Chapter 570: Kung Fu 2
Being praised by so many people, it is very easy to lose balance and start to become inflated.
In the past, Fan Wumian didn’t understand why many so-called successful people would give up their peaceful and stable lives and take risks to be greedy, steal, and lose control of their money.
Now, after experiencing it himself, he can only say that facing various temptations really requires great willpower to withstand.
Even Fan Wumian himself could not escape the temptation of beauty. Faced with many opportunities at his fingertips, he often subconsciously kept his eyes on the pot while eating from the bowl.
Many good guys actually just don't have the opportunity to flirt with other girls. If they were placed in the same environment as him, they might be even more extravagant than him.
For example, if Gao Yuanyuan, who is wearing a red dress tonight, were to have a man standing in front of her with no distractions and only wanting to be friends with her, people would probably think of him as being gay.
The more goddess-like she is, the more likely she is to give rise to evil thoughts of "blasphemy" in people's hearts.
The statue of Yang Guifei in a certain bathing pool scenic area is often visited by tourists who hug her thighs to take photos. Some even stare at her "pectoral muscles" and later argue righteously that they paid for their tickets to get in, so why shouldn't they be able to touch them?
They look just like the customers who go to a shopping mall. They are like this even when facing a cold sculpture, let alone a real person.
When Huang Shengyi stood beside him, Fan Wumian had no other thoughts but to find an opportunity to take her to say hello to Xingzai.
Xingzai was sitting in the audience, learning about Tudou's long-term strategic planning. He just smiled when he saw Fan Wumian, but his face turned a little colder after he glanced at Huang Shengyi.
The termination of the contract itself was not a big problem, but Huang Shengyi chose to make a big deal out of it at the time, and went directly to the media to cry and expose it, which completely put Xingzai in the spotlight. This is what made Xingzai most unhappy.
Noticing the change in his expression, Fan Wumian spoke first, and asked with a smile:
"The copyright of Kung Fu belongs to Sony Columbia Pictures, right? Are there any plans to shoot a second part? Otherwise, let's find an opportunity to buy the copyright of this movie, and then find an opportunity to make it ourselves in the future, and ask Paramount or Disney to help distribute it in North America."
Having produced many movies, Fan Wumian has accumulated quite good channel resources. Since he can help those agents and distributors make money, every new drama that comes out will be rushed to buy.
For films like Lost on Journey and The Golden Eyes, some of the overseas distribution rights were sold in advance at high prices, which brought back a lot of funds for Bandit King Media.
Hearing him talk about business, Xingzi's attention was diverted. He shook his head and replied:
"We have been in touch with you several times, but the second part was difficult to produce and we have never reached an agreement. Kung Fu did well at the box office in Asia, but foreigners did not understand what I wanted to say. The box office results did not meet the expectations of Sony Columbia Pictures. However, if you can really get the copyright back, then I don't have any big problems. I personally like this movie very much."
Fan Wumian feels that if "Kung Fu 2" is released 10 years later, the box office may reach to million yuan. The project itself is very good, and there is also the opportunity to shoot some derivative movies and TV series, just like the drama version of "Detective Chinatown".
He continued to say to Xingzai:
"Okay, I'll try to contact them soon. If the price is too high, forget it. By the way, has the main frame of the mansion on Poole Road been built?"
Xingzai said speechlessly:
"Since you bought the two plots of land, you haven't been there once, right? The stone walls of the facades are almost finished, and the doors and windows are being processed, and the wires and water pipes are pre-buried. I think the decoration design you picked is quite good-looking. I plan to adopt a modern Italian luxury style. Will you live in the two houses when they are completed? In the past few months, many people have wanted to buy them. I am afraid of noise and worry about encountering difficult neighbors."
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After hearing this, Fan Wumian and Huang Shengyi were a little confused. When it comes to being “difficult to deal with”, Xingzai himself is a typical representative in the circle.
However, he doesn't like socializing with others, and he doesn't hold parties or make noise at home. From some perspectives, he might be very suitable to be a neighbor. At least his presence is relatively low, and it is quiet.
Fan Wumian explained:
"I haven't made up my mind yet, but there's no need to sell it right away. I'll wait until it's finished. The night view of the city is better than my No. 89 Repulse Bay. I might just keep it if I like it. The neighborhood near my home is so deserted at night that it's a bit scary."
