Chapter 369 What's wrong with me gambling with him?
Yang Liwen knew that Gu Wei was joking. She put a stack of scripts on the table in front of Gu Wei and smiled.
“Boss, these are the scripts that have come to you recently, and you need a reply as soon as possible.
There are quite a few that are from big companies, big directors, and big productions, and I have specially marked them all.
Others promise to give you a certain share of the investment."
Gu Wei was already accustomed to these things. He knew that even with so many scripts, they had probably been screened by his agent.
All I can say is that popular stars really have no shortage of roles to play, especially once you have proven your box office appeal, there will be companies and directors everywhere in the circle who want to work with you.
Just like when Shuangzi was at the peak of her popularity, she filmed more than a dozen TV series a year and her pay was calculated on a daily basis. Even so, there was still an endless stream of crews looking for her.
It's just because she is famous and has fans following her.
What's more, Gu Wei is a top star whose popularity, fame and status far surpass Shuangzi, so there are too many crews that want to curry favor with him.
Everyone knows that as long as Gu Wei joins the crew, there will be no shortage of platforms to buy the TV series. The movie has its own popularity and a large number of fans, so it can be said that you can make money without doing anything. The only difference is how much you make.
In this situation, which crew would not want to work with him?
It's nothing more than handing in a script. If you're lucky enough to be noticed by Gu Wei, investors will immediately come to you waving checks, and the film will be green-lit from shooting to release. It's so cool.
He asked his assistant to make a cup of coffee for Yang Liwen, and then he flipped through the books one by one.
Yang Liwen also sat on the sofa on the side of the office. She picked up the steaming latte, blew on it, took a sip slowly, and waited quietly for Gu Wei.
At this stage in Gu Wei's life, most of the scripts that come before him have something worthwhile, either from big companies, or well-known directors, or the stories are very exciting, and he examines them more carefully than before.
I just came out from Nini's place this morning, and now I have an invitation related to her in my hand.
[Wukong Biography] is a Journey to the West film adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name.
The film is produced by New Classics Media and directed by Guo Zijian, with a total investment of about 200 million yuan. The role that Gu Wei was chosen to play is naturally the protagonist "Sun Wukong".
Most viewers may be unfamiliar with the name Guo Zijian. In fact, the famous "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was co-directed by Zhou Xingchi and Guo Zijian, and he was also one of the screenwriters.
It's just that Zhou Xingchi's name is too big, and his popularity overshadows everyone else. Everyone only knows that "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is Zhou Xingchi's work, and the co-director Guo Zijian has been ignored by everyone.
Of course, this is only from the perspective of ordinary audiences. In the industry, Director Guo is still very famous.
Gu Wei remembers that the heroine "A Zi" in this movie was played by Nini, but he doesn't know whether the crew has invited Nini yet.
Because he had read the novel "The Monkey King", Gu Wei also went to see the movie after it was released.
The special effects are good and the fighting scenes are exciting, but just like the "Thousand Faces of Dunjia" that Ni Ni is about to shoot, the story line is too weak, there are many plot holes, and it is a poor adaptation of the original work.
The original version finally raked in over 600 million yuan in ticket sales, which was a profit after all. If Gu Wei had joined, the box office would have definitely been higher, but it might have had some impact on his reputation.
It's kind of useless, so put it aside for now.
Gu Wei read for a long time, flipped through all the scripts, and finally picked out four as options.
In addition to "Wukong", there are also "The Devotion of Suspect X" directed by Su Youpeng, "Youth" directed by Feng Xiaogang and "Ex-Files 3" directed by Tian Yusheng.
Pick up the last two scripts.
"What's going on with Huayi Brothers? I remember my relationship with them has always been pretty average. These two movies should be their key projects this year, right? Why are they looking for me?
[Ex-boyfriend] That’s fine, but Director Feng has a grudge against me, and he wants me to play the male lead in his movie?
Yang Liwen smiled.
"Boss, you still underestimate your status in the eyes of these film companies.
As of the release of "The Assassin 2", the total box office of the movies you starred in has reached 5.7 billion.
