Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 484 Pulling and Turning Imported Films: My Word Counts

In November, the snow line pressed down along the mountain ridge, and Changbai Mountain seemed to have been muted. The wind, carrying ice particles, rustled through the treetops, whistling past.
As soon as evening fell, the temperature plummeted like a cliff falling, and breath turned into mist.

"Position 1, put an insulation sleeve on the battery, then wrap it with another layer."

"Don't apply oil to the slide rails, or they'll freeze and become impossible to move. Use dry lubricant instead."

"."

On the filming set in low temperatures, everyone spoke briefly and concisely, with no one uttering unnecessary words.

Just as the long shot was being taken and tested, a "crack" sound suddenly came from the woods, as if a dead branch had been broken.

Everyone turned their heads to look, and saw a squirrel dart over a snowdrift, its tail flicking up a small clump of snow. It stopped on a tree stump, looked at them curiously, blinked, and then darted into a snow cave on the other side.

"Don't move, don't laugh, continue."

Wu Chen lowered his voice and exhaled a cloud of white mist into the cold air.

At that moment, several members of the lighting crew almost burst out laughing, but they managed to hold it back.

When Wu Chen finished work that evening, he talked about this with Liu Yifei on the phone.

"So cute, why don't you take a picture?" Liu Yifei's voice, tinged with laughter, came through the microphone.

"It ran too fast, there wasn't enough time, the camera wasn't pointed at it at all!" Wu Chen chuckled softly. "By the way, how's the project going?"

"Jingjing said a first draft should be ready by the end of next month. Oh, and one more thing, Jiang Yiyan called me."

Upon hearing Liu Yifei's words, Wu Chen gave a strange smile.

How to describe Jiang Yiyan? She's the kind of scheming person who's somewhere between smart and stupid, and her thoughts are always on her face and her mouth.

This kind of scheming is actually the least effective, and its impact on the industry is limited.

Wu Chen didn't rush to make a decision for Liu Yifei, and said with a faint smile:

"You need to think this through carefully; this kind of thing might happen more often in the future."

On the other hand, "Insidious 2" also shone brightly this Halloween in North America, continuing the box office trend of the previous film's reputation, and its domestic box office reached 60 million US dollars in two weeks.

James Wan is very reluctant to part with this film series, but he has no ideas or confidence about a sequel to this IP.

Following Wu Chen's advice, he began to subtly hint to Lionsgate that this IP could be sold.
Michael Burns was very excited and made overseas calls to Wu Chen for two consecutive days.

They are currently in the midst of a frenzy of acquiring horror film IPs, and series like "Lurking," which combines box office success with critical acclaim, are almost extinct in the market, making them among the highest quality IPs.

"This film is expected to gross more than $1.5 million worldwide. I remember that there are two valuation methods for selling Hollywood horror film IPs: discounted cash flow and acquisition by multiples."

In my opinion, there's at least seven or eight more installments of "Lurking," just like your assessment of "Saw."

As soon as he finished speaking, Burns on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, almost choking.

If we discount future cash flows, we use the box office profits of the first two films to predict the revenue of the subsequent N films, and then deduct the risk cost based on the discount rate.

If this counts as seven or eight films, then the cost must be astronomical. Is this a reverse takeover of Lionsgate?
"Wu, it's impossible to make seven or eight films. We're not like you, with such strong creative abilities."

Michael Burns didn't believe for a second that this thing could be made into seven or eight more films. If it could, Wu Chen would not have chosen to sell it at this time.

The negotiations then entered a back-and-forth phase.

One is willing to sell, and the other is willing to buy, but neither is in a hurry—they are slowly pulling each other along and secretly gathering information.

The consensus reached was simple: no matter what, if a third installment could be made, it would definitely be profitable.

Whether they can live up to the positive word-of-mouth remains to be seen.
At this time, the promotion of the Lunar New Year films has entered a white-hot stage. Films such as "A Simple Noodle Story," "Bodyguards and Assassins," "The Treasure Hunter," and "Mulan" have all come up with a variety of promotional methods, with hard advertising, announcements, and hype all going hand in hand.

