Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 378 Buy it out, that mountain
The excitement surrounding the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics has not yet subsided.

Zhang Yimou has been very busy these past two days. Although the opening ceremony is over, she has been bombarded with interviews and reports, making her even busier than she was on the day of the opening ceremony.

The CCTV building, backstage of the studio.

Zhang Yi had just finished an interview and stepped off the stage when she was immediately surrounded by her staff, who kept confirming her next arrangements.

The phone rang abruptly. When he saw it was Wu Chen calling, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He waved to the people around him to wait and answered the phone.

"Haha, there's nothing to congratulate. I'm still busy, but while I am busy, the pressure isn't as great anymore. I've finally put down a heavy burden."

Zhang Yi laughed as he answered Wu Chen's call.

Upon hearing the noisy background noise coming from the receiver, Wu Chen knew that Zhang Yi was still at the interview site.

"By the way, the Organizing Committee is planning a celebration tomorrow, and you're on the invitation list. You should have received the invitation by now. If you're free, come on over; you were a huge help this time."

"Senior brother, I was just about to ask about this. I think it's fine whether I go to the celebration banquet or not, right? My family is coming over, and I plan to spend more time with them," Wu Chen replied with a smile.

Zhang Yi was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and burst into laughter: "It's okay if you don't come, it's not a big deal. The leaders have already remembered your contributions and your name."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two hung up the phone.

On the afternoon of August 10, Yuan Xiaoqin and Wu Mingyang, who had been in Beijing for four days, flew back to Foshan.

Liu Yifei returned to Hong Kong a day earlier with Ning Hao, Xing Aina, and others to continue filming "Bad Genius". She will be acting opposite Tony Leung Ka-fai next, and will move to Sydney in late August for the final wrap-up.

Wu Chen had naturally finished filming his scenes before the Olympics, and has been quite free lately.

Although the Olympics are incredibly popular, the film and television industry has not cooled down.

In mid-August, although "Red Cliff" encountered an unprecedented storm of negative reviews, it still managed to break through the 8 million yuan mark at the box office thanks to strong marketing and a star-studded cast.

Wu Yusen thus became the second director in China to have grossed over 300 million yuan at the box office, second only to Wu Chen.

"It's a good thing there's Wu Chen to keep things in check. Otherwise, it would be incredibly embarrassing for Wu Yusen to become the first domestic director to break 300 million yuan at the box office with a film like 'Red Cliff.' He would be laughed at to death!"

"The quality is too poor; it relied heavily on marketing. Thankfully, it's not the first domestic film to break 300 million yuan."

"Outrageous, how did it manage to get 300 million?"

"."

There's been a lot of discussion in the industry, with many relieved that Wu Yusen wasn't the first, otherwise it would have been too embarrassing.

But in any case, Han Sanping was the one who breathed a sigh of relief.

It's worth noting that the production cost of "Red Cliff" was over 7000 million US dollars, almost reaching 8000 million US dollars, indicating a huge investment.

Fortunately, it was split into two parts, and with the pre-sale of copyrights and box office revenue sharing in the Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian markets, profitability is probably no longer an issue.

"Break free, and you should be able to make a small profit."

Han Sanping put down the box office data of "Red Cliff" and the depression on his face disappeared. However, thinking about the investment he had made in "Red Cliff" over the past two years, the constant accidents and the mental and physical exhaustion, and the fact that he would ultimately be ridiculed by the audience and the industry, he felt really bad.

Just as he sat in his office deep in thought, his secretary knocked on the door and entered, whispering:
"Mr. Han, Warner Music called again, wanting to schedule a time to talk to you again."

Han Sanping waved his hand, looking slightly tired: "Okay, are there any meetings later?" "There's a meeting around 2 PM, it should be over before 3 PM."

"Then let's schedule it for three o'clock."

The secretary nodded and left, and Han Sanping sighed.

During this period, China Film Group and Warner Bros. have communicated many times. As Wu Chen said, the other party has always been very cautious about the share and has offered very harsh conditions. He has almost no confidence that he can successfully negotiate a satisfactory share.

Only then did he realize how difficult it was for Wu Chen to obtain the status of a nominal investor from Warner.

"He was probably deeply involved in the scriptwriting this time, and with Nolan's support behind him, otherwise Warner Bros. wouldn't have agreed so easily."

Han Sanping muttered to himself, when suddenly a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

That evening, Wu Chen received a phone call from Han Sanping.

"Mr. Han, are you planning to buy out the domestic distribution rights for 'Inception'?"

Wu Chen was somewhat surprised when he heard what was said on the phone.

Han Sanping nodded on the other end of the phone, his tone thoughtful:
"Well, Warner's offer is too small and their requirements are too demanding, so it's not very meaningful."

But since you're involved, and Liu Yifei is playing the second female lead, buying out the distribution rights directly isn't a bad option. The only problem now is figuring out the right price.

"Huh, Chairman Han, how did you know that Yi Fei became the second female lead?" Wu Chen was somewhat surprised, his brows furrowing slightly.

Han Sanping immediately laughed: "Hehe, you've kept it well hidden, securing such a role without making a sound and without even announcing it to the public. This afternoon, when I was discussing the buyout with Warner, they mentioned it on their own initiative, probably wanting to raise the price a bit."

Wu Chen smiled for a moment.

Han Sanping continued, "Alright, now that you're one of the core members of the script team, give me a reliable assessment: how much do you think 'Inception' will gross in China? I'll think about how to negotiate with Warner Bros."

It has to be said that it's great that China Film Group has a monopoly on the right to import films. If they can't reach an agreement on a share, they can still choose to buy out the distribution rights.

Here, even Hollywood giants like Warner Bros. have to bow their heads.

Of course, Han Sanping's ability to become the chairman of China Film Group is beyond doubt; he is definitely one of the best in the industry. After losing hope of gaining market share, he quickly came up with a new solution.

"What are your thoughts, Chairman Han?" Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“Three hundred million.” Han Sanping said cautiously, “but Warner Bros. saw that ‘Red Cliff’ had grossed over three hundred million at the box office, so they are not very willing to accept this price.”

Wu Chen pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Chairman Han, isn't there still a huge mountain weighing on the mainland? Let's use the 3.5 million yuan box office of 'Titanic' to suppress it."

Han Sanping frowned slightly: "It's fine to hold back a bit, but what if the box office isn't high? If I buy it out at this standard, the industry will curse me to death. Give me a more reliable answer. What do you think of that script?"

“Excellent!” Wu Chen answered without hesitation.

Is it really that good?

“Of course,” Wu Chen laughed without hesitation, “many of the core settings were actually proposed by me, so it can’t be bad.”

Han Sanping was stunned for a long time upon hearing this, then burst into laughter:
"You really aren't humble at all. Alright, alright, I'll think about it some more."

(End of this chapter)