The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 277: Change the script again, a short-selling report hidden under the movie
"Leon, your plane is really...tsk tsk tsk."

As soon as Zhang Chen got off the plane, he saw Avril who came to pick him up.

I don’t know what’s wrong with this girl that she would come here specially to pick up Zhang Chen.

"You have no manners. You should call me boss."

"Okay, Leon."

Avril waved perfunctorily, but her eyes remained on Zhang Chen's G550: "When can I have a plane like this?"

"Write more songs and release more albums." Zhang Chen reached out and slapped away someone's hand that was trying to scratch a piece of paint on the fuselage.

"Haha." Avril sneered, "You also know that I should release more albums, so where are my songs?"

"Ah?" Zhang Chen frowned and looked up at the sky, obviously lost in thought, "Did I forget something?"

"You promised me, my song!!!"

Avril was so angry that she wanted to jump up and hit someone.

I promised to write a song for her, but after such a long time, there is no progress at all.

Seeing that Taylor Swift and others who had just joined the company had won Grammy Awards for Zhang Chen’s songs, they had begun to gain the reputation of little divas.

However, she, the first European and American singer signed by Zhang Chen himself, did not get any of Zhang Chen's songs.

We had agreed before to train her to be a diva.

But now I can’t even win a Grammy.

"Oh, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten it again."

"You!"

Avril looked at Zhang Chen's indifferent expression and clenched her fists in anger.

But with her small stature of only 1.6 meters, she really has no deterrent effect at all.

"How about this, you come to participate in a variety show I host in China in July, and I will write it for you after you participate." Zhang Chen had a flash of inspiration and felt that this was a good idea.

The song will definitely be given, but it would also be nice to add an attraction to the show.

Although Avril is an employee of his own company.

But this boss is almost a scammer, and Zhang Chen is more or less embarrassed, so he can only coax her into participating in the show.

When Avril heard Zhang Chen's request, she looked at him suspiciously for several times before asking in an uncertain tone, "Really?"

"real!"

"You said the same thing last time."

"This time it must be true!"

"What guarantee do you have?"

"I will." Zhang Chen quickly stopped the car, "Forget it if you don't want to participate."

It was a close call, I almost promised something.

He had never promised many things in his life.

Although things will still be done, it is completely different once the promise is made.

Zhang Chen doesn't like being forced into doing something he would have done anyway, as it's a different nature.

"I hope you keep your word."

"Leon, you're finally here."

On the set of "The Pursuit of Happyness", Quentin warmly welcomed Zhang Chen who came to visit the set.

Will Smith followed behind him: "Leon, I told you it would be best if my son played my son, why did you have to look for someone else?"

Zhang Chen looked at Jaden Smith who was following Will Smith without saying anything.

This guy has become arrogant ever since he starred in this movie with his dad, so Zhang Chen naturally won't give him a chance to stand out.

It's not wrong for Zhang Chen to regard Will Smith as a touchstone for entering Hollywood in the United States, but that doesn't mean he wants to bring his son, who has strong prejudices against China, into this industry.

Before this little guy did that thing, Zhang Chen could treat him as air. If he goes back to his old ways without the help of this movie in this life, then Zhang Chen can't be blamed for being cruel.

Although his mind was in a state of confusion, Zhang Chen still had a smile on his face: "Okay, real father and son playing father and son may not necessarily achieve the effect I hope for."

"Okay." Although Will Smith was a little unwilling, he had no other choice.

Although he is now a little famous in Hollywood, he really has no room for bargaining when facing Zhang Chen, the big boss and big star.

Besides, he also regarded Zhang Chen as a friend, so although he wanted to get his son into this business, he couldn't force him since Zhang Chen insisted.

Finally, he calmed down and asked Zhang Chen why he came: "The movie is almost halfway through filming, why are you here this time?"

The filming of "The Pursuit of Happyness" has been slow because the lead actor Will Smith needs to tour the world and the director Quentin has been busy with the Cannes Film Festival for a long time.

Compared with the crew of "Love", it is much slower, so only about half of the plot has been filmed so far.

"At least this is the first Hollywood movie I invested in. Can't I come and watch it?" Zhang Chen first said to Will Smith, and then added, "But I do have something to do this time. I'm here to revise the script."

"Change the script?"

"That's right?"

I encountered the same situation as the "Love" crew.

Changing the script midway like Zhang Chen does is the most troublesome thing for actors and directors who are already familiar with the script.

Originally, they thought that such a situation would not happen to a sponsor like Zhang Chen who provided a complete script, but they did not expect that what was coming would eventually happen.

In fact, in Hollywood, it is common to change the script during the filming process.

Generally, the investors feel that some plots in the story do not meet their expectations, or they may have attracted investment midway and need to put some advertisements in. It may also be that an actress has lain in the producer's bed and a scene needs to be added or something.

In short, there will always be such a few times when a movie is shot from the beginning to the end.

I just don’t know why Zhang Chen came here to change the script this time.

"I have already finished the script, and the changes are minor. You can take a look at it first."

Zhang Chen took out the script that had been sorted out on the plane from Xue Yining and handed it to the two of them.

Will Smith and Quentin walked towards the lounge while looking at the script.

During this period, we exchanged a few words from time to time.

Finally, after comparing it with the original script in their minds, they came to a conclusion: "Leon, you did this for..."

"I just wanted to have some actual events to back up the story of Chris Gardner being successful."

"But this didn't happen in the United States in 1980." Quentin frowned, thinking that Zhang Chen's change was not good.

Because this movie is adapted from the true story of real people.

All the storylines have a traceable pattern.

However, Zhang Chen's change was a distortion of the original history, which would cause the entire film to lose the most important authenticity. "It's okay, it's just adding this plot after the protagonist succeeds, it shouldn't make a big difference to the film as a whole."

