Chapter 542 I Just Want to Have Fun
It was March now, and something happened abroad that was related to Lin Weimin. The Intouchables, directed by Spielberg, was officially released in the United States.
In later generations, movies have release schedules. At this time in China, this is not the case, but it does in the US.
There is the spring season from January to April every year, the summer season from May to September, the autumn and winter season from September to November, and the awards season in December.
March is obviously a very quiet period in the spring season, after all, Valentine's Day has just passed, but it is just right for a feature film like "The Intouchables".
As Spielberg is a big director who is now at the peak of his career in Hollywood, he naturally had a lot of fanfare. With the help of Columbia Hollywood's top publicity and promotion capabilities, "The Intouchables" opened in 1,069 theaters and earned 11.7 million US dollars in the first three days of the weekend, ranking second on the box office rankings of that week.
This box office result would be uncompetitive with some big-budget science fiction films in Hollywood, but "The Intouchables" is a feature film, and such a first-week box office result is already excellent.
With the good results in the first week, Columbia immediately expanded the number of screenings to 2,385 in the second week.
The box office results of the new week did not disappoint the expectations of investors, producers and distributors. "The Intouchables" topped the box office rankings of the week with a revenue of 29.59 million US dollars.
Michael Phillips and Lin Weimin called to recount the box office performance of "The Intouchables", and one could feel his high spirits just by listening to his tone.
"Based on the current box office trend, it will be no problem for The Intouchables to make over 100 million yuan. The box office in the United States alone is enough to recover the cost and make a fortune. Starting this week, The Intouchables will also be released in many countries around the world..."
Lin Weimin joked: "Michael, you should also consider my feelings."
Michael Phillips laughed and said, "Come on, Lin, stop pretending to be a copyright tycoon in front of me. Do you think I don't know? How much money did you make from "The Phantom of the Opera" alone?"
"No one would complain about having too much money, right?" Lin Weimin joked.
The huge sales of "The Intouchables" has little to do with Lin Weimin. His film adaptation rights have already been sold and he received a one-time payment.
He was not even the screenwriter of the film version of "The Intouchables". Although the drama was also a script, the movie was already a secondary processing. Lin Weimin's only request when signing the contract was that the adaptation of the script must have his approval, and the producer also met his request on this point.
But it is not accurate to say that the big sales of movies have no benefits for Lin Weimin. Before "The Intouchables", Lin Weimin's novels and plays had already gained considerable popularity in the United States, but in terms of movies, he only had one "The Last Emperor", and his qualifications seemed not strong enough.
Now, "The Intouchables" is a big hit at the box office. According to Columbia's estimation, it will be no problem for this movie to gross over 200 million US dollars worldwide. For a movie known for its plot, this is already an extremely outstanding result, enough to rank among the top feature film box office rankings.
With the ability to win awards and generate box office revenue, Lin Weimin's works will surely become popular in Hollywood in the foreseeable future.
"Lin, don't forget me as your old friend when the time comes!" Michael Phillips joked.
"Mike, you have priority." Lin Weimin said easily.
The two chatted for a while. According to Michael Phillips, Spielberg plans to take "The Intouchables" to the Cannes Film Festival in May. It would be best if he could win an award. If not, he will have to focus on the awards season at the end of the year.
The quality of "The Intouchables" is outstanding, so it is not difficult for it to win an award. What is uncertain is whether it can win the big prize.
Michael Phillips also invited Lin Weimin to the Cannes Film Festival in May, but Lin Weimin said, "Come on, I'm not used to that kind of fame and fortune."
A few days later, just as Michael Phillips had guessed, people from major Hollywood studios began to contact Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin opened his mouth widely and immediately asked for a sky-high price of 5 million US dollars for the adaptation rights, which immediately scared everyone. The 5 million script adaptation fee would require at least 15 million in box office revenue to make a profit.
In other words, the script alone, which has not yet been written, is worth 15 million US dollars.
Crazy!
This was the first reaction of everyone in the Hollywood studio after they came into contact with Lin Weimin. Lin Weimin was calm about it. It had only been half a month since The Intouchables was released, and those people who were eager to contact him were almost all doing so with a speculative mentality, so he naturally would not be polite.
Besides, if you ask for a sky-high price but pay it back, since our script can win awards and get high box office, isn't it normal to ask for a high price?
Hollywood is a naked jungle society where everything is fake. Only box office and awards are real, and only these two things are the magic weapon to run rampant in Hollywood.
Lin Weimin is not interested in wasting time with a bunch of people with speculative mentality. Those who are truly sincere will naturally come to him for detailed discussions. Even if they cannot offer a high price, they will find ways to convince him. In this way, he can gain the upper hand in the cooperation.
Why not?
After receiving several calls in succession, no sincere collaborator showed up. Lin Weimin was not in a hurry, as he did not make money from film adaptations, so he just waited!
