This director loves making friends.

Wang Yingxiang came with sincerity.

Although Huang Baiming was very particular about money and meticulous about every penny, he had a unique eye for movies, and Wang Yingxiang trusted his judgment.

The eight major film distributors have their own set of calculation methods for purchasing films, which has become a default practice.

Some poorly made Hong Kong films that can only be shown in theaters for a day or a few days are also wanted by the eight major film companies. The purchase price is not calculated on a per-film basis, but in a package of dozens of films, which adds up to only tens of thousands of dollars per film.

Films that gross less than ten million at the Hong Kong box office also need to be further categorized, such as whether they feature big stars or are Category III films.

Overall, however, prices generally fluctuate around 20% of box office revenue.

For movies that gross between ten and twenty million, the price will generally fluctuate around twenty-five percent.

Once the box office exceeds 20 million, the price fluctuates greatly, ranging from 25% to 40%.

Of course, these prices are without top stars like "Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan", Li Lianjie, Zhang Guorong, Liu Dehua, etc.

If you have one of these people, you can basically buy the trailer for less than 1500 million, not even bother talking about it. Especially if you have "two Chows and one Jackie Chan" and Li Lianjie, the starting price will be 2000 million.

Just like the movie "The Mad Monk" starring Stephen Chow, Maggie Cheung, and Ng Man-tat, this movie is still being filmed and is scheduled for release on July 29.

As soon as news of the film's inception broke, Wang Yingxiang's Longxiang Film Company preemptively "reserved" it, essentially "buying" the trailer, for which Longxiang Film Company spent HK$3000 million.

In other words, this movie hasn't even been officially approved yet; just the announcement that Stephen Chow and Maggie Cheung are the leads has already essentially recouped the production costs.

No, that's not right. This doesn't count as recovering costs at all, because the project is still in the "pre-project approval" stage, and no money has been invested yet.

The box office revenue from Hong Kong, as well as the copyright fees from Southeast Asia, South Korea, and other regions, basically resulted in pure profit.

This is equivalent to using Longxiang Film Industry's money to make movies, and then only giving Longxiang Film Industry the copyright to Taiwan... Thinking about it this way, aren't the eight major film companies in Taiwan very unhappy?

But there's not much you can do about it.

During this period, Taiwan had a very strong sense of local protectionism. Films from Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea were limited to a maximum of 14 copies, and a region could only have a maximum of 6 theaters showing the films together.

Theaters without Hollywood film screening quotas can only show domestic films.

Due to the needs of the united front, Hong Kong films during this period were also considered "national" films, and there were no restrictions on their screening, allowing them to enjoy the same treatment as Taiwanese films.

During this period, apart from art films which were still struggling, Taiwanese commercial films were practically dead.

This is why Taiwan's eight major film companies compete for Hong Kong's "film trailers" every year.

The above figures refer to the prices paid by the eight major film distributors for films after their release.

The calculation method for "trailers" is similar, taking into account factors such as the film's genre, the box office performance of the lead actor's previous film, and the box office performance of the director's previous film, to estimate a rough box office figure.

Because the male lead in Qin Keqing's new movie "Uncle" is still Lin Guobin, and Lin Guobin is no longer Xiao Kalami. "Sweet Life" made him famous.

His asking price for the film jumped from around 150,000 yuan before he took on the role in "A Bittersweet Life" to 1 million yuan, an increase of nearly seven times.

His collaboration with Qin Keqing again is clearly highly regarded, so Wang Yingxiang, combining Huang Baiming's statement, directly estimated that "The Mister" would gross 2000 million at the Hong Kong box office.

However, Lin Guobin certainly cannot compare with top stars like "Double Chow and Jackie Chan", Li Lianjie, Zhang Guorong, and Liu Dehua, and cannot enjoy their treatment.

Wang Yingxiang didn't offer the lowest 25%, but instead chose a middle value of 30%.

"Director Qin, this is our first time working together. To show my sincerity, I'll offer this amount..."

As he spoke, Wang Yingxiang made a "six" gesture before continuing, "HK$600 million, Longxiang Film Studio can offer HK$600 million."

Qin Keqing glanced at Wang Yingxiang with some surprise; the price was indeed very reasonable.