"But this feels like adding unnecessary details. This is an unnecessary plot. The protagonist is successful after getting the job as a stockbroker. He has achieved a happy ending through his own efforts. Why do you add a plot about him shorting the property market?"

After pondering for a moment, Quentin continued, "In 1980, this plot never happened in the United States. Even though the movie was successful, the real protagonist never did it. So whether from the perspective of the audience or the characters in the event, this plot is unnecessary."

This biographical movie about a real person added a plot that never happened. Quentin didn't understand the significance of Zhang Chen's action.

"Just shoot according to this script, and you will know later." Zhang Chen did not explain too much.

Why should the protagonist short the property market?
Of course it was because of the subprime mortgage crisis.

In fact, at this time, some problems have already appeared in the real estate market in the United States, but many people have not yet realized this problem.

Perhaps, the man named John Paulson has already noticed the problem.

How much money can a movie make?

The total box office of "The Pursuit of Happyness" was just over 3 million US dollars. After deducting the production and distribution costs, as well as the share of profits with theaters, Zhang Chen could only get around 7000 million US dollars at most.

Apart from giving Will Smith a chance at an Oscar for Best Actor, Zhang Chen really doesn't think highly of the film's revenue.

The reason why he had such an idea was because he got inspiration after revising the script of "Love".

Making movies can indeed make money.

But for Zhang Chen, the most important thing about a movie is the impact it creates.

Just like the movie "Love", what Zhang Chen cares about is how much profit he can make from the game against Baidu.

The same goes for "The Pursuit of Happyness". If this movie can be successful and he can make some profit from the story in the United States behind the scenes, he can make much more money than the movie itself.

As for the safety issue, Zhang Chen would not rush up on his own.

William has always been a good tool.

Moreover, the person who benefited the most from this subprime mortgage crisis was also Zhang Chen's target.

If the two of them can get in touch, and Zhang Chen pays to inject capital into the short-selling fund they set up, I believe they can make greater profits than in the original time and space.

In short selling operations, the most important thing is the "short selling report".

Only when the market is aware of the problem can the target stock price of short selling fall and the short sellers can profit from it.

Therefore, "The Pursuit of Happiness" is the short-selling report that Zhang Chen came up with.

Quentin said that the plot does not fit the story of the 1980s, which is not wrong.

But to say that this plot is fabricated?

That may not be the case, because the short-selling report has been incorporated into the movie by Zhang Chen, which contains all kinds of detailed data on the current U.S. real estate market. I just don’t know how many interested people can see it.

Also, will the U.S. government take action against those who short the U.S. stock market?

The original buyers of this fund were the real estate tycoons.

There is something called a "hedge fund", which in layman's terms means betting on both sides.

To put it bluntly, some financial tycoons know how to buy both when the price goes up and when the price goes down.

This is the only way to make money safely in the stock market without losing everything due to one failure.

"Since you've made up your mind, I can only shoot it according to this." Quentin sighed dejectedly, feeling that he had fallen into a trap set by Zhang Chen.

Originally, a good script could have won him one or two Oscars.

However, Zhang Chen's move undoubtedly added a lot of obstacles on the road to winning the award.

"Don't be so dejected." Zhang Chen patted Quentin on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Maybe you will thank me in the future, hahahaha."

"I'd thank you if you didn't change the script!"

"I told you it's in the future, don't rush."

Zhang Chen didn't know what to explain at this time. Nothing had happened yet and no one would believe him even if he explained it.

"I hope so." Quentin patted his cheek and put on a smile. "I haven't congratulated you yet. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is released in North America. Leon will make a lot of money again."

5月31日的时候，《哈利3》就已经在嘤国上映了，现在已经是6月7日。

The box office data for the first week in the UK has come out, reaching 2450 million pounds, while in the United States, it has also earned 3500 million US dollars in box office after three days.

If nothing unexpected happens, this movie will still bring Zhang Chen nearly 1 million US dollars in revenue.

Well, we have to exclude the sales of peripheral products.

If all is taken into account, this movie should bring Zhang Chendia more than $3 million in net profit.

That is, compared with the income in other places, it seems a bit less.

"It's just a small amount of money, it's not worth mentioning. Just make this movie well. If you can understand it, maybe you can make some money too."

"Ok?"

Quentin didn't understand what Zhang Chen meant, but he still kept Zhang Chen's words in mind.

He felt that Zhang Chen would not say this for no reason.

I just don't know what information this sentence contains.

Quentin re-read the script thoughtfully. He planned to think carefully about the new plot added by Zhang Chen after he returned.

Zhang Chen looked at Quentin who was lost in thought and smiled even more happily.

It would be best if Quentin could take the blame.

In the future, perhaps the Wall Street elites in the United States will give Quentin the title of "the director who understands finance best."

"Okay, this is the only thing I came to the crew for. You guys continue filming. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me."

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Zhang Chen also left the crew.

After revising the script twice, Zhang Chen also determined his future development path in the film and television industry.

While taking into account the quality of domestic films, he must first consider the income outside of the film.

It can be finance, real estate, manufacturing, or technology.

After thinking this through, Zhang Chen had a clear goal about becoming a director, or what to do after entering the film and television industry.

In his future films, he will no longer blindly pursue high box office or high reputation.

He wants any movie that can make him more money.

"Why do I feel like poet Chen is possessing me?" On the way to his residence, Zhang Chen suddenly felt that he had a resonance with poet Chen.

Shaking his head, he threw the disgusting idea out of his mind and checked what he needed to accomplish on his next trip.

“Penguin is finally going public?”

　If the protagonist is only making movies, it really feels like he is fighting with beggars for food, but what if the protagonist makes movies to make more money off the field? Isn't this more reasonable?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)