In mid-March, sample copies of the Chinese versions of Revolutionary Road and Eleven Kinds of Loneliness came out, and Lin Weimin sent two copies to Richard Yates as a souvenir.
Two days later, Ma Dudu brought a few people to Lin Weimin's house.
"Teacher Lin, I have found someone for you."
The young men that Ma Dudu brought today are all veterans who used to be scouts.
"These people were introduced by my father's friends. We know them well and they are all good people." Ma Dudu and Lin Weimin whispered.
If he can serve in the army, it goes without saying that his family background must be good and clean, so he can be employed with confidence.
Lin Weimin took a quick look. The six young men were tall and straight with sharp eyes. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, all of you stay."
Ma Dudu was a little surprised and asked in a low voice: "Teacher Lin, don't you want to take a look?"
"Do you think I have the fire eyes of Sun Wukong? Just come and do your job. If you do a good job, you will get a raise. If you don't do a good job, you will be fired. It's that simple."
Ma Dudu gave a thumbs up, "You are awesome!"
"Stop talking nonsense! I'll leave the moving matter to you." Lin Weimin said.
What Lin Weimin meant by "moving" was moving his antiques, calligraphy and paintings that were scattered across several houses. Now that the Beile Mansion has been renovated, these things finally have a place to be put.
The veterans brought by Ma Dudu were the security force that Lin Weimin found for the Beile Mansion.
Such a big mansion, with so many antiques, calligraphy and paintings, if no one was watching, no one would know if it was emptied in the middle of the night.
With these protective forces, Lin Weimin can feel at ease.
Ma Dudu asked, "Teacher Lin, are you really not going to build a museum?"
This matter was brought up by Ma Dudu after he visited the Beile Mansion a few days ago. Over the years, he has collected at least four to five thousand pieces of antiques, calligraphy and paintings for Lin Weimin, including many fine pieces from various dynasties.
Now that there is such a high-end and elegant place as the Beile Mansion, in his opinion, it would be a perfect and unique opportunity to open a museum here.
Ma Dudu advised: "You have such a big mansion and so many cultural relics. It's a waste to just enjoy them by yourself."
Lin Weimin shook his head. "It was a good idea at first, but now it seems too energy-consuming. I don't have the time."
When Lin Weimin asked Guo Daiheng to renovate the Prince's Mansion, he wanted to transform it into a private museum that had both historical charm and was in line with modern lifestyle concepts.
Unfortunately, after the renovation of the Beile Mansion was completed, he realized that he had thought too much. Just taking over the Beile Mansion would keep him busy for a while. When he thought about the pile of chores that would be involved in opening a museum, he thought about it and decided not to cause trouble for himself.
"If you really find it troublesome, you can leave it to me!" Ma Dudu volunteered.
"You?" Lin Weimin looked at Ma Dudu, "You are only thinking about making money now, do you have time to do this?"
Since he stopped being an editor, Ma Dudu has completely plunged into the wave of reform and opening up and has become a trendsetters.
He did whatever could make money, and after nearly two years, he actually made a lot of money.
Faced with Lin Weimin's questioning, Ma Dudu hesitated for a moment.
"This is not a public museum. I don't want a salary, but you can't control when I go to get off work, right?" said Ma Dudu.
"No salary? What do you want?" Lin Weimin asked.
Ma Dudu narrowed his eyes and smiled: "I just want to have fun!"
Lin Weimin teased, "After three days of absence, you look at me with new eyes! What's the matter? Are you planning to get rid of your vulgar tastes now?"
"That can't be possible. I'm not at the same level as you and Master Shuo. I'm just excited to see you. It makes me sad to see so many of your belongings sitting idle!"
Lin Weimin asked again: "Then tell me, how should this museum be built? Although my Beile Mansion has been renovated, the architectural layout is different from those museums outside."
Ma Dudu smiled and said, "Since we want to build a private museum, it cannot be the same as those public museums. The architectural structure and room width of your mansion are not suitable for museums, so we will make it smaller and more exquisite, focusing on customer experience.
If someone wants to come in and visit, you have to make an appointment in advance. The ticket price is not expensive, 200 yuan per person. Don't think it's expensive. Our museum is open once a week, and each time it is open, the number of visitors is limited to 20. We have 10 tour guides who are former flight attendants, and each of them is responsible for explaining to two people, highlighting the quality of service. "
Lin Weimin was amused by what Ma Dudu said, and asked with interest: "Tell me, why do you want to limit the number of people?"
"Didn't I just say that? We should focus on customer experience. Besides, haven't you heard the saying? A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a secret lover!"
Lin Weimin's admiring look turned into contempt. After all, he was an editor. Couldn't he use a different metaphor?
vulgar!
(End of this chapter)
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