Chapter 730: The hit movie "Jaws"
Chapter 730: The hit movie "Jaws"
Before Silicon Valley fully emerged, Los Angeles was most famous for Hollywood. Several of the top film companies in the United States were all in Los Angeles.
After a night's rest in his own exclusive suite, Yang Wendong brought his family to the filming location in Hollywood the next day, where he met the most famous superstar in the future Chinese history: Li Xiaolong;
It was already 1974. With the intervention of Yang Wendong and a lot of medical help, Li Xiaolong successfully survived the tragedy in history and lived to this year. He also shot several movies in Hollywood, and his fame was growing. He was already on the way to becoming one of the top Hollywood stars.
It is even said that many people in mainland China know his name, and it is estimated that more than one billion people around the world know him.
At this moment, Li Xiaolong was still filming a movie. Next to him, there were a lot of gunfights between police and gangsters, and occasionally some explosions. The scene was in chaos, but Li Xiaolong was still performing with all his might.
"Boom~" The deafening sound made Yang Wendong's ears feel a little stuffy.
The assistant at the side quickly distributed earplugs to everyone. After everyone put them on, although it was still a bit noisy outside, it was finally a little more comfortable.
After a while, the filming was over. Li Xiaolong, informed by the staff around him, also came to Yang Wendong and others and greeted them, "Mr. Yang, Mrs. Yang."
"You're injured, don't try too hard." Yang Wendong reminded Li Xiaolong as he looked at his right hand bleeding.
Li Xiaolong glanced at his right hand and smiled, "This is a small matter, just a little blood. Before in Hong Kong, many martial artists were beaten to the point of breaking bones."
"." Yang Wendong was speechless for a while, and could only say: "Don't compare the bad, it's better not to get hurt. I heard that your ears were injured recently? Don't damage your body too much. You can shoot more movies after you are well."
Although Li Xiaolong survived 1973, Yang Wendong observed his desperate behavior and was worried that he would not survive the next few years because he was working too hard.
"I was too close to the explosion point before, and my hearing has decreased a little, but not much. It doesn't affect my life." Li Xiaolong still doesn't seem to care.
Yang Wendong shook his head helplessly and said, "If your eyes and ears are injured, there is no way to repair them, unlike bones and muscles. Don't regret it for the rest of your life."
"Well, OK, I'll pay attention." Li Xiaolong then asked, "Mr. Yang, are you here for new cooperation?"
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, I have a meeting with the senior executives of Paramount. I am planning to shoot a formal movie in the United States, so I need to negotiate with Paramount."
"Really? Then can I participate?" Li Xiaolong asked happily;
The cooperation between Hong Kong Changxing Film Company and Hollywood was mainly based on Hollywood before. Even if Li Xiaolong participated in the film, he had certain rights in the content shooting, but the core operation and shooting were still the responsibility of Hollywood. Changxing Film Company was just cooperating or learning.
However, the agreement between the two parties has long been clear. When the time is right, Changxing Film Company will try to lead the production of a movie in the United States as a test, and Paramount will need to participate and cooperate in all aspects.
Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "The genre we are shooting this time is not a martial arts film, so it may not be suitable for you."
"It's not a martial arts film? What's the subject matter?" Li Xiaolong was immediately filled with curiosity;
It's not that he is arrogant, but now in the United States, or even in the world, he is the number one in Hong Kong films. Even the core reason why Hong Kong films can achieve success in Europe and the United States is because of him;
As for many other different types of Hong Kong films, even though there are many themes and different actors have different styles, they have basically only achieved some success in Southeast Asia or the Japanese and Korean film regions. Outside of Asia, basically no one watches them. Only recently has the video tape market been booming around the world, and many Hong Kong films have successfully entered the American market, but their core customers are also the Chinese community.
Yang Wendong said: "This is an animal horror movie about sharks attacking humans. It basically does not involve fighting between people, so there is not much point in you participating in it."
The year was 1974, and naturally we had to talk about "Jaws", the most successful movie in the history of American movies. Its global box office totaled 4.7 million US dollars. Even if he couldn't get the lion's share of it because of his Chinese identity, just a part of it would be enough to bring him a huge return, and even exceed his previous layout of the oil crisis. It is conceivable how high the profit of the movie is. At the moment, many of his industrial expansions in the United States also require sufficient funds.
In fact, Yang Wendong had thought of this movie many years ago, but there was no plot and he had never seen it before. In addition, he had no resources, so naturally he would not come to the United States to shoot it. But now, with the help of Li Xiaolong's fame, he has established a firm foothold in Hollywood, so naturally he can give it a try.
At the beginning of this year, when the novel of "Jaws" began to be serialized, Yang Wendong arranged for someone to find the author and directly buy out the copyright for US$20, and then began planning to film in the United States.
However, it is not feasible to shoot alone. You must bring a strong ally on board. Only in this way can you guarantee the final profit. But at the same time, allies may also become opponents, so you need to grasp the balance here.
"Sharks attacking humans?" Li Xiaolong didn't quite understand the plot, but he still said, "If it's really not suitable, it's fine. I can play an ordinary role or just make a cameo appearance."
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "That's fine. I'll see if I can arrange it later."
If they can get Li Xiaolong, the world's top Kung Fu star, to make a cameo appearance, no film director would refuse. After all, there is no harm in it, and it can even earn extra points in future promotions.
Historically, before "Jaws" became a hit, even the director and investment company at the time were unsure.
"Okay, then I'll get busy first. The next scene will be filmed soon." Li Xiaolong saw someone calling him from behind and quickly apologized to Yang Wendong.
Yang Wendong said: "It's okay, go and get busy."
