Chapter 542 Box Office Share
The backstage space is divided into two parts. One part is used by actors to put on makeup and change clothes; the other part is arranged with some booths, which serves as a temporary social place for the big guys.
Although the place is more than ten times smaller than the hall outside, it seems a lot more spacious because not many people are qualified to come here.
Huayi had originally prepared a large main table in advance so that they could accommodate as many people as possible who were qualified to sit at the table.
But before everyone sat down, Zhang Weiping, who came with Zhang Yimou, asked to find a secluded place to chat with Xu Kun, Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhongjun.
So we had to open another table in the lounge.
After both parties sat down and talked it out, Xu Kun finally understood why Zhang Yimou had shown up in public, and why Han Sanping had hit a snag with Zhang Yimou.
In a nutshell: Zhang Weiping wants to change the share of the film company's profits, and it would be best if he could raise the minimum ticket price.
As for Mr. Zhang's reputation in the industry, it is much worse than the two Wangs, but there is one thing that has won him wide praise from major film and television companies.
That is, he had previously used Zhang Yimou's name to repeatedly raise the film company's share of the profits. Although the overall increase was not large, it was still a considerable income in the long run.
This time, taking advantage of Han Sanping's initiative to visit him, Zhang Weiping brought up the old matter again, hoping that the share of the film company's profit from "Three Shots Surprise" which is currently being prepared could be increased to 43% in the future.
Currently, the share of domestic blockbusters' producers is about 41%. This was also negotiated by Zhang Weiping when "Curse of the Golden Flower" was released. Before that, the share of the film producers had always been less than % of the total box office revenue.
In addition to being the largest distributor and the only importer in the country, China Film Group also has a number of cinema chains under its umbrella, accounting for nearly 30% of the country's cinemas.
Moreover, Han Sanping has recently been actively promoting the construction, expansion and renovation of cinemas locally in order to increase the overall ceiling of the film market.
At this juncture, for both public and private reasons, he does not want the film company to increase its share of the profits, cutting into the profits of the theater chains and affecting the enthusiasm of investors.
Since the two sides could not reach an agreement on this, the invitation of Zhang Yimou to make a guest appearance in "The Founding of a Republic" was stuck - mainly because Zhang Weiping secretly blocked it and wanted to use this as a bargaining chip.
This time, Zhang Weiping brought Zhang Yimou to the door, mainly because he wanted to form an offensive and defensive alliance with Xu Kun and Feng Xiaogang - the three of them are the best directors with the best performance in domestic commercial blockbusters. As long as they are willing to unite, they will be able to raise the film company's share.
It can also be seen from this that although Zhang Weiping insisted in the media that Zhang Yimou is still the number one in the domestic box office, deep down he is still afraid of Xu Kun's achievements.
Otherwise, given his usual high-profile and domineering attitude, he would not have taken the initiative to come to us to seek cooperation.
After listening to Zhang Weiping's request, Xu Kun and Feng Xiaogang did not rush to speak, but gave the right to speak to Wang Zhongjun.
Wang Zhongjun thought for a moment and then turned the topic to Zhang Yimou: "Director Zhang, what do you think?"
Zhang Yimou, who was rubbing the back of his hand with his fist, heard Wang Zhongjun's question, looked up at Wang Zhongjun, then turned to look at Zhang Weiping, and finally shook his head and said, "You guys make the decision, I'll just focus on filming."
Zhang Weiping laughed loudly, put his arm around Zhang Yimou's shoulders and said, "Brothers like us always advance and retreat together. My opinion is naturally Yimou's opinion as well."
Xu Kun felt that Zhang Yimou was somewhat uncomfortable, but in the end he just lowered his head and continued to rub the back of his hand without making any response to Zhang Weiping's words.
There are rumors that Zhang Weiping lost money on Zhang Weiping's investment, owed Zhang Weiping a favor, and was moved by Zhang Weiping's magnanimity, so he "sold" himself to New Picture Pictures.
However, given Xu Kun's current status and connections, he naturally knew that this matter was three-tenths true and seven-tenths false. Zhang Weiping did act quite righteously back then, but he didn't actually lose much. Later, he made a fortune with the help of Zhang Yimou.