When talking about real estate speculation, Xingzai was very interested and shook his head decisively:
"Your place has better feng shui and a bigger yard. I don't think it's necessary. You have too many fans. I'm afraid that cars will get stuck outside my house or that someone will climb over the wrong wall and get into my house."
After two or three seconds, Fan Wumian realized that Xingzai was joking: "We'll talk about it when the time comes. I might just move to live on the yacht. Most of my business is in the mainland, so I should spend more time there."
Xingzai did not respond, but focused his attention on the stage, pointed at Wang Wei, the CEO of Tudou.com and said:
"This online video platform is very interesting. Television stations may have a hard time in the future. The share prices of TV stations such as TBV and ATV may fall recently."
"Why, you want to go short?"
"I have some ideas, but I don't dare to gamble. I'm not as rich as you. I can't just take such expensive land. Penguin's stock price seems to have risen sharply again."
Xingzai really envied Fan Wumian. He felt that Fan Wumian was living the life he wanted most. Not only was he adept at socializing, but he was also particularly good at making money. He was able to buy up an entire piece of land and speculate in real estate.
In the past two years, Xingzai was also very optimistic about the property market, but unfortunately he did not have much money, and even the purchase of the land in Poole Road for development had to involve other people in partnership.
Later, one of the partners chose to withdraw midway and put the money in the pocket. The plots of land at No. 16 and No. 18 Poole Road then fell into the hands of Fan Wumian, who began to design and develop them.
Since last year, the Hong Kong property market has continued to recover. Just based on the two plots of land, Fan Wumian earned around 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars.
Not only did Zuo Ziyan's family buy a luxury house on Big Wave Bay Road on the east side of Hong Kong Island, but other luxury houses for sale on the Peak were also sold one after another, directly pushing up the prices of the houses.
Unlike the mainland, which nominally lacks land but actually has almost unlimited land supply, the land in Hong Kong is firmly controlled by several large real estate companies. Development is prohibited in many places. In addition, the city attracts wealthy people from the mainland and Southeast Asia to settle here. After each property market crisis, the recovery is extremely fast, setting new historical highs at every turn.
In contrast, in the mainland's luxury housing market, as soon as Tangcheng Yipin was completed, the surrounding land was taken away by other companies. It sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan, while others sold for only ten or twenty thousand yuan. No wonder it has only encountered three suckers after being officially opened for sale for several months.
Seeing Fan Wumian and Xingzai chatting about other topics, Huang Shengyi was left aside and began to wonder if her boss had forgotten about her.
After a while.
Fan Wumian then said to Xingzai:
"Ms. Huang was young and ignorant. She didn't realize that the media was fanning the flames. I told you a long time ago that I wanted to apologize to you in person. If you want to shoot Kung Fu 2, it would be better to use the original cast."
Huang Shengyi smiled apologetically:
"I have always felt bad. I am so embarrassed. At that time, I mainly blamed my agent and assistant. I am always very grateful for your support and care, Mr. Zhou. Without your help, I would not be where I am today."
Do not judge by the monk, but by the Buddha. Xingzai has a good impression of Fan Wumian and calmly replied:
"I fired those people. It's all in the past. No need to mention it. But your role is not suitable for Kung Fu 2. It's very troublesome without lines and character biography. If we start to shoot the second Kung Fu, at most you will be the second female supporting role. As for the female lead, I'm afraid Mr. Fan will need to find someone else."
"Do not misunderstand."
"It has nothing to do with the previous things. It's purely for the quality of the work. In fact, I have had some ideas about the script of Kung Fu 2. I wanted to make a second part, but the negotiations with Columbia Pictures broke down."
The global box office of "Kung Fu" is about 1 million US dollars, and Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures, can get about 3000 million US dollars.
Including publicity and distribution, the total production cost of this film was about 2000 million US dollars. After deducting taxes and other expenses, it made almost no money. Columbia Pictures naturally responded negatively to the "Kung Fu 2" project.
If Fan Wumian starts filming now, he probably won't make much in the short term, including the cost of purchasing the copyright. His plan is to get the IP first, finish filming in advance, and then put it off for four to five years before releasing it. By then, the young people who grew up watching Xing Zai's movies will have begun to grow up, and new cinema chains will have become popular. The mainland box office may have a chance to exceed 12 billion yuan.
As far as I can remember, the box office champion of 2012, Lost in Thailand, had a total box office of over 12 billion in mainland China (end of this chapter)