Chapter 74 74. Thoughts on marching to the other side (please subscribe, please be the first to order, please reward)
"Stephen Chow!" Eric was a little surprised.
"Uh, his name is Stephen Zhou. Yes, it seems his partner also called him by his Chinese name, which is pronounced similarly to yours. Wait, Eric, have you learned Chinese?"
"I learned it on my own during the holidays. Don't worry about the details. It's Stephen Chow, right?"
"Yes, I won't make a mistake with his English name. He is promoting his script called Kung Fu, hoping to get investment. We just met this afternoon."
"Although there are many slangs in this script that I cannot understand, the marketing department said that it has potential. Besides, Stephen Chow is a very famous comedian in China and is known as the Jim Carrey of the East."
"I've already asked about it. His last movie, Shaolin Soccer, was funded by Columbia and earned tens of millions of dollars for Sony."
"Got it. How much investment does Stephen Chow want?"
"30 million dollars is a large amount, so I want to ask for your opinion. If you think it is inappropriate, I will reject him by phone."
Eric hesitated for a moment and said, "Hold him. I'm almost done with the filming here and I need to go back to Los Angeles."
"OK, I understand!"
After hanging up the phone, Eric couldn't help but sigh, "It's you, Judy, you're such a lucky star."
Regarding the movie "Kung Fu", it is generally considered to be Stephen Chow's masterpiece. Of course, some people think it is "A Chinese Odyssey", and some people think that most of his works are his masterpieces.
But for Eric himself, "Kung Fu" is the epitome of Stephen Chow's style, whether it is considered from the perspective of narrative, performance, connotation, comedy effect, etc., especially from the perspective of the director, it is definitely the undisputed first in quality.
If I remember correctly, this movie was invested by Sony Columbia, and it seemed to be 20 million US dollars. In the end, the global box office exceeded 100 million. At that time, many domestic media rushed to report it, so much so that Eric still remembers it now.
Of course, if we only look at the box office, after deducting the share given to theaters, publicity and promotion, and Stephen Chow's director's dividend, Columbia will only make about 20 million US dollars in the end.
But if the disc market is included, the number will be several times higher.
It's not that Stephen Chow has a strong appeal in the North American disc market, but that the movie "Kung Fu" is strong, but that's all. His other movies are not good and the disc market doesn't buy them.
The only living Chinese movie stars who are truly successful all over the world are Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Although Chow Yun-fat also ventured into Hollywood, he failed miserably.
He has no unique characteristics and is not irreplaceable. Are there not many cool actors like Chow Yun-fat in Hollywood? Why would they use a yellow person like you when there are white people?
Only Kung Fu is the key for Chinese to open the world market. Bruce Lee opened this door, Jackie Chan and Jet Li carried it forward, but unfortunately there is no successor.
Since he was an insider before traveling through time, everyone is very curious about who is doing better in Hollywood between Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
So Eric and a group of friends did a survey and analyzed various data.
The final conclusion is that Jackie Chan is the clear winner. His movies may not have very high box office, but the disc market is really booming.
Since "Drunken Master 2" in 1994, Jackie Chan's total revenue from the disc market has exceeded 1.2 billion US dollars, and this is still the most conservative estimate.
Due to health reasons, Jet Li made fewer films in his later years, but even so, his revenue from the disc market exceeded US$700 million.
This is why Cheng and Li’s movies often do not have high box office performance, but they are never short of investment, because they are almost always profitable.
However, the exception is Jackie Chan's later films. At that time, he was really old and had to take the elevator instead of jumping stairs, so he almost all invested in his own movies.
The next day, after the Transformers' final scene at the Nevada military base was filmed, John Adams gave his guys an hour's vacation.
The entire base suddenly fell into madness. All the soldiers returned to the dormitory to find their mobile phones, and then gathered around Dizziness to take a photo.
The props team looked at the group of American soldiers anxiously, fearing that they might use too much force and cause damage or dizziness as there would be more scenes to come.
Eric shouted with a megaphone: "Thank you all for your cooperation during this period. The movie is scheduled to be released in November. If you want to see yourself on the big screen, bring your family to the cinema."
After giving the soldiers time to take photos, Eric chatted with Colonel Adams to deepen their relationship, and stuffed another $500,000 into his pocket before leaving.
I have been getting along better and better with Lieutenant Colonel Freeman these days. Although this lieutenant colonel is in the army, he has a literary heart.
However, due to the limitations of his position, he certainly cannot appear in movies, and can only do the work of a military advisor to satisfy his desire.
And from him we learned that the reason why John Adams was promoted to brigadier general before he was 40 years old was because he had strong connections and he was a member of the Adams family.
That’s right, it’s the Adams family that drafted the Declaration of Independence, one of the traditional powerful families in the United States, with its tentacles reaching into the military, political and business circles.
