Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 115 Deal
Some veteran film fans in later years mentioned "The Birth of a Gangster," which was Milkyway Image's signature work. It made Milkyway Image famous, established the team's creative style, and announced that the Hong Kong film industry had gained another top-notch creative team.

But that's all for now, after the Hong Kong Film Awards next year. Right now, "The Birth of a Gangster" is in a terrible situation after its release.

"A terrible copycat film, 'The Longest Nite' is a box office and critical failure!"

"A hodgepodge of 'Young and Dangerous' and 'Run Lola Run,' a complete mishmash!"

Johnnie To, nicknamed "Cannon To" for his explosive temper, slammed the newspaper on the table and yelled after reading the article: "Fuck your mother! We filmed it last year!"

Yau Tat-chi came over and pulled Johnnie To aside to persuade him:
"Officer To, calm down! These media outlets don't care about any of that, they just want to grab attention!"

Then he sighed again: "Who told 'Run Lola Run' to win the award and be released before us? There's no logic to it..."

Originally, after they finished filming "The Birth of a Gangster", they had already scheduled the film's release for March.

After the New Year, news came that "Run Lola Run" had won two awards at the Berlin Film Festival, and Sil-Metropole Organisation took the opportunity to release "Run Lola Run" on a large scale in Hong Kong.

Let them take it; it had nothing to do with Milkyway Image anyway. But after the movie was released, they discovered that it was also a film with a segmented narrative structure.

Their "The Birth of a Word" relies on this very gimmick, and it's a complete copycat!
This put Galaxy Impressions in a dilemma, unsure whether it should still release the film as originally planned.

After waiting for a week, I found that "Run Lola Run" was doing quite well at the box office, earning more than 700 million yuan in just one week. This is a very impressive achievement for a movie without a star-studded cast.

"Run Lola Run" was filmed on Hong Kong Island and had the added boost of awards and promotion. Its cool style appealed to young people, making it popular even with Mandarin dialogue. While Hong Kong residents may not speak fluent Mandarin, they can generally understand it.

This gave Milkyway Image confidence, thinking that if "Run Lola Run," which also had a segmented narrative structure, was so popular, there was no reason why "The Longest Nite" wouldn't be.

However, when they were released as planned, they were met with a harsh reality check.

First of all, most of the audience who came to see "The Birth of a Gangster" actually like the gangster genre. After all, the movie itself is advertised as showing how a henchman becomes a boss!

This group of viewers went to the cinema expecting gang warfare and action, basically just looking for a thrill. However, after watching for a while, they were still confused and had no idea what the film was about. Half the audience had already left, grumbling and cursing. This resulted in extremely poor audience reviews, and the film only grossed a little over a million yuan in its opening week.

That's fine. Even if the box office is bad, we have artistry. We are pioneering and exploratory films.

The problem was that they were released later than "Run Lola Run," so the title of pioneering exploration naturally fell on the award-winning "Run Lola Run," while they were labeled as "followers." This was unacceptable to Johnnie To, who then launched into a furious rant.

At this moment, director Wai Ka-fai immediately apologized: "Brother Feng, I'm so sorry!"

Johnnie To was still furious, shouting, "Ah Fai, what are you apologizing for! I was scolding these media outlets, it has nothing to do with you!"

Yau Tat-chi also said, "Yeah, Brother Hui, you filmed it very well!"

Wai Ka-fai took off his glasses, shook his head with a wry smile:
"With the same segmented narrative, 'Run Lola Run' was able to experiment and explore while also being commercially successful, receiving both critical acclaim and box office success. However, I was criticized for not being able to tell the story clearly, which is of course my fault!"

I've watched "Run Lola Run" more than once, but it just can't compare to others, and I admit it. I'm sorry to have let everyone down!

"Run Lola Run" was pulled from theaters after a month, grossing 1853 million, while "The Birth of a Gangster" was forced to leave theaters after two weeks, earning less than 3 million. The difference is quite stark.

Johnnie To opened his mouth, wanting to comfort Wai Ka-fai, saying that the audience didn't understand appreciation. But as he said before, with "Run Lola Run" as an example, using the same narrative techniques, why did it achieve both critical and commercial success?

This left Du Dapao speechless, feeling extremely frustrated.

……

Wu Yuchen has made quite a few international calls recently, all because of the "Run Lola Run" project.

The person he was talking to at that moment was Frank, the same Frank from the Fox searchlight earlier:
"Hey Wu, Fox Searchlight is willing to offer $800 million, and as for the movie production you mentioned, that's no problem at all. We've already discussed it internally and can give you $1500 million in funding!"

"I'm sorry, Frank, although I'd love to talk to you right now, you'll have to wait a bit. You know, there are people from Sony sitting right across from me."

"What? Didn't you say you were in China?"

"Yes, a representative from Sony has arrived in Beijing and is sitting right in front of me. As you know, Sony has a branch in China."

Frank was about to say something when Wu Yuchen said:
"That's enough for now, Frank. I can't keep our guests who have come from afar waiting too long. Goodbye."

