Huayu: Starting with Hijacking from "The Story of a Noble Family"

Chapter 64 Xu Heng: I wish us success in becoming a dark horse!

"OK!"

Han Sanping took a deep breath and nodded again. As long as China Film Group didn't have to pay for it, that was fine.

However, since Xu Heng is so generous, he can't be too stingy.

"If you really decide to release it this way, I can give you a minimum publishing fee of 6%!"

Han Sanping waved his hand.

"Thank you so much, Chairman Han!"

Xu Heng was immediately excited.

He doesn't want China Film Group to contribute a single penny; China Film Group might even be able to make a considerable profit from it. In this case, the distribution fee is unlikely to be too high.

However, a 6% issuance fee is still considered a concession.

The so-called distribution fee is the distributor's cut; a 6% distribution fee means that the distributor takes a 6% cut of the money the production company receives.

.

Based on the current box office revenue sharing ratio for production companies, this amount is roughly equivalent to a little over 2% of the total box office revenue.

Han Sanping picked up his teacup, smiled, and nodded.

How could he not know that Xu was faking it? But that doesn't matter. What matters is Xu's attitude!

He put down his teacup and continued, "So when are you planning to release this movie? During the Lunar New Year holiday?"

With such high costs, it's only possible to recoup the investment if the film is released during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

Or it could be released next summer, but that's too long a time.

He had previously read reports that Xu Heng had said the film would be released during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

"It would be best if it could be released during this year's Lunar New Year holiday season."

Xu Heng nodded. "If possible, let's do it on December 31st."

As the most important film season in China today, the Lunar New Year film season is naturally bound to be competitive.

除了暂定在12月18号上映的《手机》，12月12号还有一部《无间道3》準备上映。

He remembered that in his previous life, "Infernal Affairs 3" grossed 3600 million yuan at the mainland box office, which was less than "Cell Phone" grossed 5450 million yuan, but it was still not low.

However, there is a movie version of "Jade Goddess of Mercy" starring Xiao Yanzi and Chef Xie on December 25th, which didn't even gross 10 million in the previous life.

Since that's the case, he naturally doesn't mind and will treat this movie as an easy target to bully.

Unfortunately, this film, "Jade Goddess of Mercy," was mainly invested in by China Film Group, with a cost exceeding 2000 million yuan. Otherwise, he would definitely not have minded releasing it on the same day as this film.

Furthermore, as long as the film is released this year, even if it's on the last day of release, the system will count all box office revenue as this year's total.

Han Sanping thought for a moment. In November, three Hollywood blockbusters, "The Matrix Revolutions," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "The Italian Job," were released. In December, three Hong Kong and domestic films, "Infernal Affairs II," "Cell Phone," and "Jade Goddess of Mercy," were released.

Apart from the end of December, there really isn't a better time to release it.

Moreover, the release date is 6 days different from that of "Jade Goddess of Mercy," so it will not have a significant impact on this film mainly invested by China Film Group.

Moreover, the production cost of Xu Heng's film was only 300 million, and the actual marketing cost after deducting the cost of copies was only a little over 200 million.

If this can affect "Jade Goddess of Mercy," which has a total cost of over 2000 million, then "Jade Goddess of Mercy" deserves it!

So the release date was set, and Xu Heng confirmed some details with Han Sanping before going to the finance department of China Film Group to get the bank account number for payment.

I ate lunch at the China Film Group cafeteria, then made the payment in the afternoon. I went back to the China Film Group to confirm with the finance department and got the receipt before leaving with peace of mind.

Han Sanping was finally completely certain that Xu Heng was not making fun of him.

I also gained a new understanding of Xu's strength and courage!

Han Sanping had other plans for the evening, so he didn't arrange a dinner for him, the "big spender" who had just spent 400 million.

However, he was assured that he would definitely get his money's worth from spending those 400 million!

But ultimately, the film's box office performance will depend on the quality of the film itself.

On the way back, Xu Heng told Liu Yifei the news.

He definitely wouldn't tell Liu Yifei that he spent another 400 million, lest Liu Yifei accuse him of being stingy again because of the pay issue.

The next day, Xu Heng went to class as usual.

At noon, I invited my three roommates and the four girls from Liu Yifei's dorm to have lunch outside the school and told them the news.

Liu Yifei also invited Shu Chang to join in.

After a few beers, and seeing several beautiful women present, Xu Heng's three roommates couldn't help but start chatting loudly again.

"Infernal Affairs 2 has only grossed HK$2000 million in Hong Kong. It seems impossible for it to surpass Infernal Affairs. I wonder how it will do at the box office when it's released in mainland China in a couple of days!"

Wang Hongyu was the first to express his feelings.

《无间道2》10月1号在港城上映，内地上映时间定在10月17号，今天是14

number.