To put it bluntly, the world is the same. In the entertainment industry, connections and background are important, and the same is true in the military.
Lieutenant Colonel Freeman said that the probability of a colonel in the US military being promoted to brigadier general is only about 3%. Unless one has incredible abilities that cannot be stopped by mountains, it will not be the turn of civilians. Colonel is the end of the road.
Since the founding of the country, the game of power has always been in the hands of these big families. The only difference is that it belongs to you today and to me tomorrow.
After learning about this relationship, Eric couldn't help but blush.
The $200,000 that night was probably a bit of a slap in the face, and people thought it was an insult, so they gave him another $500,000 before leaving. Maybe he could use the money in the future when filming the Transformers sequel or other movies.
In the afterglow of the sunset, the MGM convoy slowly drove away from the Nevada military base and headed south along Highway 5.
At around 9 o'clock in the evening, the convoy entered Somano County, California, and arrived in Santa Rosa in Somano County at around 10 o'clock.
The administrative divisions of the United States are very special. They are divided into states, counties, cities, and townships. However, these four administrative levels are not subordinate to each other but are relatively independent.
The state cannot control the county, the county cannot control the city, and the city cannot control the towns and villages. Governors, mayors, county heads and the like are all elected and are each responsible for the residents of their jurisdiction.
There is a very famous high school in Santa Rosa - Santa Rosa High School, and many Hollywood movies were filmed here.
MGM has already contacted the principal of Santa Rosa High School in advance and reviewed the script, so it will definitely be a PG13 rating.
The motorcade stopped in the hotel parking lot, and Eric got out of the car and pulled Patty Jenkins aside.
"I have to go back to Los Angeles to take care of some things. I'll leave the filming here to you. As I said before, everything should be done according to the script, OK?"
Patty Jenkins nodded: "I still say the same thing, you are the boss and you have the final say!"
After everyone checked into the hotel, they went their separate ways. Eric looked down from the window and saw that James, Fassbender, Deadpool, Captain America and the others had quietly slipped out.
Zhan Yimei was fine, but the others had been training at the Nevada military base for a month and filming for a week. Their hormone levels had long exceeded the standard, and it would be unacceptable not to give them some vent.
"Eric, what are you looking at?" Gadot's voice came from behind.
"It's okay, just a few stealing mice."
"What? Uh."
“It seems to have gotten a bit bigger.”
More than an hour later, a Lincoln arrived downstairs of the hotel. Chen Xing made a phone call and the car left after a while.
"Eric, you should get up."
A familiar voice rang in his ears and Eric opened his eyes. It was the woman who loved him the most, his mother Emily Cooper.
"Honey, it's already ten in the morning. You have to go to work."
Eric shook his confused head and said, "Sorry, I was filming in Nevada recently and didn't get a good rest."
Hearing this, my mother looked worried again: "Then sleep a little longer. There is no rush for work. Health is the most important thing."
Due to the tight shooting schedule, which lasted eight days non-stop, the actors could clock out at a certain time, but the director could not.
Eric also has to watch the shots and make plans, staying up late every day, and finding time to finish the script of "Blue Is the Warmest Color". At the same time, he is also writing several new scripts. It is normal for him to only sleep four or five hours a day.
In addition, the conditions at the military base are not good. Even if you fall asleep, you are often woken up by the sounds of training before you enter deep sleep.
Now that I'm back home and lying comfortably on my bed, I feel like I'm going to sleep forever.
He yawned and fell heavily on the bed, and my mother closed the door.
After this sleep, when I opened my eyes again it was already past two in the afternoon, and my cell phone kept ringing.
"Judy, what's wrong?"
Judy's puzzled and anxious voice came from the other end of the phone: "My boss, what are you doing? Didn't you ask me to meet Stephen Chow? He has been waiting for the whole morning. I called you several times but you didn't answer. Chen Xing didn't tell me what you were doing."
Eric then realized that he seemed to have forgotten something, but he certainly couldn't admit that he was sleeping because he still had to maintain his authority as the boss.
"Okay, I know. I'm just dealing with something temporarily. Are the people from Xinghui Entertainment still in the company?"
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
"Yes, but I've already gone to the bathroom several times. I'm afraid they will get impatient if I wait any longer. I don't even know what to talk to them about now."
"Then tell them to wait another hour. I'll be there soon."
"Another hour? My big boss, you are American, not Italian, can't you have a sense of time?"
Eric sneered, "Time consciousness? That's to constrain the weak. Now we are the strong. Tell them that MGM is interested in investing. It's okay to ask them to wait another ten days for the money."
After hanging up the phone, Eric walked into the bathroom. The hot water washed away the fatigue and sand from the Nevada desert. He felt much more comfortable.