After saying that, Wu Yuchen hung up the phone and smiled at the two people sitting opposite him.
"Gentlemen, please excuse us, but as you know, 'Run Lola Run' has been very well received in Europe, with our phone ringing off the hook."

Wu Yuchen smiled, shook his phone, and then put it aside.

After "Run Lola Run" won the award, many companies approached him wanting to discuss the sale of the copyright, but Wu Yuchen simply left his contact information and politely replied that they would talk again in a month.

He wanted to wait until "Run Lola Run" was released in Europe and achieved good results, giving him more bargaining power before making any moves. Now it seems he made the right bet.

Across from them, a white man and an Asian man smiled simultaneously. The Asian man spoke up, "I understand. Isn't that why we're here?"

The white man said, "Director Wu, was that Fox you just spoke to? I suggest you don't have high expectations for Fox. I'm sure even if they buy it, they're planning to pay in installments. Now all of Hollywood knows that Fox has been dragged into a quagmire by Titanic. In addition to the high production costs, they also have to prepare a large amount of publicity expenses, and their working capital is very tight."

This white man directly undermined Fox's reputation in front of Wu Yuchen, but what he said did seem to make a lot of sense. Fox was indeed in a bad situation, cutting back on other aspects of its business, and only recovered after the release of The Big Ship.

"Mr. Pete, thank you for reminding me," Wu Yuchen said politely, then looked at the two people in front of him.

Although Columbia Pictures was acquired by Sony, the person in charge has always been American. The two people in front of us, while both work for Sony, one is responsible for global distribution, and the other for distribution in Asia, with the white man, Pitt, in charge.

Wu Yuchen pointed to the movable blackboard that had been set up, on which large sheets of paper were drawn with diagrams and written data. PPT and slides were not popular in China at the time, and Miracle Pictures had not developed them either, so Wu Yuchen could only have them written by hand instead.

"Gentlemen, these are the figures for 'Run Lola Run' in Europe after a month of release: 1333 million in the first week, 1141 million in the second week, 948 million in the third week, and 765 million in the fourth week. The total is 4187 million, and the weekly drop is very small, all within 20%, which is enough to warrant a long run."

Wu Yuchen looked at the two men, and seeing that they nodded in agreement, he had someone turn the blackboard to the next page and continued:

"This is the box office data for 'Pulp Fiction' that I found. It was released for more than a year and grossed 1.08 million euros in Europe, with 1 million euros in its first month. Based on this, 'Run Lola Run' could gross 5300 million euros in Europe."

After finishing speaking, Wu Yuchen smiled and said to Pete, "Therefore, I think it's reasonable for me to estimate the US box office at 8000 million, right?" Pete smiled and then shook his finger:

"No, no, no, Wu, you can't just apply examples to movies like that. 'Run Lola Run' and 'Pulp Fiction' are very different."

First of all, even if "Run Lola Run" is released for a year, I don't think it will reach more than 1 million. I'll just say one thing:
Pulp Fiction was nominated for an Oscar, receiving seven nominations, which garnered significant attention during its extended run and explained its ability to screen for over a year. Will Run Lola Run be nominated for an Oscar?
I know the judges at the academy very well. They are all elderly men, stubborn and nostalgic. They probably won't accept your use of novel shooting techniques such as cartoon inserts!
Although you may not like this, it's the truth. I think its European box office will probably be around 6000 million. If Europeans really like Lola that much, there's a small chance it might reach 7000 million, but that's just a small chance, a 5% possibility.

Pete gestured with his right thumb and forefinger, and before he stopped, he continued:
"This is the European box office, now let's talk about the North American box office. Wu, I don't know if you've ever been to America, but I have to tell you, America and Europe are completely different. Americans are much more conservative than Europeans."

In the eyes of Americans, unless they are Hollywood stars, even major European stars who are also white are just so-so, let alone Asians. This may be offensive, but that's how the American film market is.

Therefore, even if "Run Lola Run" grosses 60 million in Europe, it might only achieve less than half that in the United States. I can only estimate it at 20 million.

After Pete finished speaking, he held up two fingers.

Wu Yuchen now looked at this guy with new respect. Although he knew the other party was trying to bargain, he had to admit that the other party was indeed Li Jufu.

In fact, the original "Run Lola Run" only grossed ten million at the American box office, so the other party's valuation of twenty million was considered a profit.

However, Wu Yuchen couldn't say that. Now that he had the advantage of European box office success, he had to maintain a strong negotiating position.

“Mr. Pete, if you consider 'Run Lola Run' so cheap, then I think there’s no point in us continuing this conversation. I might as well keep talking to Fox on the phone.”

Wu Yuchen's expression turned cold as he spoke indifferently.

At this moment, the yellow-faced man next to him, Matsuda, who was Japanese, said with a smile:

"Director Wu, we've come all the way to China with great sincerity."