It's worth noting that among the four film companies that Qin Keqing had spoken with before Wang Yingxiang, Yang Dengkui of Juedeng Entertainment offered the highest price, at 400 million.

Yang Dengkui comes from a gang in Taiwan and is considered one of the big shots, holding a high position.

Last year, Li Lianjie's agent was beaten to death. After being frightened, he fled back to Beijing. Only with the guarantees of Win's Entertainment and Yang Dengkui did he dare to return to Hong Kong.

Li Lianjie's Zhengdong Film Industry received investment from Yang Dengkui.

Qin Keqing thought for a moment, then, instead of making an exorbitant demand, said to Wang Yingxiang, "How about this, Mr. Wang? This is our first time working together, so I won't ask for too much. You should know the price Xu Anjin paid for 'Sweet Life,' so let's go with that price, okay?"

Xu Anjin is one of the eight major film distributors who is engaged in the distribution of American VIP movie videotapes and the operation of domestic film theaters. His film sources generally come from companies such as Win's Entertainment, Entertainment Group, and Metropolitan Film Studio.

It wasn't surprising that Win's Entertainment sold him the Taiwanese rights to "A Bittersweet Life".

Wang Yingxiang hesitated.

Xu Anjin spent HK$800 million to purchase the Taiwan rights to "A Bittersweet Life," but this was done with the Hong Kong box office performance of "A Bittersweet Life" already largely determined, so the risk was not high.

As for Qin Keqing's second film, "Uncle," let alone its box office performance after release, it is still in the "pre-project" stage. No one can guarantee the quality of the finished film or its final box office performance. The risk is much greater than that of "A Bittersweet Life."

If Wang Yingxiang were to spend 800 million yuan to purchase the copyright to "Uncle," he would undoubtedly be taking on enormous risks.

The difference between 600 million and 800 million may seem like only 200 million, but the factors considered are certainly not as simple as the surface numbers.

Sometimes it's just a matter of chance; buying the copyright for 600 million might make you money, while buying it for 800 million might result in a loss.

"Director Qin, you've given me a tough problem."

Wang Yingxiang gave a wry smile, and finally tentatively asked, "Director Qin, how about this? I can offer up to 800 million, but it has to be in installments..."

Seeing Qin Keqing frown, Wang Yingxiang quickly added, "Longxiang Pictures can pay 600 million yuan in one lump sum, and for the remaining 200 million yuan, there is a threshold: if the box office of 'Uncle' exceeds 2000 million yuan after its release, Longxiang Pictures will immediately transfer the 200 million yuan to you."

Qin Keqing understood Wang Yingxiang's meaning: if "Uncle" grossed less than 2000 million at the Hong Kong box office, then forget about getting the remaining 200 million.

"Mr. Wang, that's not fair of you. You're clearly shifting the risk to me, while you bear almost no risk at all."

Qin Keqing shook his head. "That won't work."

Wang Yingxiang sighed inwardly. He could bear the risk of 600 million, but 800 million exceeded his expectations of risk tolerance, and he could not possibly pay 800 million in one lump sum.

Nobody's money comes from thin air.

"Since you want me to take some of the risks, let's be fair and set three thresholds."

Qin Keqing smiled and held up three fingers.

"I can accept your advance payment of 600 million, but if 'The Man from Nowhere' grosses over 2000 million, you will have to pay another 200 million; if it grosses over 2500 million, we'll move it up one level and you'll have to pay 400 million; if it grosses over 3000 million, you'll have to pay another 600 million."

Wang Yingxiang quickly did the calculations in his mind.

Although Qin Keqing's box office of 20 million was calculated at 40% of the highest tier for a film without a superstar, this was considered an open secret, which actually reduced the risk.

That's really fair.

"Director Qin, it's a pleasure working with you!"

Note: Some readers might be confused by the numbers in the text, so here's a breakdown of the logic:

In short, Wang Yingxiang's target price remains unchanged: a prepayment of 6 million yuan. The subsequent tiered terms are guarantee clauses; additional payment will only be made if the box office targets are met, making the risk largely manageable. Even the highest tier of 40% is acceptable.