After nearly half a month in theaters, Infernal Affairs 2 has only just surpassed HK$2000 million at the Hong Kong box office, and it is expected that the final box office in Hong Kong will be difficult to exceed HK$3000 million.

It's far less than the HK$5500 million box office of "Infernal Affairs" in Hong Kong!

"Infernal Affairs only grossed a little over 100 million yuan at the mainland box office, how much will Infernal Affairs 2 get?"

Zhang Zichen gave a soft snort.

Liu Jing countered, "The reason 'Infernal Affairs' didn't do well at the mainland box office was because it was released too late. A lot of DVDs had already been sold, and a lot of content was changed. This time, 'Infernal Affairs 2' will only be released in mainland China half a month later than in Hong Kong, so the box office shouldn't be too bad!"

Sun Haidong interjected, "In my opinion, Li An is the worst off. 'Hulk' alone cost $1.37 million to produce, and with marketing and distribution costs, it approached $200 million. Yet, its global box office was only $240 million, and now in mainland China, it's only grossed 6 million yuan in three days. It's an absolute disaster. It seems that even winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, won't have much impact on the box office!"

Two years ago at the Oscars, Lee An won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. Subsequently, Universal Pictures hired him to make a Marvel superhero movie, "Hulk," with a production cost of 1.37 million US dollars.

As a result, the film was released during this summer's box office season, grossing only $1.3 million domestically in the United States, and a mere $1.1 million internationally.

It grossed $100 million worldwide, with a box office of $240 million.

The film was released in mainland China last Friday, October 10th. It grossed 1.8 million yuan on its opening day and 6 million yuan in its first three days.

Million.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, but the level of commercial filmmaking by domestic directors, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, is far inferior to that of Hollywood directors. Let's not even talk about 'Titanic' from earlier films. Last year, if it weren't for Zhang Yimou's 'Hero,' our mainland box office champion would have been the Hollywood film 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' and second through fourth place would all be Hollywood films! So far this year, our mainland box office champion is 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' with 5200 million yuan in box office revenue. The Lunar New Year season is coming soon, and I wonder if any domestic film will be able to surpass it!"

Wang Hongyu added.

"I think it's difficult. The only domestic film worth looking forward to next is Feng Xiaogang's 'Cell Phone,' which is said to have a production cost of 1500 million yuan, but the actual cost is probably less. Ge You does have box office appeal, but the upper limit is not high. Zhang Guoli's appeal is more in the field of TV dramas. The female lead is Feng Xiaogang's wife, Xu Fan, who has virtually no box office appeal. The supporting actress, Fan Binbin, came from a maid background, so she has even less box office appeal."

Zhang Zichen shook his head.

"There's also 'Jade Goddess of Mercy,' which had a production cost of 2000 million. Xiao Yanzi and Xie Tingfeng are quite popular!"

'

Sun Haidong added another sentence.

Liu Yifei, standing to the side, was not convinced.

"Then what about our movie? Isn't it something to look forward to?"

She felt during the screening that Xu's movie was very well made and might actually achieve good results!

Besides, Xu Heng seemed quite confident, at least in her eyes!

She kept saying that Xu was pretentious, but she had to admit that Xu Heng did have the talent to do so, and he always managed to do it successfully!

"Forehead----"

Zhang Zichen immediately fell silent, as did Wang Hongyu and Sun Haidong; they dared not offend Liu Yifei.

Moreover, they absolutely want this movie to be a hit more than anyone else, especially Sun Haidong and Wang Hongyu.

After filming "Our Times," they went out and tried to take on other roles.

However, apart from Zhang Zichen being able to get some decent supporting roles, Sun Haidong and Wang Hongyu couldn't even get supporting roles with slightly more screen time, even though they were formally trained in acting.

Zhang Zichen, who once played the second male lead in a movie, also looks down on these supporting roles in TV dramas.

So the three of them decided to wait until "Our Times" was released before making any decisions.

But to be honest, they clearly weren't confident that this movie would be a hit.

They certainly wouldn't talk about the bitterness of not getting any roles before —

"I think the director did a great job with this movie; it might actually be a dark horse!"

Zhou Yang, standing next to Liu Yifei, suddenly said with a serious expression that she also knew how important this movie was to her.

"Zhou Yang really knows how to talk!"

Xu Heng offered a compliment, then raised his glass, "Then let's wish us the best of luck in becoming a dark horse!"

He must have some confidence in this movie, otherwise, losing face is a minor issue; damaging the reputation and affecting the ratings and box office of future works would be much worse.

However, it remains to be seen how much the box office will actually reach.

The others immediately followed suit and raised their glasses.

Liu Yifei, her three roommates, and Shu Chang were all drinking beverages, as they had classes in the afternoon.

Especially for Liu Yifei and Shu Chang, who are both minors, they cannot drink alcohol even if they don't have classes in the afternoon.