Furthermore, we at Sony have also read the script for *Frequency* that you mentioned on the phone earlier, and it is indeed a very good project. We at Sony are interested in having you direct it in Hollywood, and we may have many more collaborations in the future. You might want to name your price; perhaps we can both be satisfied.”

Pitt nodded and smiled as well.
“Wu, I don’t mean to belittle ‘Run Lola Run’. I personally really like this movie, it’s pretty cool! I’m just telling you the truth about the situation in North America.”

In fact, he was still very willing to buy "Run Lola Run," even though it only grossed 20 million in North America. With Sony's distribution capabilities, they could get 70% of the profits from the box office.

Don't be surprised, the eight major theater chains are now quite powerful, especially Disney, which can even take more than 9% of the box office in the first week!
You ask why the movie theater is willing?

Because in North America, theaters make more money selling popcorn, soft drinks, and other snacks than movie tickets; otherwise, they wouldn't be foolish enough to be taken advantage of!

Where did the name "popcorn blockbuster" come from? It's because Americans have a habit of eating popcorn when they go to the movies.

Sony, however, was more interested in the videotape and DVD rights to "Run Lola Run." Their reluctance to release the film in theaters didn't mean audiences wouldn't rent the DVDs. The cost of a DVD is only 1% of its retail price, making it essentially pure profit for film companies. Many poorly received films recoup their costs through DVD sales, resulting in substantial long-term revenue.

Wu Yuchen began by saying:

"I've already sold the European videotape, DVD, and other disc rights, as well as television and aviation rights, to EMI for $800 million. Don't tell me DVDs aren't selling well either; many Hong Kong films sell very well on DVD in North America. As far as I know, Jack Chen is extremely popular in the DVD market."

"I wonder how much Mr. Pete is planning to quote me?"

In fact, Wu Yuchen was also feeling sentimental. Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour" hasn't been released yet, otherwise he could directly use this example to criticize Jackie Chan, since a Chinese lead actor can also achieve a box office of $1.4 million in North America.

Upon hearing this, Pete raised an eyebrow. He felt that EMI had made a huge profit. Judging from the European box office performance of "Run Lola Run," the European DVD market should be worth 3000 million. If television rights, airline rights, soundtrack, and merchandise are also included, then even if EMI deducts the 800 million copyright fee paid to Wu Yuchen, it could still make a net profit of more than 3000 million.

Given the situation in the European market, he couldn't push the price too low, otherwise people would just turn around and go to Fox or other companies, and he would have made a wasted trip.

Besides, he was still hoping that "Run Lola Run" could create a miracle in North America and gross forty or fifty million at the box office, which would be a huge win.

"All North American copyrights are bundled together for ten million US dollars, paid in a lump sum."

Seeing Wu Yuchen frown, he immediately said:

"Wu, this is a very sincere price. I can tell you with certainty that even if you go to other Hollywood studios in turn, no one will offer a higher price. This is our tacit understanding, do you understand?"

Wu Yuchen understood now. Although the eight major Hollywood studios compete with each other, they cannot allow outsiders to arbitrarily set prices and drive them up. Once a certain level of competition is reached, they will maintain a tacit understanding.

Wu Yuchen paused for a moment, then turned to look at the ever-smiling Matsuda: "Mr. Matsuda, what about the copyright for the Asian region?"

Matsuda, still smiling, said, "Director Wu, I think there's an old rule here. 'Run Lola Run' grossed HK$1800 million in Hong Kong, so I can spend HK$1800 million to buy the Asian rights. Isn't that how it's always been with Hong Kong films in the past?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head upon hearing this:

“It’s different. I have the Berlin Award, and the popularity of ‘Run Lola Run’ in Europe will greatly benefit its promotion in Asia. HK$1800 million is only US$200 million, which is too little for full rights. If it’s that price, I might as well negotiate with each regional distributor individually.”

Matsuda pondered for a moment. "Run Lola Run" was indeed a special case. With such good results in Europe, it would be easy to attract viewers, given Asia's tendency to admire the West.

"Director Wu, $300 million is my limit."

Upon hearing the price, Wu Yuchen nodded, thinking that it was fortunate that the financial crisis sweeping Asia had not yet broken out, and the economic situation in many parts of Asia was still thriving; otherwise, Matsuda would definitely not have quoted this price.

Wu Yuchen was satisfied with the 300 million, and nodded with a smile. Then he looked at Pete: "Mr. Pete, the global rights, excluding Europe, are 1500 million in total."

After saying that, Wu Yuchen stopped talking.

Pete and Matsuda exchanged a glance. So, that means 1000 million in North America, 300 million in Asia, and 200 million in other regions such as South America, Australia, and Africa.

Pete thought about it. Actually, Australia was an option, and the entire Americas were their backyard. As for Africa... But he also knew that the other party couldn't sell them separately. With Sony's distribution capabilities, they couldn't possibly lose money. They could make a profit just from videotapes and discs.

Pete extended his hand and shook hands with Wu Yuchen: "Deal!"

(End of this chapter)