Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 162 A $7000 million blockbuster!
Luc Besson's private cocktail party was held in the banquet hall of the Martinez Hotel.

It is also very close to the Palais des Festivals and is in the heart of Cannes.

Standing on the railing of the second-floor lounge and looking towards the sea, the night falls and the stars shine brightly, casting a veil of mystery over the Cote d'Azur.

Lu Kuan was introduced to various celebrities by Luc Besson, and even Fan Bingbing got to know him well, taking photos with them and becoming their familiar faces.

"Thank you, Guide Lu."

I don’t know if it was the influence of the luxurious atmosphere, but Fan Bingbing looked at the jewels and gems in the hall and felt deeply moved.

"Without you, I don't know how long it would have taken me to get here."

Boss Lu smiled noncommittally and raised his glass to clink with hers.

He didn't say anything about equal exchange to ruin the atmosphere, but he couldn't appear sincere or empathetic.

“Everyone is responsible for their own choices.”

"You chose to cooperate with me, so you have to bear the consequences, whether good or bad."

The counterattack against Huayi by the media is already on the agenda, and both Huayi and he have the possibility of using Fan Bingbing as a chess piece.

Her own choices will determine the future outcome.

"Lu! Why are you hiding here? I've been looking for you for a long time."

Luc Besson exchanged pleasantries with the guests, then saw Lu Kuan chatting in the second-floor lounge, so he came straight over and took the initiative.

"Oh, beautiful oriental girl, I have to praise you again, your cheongsam is so attractive that I can't take my eyes off it!"

Rainbow farts gushed out.

"Thank you, Mr. Luc Besson, for your elegance and grace."

Fan Bingbing knew that the two wanted to talk about serious matters, so he used the excuse of getting them champagne to leave them some time to talk.

"Lu, I admire your demeanor today at MK2. Let's have a frank chat!"

Lu Kuan was deeply distressed:

"I'm sorry, I'm a pure filmmaker, and I still can't convince myself that I can't reach such a dirty deal with Lauren privately!"

Of course Luc Besson doesn't care, he was just trying to steal the show.

"I admire your character very much. How about we talk about the routine business?"

Lu Kuan sneered, he was betraying his accomplice so quickly.

But if someone doesn't reveal his shortcomings when scolding him, he is happy to pretend not to know.

"Mr. Luc Besson, we had a very pleasant experience working together before, but we'll have to wait until after the 25th to discuss Shoplifters."

The award ceremony is on the 25th, and I am determined to wait for the price to rise.

"Lu, you shouldn't treat your friend like this. I just talked to Harvey, and you've agreed to sell him the North American copyright."

"I think our friendship is more important than his. Jews are not suitable business partners."

Boss Lu avoided the question and said, "Actually, I came to your private party today for another reason."

"what?"

Lu Kuan nodded at Tom Cruise who had just entered the scene.

"Please introduce me to someone. I want to discuss cooperation with Tom Cruise!"

Luc Besson was a little bit surprised. He couldn't imagine what kind of cooperation a Chinese director could have with a top Hollywood star who was paid 2000 million US dollars?

He admitted that Lu Kuan was a very talented Chinese director, but that was Hollywood!

Luc Besson's face was a little gloomy: "This joke is not funny, Lu, you can probably find a better excuse to deal with me."

Boss Lu smiled and patted his forearm: "How come? You'll understand later. Let's go!"

Luc Besson was skeptical, but quickly changed his expression and introduced Lu Kuan to Tom Cruise.

"Hello! Lu! I've heard of you. My agent saw your DVD of Whiplash and recommended it to me!"

Tom Cruise is very talkative and has no airs.

Because he was not only the top star and highest-paid in Hollywood at that time, but also the producer of some low-budget independent films.

Like Luc Besson, a good director is a business man.

After becoming proficient in a field, many Hollywood stars will use their accumulated personal connections to monetize their value.

"It's my pleasure, Tom. I want to discuss a big business with you."

Luc Besson glanced at him and didn't expect that this oriental director actually had such courage.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my schedule is already full for the next two years."

He just finished starring in the Japanese film "The Last Samurai" and his next film is Michael Mann's "Collateral", a thriller from DreamWorks.

Lu Kuan smiled confidently: "I'm not looking for you to be the lead actor, I'm looking for you to be the producer!"

Not only Luc Besson, but even Tom Cruise was a little surprised.

This Chinese director doesn't seem to be that reliable. He suspects that Lu Kuan doesn't even understand the rules of Hollywood movies.

But he quickly overturned his first impression.

The three of them found a relatively quiet place, and Lu Kuan called Ah Fei, who was waiting outside the cocktail party, to deliver two scripts.

