Chapter 339: Helping in Times of Need
"Mr. Gu, most of your endorsements from last year will expire around the middle of this month, and the brands have been trying to get us to renew them."
As Yang Liwen spoke, she placed the stack of documents she had been holding on the desk in front of Gu Wei.
"What's the problem?"
Gu Wei picked it up and flipped through it casually.
His endorsements have increased and decreased over the years and have remained at around 10. Although the number is not large, the endorsement fees have increased year by year, coupled with the high endorsement fees given by some international brands like LV, his annual income from this area is considerable.
"Old manufacturers who have worked with us for more than two years all hope that this renewal can be like other stars signing a two-year contract at a time."
The brands that Gu Wei endorsed before basically signed one-year contracts. Although it is a bit against the rules, it is a buyer's market here. If they disagree, everyone can just part ways amicably. There are many brands that want Gu Wei to endorse.
"What is my current offer for external endorsements?"
"This year, based on your current achievements and popularity, as well as the sales boost your endorsements have provided to brands, the team has once again raised your offer to 20 million per year."
Gu Wei touched his chin and looked at the brand information in his hand.
"I remember seeing Liu Dehua's endorsement fee quoted before, and that was the price, right?"
"Yes, your current fee is basically the same as Andy Lau and Liang Chaowei in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Mainland A-list stars like Huang Xiaoming, Deng Chao, Zhang Ziyi, and Fan Bingbing all make 10 million yuan per year."
"This price is double what it was last year. Can the brand accept it?"
Gu Wei was a little confused. He knew that he was very popular and famous, but the endorsements had always been handled by his agency team. He was only responsible for taking photos and acting in commercials. He had no idea how the team negotiated with the manufacturers.
Last year's endorsement fee was 10 million per year, which doubled in just one year. In his opinion, this increase was a bit exaggerated.
Yang Liwen smiled.
"Mr. Gu, you launched two hit TV series this year, especially Nirvana in Fire, which was a hit with almost all age groups.
Coupled with the record-breaking movie "Monster Hunt" in Chinese film history, this achievement is unique in the domestic entertainment industry.
Moreover, the LV global endorsement contract we signed in May immediately raised the level of your endorsement.
Although the endorsement fees for international contracts like LV are not universal, it is okay to increase your normal endorsement fees.
If we hadn’t considered the domestic market’s acceptance, our original bid would have been even higher!”
"Okay, our team is professional in this area, so it's up to you to decide. A two-year contract with this endorsement fee is fine. I only care about the final results."
Gu Wei said.
"In addition to the old partners whose contracts are expiring and need to be renewed this year, there are also some new manufacturers who want to join, and some of them conflict with the categories you previously endorsed.
The Clear we are talking about now is similar to the Rejoice before. In the end, you can only choose one of the two based on price and treatment.
So your final contract value may be even higher than the current 20 million per year offer."
Gu Wei nodded.
After the two chatted for a while about the endorsement issue at the beginning of this year, Yang Liwen said:
"Mr. Gu, Director Wen Muye called yesterday. He congratulated you on the success of your movie and wanted me to ask you when you can join the crew to film your guest scene."
"Wen Mu, you've urged me several times about this!"
Gu Wei found it a little funny.
"I'll make time to go over after the box office of 'Assassin's Blade 2' stabilizes in a few days."
During the three-day New Year’s Day holiday, the domestic film market ushered in a small climax in the Lunar New Year period.
On New Year's Day, the total single-day box office of the national film market exceeded 400 million yuan, of which the three films "Asian Sword 2", "Old Cannon" and "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" contributed more than 80%.
On the second day of its release, "The Sword Identity 2" achieved a super high box office of 160 million on New Year's Day thanks to its extremely high reputation and popularity.
The remaining "Old Cannon" and "The Mojin" ranked second and third with 85.92 million and 73.11 million respectively.
The comedy "A Moment in Heaven" starring Chen Teng and Mary saw its box office decline on New Year's Day due to problems with word of mouth and publicity, and only took in 21.54 million.
Judging from the box office trends and online audience reviews, this second movie starring Chen Teng is likely to be a flop.
As expected, on the 2nd and 3rd, the reputation of "A Moment in Heaven" fermented, and the screening schedules were cut one after another. During the three days of the long holiday, it only took in less than 40 million in box office revenue. Adding the 30.14 million on the first day, there is no hope for this film to break the 100 million mark. Industry analysis shows that the landing point is around 80 million.
In fact, it is normal for such a low-budget comedy to have such a box office, but after all, Chen Teng and Mary just starred in a hit comedy with a box office of over 1 billion this year. It is surprising that the second movie only achieved this result.
This was also a blow to the rising star career of both of them.
The biggest winner of the New Year's Day period must be "The Blade of the Assassin 2", which had box office revenues of over 100 million for three consecutive days. After the film was released for 4 days, the total box office exceeded 500 million, reaching a good result of 524 million.
Even on Monday, the second week after New Year's Day, the movie still achieved a good result of 46.52 million in a single day.
At the same time, "Old Cannon" and "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", which performed well during the long holiday, saw their box office revenue drop below 20 million on the 4th.
But this is not surprising. "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" has been released for four weeks, with a total box office of over 1.4 billion. It can now earn more than 10 million per day, which fully demonstrates the excellence of this movie.
"Old Boys" was released in the third week, so its single-day box office has always been higher than "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", and its total box office has exceeded 600 million.
