Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 68: The Oscar Attack Begins
"Why is the Lunar New Year period not working?" Although Shi Lei guessed the reason, he was still unwilling to accept it. There are only two relatively good periods in China now. One is the traditional Lunar New Year period. Films such as "Hero" and "Cell Phone" are released around December 12; the other is the summer period, but the summer period is generally reserved for overseas films. China Film Group loses more than it earns on its investments, and mainly relies on Hollywood films to make a profit. By distributing Hollywood films, China Film Group can get about 15% of the total box office share.

Compared to competing with several Hollywood films, "The Promise" is easier to handle.

The reason why "The Promise" had such a high box office in its previous life was because China Film Corporation locked the theaters. During the release of "The Promise", there was only one movie to watch, and the audience had to watch it.

I just didn't expect that I was also within the lock-up area.

He was a little unwilling!
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. Since "Sword Rain" could not be used to block "The Promise", he could use other movies instead, and it would be better if they were not made by him, so as to use other movies to catch the enemy by surprise.

“‘The Promise’ has been decided to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, so you shouldn’t join in the fun. Besides, your film has almost been edited, and it will be too long to release it in December. Aren’t you going to make a film in the second half of the year?” Han Sanpin did not forget his purpose, and now he just took the opportunity to remind him again.

To be honest, Shi Lei really doesn't want to make movies in China. The domestic market is like that now. He can only earn tens of millions of RMB after working hard. However, if he makes a movie in North America, the director's salary alone can make tens of millions of RMB. After "Million Dollar Baby", he plans to let himself go and start making a lot of money.

"After the release of "Sword Rain", I will definitely make a new movie. I don't have any ideas for a new movie yet, so let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the release date of "Sword Rain"!"

"When do you want it to be released?" Han Sanpin's voice came out.

"On July 7, the summer season begins, I need no good movies to be released within at least two weeks and no Hollywood blockbusters to be released within four weeks." Since I can't take advantage of "The Promise", I'll try to gain the greatest benefit for myself.

Currently, the only companies that have film distribution licenses in the country are China Film Group and several private companies. All it takes is a little negotiation.

Unlike later generations, many companies have distribution licenses and produce many high-quality films, so it is common for several good films to squeeze into one schedule.

Han Sanpin frowned slightly when he heard this and said, "Your requirements are too high. I can guarantee that there will be no good movies released in two weeks and no Hollywood blockbusters in three weeks."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Han!" Shi Lei expressed his sincere gratitude.

After hanging up the phone with Han Sanpin, Shi Lei received a few more calls.

These calls were much more casual, just a few pleasantries and expressions of interest in cooperating, and his uniform response was to wait until he got back.

Time flies, and it is November 04, 11. The final box office of "The Purge" in North America was 15 million US dollars. The film has been released overseas, and it will take a few months to wait for the global box office.

At the same time, "Million Dollar Baby" was screened in 50 venues in New York and other places.

Million Dollar Baby officially opens in Los Angeles and New York.

In order to win an Oscar and accumulate word of mouth, this film can only adopt a long-term screening model.

This model has become a characteristic model for award-winning films, and it is a must for any film that wants to win an Oscar.

The 50 venues were also carefully selected, and the films were screened in areas where they are likely to gain a good reputation.

Among them, 10 venues chose the Chinese area.

The reason for choosing the Chinese area is naturally because Shi Lei is a Chinese director. He has made the martial arts film "The Matrix: Guardians" which has a box office of over 100 million US dollars. Shi Lei has a considerable influence in the Chinese area.

When they heard that the film was directed by Shi Lei, Chinese people were willing to pay for a movie ticket and go to the cinema.

As long as the quality is not too bad, Chinese people will give high ratings.

Under Columbia's operation, even though there were only 50 theaters open for the film, many people were invited to the premiere.

Most of them are Academy judges, film critics, industry stars, and journalists invited by Columbia...

At the same time, Shi Lei also invited some Chinese directors and stars working in Hollywood.

Given his current identity and status, these people came over to him out of respect.

Li Lianjie, Cheng Long, Yang Ziqiong, Zhou Zhaolong, International Zhang...

