N-M Chapter 278 Let me take the risk!
Chapter 278 Let me take the risk!
In fact, the promotion work for "Xiu Chun Knife" in North America has already been done. And waiting for Wu Yuchen to come over is to let him take the crew to a TV show. TV has always been the most important channel for promotion in North America over the years.
In fact, Jiang Qinqin thought too much. Even when she was on the show, the host was basically chatting with Wu Yuchen. If Wu Yuchen hadn't directed the topic to them, people wouldn't necessarily want to talk to them. Who are you in America?
Of course, I ended up performing on the show. One was that Jiang Qinqin danced, wearing specially brought ancient costumes, which was quite pleasing to the eye, but what made the audience cheer the most was the dueling performance between Wu Jing and Zhao Wenzhuo.
Yes, it's a performance. They have all practiced the routines in advance, and they look good when they fight. This is the point of bringing them two here.
"Wu Yuchen's Chinese kung fu masterpiece "Xiu Chun Dao" is coming to North America!"
"Wu Yuchen's most anticipated Chinese costume kung fu movie - "Xiu Chun Knife"!"
Without exception, the main promotion is Wu Yuchen's name. Of course, the popular element of Chinese Kung Fu must be mentioned.
In fact, "Xiuchundao" should be regarded as a martial arts movie, but if you talk about martial arts to North American audiences, they won't understand. They only know Chinese Kung Fu, but nothing about Chinese martial arts is foreign to them. Therefore, when promoting, they all use the slogan of Chinese Kung Fu.
About 2,600 theaters have been opened this time, which is already a big favor to Wu Yuchen. After "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won the Oscar, the number of theaters opened was only a little over 2,000. This is naturally why theaters are willing to give Chinese kung fu movies more opportunities this time after seeing the box office success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" last year.
9.35 million on Friday, 13.62 million on Saturday, 10.54 million on Sunday, and 33.51 million in the first three days of the first weekend. It also successfully won the weekly box office championship.
This result may be a lot lower than Wu Yuchen's previous "Pirate King", but in fact, with 2,600 theaters open, and it is a foreign language film, it is already very good to get a box office result of 33.51 million. Even Wu Yuchen himself is very satisfied. You must know that the box office of "Rush Hour" in its first week was more than 33 million.
It can only be said that North American audiences in recent years really like the element of Chinese Kung Fu, and Wu Yuchen himself has a certain box office appeal.
"Wu Yuchen's Chinese kung fu film "Xiu Chun Knife" won the weekly box office championship!"
“‘The Knife’ created the best performance of an Asian film in North America. This is the power of ‘Kung Fu’!”
"Obviously, this is a powerful blow from Hua Xia and Wu Yuchen. Hua Xia Kung Fu is well-deserved!"
"'Xiu Chun Knife' is the martial arts film that represents this century."
After the first weekend box office results were released, the media naturally followed up with the promotion. This has also attracted many viewers who are interested in mysterious Eastern culture and Chinese Kung Fu. "Xiu Chun Knife" had a box office of 41.23 million in the second week of seven days, and the total box office after 10 days of release was 74.74 million.
After the results of "Embroidered Spring Knife" came out, the happiest thing was naturally the crew of "Embroidered Spring Knife", which won the box office championship for two weeks in a row. Jiang Qinqin also enjoyed the glory of Hollywood. She felt that this trip to Hollywood was not in vain. Come.
At the same time, many people in China are happy. For example, Jiang Zhiqiang, the investor of "Hero", saw that "Xiu Chun Knife" has created better results than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and saw that Chinese martial arts movies in North America are so popular. , he was naturally very happy, this means that "Hero" can also rise with the tide!
Wu Yuchen himself was relatively calm. To be honest, the North American box office of "Spring Knife" has basically no impact on him. After all, he has achieved many dazzling box office results in Hollywood before. Obviously, a foreign language film "Spring Knife" cannot be as good as his local film. Movies are more profitable. Even if "Xiu Chun Knife" was poor at the box office, it actually had no impact on his personal status in Hollywood.
Therefore, his initial expectation for "Xiu Chun Knife" was that the box office would exceed 100 million, which did not necessarily have to be higher than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Now it seems that it can achieve this goal.