This is not the first time Feng Xiaogang has starred in a movie. As early as 1995, the film company he co-founded with Wang Shuo and others made a movie called "I Am Your Father".
The film was directed by Wang Shuo and starred Feng Xiaogang, but it was banned before it was released.
Until the film "Old Cannon" directed by Guan Hu, in which Feng Xiaogang once again played the leading role, no one expected that a big commercial director like him would have a film in which he acted that would surpass the box office of the films he directed himself.
"Brother Lu, congratulations~
Haha, it’s all because of you, senior brother. I’m just an actor and my role is not as big as people say online. It’s all just nonsense from netizens and my fans.
Okay, after a while, let’s invite Mr. Han to get together.”
After chatting with Lu Yang for a while, Gu Wei hung up the phone with a smile on his face.
The huge success of "The Sword Identity 2" is a foregone conclusion, and the happiest people are Lu Yang, Gu Wei and China Film Group.
They are all producers. The big sales of a movie not only means a surge in fame, but most importantly, real money income.
Not long after, Gu Wei received another call, this time it was from Da Mimi.
"Hello? Sister Mi~
Congratulations, the movie's success is also due to Mi Jie's contribution, it's because you are so popular.
Tonight?
Sure, it’s nothing, I’ll go straight to your house after work.”
Yang Mi called and said that due to the huge success of "The Blade of the Assassin 2", she proposed to invite Gu Wei to her house for dinner in the evening to celebrate. Also, the filming of "Eternal Love" was about to start, and she wanted to talk to Gu Wei, the male lead, about the role in the TV series.
Gu Wei couldn't refuse Da Mimi's request. It happened that Nazha had been exercising too intensely in the past two days and needed to rest. Yang Mi could be said to have inadvertently provided timely help.
【Huayi Brothers】President's Office.
Wang Zhongjun was in a very good mood as he looked at the financial report in his hand.
In the second half of this year, several films invested by Huayi became big hits.
There are two hot movies in the market now. "Old Cannon" was produced by Huayi alone, and "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" was produced jointly by them, Wanda and Guangxian.
There is also the movie "Ex-Files 2: The Backup Strikes Back" released last month. Although the box office was only 250 million yuan, it had a low cost and ultimately made money.
Box office revenue is secondary. The huge sales of the movies have caused the company's stock price to rise steadily, which is the bulk of his wealth.
"Brother, why didn't you let me trip up that kid Gu Wei? His movie is a huge hit now!"
Wang Zhonglei sat sprawled on the luxurious sofa on the side of the office. He took a sip of the tea prepared on the tea table in front of him and said with some dissatisfaction.
Wang Zhongjun put down what he was holding and looked at his younger brother who looked like him.
"I've told you a long time ago to curb your arrogance. The entertainment industry isn't what it was ten years ago. While Huayi is still a large private company, there are many companies larger and more established than us. Don't mess with anyone so easily. Are you a gangster? We're businessmen, and making money is our top priority!"
Wang Zhonglei curled his lips, but did not refute. He knew that his brother was right. However, after so many years of domineering in the entertainment industry, some concepts and habits could not be changed for the time being.
"Thinking back, although Huayi was the leader in the Beijing entertainment industry and one of the best in the entire entertainment industry, the film and television industry was too small at that time, and we couldn't make much money even if we worked hard all year round.
Now that the market has expanded, even capital giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Wanda have entered the market. Our voice has weakened, but it has become easier to make money.
Isn’t it the money that we started this business for? "
Wang Zhongjun seemed a little absent-minded as he spoke, as if he was thinking about the hardships of starting a business in the early days of the company.
"In today's entertainment industry, win-win cooperation is the general trend.
The cost of film and television investment is becoming increasingly huge and the risks are becoming increasingly high.
Even though there are many blockbuster movies nowadays, if a big-budget movie loses money, it is an unbearable loss for a company.
One more friend is better than one more enemy!"
As the chairman of Huayi, Wang Zhongjun has always had a clear view of the development of domestic entertainment.
"Then from now on, it's just you and me, and everyone else is fine?"
Wang Zhonglei on the opposite side asked uncertainly.
"Stupid, don't bother with those who have no conflict of interest with us.
For example, Gu Wei's current movie, although very popular, was actually released much later than "Old Cannon" and "The Mojin", and its impact on them is limited.
Even if you hire some internet trolls to post bad reviews and expose some negative information about him, which ultimately lowers his box office, it will not have any effect on our movie.
If they're released at the same time, and there's competition for scheduling, do you still need me to teach you how to do it? Didn't you do pretty well when [Bad Angels] was released? "
"Haha~ I'm just a little annoyed with that kid Gu Wei. He's so popular right now and seems a bit arrogant!
He refused to accept our invitation several times and didn't take us seriously at all."
Wang Zhonglei said.
"You are already so grown up, why do you still have the temper of a child?
For a popular star like Gu Wei, we should strive for the opportunity to cooperate with him instead of opposing him.
If he can continue to be successful, then we should come over and share his success.
Isn’t that what Guang Guang does? I heard that Bona also collaborated with him on a movie some time ago.
There is no foolish company in the industry that can truly become big and strong."
Wang Zhongjun said earnestly.
“I understand, bro!
If there is no conflict of interest with us, we should try to cooperate with him and use his popularity to make money for us. At worst, we can give him a share. Only when the pie is bigger can everyone make money.
After all, he can't stay this popular forever, and we as investors will always be invincible."
Wang Zhongjun smiled and nodded.
(End of this chapter)
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