"Secret Region?"

Lu Kuan finally chose He Xi's "Alien Land", which was more suitable for adaptation. It was published in "Science Fiction World" in 99 and the adaptation rights were previously purchased by Lu Kuan from the original author.

Tom Cruise and Luc Besson both suppressed their doubts and flipped through the scripts.

In 20XX, the world's population has exceeded 500 billion. The world's food supply is thanks to the continuous output of Ximai Farm.

One day, the farm suddenly stops supplying food to the outside world. The federal government sends an emergency team to investigate. The protagonists discover that time progresses over 40,000 times faster inside the farm than outside, and the creatures here have evolved to become extremely threatening.

It turns out that Lan Yue's father, Lan Jiangshui, was the first to discover the principle of conservation of time scales, but his student, Ximai, secretly applied it and built a farm. Ultimately, to prevent humanity from losing its evolutionary advantage and the monsters within the farm from invading the human world, the hero and heroine choose to remain on the farm and co-evolve with the creatures within, destroying the secret code door that allows outsiders to enter.

Lu Kuan copied two original low-budget literary and artistic films. Although he made some adaptations in photography, lighting and narrative techniques, they were, after all, other people's works.

However, as a top student at the University of Southern California who also had his own dream of becoming a director in his previous life, being able to create a work that truly embodies his own hard work is still a very tempting choice.

This has nothing to do with moral cleanliness.

He will continue to plagiarize and provide excellent scripts to contracted directors in the industry.

The two of them flipped through the script and almost finished the story, but the special effects production, lens presets, and picture design were all ingenious, which is what distinguishes the level of directors.

Since the project has not been truly established, there is no way to scout locations, and the storyboards and scripts can only be temporarily reflected in the script in a preset form.

Tom Cruise and Luc Besson were more and more shocked as they watched the film. Putting aside other things, they wondered how this Chinese director could write such a standard Hollywood script.

As mentioned in the previous article when Lu Kuan was training Ning Hao on script writing, the Hollywood film industry has the most stringent requirements for scripts.

They have a set of screenwriting rules that never fail.

Take a 110-minute movie script for example. From the first minute to the final scene, the content to be presented is fixed within a rough range.

It starts with a picture presentation and then moves on to the theme presentation in the 5th minute;

The foreshadowing and plot structure are completed in the 10th minute;
The first turning point must occur within 12 minutes, because the audience is gradually getting tired by then;

Then there are the arguments, the second-act turning points, the B-story, and so on.

The climax of a Hollywood movie usually occurs between 55 and 75 minutes. This plot is the 10th plot point, which shows the enemy approaching and creates a tense atmosphere.

Then there is the 11th plot point where there is nothing left, which is suppressing the protagonist.

Chapter 12, the dark night of the soul. At this point, emotions are suppressed to the limit, and the protagonist is ready to show off and counterattack.

From the 85th minute onwards, the protagonist began to turn defeat into victory.

This set of 15 plot points in the three-act screenwriting formula is applicable to all Hollywood movies with superhero and family themes, and audiences never get tired of it.

This is also the conclusion reached by practitioners in the Hollywood film industry based on long-term theory, practice, and even psychological analysis.

It's like an assembly line, so the three major European film studios are hostile and exclusive to Hollywood because they treat movies as pure commodities and ignore exploration in the field of art.

Tom Cruise saw Lu Kuan's professionalism and ambition from the script, and Luc Besson saw Lu Kuan's pragmatic attitude as he was familiar with Hollywood film techniques.

"The story is very good. Is it your own work?"

"No, it's an award-winning work by a Chinese science fiction writer. It was published in 1999 and won the highest honor for science fiction in our country."

The two remained noncommittal. When it came to science fiction films, they both had every reason to be arrogant.

Although Luc Besson has transformed into a producer, he has also worked on purely commercial films such as "The Transporter" and "Drive".

However, judging by the level of special effects reflected in the script and the approximate cost budget, he felt that he did not yet have the ability to lead such a major production.

Lu Kuan asked him to introduce Tom Cruise, and the French director was very understanding.

After all, his goal has been achieved, and it will be easier for him to negotiate with Lu Kuan about the copyright of "Shoplifters". Isn't that how favors are used?

"You guys talk first, I'll talk to Lu about cooperation later."

Fan Bingbing came over at the right time and put the champagne on the table.

"Director, your wine."

Tom Cruise stood up and shook hands very gentlemanly, and Lu Kuan introduced the two to each other.

He was actually amazed at Bingbing's elegance and beauty, but now his heart was immersed in Lu Kuan's film project.