In addition to the publicity work during this period, Wu Yuchen also took Jiang Qinqin to play and go shopping in the United States. Jiang Wen also went to visit various friends. Today he visited old Martin, and tomorrow he went to Quentin for a drink. Bragging makes me feel uncomfortable. Amidst all this chaos, October passed.
At the airport, Jiang Qinqin hugged Wu Yuchen, stood on tiptoes and kissed him again on the face: "I'm going back, please pay more attention to your health, and don't be too tired here~"
Wu Yuchen said with a smile: "I will start competing for the Olympics this month. I will definitely be tired, but your husband is already experienced, don't worry!"
Jiang Qinqin held up her pink and tender hands and said, "Then I wish my husband a successful Olympics!"
The promotional work for "Xiu Chun Dao" has almost been completed, so the promotional tour for Jiang Qinqin and other leading actors has come to an end. Everyone still has work and arrangements in China, and Jiang Qinqin still has film and television dramas waiting for her. Looking at her, it's good to be able to stay here for so long.
After Wu Yuchen returned from the airport, he also came to DreamWorks. After meeting him, Spielberg took the initiative to smile and said: "Wu, congratulations on bringing you another wonderful and successful Chinese Kung Fu movie!"
Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Thank you, Steven. But I don't think you came to me today specifically to congratulate me, right?"
Spielberg led Wu Yuchen to sit down. The two were already very familiar with each other, so he didn't show off: "I want to talk to you about "The Pirate King"."
Wu Yuchen's heart moved when he heard this, and then asked: "Has our Captain Jack contacted you?"
Before Wu Yuchen left Hollywood half a year ago, he specifically talked about "The Pirate King" with Spielberg. Faced with Johnny Depp who was so open-minded, he first ignored him. The two sides are competing for patience to see who can bear it first.
Anyway, their producers just want to express an attitude. We value Johnny Depp, but you can't ask for excessive prices. The demands must be within a reasonable range.
Spielberg smiled and nodded: "Recently, Depp's agent contacted me and wanted to restart negotiations on the sequel to "The Pirate King."
"What are his conditions?"
"20+10."
Wu Yuchen smiled when he heard this. It was impossible for him to agree to the 20+20 call. Is the salary now 20 million plus 10% of the North American box office? Finally we are willing to have a good talk.
Wu Yuchen nodded and said: "We can negotiate with them, but this time the negotiation is not one, but two together."
"I know. That's why I want to ask your opinion. What do you think about the remuneration given to Depp for these two films?"
Wu Yuchen did not hesitate: "It's just a principle, give him cash as much as possible instead of box office share."
Spielberg asked Wu Yuchen again: "Wu, are you sure? To be honest, this is not a normal Hollywood pay strategy."
In Hollywood, in order to reduce project risks, producers generally prefer to give actors a certain share of the box office to offset cash costs.
"Steven, I said that I have confidence in the sequel of "Pirate King", don't you believe me?"
Spielberg shook his head: "Wu, it's not that I don't believe you. I definitely believe that "Pirate King 2" can be successful, but the third part is a bit far away. I think we need to consider its risks." ”
Movies like "The Pirate King" that have a very successful first one will usually release a sequel, because the producers know very well that even if the sequel is not good, the audience will go to the theater and pay for it because of the reputation and impression of the first movie. Therefore, although many sequel movies are bad movies, they are very profitable in terms of profitability.
But when it comes to the third part, that’s no longer certain. Now Wu Yuchen wants to shoot two or three movies in a row. Without knowing about the second movie, it is impossible to guess what the market's attitude towards the third movie will be.
Therefore, when Spielberg thinks about it, he can agree to allow Wu Yuchen to shoot two consecutive films, which is already a relatively trusting and risky act. But for the third film, the cash cost expenditure should be reduced as much as possible to reduce risks. .
After hearing what Spielberg said, Wu Yuchen thought about it in his mind and understood what he was thinking. He has experience in his previous life, and of course he knows that the "Pirate King" trilogy will be a huge success, but from Spielberg's perspective, this is a safe move for a businessman.
"Okay, okay! Steven, I understand your concerns. In this case..."
Wu Yuchen looked at Spielberg with sincere eyes: "Then let me bear all the risks! I won't get a penny of the director's salary for the third part, all of it will be exchanged for me to share the box office!"