After taking a shower and going downstairs, my mother went to visit a church friend, and the sexy young nanny in her twenties brought hot meals.
After finishing his meal and walking out of the house, Chen Xing was waiting in front of the car. He opened and closed the door, then sat in the passenger seat. After completing the whole process, the Lincoln slowly started and left Beverly Hills.
"How's the investigation going for you?"
Chen Xing took out a report from his bag and handed it over: "This is the development of the Chinese film market in recent years."
Eric took it and started to look through it. Although he was in the circle before, the events of 2003 were still too far away. He was only thirteen years old at that time.
After a quick glance, I have a rough idea of what's going on. The current mainland market is very weak. From 1995 to 2002, the average annual box office was over 900 million yuan, not even 1 billion yuan.
The year with the highest annual box office was 1998, because Titanic was released and earned 360 million RMB, so the total box office in 1998 reached 1.4 billion RMB, which is less than 200 million US dollars after converting to the exchange rate.
The total box office in the United States in 1998 was approximately 7.5 billion US dollars, which is approximately 60 billion RMB when converted into RMB according to the exchange rate, a difference of 42 times.
Even though Titanic grossed 360 million RMB at the box office, Hollywood actually only got about 46 million RMB, which is 5.75 million USD in US dollars.
You read that right, it’s only 5.75 million US dollars. In the end, Disney has to pay a certain tax difference in the United States, so only about 5 million US dollars is left.
After going around in circles and working hard, he finally earned enough money to buy cigarettes. This is how Disney felt at the time.
Why is the money so little?
The reason is that China's share of the revenue from imported films is too low.
The box office revenue sharing ratio for Hollywood movies in North America is generally around 50%, split equally between the theaters and the company. If it is a big IP movie like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, or a sequel to a popular movie, the company's share can even reach over 60%. The opposite is true for bad movies.
There are also clauses related to screening weeks. The specific proportion can be negotiated between the company and the theater chain and is not a fixed value stipulated by law.
Looking around the world, the profit-sharing ratio generally fluctuates between 40% and 50%, depending on the quality and popularity of the film.
But what is the rate in China? The answer is 13%!
You read that right. It is 30% lower than that in Africa, and the annual quota for import is 20 films. This ratio was not increased to 25% until 2012.
That's why Titanic's share is so low.
At this stage, the Chinese market is like a chicken rib to Hollywood, which is tasteless and a pity to throw away.
Even if you work hard, you may not be able to earn money. 90% of it is taken by others! I can’t beg for food on my knees!
So although the number of 20 imported films each year seems limited, the competitive pressure is actually not that great.
But after all, it is the world's most populous country, and its economy is also developing continuously. What if its potential explodes one day? So some companies have already set up offices there.
Ever since he crossed over in April last year, Eric has been considering whether to set up a branch on the other side of the strait.
Plan ahead, build good relationships with higher-ups ahead of time, and when the film market heats up around 2008 or 2009, you will be able to seize the opportunity.
Another very important factor is that this year's Transformers must be released in China, otherwise it will be difficult to sell toy peripherals, and this income is more substantial than the box office.
After discussing with my dad, he didn't have any objection. After all, it wouldn't cost much to register a company and it would just be a start.
But later, due to various things, this idea was slowly forgotten. Now that Stephen Chow suddenly came to him, the idea came up again.
At the MGM building, Lincoln stopped in front of the steps and Eric walked directly to the elevator.
When the company employees see him now, they are obviously not as afraid of him as they were a few months ago. Instead, they greet him with smiles.
The main thing is that I know Eric's personality. He doesn't lose his temper easily and is usually kind to his subordinates.
Another thing is that the company is really making money. Since the Cooper father and son took over MGM, the performance has soared visibly.
At the end of the year, Charlie Cooper was generous and increased everyone's year-end bonus by $10,000. That was quite morale-boosting and everyone felt that life had more purpose.
Ding! The elevator opened and Eric walked straight to the reception room.
The etiquette lady opened the door and saw three people sitting on the sofa, and the one in the middle looked very familiar to him.
He was wearing a black striped casual suit with a warm-looking sweater underneath, and his hair was just shoulder-length.
His facial features are handsome, but his eyes are a little cold. He is none other than Stephen Chow, who is known as the King of Oriental Comedy.
Seeing Eric coming in, Stephen Chow stood up hurriedly. He had specifically learned some information last night. The young man in front of him was even more handsome than the information said.
As the host, Eric extended his hand first: "Hello Mr. Zhou, I'm Eric Cooper!"
Stephen Chow quickly shook his hand: "It's the first time we meet, Mr. Cooper, you can just call me Stephen."
"First time meeting? No no no, I've seen you many times in movies, the King of Comedy in the East."
Hearing this title, Stephen Chow was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand modestly: "I am not the king of comedy, I am just an actor."
(End of this chapter)