Chapter 199: The Dead Soul Coffin
Liu Hongmin also included the story content of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" into "Dead Man's Chest". The contents of these two movies together form a complete story. He doesn't know whether the film was divided into two parts due to length reasons, but if it is changed into a novel, the complete content must be written out.
There are seven stories in Dead Souls Coffin. According to the outline, the longer stories can be written into 20 to words, and the shorter stories can be written into to words, which adds up to about words. At Liu Hongmin's writing speed, it only takes about days to finish.
However, Liu Hongmin has had a lot of things to do during this period.
The lawsuit in court has just ended, and the legal team is discussing how to seek compensation.
Although the crew of "Duds" went to Dahebao, they would still call Liu Hongmin for advice when they encountered disagreements.
Therefore, Liu Hongmin writes at night and catches up on sleep and handles things during the day.
After living in a reversed day and night system for several days, Liu Hongmin's spirit was inevitably broken.
Seeing him like this, Ma Weidu couldn't help but ask, "Are you in such a hurry?"
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "How can we not be anxious about a deal worth 30 million US dollars?"
"Ahem! How much?" Ma Weidu looked at him in horror.
"The first Pirates of the Caribbean film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, earned more than 30 million . dollars in royalties overseas. The second film, Dead Man's Chest, can earn at least 30 million . dollars as long as the quality is not too bad."
Ma Weidu sighed, feeling that he was being tricked by Liu Hongmin again.
He handed the newspaper to Liu Hongmin and said, "These newspapers are still publishing your scandals even after being sued. They really don't know how to live or die."
Liu Hongmin was too lazy to take it. "Don't worry. After the compensation period is over, they will know what regret is."
"I'll leave the newspaper here for you. I won't come over these days if I have nothing else to do. You should go in and catch up on your sleep!"
Liu Hongmin spent the next few days like this. After more than 20 days, he finally finished Dead Man's Chest. He made several copies of the manuscript, mailed one to Richard, one to Yang Guiren, and one to Beijing University Press.
The sales of The Curse of the Black Pearl in the mainland are not very good, with only more than 800,000 copies sold in one year. Compared with Liu Hongmin's other books, it is much more niche. However, even so, it still sells more than some books by small writers and is still worth publishing.
After the release of Dead Man's Chest, it did not sell very well, with monthly sales of only 500,000 or 600,000. Unfortunately, Liu Hongmin did not receive royalties, but royalties. In line with the principle that even the smallest mosquito is meat, Liu Hongmin donated the royalties directly to the Chinese Medicine Association.
It was different in Hong Kong. The traditional Chinese version of The Curse of the Black Pearl sold more than 500,000 copies in one year. Although the sales volume was not as high as in the mainland, the profit was much higher than in the mainland.
Due to the popularity of The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest immediately caused a buying craze in Hong Kong after its release, selling 200,000 copies in one week, which was even better than The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Yang Guiren called Liu Hongmin and said, "Brother Liu, Dead Man's Coffin is selling like hot cakes in Hong Kong."
Liu Hongmin: "Brother Ren, how much did you sell? How could it make you so excited?"
"Two hundred thousand copies!"
"It's quite a lot!" Liu Hongmin calculated. "If you calculate it this way, it would be around 700,000 to 800,000 copies a month."
"If we only count the sales in Hong Kong, it might be a bit difficult, but if we include sales in other places, there will be absolutely no problem." "If we add the sales in other places, and it's only 700,000 or 800,000 copies, I might as well not write it."
"Of course. Adding the sales in other regions, the sales should be at least million copies."
With the first good news, there will be a second one.
After the filming of "Mr. Donkey" was completed, we returned from Dahebao and entered the post-production stage. Because the script was mature and there were not many redundant shots, it took a few edits to complete. The post-production was also very fast, and the film was ready in about half a month.
Of course, Mai Zishan also contributed to this. He is highly efficient in the Hong Kong film industry, and has also played a certain role in promoting the post-production staff of Beijing Film Studio who like to polish the work carefully.
The most fearful thing is comparison, because only after comparison can we know the difference. Mai Zishan is very good at editing. After reading the script once, he knows which shots can be used and which shots cannot be used, as if the whole film is in his mind.
Beijing Film Studio invited leaders and cultural celebrities to hold a preview screening on November 11.
Liu Hongmin brought Gong Li to the event. Gong Li has signed a contract with Tomorrow Films. However, her current work focus is not in Hong Kong. Liu Hongmin brought her to this kind of event just to find some resources for her.
With Liu Hongmin's current status and reputation, all the film studios in the mainland are eager to cooperate with Liu Hongmin!
Gong Li followed Liu Hongmin around and got two roles.
One is Jiuer from Red Sorghum, and the other is Laidi from The King of Children.
These two films are both projects that Liu Hongmin is optimistic about. Not to mention that they are both award-winning works, just the fact that he is working with two directors who are good at teaching actors is worth it for Liu Hongmin to show up.
After the preview, "Duds" received good response and China Film Group began to adjust its release date.
In the past, we would buy film and then release it whenever we wanted. China Film Corporation would not care if you didn’t release it.
However, the higher-ups wanted to use the title of co-production to reform the cinemas, so they had to find a time when most cinemas could schedule the film.
There are too many interests involved in this matter, and I don’t know how long it will take to resolve it.
I guess we won’t be able to see “Duds” released this year.
However, China Film Group also has its trump card. The novel of "Mr. Donkey" is well-known throughout the country, and its drama is regarded as a classic in the hearts of countless audiences. The title of first-class satirical novel is not for nothing.
The key point is that this is a novel written by Liu Hongmin, and the movie he participated in producing, which immediately arouses high expectations.
Many movie fans went to the cinema to ask when "Duds Get Water" would be released, and they couldn't wait to see it.
The cinemas are helpless. They can only watch the money slip away right under their noses. Although the cinemas are public, the money they earn is also public and cannot go into the pockets of the cinema chain’s owners. However, the cinema chain’s owners need to make the cinema chain profitable, otherwise their positions will be lost.
There are policies from above and box office from below, which puts the cinema chains in a dilemma. They are trying to hold on, and when they can no longer hold on, they will reform.
This is the political will...
(End of this chapter)