Spielberg opened his mouth, not expecting that Wu Yuchen would make this decision. But seeing that Wu Yuchen didn't look like he was joking, he asked him again: "Wu, are you sure?"
"Of course! This is my own work, and I am using practical actions to show my determination and confidence in it!"
To be honest, Spielberg was a little bit infected by Wu Yuchen's attitude and was wondering whether to take risks. But after thinking about it, DreamWorks still needs to take a safe path. Even the "Jurassic Park" series he created has received worse reviews and worse results than the last one.
Spielberg nodded and said: "Okay, I understand what you mean. We will start talks with Depp. As for your personal director's remuneration, you can also let your agent join in."
What Wu Yuchen and Spielberg are talking about now are in the general direction. In fact, whether it is Wu Yuchen's director contract or Depp's actor contract, there will be many rights and obligations, which are estimated to exceed dozens of pages. It needs to be confirmed step by step by the agents and lawyers of several parties.
After Wu Yuchen and Spielberg chatted about "Pirate King" for a while, they turned to smile and said: "Steven, I am going to start competing for the Olympics this month."
Spielberg also smiled: "Hmm, I'm looking forward to your new movie~"
Wu Yuchen's expression turned solemn:
"You must also know that during World War II, we Chinese people, like you Jews, were persecuted by the Axis powers. This time I brought a film about China's resistance during World War II. I hope you can come then. Attend!"
The smile on Spielberg's face also disappeared and became solemn: "Wu, fascists and Natri are our common enemies. Wu, don't worry, I will definitely support you at the premiere with my friends!"
Spielberg had already expected that Wu Yuchen would make a movie during World War II. After all, the two had talked about this topic half a year ago. To be honest, he was also quite curious about what kind of movie Wu Yuchen would make. There are too few Chinese anti-war films in the world.
Wu Yuchen then smiled: "Thank you, Steven!"
He is using Spielberg to win over some Jewish voices, especially since Spielberg himself has produced "Schindler's List", and his influence in this regard is still considerable.
But just one Spielberg may not be enough. After all, there are still strong enemies this year!
Wu Yuchen also has other preparations, but there is no need to bring them out all at once. He has to go step by step and wait until he is nominated.
Not long after Wu Yuchen left DreamWorks, people from Warner came to visit him again. Six months ago, Warner specifically discussed restarting superheroes with Wu Yuchen, but Wu Yuchen talked to them about the possibility of a "Batman" trilogy.
In the past six months, he also created the script for the "Batman" trilogy, which he had already sent to Warner when he first arrived in the United States.
Warner also had intense discussions around the "Batman" Dark Trilogy created by Wu Yuchen. There were many small meetings at the conference, and then they came back again today.
Wu Yuchen received the Warner duo in a leisurely manner: "How are you, Mag?"
"Director Wu, to be honest, we at Warner have a lot of controversy with your plan to reshape Batman."
"Controversy?" Wu Yuchen asked.
"Because Batman has been stereotyped in the minds of many viewers. He is an omnipotent superhero who faces all kinds of criminals. We are not sure whether it will be possible to pull him down from the altar again and reshape Batman's life. The audience will like it.”
Wu Yuchen chuckled: "It doesn't matter. If you, Warner, are not willing to choose this plan, then just pretend that this incident never happened."
"No, no, Director Wu, this doesn't mean that we at Warner Bros. are not interested. We still want to cooperate with you, but the risk is a bit high. The salary you proposed before is really too high! Can you..."
Wu Yuchen thought to himself that he was indeed waiting for him here. In his previous life, Nolan, who was not very famous, was able to persuade Warner, which means that Warner must be interested in this "Batman" dark trilogy. It is impossible to replace him with someone with more influence and appeal now. Not so much for directors.
Doesn't Warner just want to bargain with him? But he knew the opponent's trump card and knew that the opponent actually wanted to shoot him, but he didn't intend to be fooled just like that.
"No, no, no, McGonagall, there's nothing to talk about! This project was created by me, and I know its value. It will bring Batman a rebirth! Think about how much profit Batman will bring to you Warner, I don’t want much at all!”
Wu Yuchen refused to give in. He would not be able to get the full copyright share, but he was not going to let go of the 20% global box office share. He could not give the Hollywood capitalists an advantage!