Another formidable contender is Hollywood's "Avatar," though the release of its trailer has left the industry somewhat puzzled.

"It doesn't seem like anything's wrong."

"How many billions of dollars did it cost again?"

"3Dimax? Just how extreme will that be?"

The doubts are not without reason.

After all, this film, which Cameron spent years polishing and reportedly cost nearly $500 million, would need to gross over $1 billion at the global box office to be considered "safely landed" in order to break even.

Fox has been in contact with China Film Group for the past two weeks, trying to get a simultaneous global release in China, and has even used a lot of its connections.

On the one hand, China's share of the global box office is becoming increasingly important; on the other hand, Avatar is a film with strong technical gimmicks, and the earlier it is released globally, the easier it is to generate a media effect.

Inside the China Film Group, Han Sanping's secretary reported on the matter again.

"The timing of the release is my decision; I will not listen to any other opinions before I speak."

Han Sanping frowned and said, "Someone actually wants to interfere with the things I'm in charge of."

He then took out a calendar, flipped directly to the previous year, and circled the date in January of next year.

The Chinese film industry has only just begun to recover, and a blockbuster like this cannot be released during the Lunar New Year season. Otherwise, a film like "2012," released in December, might squeeze out a large portion of the space available for other domestic blockbusters.

Most importantly, he had heard Wu Chen mention this 3D film before, and given Wu Chen's dedication to making 3D movies, he became even more cautious.

"It will be in January next year."

Han Sanping waved his hand dismissively. Damn it, if anyone dared to interfere again, he'd let them go to the Spring Festival.

However, theaters still need to make a living, so he can't go too far.

The secretary watched as Han Sanping directly delayed the release of "Avatar" by nearly a month, his expression unchanged—a routine procedure!
Meanwhile, in the Changbai Mountain forest area, the film crew of "1939" is getting along better and better.

On the second day after Wang Baoqiang and Duan Yihong joined the crew, the first long scene was still not finished, so the two of them started training.

Although they were supporting actors, both of them had reserved two full weeks of their schedules.

A cold wind carrying snowflakes howled through the valley. Wu Chen stood in front of the monitor, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Crack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, cheers erupted from the crew, as if everyone was finally releasing the pent-up frustration they had been holding back for so long.

Many people collapsed on the ground.

"This part is finally over," someone said, lying back in the snow, panting heavily.

"It wasn't easy. This is definitely the most difficult scene I've ever filmed. I don't know how I got through those hundreds of takes every day at the beginning."

"What are you talking about? Director Wu didn't have a bad look the whole time. Even with hundreds of takes every day, he was still cheerful and told everyone to relax. Do you think you're under more pressure than the director?"

"."

Their murmured discussions, tinged with laughter, drifted in the cold air, making the snowy landscape seem even more lively.

Duan Yihong and Wang Baoqiang, who had only been training for two days, exchanged a glance and couldn't help but lean over to whisper to Zhang Yi and Li Gan:

So many NGs?

What were you filming earlier?

Zhang Yi sighed and looked at them with an almost regretful expression:

"You'll find out when filming starts, but you two won't have the chance to enjoy it. Everyone's sorted things out now, it's not as difficult as the beginning. It's a pity you're missing out on an unprecedented experience."

Zhang Yi's expression was as if Duan Yihong and Wang Baoqiang had missed something extraordinary. The more they pressed him for answers, the less Zhang Yi would say, his teeth clenched, making the two of them grit their teeth in frustration.
"Li Gan, if he won't talk, you will."

"Hey, Baoqiang, don't bully that kid. You look so innocent, but you're full of tricks."

"I'll trick you my ass, I'll trick you my ass."

Even ten Wang Baoqiangs couldn't out-argue Zhang Yi. At this point, Wang Baoqiang couldn't hold back anymore and they started arguing back.
The two knew each other from the TV series "Soldiers Sortie" and had a good relationship. This playful banter was perfectly normal in everyone's eyes, and they all laughed.

(End of this chapter)