There are several directors as well. The two most successful Chinese directors in Hollywood are Wu Baige and Li An, one in commercial field and the other in art field.

There is also a guy named Huang Yiyu, who just filmed "Final Destination" last year.

The last one is Wen Zairen from Shuimitao Film and Television.

Except for Chou Zhaolong, Shi Lei didn't know these people well. He just exchanged a few polite words and sat down one by one. The film began to play, and the characters in the film appeared one by one.

The first half of the film can be said to be quite standard. The heroine Maggie's life from childhood to adulthood can be described as miserable. Her family did not give her any help, but instead became a heavy burden to her.

But she did not give up her dream and trained boxing alone for three years.

Finally, she sought guidance from coach Frankie, but Maggie was already 32 years old, and Frankie thought she was too old and not suitable for boxing.

Maggie did not give up. After some twists and turns, Maggie's innate talent and unshakable faith finally moved the stubborn Frankie, who decided to help Maggie become a female boxer at all costs.

The daily interactions during training and the mutual inspiration from their past experiences made the master and apprentice more and more in tune with each other.

In the ring competition, they began to win.

Up to this point, the film can be said to be a standard inspirational film. Many inspirational films have similar plots. The protagonists are equally miserable, but their tragic circumstances are different. They also encounter various difficulties in pursuing their dreams, but the difficulties are different.

In the second half of the film, it is also about overcoming obstacles and gradually getting closer to the dream.

Although the story is old-fashioned, Shi Lei has a good ability in storytelling and successfully mobilized the emotions of the audience.

Seeing the heroine sad, the audience will feel pity; seeing the heroine happy, the audience will be happy from the bottom of their hearts; seeing the heroine close to success, the audience's mood will gradually improve.

……

Wu Baige and Li An looked at each other. Both of them understood the other's evaluation. Shi Lei was worthy of being a Silver Lion Award winner. His storytelling ability was excellent.

From their professional perspective, if the ending maintains this level, the film will be a success.

I am not sure whether I can win the award, but there is no problem in being shortlisted.

As the film continued, the story reached its climax, and suddenly the audience exclaimed...

In her last match, Maggie was attacked by a despicable opponent, which caused severe damage to her spine, lost a leg, and left her paralyzed in bed.

When the darkest moment came, the audience was quite indignant and dissatisfied.

Then Maggie's family showed up, pretending to care about Maggie, trying to trick Maggie into signing a will and taking her money.

In the end, Maggie was unwilling to see her dream shattered and chose to leave this world!

This ending made some viewers unable to help but curse, cursing the screenwriter and the director.

They also expect Maggie to recover from her injuries, regroup and achieve greater success!

In the end, it's gone!
Hearing the audience's abuse, Shi Lei knew he had succeeded.

Imperfection is the true reflection of society and the key to impressing the Oscar judges.

Wu Baige and Li An's eyes were filled with shock!
Such an outcome was beyond their expectations, but they knew that Shi Lei had succeeded.

The first half is a successful inspirational film, and the final ending is a successful award-winning film!
The sad ending is the mainstream of art films!
------

PS: There are three box office sharing models in North America. The first is a fixed ratio sharing, usually 45~55%. How much you can get depends on the strength of the company.

The second is the buyout model, where the producer sells the film to theaters.

The third is a tiered profit-sharing model, in which about 80% of the box office in the first week belongs to the producer and 20% to the theaters; in the second and third weeks, about 60% goes to the producer and 40% to the theaters; in the fourth week, about 20% goes to the producer and 80% to the theaters.

Big Hollywood companies generally adopt the third profit-sharing model, which allows producers to quickly recover their production costs.

Award-winning films adopt the long-term screening model and generally choose the first profit-sharing model.

[In the first week, the film company will take 70%-80% of the total box office, and the maximum will not exceed 85%. Disney movies can take 80%-90%, and the highest in the first week can reach 95%. As time goes by, the proportion will gradually decrease, and after the fourth week, it usually drops to 25%-45%. Disney movies usually do not fall below 40% in the first four weeks, and only reduce this proportion in the fifth week or later. ]

(End of this chapter)