More importantly, all of these movies were huge box office hits, and none of them made a loss.
Especially last year's three movies, "Left Ear", "Monster Hunt" and "Knife of the Assassin 2", completely proved your super high box office appeal.
Now you are recognized as one of the male actors with the highest box office appeal in the domestic entertainment industry.
Huayi's ultimate goal in making movies is to make money, so they certainly hope to work with you to achieve higher box office sales."
Gu Wei nodded.
These four films will start shooting in the second half of this year, and Gu Wei can only choose one given his schedule.
First of all, let’s exclude "The Monkey King". Compared with other movies, it is lacking in both box office and reputation.
Then there is "The Devotion of Suspect X", a mystery thriller adapted from Keigo Higashino's novel of the same name.
The producer is [Guangguang Media], with whom we have always cooperated, and the director is Su Youpeng, with whom we have a good relationship. However, as a suspense film, the box office ceiling in China is too low.
Even with the addition of Gu Wei, the film will definitely make money in the end, but the final box office may not be as good as "The Monkey King".
Moreover, fans of the original novel will probably be very harsh on the movie. No matter how Director Su changes it, there will always be problems of one kind or another, and it will be useless.
"Can Huayi give up its investment share in these two films?"
Gu Wei asked again.
"[Ex-Files 3] Yes, but we need to discuss the specific share.
"Youth" might not work. This film is a wholly-owned production of Feng Xiaogang's Dongyang Mela, and involves a gambling agreement between Director Feng and Huayi. Even Huayi itself has no investment share."
Yang Liwen explained.
The gambling agreement between Huayi and Feng Xiaogang is no secret in the circle, and Gu Wei is also well aware of it.
Specifically, Director Feng set up a shell company called Dongyang Mela.
In order to tie down this great director, Huayi spent 1.05 billion to buy 70% of the shares of Dongyang Mira from Director Feng, but Director Feng also had to ensure that Dongyang Mira's annual net profit must be above the specified amount. If it failed to reach the amount, Huayi would have to compensate Huayi with corresponding cash.
After the gambling agreement was signed in September 2015, Director Feng received 1.05 billion in cash, but he was also tied up and had to work hard to make movies every year for the benefits of "Dongyang Mira", otherwise he would have to pay back the money in his pocket.
Gu Wei thought about it and threw [Youth] aside.
Although this movie was a great success both in terms of reputation and box office, Gu Wei was not short of a hit movie, so he did not need to work for Feng Xiaogang.
Although the ratings of [Ex-Files 3] were average, it had high box office sales. Gu Wei could take this opportunity to make a fortune and maintain his undefeated box office record.
"Refuse all other offers politely and talk to Huayi to maximize the investment amount for [Ex-Files 3]!"
Seeing that Gu Wei had made up his mind, Yang Liwen put down the coffee cup in her hand and looked serious.
"Understood, I'll do it now!"
After saying that, he tidied up the script on the table and turned to leave Gu Wei's office.
It may be that Huayi had already had a plan for cooperation with Gu Wei, and Yang Liwen communicated with them very smoothly. In the afternoon, they had already reached a general agreement on cooperation.
According to Gu Wei's request, they got as much investment share as possible, and finally the two parties reached an agreement. The total investment of "Ex-Files 3" was 100 million yuan, and Gu Wei's salary of 40 million yuan was converted into 40% of the investment amount. Huayi Brothers only needed to pay 60 million yuan as the salary of other actors and filming funds.
At the same time, Gu Wei also received a call from Wang Zhongjun.
"Mr. Wang is so polite. This is our first collaboration. I believe that as long as we work together, the box office will definitely not be a problem. I have always believed in Huayi's strength."
After being polite with Wang Zhongjun for a long time, Gu Wei suddenly thought of something and asked.
"Mr. Wang, I've read the script for Ex 3. Who are you planning to cast as the female lead, Lin Jia?"
Wang Zhongjun paused. He didn't seem to expect Gu Wei to ask this question, so he said tentatively:
"Huayi has a new actress named Yu Wenwen, who has good qualities in all aspects. Director Tian Yusheng and I both prefer her to play the female lead.
