Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 66 Current Situation of Overseas Market for Martial Arts Films

After the celebration, Mike found Shi Lei alone and said, "Shi, I really tried my best last time, but I couldn't do anything. That old man has a lot of connections."

Shi Lei shook his head slightly and said, "It's all in the past. Let's not talk about this."

Art directors are like this, sometimes they will be crazy about a certain script and will sell everything they have to make it happen. In fact, Cameron is such a director. For the dream in his heart, he spent several years diving to shoot 3D short films. After thorough research, he created the exquisite 3D "Avatar".

Others use 3D to make money, but Cameron simply wants to create a beautiful world.

Shi Lei's attitude towards this type of directors is to support them if it is beneficial, and stay away from them if it is not beneficial.

But he would be disgusted by anyone who interfered with his money-making plans.

It's a pity that Mike is not a helpful person and didn't help him solve the problem.

He became friends with Mike not for the sake of making friends, but because he needed Mike to solve his problem.

Since Mike couldn't solve the problem, he had to find someone else.

Mike's importance to him was greatly reduced.

So he avoided talking about Mike's explanation.

"Yes, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the future. In addition to Insidious, doesn't your company also have a movie called The Purge? Give it to us at Warner! We guarantee that it will open in 2500 theaters on the first weekend." Mike clapped his chest loudly.

"Are you so confident in the 'Human Purge Plan'?" Shi Lei asked in surprise.

"If it's any other kind of film, I don't have confidence, but for horror films, I trust your vision," Mike explained with a smile.

The most important thing is that horror movies don't need much publicity. A few million dollars for promotion and copying will be enough. Even if they lose money, it won't be much. If they can get two-thirds of the box office of "Saw" and "Insidious", it will be considered a success.

"Come on, I don't have confidence in myself! Saw and Insidious are because Wan Zairen is good enough, and The Purge has already signed a distribution contract with Columbia."

Compared with the last time, Columbia made concessions again and reduced the distribution share to 13%, which shows how much importance Columbia attaches to him.

Now North American film studios are also paying attention to the Chinese market, but most of them are just paying attention. Only Warner Bros. and Columbia take it seriously and have carried out a series of cooperation with Chinese companies.

Columbia lowered its share of the distribution, which seems to be a sign of snatching the company away.

"What a pity, Shi, next time you have a new video, you should look for me first." Mike looked regretful, as if he didn't know it before.

Shi Lei knew that Mike was lying. There are many companies in Hollywood, but as long as you work hard, there are basically no secrets. Mike must know that "The Purge" has been handed over to Columbia for release. Saying this to him now is just a rhetoric.

"Okay, I'll give you priority to the next screening." In fact, this kind of low-budget horror film generally doesn't hold any screenings, and it's not a blockbuster.

But Mike wants to compete with Hans, so let him do it!
In fact, he had no plan to stay in North America for long. After a few years, when Peach Productions became bigger, all kinds of restrictions would probably begin to appear.

“I will definitely come next time.”

When Mike heard the words "movie viewing party", he knew what Shi Lei meant, but he didn't mind. As long as he could make money, he would just watch the movie party!

"I need to communicate with the editing department in China about film editing, so I need to make a phone call. I won't talk to you anymore." Shi Lei said goodbye and left. He had to make a phone call every day to avoid any deviations.

In fact, as long as you communicate well with the editor, editing is generally not a big problem, but Shi Lei, like most directors, likes to do it himself.

If he edits the film by himself, he can go straight to the finished product. If he hands it over to the editor, there will be a rough cut and then a slowly fine cut, and the process will be much slower.

"Shi, have you finished filming "Sword Rain"? Are you not selling the overseas copyright this time?" Mike asked curiously. "Why? Are you willing to buy it?" Shi Lei asked back.

It is already November and "The Banquet" has been released in North America, and the box office can be described as dismal.

It can be said that Colombia was badly screwed and suffered a loss of more than 20 million US dollars.

"Uh..." Mike was silent for a while. From "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to "The Matrix: Keeper of Prophecy" and "Hero", the North American box office has exceeded 5000 million US dollars. But when it comes to "The Banquet", the North American box office is not a cliff drop, but close to nothing.

The most speechless thing is that "The Banquet" is not the martial arts film they imagined, but a stage play imitating Hamlet. It is not even well-made. North Americans can't even watch "The Banquet".

If a movie like "Hero" had Jet Li, magnificent scenes, and brilliant colors, even if it failed at the box office, it could still make back the cost through the disc market. However, it is impossible for "The Banquet" to make back the cost through the disc market.

"Shi, I need to see the finished film before I can make a decision." Mike didn't brag in the end.

"No need, "Sword Rain" is not suitable for release in North America." Shi Lei had no intention of selling the North American copyright at all.

The main reason is that the North American martial arts film market has only been popular in recent years. Even the overseas box office of "House of Flying Daggers" was only 1100 million US dollars (North American copyright fee was 1400 million US dollars). The quality of his "Sword Rain" is not as good as "House of Flying Daggers". "House of Flying Daggers" flopped, and "Sword Rain" is not much better.

This is also the reason why he suppressed costs from the very beginning, because the North American market for martial arts films was not doing well, and he would not make any money if the costs were too high.

In fact, given his fame, he could have done something similar to the one in “The Banquet”.

But he is different from Feng Dapao. He also needs to make movies to earn money from foreigners and maintain his international image.

"Shi, I believe you. Show me "Sword Rain" after it's edited. If it's not too bad, I can buy it." Mike patted Shi Lei on the shoulder and said.

Even if it's not suitable for North America, he can still buy it as a favor.

"No need." Shi Lei refused without even thinking about it.

Free things are the most expensive, and he doesn't lack Warner's millions of dollars.

"Okay, let's stop talking. I'm going to make a phone call." Shi Lei saw Mike open his mouth again and stopped the topic in time.

He knew that Mike wanted to improve their relationship in other ways, but he felt that it was unnecessary and it would be better to keep it business as business.

Mike is a man who only knows how to talk big but cannot solve problems at critical moments.

The next day, Taolin Film and Television began to promote it vigorously. The new film by Wan Zairen, the director of "Saw", achieved another success, with a box office of 1640 million in the first weekend, ranking third.

This kind of publicity is to take advantage of the popularity of "Saw". After half a year of accumulation, many people have seen "Saw", and many people were shocked by the plot twists, which attracted some "Saw" fans to watch the movie.

"Insidious" is a pure supernatural film, telling the story of a family fighting against the supernatural. The plot is not as good as "Saw", but Wan Zairen still made it full of ups and downs and quite scary, making it a qualified horror film.

Although the film was acceptable, audiences were still not satisfied and asked Wan to shoot "Saw 2" immediately.

Whether it is audience reviews or professional film critics, the opinions are surprisingly consistent. They all say that Wan Zairen's level has declined. Without the stunning performance of "Saw", the genius Wan Zairen will also become mediocre.

Seeing such comments, James Wan became anxious.

"Boss, let's start filming Saw 2!"

(End of this chapter)