Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 347 Guaranteed Release
Jiang Wen became fixated on Chen Shouzhe and insisted on going into his study.

Good heavens, the last time I found "Let the Bullets Fly" in his study, it was one of Chen Shou's favorite things.

With such high box office returns and such good reviews, the movie he plans to release during the Lunar New Year season is actually derived from the script of "Let the Bullets Fly".

"Don't be so stingy."

Jiang Wen hugged Chen Shou and drank quite a bit. In fact, he was unsure of himself, even though he acted very naturally.

Last year, when Chen Shouzhe met him at home, it ended badly. Chen Shouzhe simply didn't think much of his script, but he still gritted his teeth and filmed it anyway.

Chen Shouzhe has an incredibly sharp eye; his movies have never failed. He invests 400 million in a movie, and he won't make a profit unless he invests 1 billion.

"No doubt about it, I won't let you in," Chen Shou said, pulling him along.

"Then I won't tell you too much. I have a question for you: do you want to accept the guaranteed minimum?" Jiang Wen whispered in Chen Shou's ear.

He was much more sober now, and under the influence of alcohol, he tried to go into the study, but it was just an excuse.

Chen Shouzhe could tell from his tone that he was very calm. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, looked around, and when he didn't see the little girl, he put one into Jiang Wen's mouth and then put another one in his own mouth.

"Sigh~"

The two men took a drag of their cigarettes and walked on the lawn of the horse farm.

"Let's make sure we get out at least what we can," Chen Shou said, exhaling.

"You still don't think it's a good idea?" Jiang Wen asked, turning to Chen Shouzhe with a cigarette between her fingers.

"With such a large investment, do you dare to try?" Chen Shou chuckled. The 400 million investment was entirely produced by Yishuohu. No one else could participate. At most, China Film Group and Emperor Entertainment could get the distribution rights. Chen Shou could use his connections to get Wanda Pictures to take over the distribution.

The problem is that the film is under too much pressure to recoup its costs. Four hundred million is equivalent to the initial budget of Journey to the West. Only Jiang Wen would dare to invest four hundred million in a period film.

Jiang Wen took a deep drag on his cigarette. Chen Shou was right. He was a little hesitant. If he were guaranteed a box office of 1 billion, he could immediately recoup his losses. If he could get more, he wouldn't have to worry about the subsequent box office crisis at all. It was like transferring the risk to someone else.

"Still not optimistic?"

"I never thought it would be good."

Jiang Wen fell silent, his expression revealing the complex thoughts swirling within him.

On one hand, there is his self-confidence; he believes his film will be great. On the other hand, there is market pressure and the vision of Chen Shouzhe, who is currently the top-grossing film in China.

Looking at the domestic box office, several films, including the currently showing "I'm Not a Doctor," have all become box office hits this year. All eight films released this year have been blockbusters.

The two Ghost Blows Out the Light films grossed over 5 billion yuan, Kung Fu Hustle and The Wandering Earth grossed over 7 billion yuan during the Spring Festival, Kung Fu Panda grossed over 3 billion yuan, Infernal Affairs and The Departed broke 3 billion yuan and 1.6 billion yuan respectively, and I Am Not a Doctor also grossed 3 billion yuan.

The domestic box office has exceeded 20 billion yuan, while the total domestic box office is only slightly over 40 billion yuan. Chen Shou's films alone have already occupied half of the film market box office.

Wang Banbi was joking, while Chen Banbi was using concrete data to illustrate his point.

Chen Shouzhe, the leading figure in domestic commercial films, may have his character questioned, but his vision in the film industry cannot be questioned.

Jiang Wenlai had only slightly wavered before, but Chen Shou's words made him waver even more.

"Tell me, how does the guarantee work? How many companies have provided a guarantee?" Chen Shou asked curiously.

"Minimum guarantee distribution means you give me the movie, I distribute it, and the box office revenue is none of your concern. I will settle the box office revenue according to the guaranteed minimum distribution price, and you just need to use the money to cooperate with the publicity." "Currently, five companies have given minimum guarantees," Jiang Wen said.

"So many?" Chen Shou asked in surprise.

"That's a lot? Didn't your movie get any minimum guarantee?" Jiang Wen said irritably.

"It's not that there aren't any, there are at least a dozen, for example, Journey to the West, someone has already offered a 2 billion yuan guarantee," Chen Shou said with a shrug.

"Damn it, how can the gap between people be so huge?" Jiang Wen glared fiercely at Chen Shouzhe, took a couple of puffs of his cigarette to calm down. The gap was too big, and he felt unbalanced.

The movie had just finished filming when it was guaranteed to gross 2 billion. This means that in addition to recovering the costs, Chen Shouzhe could get a share of the box office based on 1 billion, plus his personal tiered profit-sharing agreement, so the production company would net around 400 million.

A movie earned 400 million before even starting post-production, and without resorting to any shady methods—it's all clean money. This is too easy to make.

"Don't compare yourself to me. If you could achieve what I did this year, everyone would be eager to guarantee you a minimum income," Chen Shou said with a smile.

Jiang Wen took a deep breath and said, "Wanda, Bernard, Emperor, Huayi, Ali."

"Uh..." Chen Shou was surprised to find his company inside, feeling like his own husky had infiltrated a pack of wolves.

Why are you getting involved?
I'll ask Liu Xiaobing another day; I can't let him mess things up.

"What's the price quote?"

“Wanda 12 billion, Bernard 11 billion, Emperor 11 billion, Huayi 11 billion, Alibaba 13 billion,” Jiang Wendao said.

“Choose Alibaba,” Chen Shou said.

"Hmm?" Jiang Wen looked at him.

"Nonsense, with so much money offered, why wouldn't you choose it?" Chen Shou said irritably.

“But when you calculate it all, I don’t earn much, less than 200 million. I might as well go make movies; I could earn 200 million as an actor in three years,” Jiang Wen said.

Jiang Wen was not joking. With his background and acting skills, he would definitely attract a lot of investment if he became an actor, easily earning 100 million a year.

He poured three years of his heart and soul into the project, spent a year writing the script, and two years making the film, only to earn less than 200 million yuan. How could he possibly accept that?

“I’m telling you this because I consider you my brother. The film market is different now. Audiences don’t have the patience to watch all the concoctions you throw in. Life is already tiring enough; nobody wants to watch a movie they can’t understand. Besides, word-of-mouth spreads very quickly these days, like dominoes falling, and everything collapses at once. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the staff who handled Xiaoxiaomeng’s post-production. Their opinions are even more objective than mine,” Chen Shou said earnestly, pulling Jiang Wen aside.

Only when the relationship is good will he say that friends falling out is for each other's good, and it's impossible to stop seeing each other over a small matter.

They were all adults and friends who had worked together many times; Chen Shouzhe didn't want to see him lose too much.

He had actually seen the finished film long ago. Nowadays, many big-budget productions in China, as long as they have enough money, basically have Xiao Xiaomeng handle the post-production special effects. This is partly because of Chen Shouzhe's relationship with him, and partly because Xiao Xiaomeng offers the best value for money.

"Is that really true?" Jiang Wen remained unbiased.

"That's all I have to say. Anyway, you're going to participate in Venice, and Venice will give you an answer then. But it's best if you settle the guarantee now and mention it to Alibaba. 1.5 billion, and if it goes up to 1.4 billion, agree immediately. It will allow you to earn more."

Chen Shouzhe didn't want to continue the conversation. If the rich tycoon had money, then let him go ahead and swindle him. As for Wanda, he wanted to give Liu Xiaobing a warning for not discussing such a big matter with him.

(End of this chapter)