Mr. Gu, do you have any advice?"
“I can’t say for sure what my opinion is, but Mr. Wang and Director Tian’s vision is definitely impeccable.
But since I joined the film, I have to consider the box office performance. In my mind, the box office of "Ex-Files 3" is expected to reach over 1 billion. Isn't it difficult for a new actress to support such a high box office?"
After Gu Wei finished speaking, he clearly heard Wang Zhongjun on the opposite side take a deep breath.
"Mr. Gu, do you have any favorite actresses?"
Gu Wei pretended to think about it.
"Forehead
I think Ni Ni is good, both in terms of fame and acting skills. Mr. Wang, why not consider her?"
"No problem, I'll talk to Director Tian right away and then send an invitation to Nini!"
Wang Zhongjun agreed without hesitation.
"Hahaha, Mr. Wang, I wish us a pleasant cooperation. I believe this film will achieve a result that satisfies both of us."
【Huayi Brothers】President's Office.
Wang Zhongjun hung up the phone.
"Brother, this Gu Wei is too greedy. He asked for 40% of the investment share right away. It's obvious that our movie is almost becoming his business!
Furthermore, his salary was too high, so in order to reduce his investment share, our costs doubled."
His younger brother Wang Zhonglei complained when he saw him hang up the phone.
The original plan for the filming of "Ex-Files 3" at Huayi was to invest only 30 million, of which 20 million was for the actors' salaries and 10 million was for the filming funds.
After all, it's just an urban romance film without any big scenes, so this money is enough.
But after Gu Wei joined, his own salary was 40 million, and the original investment of 30 million was not enough.
In order to prevent him from taking up too much of the investment share, Huayi had to increase the investment cost of the film and put out 60 million in real money for the filming, so as to reduce Gu Wei's share of the film's salary to 40%.
If he takes another 30 million, then Gu Wei will own 57% of the shares, and then the movie will really be made for him.
Of course, even if the investment amount doubles, there is no need to worry about not being able to spend it. When it comes to making a movie, there are ways to shoot with less money and ways to shoot with more money. Any amount of money can be spent.
"Haha, not only did Gu Wei want a higher share, he also just suggested that I change the heroine to one he likes."
Wang Zhongjun smiled and said to his brother.
"What?
He's going a bit too far. After all, he's just an actor. He has the final say on his company's films and no one cares.
This is our Huayi film, he's a bit overreaching!"
Wang Zhonglei said angrily.
"I don't think so. To me, what he said makes a lot of sense."
Wang Zhongjun said with a smile.
"Brother, why are you speaking in his favor? We promised this role to Wenwen before."
Wang Zhonglei was a little anxious.
"Please be patient~"
Wang Zhongjun patted his brother's shoulder.
"Gu Wei told me that he's confident he can bring the film's box office to over 1 billion. Since he's so confident, I'll do whatever he says!"
"One billion?
Gu Wei is really confident about this. Although we have discussed this before, based on the box office of 129 million and 251 million for the first two films, even if Gu Wei joins, it should be no problem for the third film to make more than 500 million.
More than 1 billion is too exaggerated.
There are only about 10 movies that have grossed over 1 billion yuan in China. How can a romance like ours have such a high box office?"
Just like before, although Wang Zhonglei also agrees with Gu Wei's box office appeal and believes that it will be no problem for him to star in a movie that sells well, it is a bit far-fetched to expect it to break 1 billion.
"Hahaha!
Since Gu Wei has this confidence, why not let me take a gamble with him?
If we lose, we won't lose anything, but if we win, we'll make a lot of money!"
After all, Wang Zhongjun is the president, and he does things in a much more generous and decisive manner than his brother.
"I'll contact Director Tian later and then send an invitation to Nini.
Tell Yu Wenwen that even though she didn’t get the female lead role this time, she will have another chance in the future.
After all, they are our own people, so don’t be disheartened.”
Wang Zhongjun then made a series of arrangements.
"I'll do it right away."
(End of this chapter)
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