yimou's "Hero" seems to have opened the door to domestic commercial blockbusters, there are still many people who secretly laugh at him.

If the funds used to make "Hero" were used to make more art films, the profits might even be as much as "Hero" and the risks would be lower, so there would be no need to worry.

Wu Chen smiled and said, "Everyone should have some dreams in life. My trilogy is more artistic than the last, and I'm getting tired of it after filming for so long. I want to give it a try."

Not far away, Michael Burns from Lionsgate came quickly with a smile on his face and extended his hand to Wu Chen.

(End of this chapter)