Yang Wendong had no way to deal with Li Xiaolong, a workaholic. He had said everything he could, even the doctor had told him to rest, but he just wouldn't. No one could do anything about it.
In this world, too many people are too stubborn and go to extremes;
Either you work too hard and don't care about your health, only to regret it when your body breaks down; or you care too much about your body and get anxious at the slightest sign of trouble, which in turn causes physical problems; In fact, the best is between the two, and there should be a balance between health, work and mentality.
The group soon arrived at Paramount's headquarters, and Paramount's CEO Barry Diller personally came to the door of the company building to greet them;
"Hello, Eric." Barry Diler smiled very politely.
Yang Wendong also shook hands and said, "Barry, congratulations on becoming the CEO of Paramount. I hope that we can have more cooperation in the future."
Barry Diller is the current CEO of Paramount, who took office at the beginning of this year. However, he was the vice president of Paramount a long time ago and had also cooperated with Changxing Film Company, so he knew Yang Wendong.
Barry smiled and said, "I hope so too. Our cooperation has achieved very good results both in Asia and in the United States. I hope we can open up more and bigger new markets in the future." The size of the Asian market is actually still far smaller than that of Europe and the United States, but it is a new market and no one will dislike a new market.
Especially in the past decade, Asia's economy has developed rapidly, and the per capita income has increased significantly. The consumption desire for movies has also increased significantly. Coupled with the terrifying population base, no Hollywood company will ignore it;
However, it is very difficult to promote American films in other places with different cultures. The easiest way is to cooperate with local stars, and Changxing Film Company, which controls Li Xiaolong, is naturally the most suitable target. In addition, the group behind this company has a very strong influence in Asia and even controls many terminal theaters. It is naturally the target that Paramount is trying hard to win over.
Yang Wendong said: "I feel the same way."
After exchanging pleasantries, the two followed the crowd to an office on the top floor.
Barry's men came in with some information and said, "Eric, these are the financial information of our recent joint venture films. Your people can review them now."
"Okay, then I need a special office." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Although the cooperation with Paramount was very good, business is business, and cooperation involving a large amount of money still requires a lot of financial review in the end;
After each movie is released, or after it has achieved certain box office or foreign sales results, Hong Kong needs to conduct an audit. Even if Paramount needs to falsify some information, detailed information is needed. To exaggerate, if there is a falling out in the future, these things may be useful.
Of course, each industry has its own rules. As long as some aspects are not too outrageous, people will not care much about them.
Barry smiled and said, "Of course. I will arrange the largest conference room for you."
"Okay, then how about we talk about something else?" Yang Wendong continued.
There are dedicated full-time personnel for reviewing this kind of thing, and there are even third parties. This is also to avoid some omissions and risks. The third-party institutions are experienced enough;
As the boss, he naturally doesn't need to participate in it personally, and even if he does, he may not understand it very well.
Now that he has Li Xiaolong and the Asian market in his hands, even if Paramount has some small ideas, they generally won't be too big. As long as it's not a big deal, he won't care too much. The most important thing is some major cooperation, and there can't be any principled issues.
Barry agreed, "Okay, then how about asking Eric to come to my office?"
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and agreed.
The two soon arrived at an office on the highest floor, where they could see the entire Hollywood scenery more clearly.
"Eric, this is Brazilian coffee, please try it." Barry personally made a cup of coffee and handed it to Yang Wendong.
After Yang Wendong took it, he smelled it and said with a smile: "It smells good, and feels very good."
"If you like, I'll give you some," Barry said with a smile;
This coffee is quite expensive, and ordinary people may not be able to drink it in their lifetime, but for the super tycoons, drinking it like water is no problem.
"Okay." Yang Wendong was not polite and immediately got to the point: "Regarding the new movie "Jaws" that I'm going to shoot, what do you think?"
Barry said: "I have read the script, and I have to say that if it is according to your requirements, the investment of this movie will probably be at least 1000 million US dollars;
Are you sure this kind of movie, which has almost no main plot, can be successful?"
"How do you know if you don't try?" Yang Wendong asked back.
Barry said, "Eric, I understand that you want to make a movie in Hollywood by yourself, but isn't it less risky to choose Bruce's type?"
"Bruce's movie can be made at any time, but I want to make something different." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I am also optimistic about this novel. As long as it can be made into a movie, I think the results will be certain."
"Okay, since you insist, I won't say much." Barry replied: "I agree to shoot with you, but the board of directors thinks the risk is too high and is unwilling to invest half."
"Then how much are you willing to invest?" Yang Wendong asked with a smile;
Before "Jaws" was released, no one knew it would perform so well. In this era, a movie with an investment of tens of millions of dollars is already considered a high price, and even several major Hollywood giants have to be extremely cautious.
But this was exactly what Yang Wendong was thinking. He didn't want to pay more dividends to Paramount, but the filming of this kind of movie required too many resources, and it was unlikely to succeed if they did it alone. Even if it was successful, it would require the participation of local giants in distribution and release, so it would be more appropriate to bring Paramount in. But they themselves felt that the risk was high, and that it would be more perfect if they invested less.
Barry said: "20%-30%, it depends on the amount of investment and various dividend strategies."
"Okay, this ratio can be negotiated." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said: "But for the subsequent filming, I will decide all the issues. Paramount needs to help us with props, equipment or personnel."
In Hollywood, Changxing Film Group has no foundation at all. If they want to shoot on their own, it will be difficult to succeed. The various legal policies alone can be very confusing.
Therefore, no matter from what angle, it is most appropriate to give up a small part of the interests appropriately so that you can have a strong assistant.
"No problem." Barry readily agreed and then asked, "By the way, does the director need me to introduce him?"
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(End of this chapter)