Huayu: Everyone's been reborn, who's still going to be an actor?

Chapter 111 Another pay raise? (9/40)

Is he a jerk or just cowardly?

Cheng Yuan chose the former.

In front of Jiang Wen and the others, he would rather admit that he was a scumbag than admit that he was cowardly.

Men, they're all obsessed with saving face.

He was indeed timid and afraid of being rejected, so he only probed with a joking tone each time.

Cheng Yuan felt that he was a failed reborn person.

If you don't even have the confidence to pursue girls, what's the point of being reborn?

So what if we fail? Perhaps we lose this tree, but we gain the whole forest.

When the time comes, you can have a late-night snack whenever you want.

But every time the moment comes, I chicken out.

They've disgraced the reborn.

After having a drink with Jiang Wen, Cheng Yuan took the script to China Film Group the next day.

"Action, suspense, and sci-fi elements." After reading the script, Han Sanping looked at Cheng Yuan and asked, "What's the budget?"

"Not yet," Cheng Yuan said. "Will the script pass censorship?"

"Leave this to me," Han Sanping said. "What about the video?"

What did you say?

That naturally comes down to the issue of share.

The movie "Love" was the same as before, but Qingying Film Studio did not participate in Cheng Yuan's commercial films. "Taken" was not a project of Qingying Film Studio.

"Thirty percent."

Cheng Yuan spoke up.

"So few?" Han Sanping said. "Are there other companies? Emperor Entertainment?"

"Emperor Entertainment has other collaborations, so let's skip this movie," Cheng Yuan said. "My films should get the majority of the revenue from Remote Films, right? They only got 20% for 'Taken,' that's because Remote Films didn't have the money."

Of course, there is another reason, which is that Cheng Long takes 30% of the film fees.

"You didn't have to eat 70% of it!"

Han Sanping clearly wanted more of those shares, after all, Cheng Yuan's track record speaks for itself.

Even though the commercial film "Taken" hasn't been released yet.

Han Sanping could still judge the quality of the movie, and he was naturally aware of Cheng Yuan's abilities as well.

"Both Guangxian and Wanda are interested," Cheng Yuan said. "I estimate they'll have to give up about 30%."

"Wanda?"

Han Sanping was somewhat surprised, but nodded.

Cheng Yuan was well aware that he had collaborated with Guangxian, as both "Crazy Stone" and "Lost in Thailand" were distributed by Guangxian.

Although the box office was good, the film didn't make much money, so it felt like they worked for nothing.

Given Cheng Yuan's personality, he wasn't surprised at all that he would reciprocate by associating with someone glamorous.

As for Wanda?

It should be the cinema chains they own.

Previously, Wanda Cinemas gave "Lost in Thailand" preferential treatment in terms of screenings.

In addition, Wanda's previous acquisition of Cheng Yuan's share of "Kung Fu Panda" at a 50% premium should also have been based on this agreement.

"With the global box office success of 'Taken,' it's okay for me, the screenwriter and director, to raise my salary, right?"

Cheng Yuan suddenly asked with a smile.

His salary was converted into an investment share and went into the studio's accounts, not Remote Films'.

He needs to find out the truth about this.

"Of course."

Han Sanping nodded.

A blockbuster film's global box office success justifies a pay raise for its actors.

"If 'Amour' wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes, will its value also increase?"

Cheng Yuan continued to ask.

"So confident?" Han Sanping said, "Let alone winning the Palme d'Or, even if you win other prestigious awards, your salary should increase, it's just a matter of how much."

"We'll talk about that later."

Is Cheng Yuan confident?

There are some, after all, this film was so amazing in terms of awards in its previous life.

Cheng Yuan doesn't think his version is worse than the original.

"Are you really confident?"

Seeing Cheng Yuan's expression, Han Sanping couldn't help but ask again.

Cheng Yuan's previous art films were not like this, not even "The Hunt".

"Winning the Palme d'Or isn't that easy. But you should at least get one nomination."

Cheng Yuan shook his head; he naturally wouldn't speak so definitively about such a matter.

Han Sanping nodded.

As for being nominated, he had seen the film and was naturally aware of its quality.

If this film can't even get nominated, it just means the Cannes judges are blind.

However, it's not impossible.

This year's Cannes Film Festival jury includes members of the Chinese film industry.

This is somewhat of an advantage.

But thinking of Wu Yusen before, Han Sanping was worried that it would happen again.

Should we ask someone to put in a good word for them?

That situation shouldn't happen again, right?

John Woo's public image in mainland China suffered a significant decline because of this incident. This is also one of the reasons why China Film Group did not participate in "Red Cliff".

Of course, this is also related to the actions of Hong Kong filmmakers themselves.

First there was "Little White Dragon," then the Cannes incident; the mainland's opinions of Hong Kong filmmakers are growing stronger.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that this year's Hong Kong Film Awards are biased towards Hong Kong films.

Moreover, the two low-budget comedies produced by Remote Films have already proven one thing: movies can still achieve high box office returns even without Hong Kong filmmakers.

None of Cheng Yuan's previous films involved Hong Kong filmmakers, yet none of them did poorly at the box office.

Within two days, news spread within the industry that Cheng Yuan was going to make a blockbuster commercial film.

"Mr. Wang, you're here about my new film, right?"

After the news spread, it wasn't just the actors who were inquiring, but also the film and television companies.

Wang Changtian came directly to their door.

"Director Cheng, our collaboration has been quite pleasant, hasn't it?" Wang Changtian said. "This time, you'd better dress smartly."

Before Cheng Yuan could speak, Wanda's people arrived.

It was Ye Ning who arrived.

"Aren't you going to look at the script?"

Cheng Yuan looked at the two of them and asked.

"We still trust Director Cheng's films," Ye Ning said. "Even if they lose money, Wanda is still willing to invest."

If this movie flops, what about the next one?

Judging from Cheng Yuan's previous performance, it's impossible that he lost money on every single project, right?

They used to make huge profits.

"China Film Group will take 30% of this film, and Remote Films will keep 40%," Cheng Yuan said. "You two can split the remaining 30%."

"Twenty percent!"

"Twenty percent!"

The two spoke almost simultaneously, then argued for a while, and each took half.

This time, Cheng Yuan did not allow the two to pay a premium.

There's no need for mutually beneficial deals.

Their strengths lie in their glamorous marketing and Wanda Cinemas.

Fan Shuangbing arrived shortly after the two left.

"Forget about my movie," Cheng Yuan said before the other person could speak. "You should finish filming that TV series first. Your age and temperament don't suit my movie."

Cheng Yuan couldn't possibly not guess why Fan Shuangbang was here at this time.

"I haven't even had a chance to speak up, and you've already sentenced me to death?" Fan Shuangbing said. "What about Yan Kuang?"

"Him!" Cheng Yuan thought for a moment and said, "I'll reserve an important role for him."

"Is he not suitable for the male lead either?" Fan Shuangbing asked, then chuckled and said, "He really can't carry the role right now."

Yan Kuang isn't very famous right now; even getting a lead role in a TV series is considered a sign of being heavily promoted, let alone a lead role in a movie.

Of course, art films are another story.

Commercial films consider an actor's box office appeal when casting, especially for the male and female leads.

"His character has the most screen time and is the most outstanding among the male actors in this film," Cheng Yuan said. "My movie is a female-centric film."