Logically speaking, at present, Zhang Weiping should have taken the initiative in the cooperation between the two parties, just like Xu Kun and Feng Xiaogang to Huayi, but Zhang Weiping has always been very strong and keeps exaggerating what happened back then.
He might still be feeling complacent about it, but most of the people present felt that the collaboration between the two would not last too long - that is, Zhang Yimou was a trouble-averse person. If it were any other director with a worse temper, they would have broken up with New Picture long ago.
However, after seeing Zhang Yimou's attitude, Wang Zhongjun thought for a moment and said with a smile, "We at Huayi need to discuss this matter carefully. After all, we are about to go public for financing, so we must be cautious about many things."
"Tsk~" Seeing Wang Zhongjun so unhappy, Zhang Weiping smacked his lips in dissatisfaction and turned his gaze to Xu Kun on the side: "Director Xu, what do you think? If the profit sharing ratio is increased, you will benefit the most, because your box office in mainland China is the highest!
Let me tell you, the share of the American film producers is 65%, which is far behind us - didn't you set up the Youth Directors Association? It's just the right time for a new official to take office, and when the time comes, who won't call you this?"
As he said this, he gave Xu Kun a thumbs up.
Even at this point, he still insisted that Xu Kun was just the "highest box office in mainland China".
If it were someone young and energetic, he might be stimulated by his low-level provocation, but how could Xu Kun fall for his trick?
He took a sip of tea leisurely and said to Zhang Weiping with a smile, "Didn't Mr. Zhang say that I am not good at talking and cannot do things well? For such a big event, it is you old veterans who have to charge in the front. We young people can only stand and cheer and wave flags."
In fact, if this proposal had not been first proposed by Zhang Weiping, Xu Kun might not have been tempted.
After all, as the founder of the Youth Directors Association, in addition to working hard on discovering new directors, he also has to do some "daring" things occasionally.
But in response to Zhang Weiping...
Xu Kun was very suspicious that as soon as he agreed, Zhang Weiping would mobilize the media and put him at the forefront of the hostility against the theater chain.
Seeing that even the young man Xu Kun was lukewarm, Zhang Weiping knew that he would not get a satisfactory answer today, so he had to end the meeting mutteringly.
After sending the two Zhangs away, Wang Zhongjun sneered and said, "This guy really thinks he is some big shot. If there is no Zhang Yimou in the new picture, Zhang Weiping won't be able to show up at all!"
"Lao Mouzi has entrusted his trust to the wrong person."
Feng Xiaogang also shook his head and said, "I heard that he didn't even get paid for filming Curse of the Golden Flower, but Chow Yun-fat got more than 4000 million."
Speaking of "Curse of the Golden Flower", this film was said to have an investment of million yuan, but ultimately lost million yuan. However, Zhang Yimou was interviewed afterwards and firmly emphasized that the films he had made had never lost money.
The reason for the deficit of million is quite intriguing.
When Xu Kun returned to the main table and sat down, people came to greet him one after another - although those who could enter the backstage were all big shots, big shots were also divided into levels, not to mention that some of them were relatives brought in by the big shots.
Among them was the 'rich and beautiful woman' Jing Tian. It was obvious that she had ideas about the heroine of "The Way of Heaven", but was forbidden to participate due to rumors about the selection of concubines. She was secretly full of complaints, so she complained in front of Xu Kun.
Except for underage kids, Xu Kun hasn't seen this type of woman in the circle for a long time.
He even wanted to advise her: Just quit the entertainment industry as it is too complicated and you cannot control it.
But seeing Jing Tian's eyes lighting up when she talked about the movie, Xu Kun ended up saying nothing.
In addition to Jing Tian, some new and old friends such as Zhao Liying, Wang Ou, Liu Tao, Huang Yi, etc. also came to say hello one after another - if the premiere hadn't started soon, there would probably be a long queue.
Xu Kun had watched If You Are the One when he was a cellmate, but it did not leave a deep impression on him. This time he rewatched it and found that the overall style of Feng's comedy was still the same, but it always felt a little more decadent than his previous works.
I don’t know if it’s because Feng Xiaogang’s mentality has aged or because Ge You is getting older.
But overall, the merits outweigh the flaws, just like the Spring Festival Gala in the past two years, although it has been controversial, the overall level is still quite good.
(End of this chapter)