How could such a top Hollywood star be interested in the daydream science fiction film project of an unknown Chinese director?
Because Boss Lu hit the spot!
This involves a major "disagreement" in Tom Cruise's career and Paramount.

The Mission: Impossible series in Tom Cruise's career is well known, but what is less known is that he is not only the starring actor, but also the producer.

With his shrewd business acumen, Paramount signed a deal with him that was unique in Hollywood.

He will receive 22% of the film's global box office and television channel profits, including dividends from videotape revenue.

This agreement may seem unremarkable, but in the United States in the 20s, videotapes (and later DVDs) had gradually become the most important cash cow for Hollywood film studios.

Its importance is even no less than movie box office.

In Hollywood's profit-sharing system, the share of videotape profits is firmly controlled by the film companies. Even if big-name creators participate in profit distribution, the real income will always be hidden by Hollywood's six complex accounting systems.

They would set aside 80% of the videotape revenue as marketing costs to pay for production, packaging, warehousing, distribution and transportation, and only leave 20% for distributors such as directors, actors, and screenwriters in a compliant and legal manner.

But the special thing about the contract Tom Cruise signed with Paramount is that he only gets 22% before cost accounting!

In other words, other actors get 20%*10%, which ultimately amounts to 2% of the videotape's profits.

His is 22%, more than ten times the former.

Paramount is also one of the Big Six, so it shouldn't make such a stupid mistake.

There are certain historical reasons for the signing of this contract.

Tom Cruise and Paramount started working together very early, and before the first "Mission Impossible" was released in 1996, video tape revenue in North America had not yet grown significantly.

Paramount reached an agreement with him in order to pay him less salary, which was like losing the watermelon and picking up sesame seeds.

It was from this agreement that Tom Cruise opened a new door for other Hollywood stars.

Everyone followed suit and participated in the dividends of this "back-end profit".

But after all, a blacksmith must have strong tools. Such an agreement cannot be approved by the Big Six except for a few top names.

He earned $1 million from "Mission: Impossible 7000". Before the filming of "Mission: Impossible 2" started, he raised the price from 22% to 30%!

After the movie was finally finished, when the accounts were calculated, he, the male lead, made more profit than Paramount!
How high is it?
He even embarrassedly paid a few percentage points of his dividend out of his own pocket as a director's fee to Wu Yusen. . . This film, released in North America in 2000, made him a huge profit of 9200 million US dollars, but it also caused great dissatisfaction from Paramount.

By 2003, the profits from DVD sales in the North American market were almost twice that of box office revenue, and Paramount completely quit.

Now the two sides are at odds and the talks are almost breaking down.

Later in 2006, Paramount's big boss Redstone unilaterally announced the termination of the contract with Tom Cruise.

But the latter was taken over by MGM and put in charge of United Artists, the film company once founded by Chaplin.

But in fact, Tom Cruise and MGM had signed a memorandum of understanding as early as 2003, but they gave up because Tom Cruise was reluctant to give up "Mission Impossible 3".

It was not until 2006, after he had completed the backstabbing of Paramount and had made a fortune, that he happily took over United Artists.

In addition to being a well-known actor, people were surprised to find that he is also the only producer besides George Lucas, Spielberg, and Bruckheimer to have created a billion-dollar film series!

Lu Kuan came to him to discuss "Foreign Land", which was exactly what he wanted and gave Lianyi a successful start project that he might take over!

It just depends on whether he is interested or not.

Of course, he can have his cake and eat it too.

He not only relied on Paramount's "Mission Impossible 3", but also served as the producer of this film, coordinating and reaching the project cooperation.

Tom Cruise read the script over and over again without making a clear statement, but that did not prevent him from gaining a deeper understanding of the "Alien Land" project.

"You Chinese are very good at making kung fu movies, but science fiction movies are too expensive. It will be difficult to recoup the cost of this movie unless it is made in English."

Lu Kuan knew that his doubts arose from looking at the Chinese name in the script.

"Of course, the film will be an English production, using Hollywood's production methods, superstars and funding."

The initial estimated cost of the script is as high as 7000 million US dollars. In order to make a profit, it is necessary to use Hollywood's movie rules to make it a hit that is popular all over the world.

Just like Luc Besson who just left, why are his films criticized by the French? Because his commercial films are all in English and are for box office.

This is unacceptable to the French who praise French as the most beautiful language in the world!

Tom Cruise's eyes kept lingering over the figure of 7000 million US dollars, and he couldn't help feeling a little hesitant.

"You said you wanted me to be the producer instead of the lead actor, so you wanted me to invest as well?"

"Do not."

Lu Kuan looked at his confused expression and told him his real plan.

"I want to raise money like Tomb Raider did in 2001!"

An ordinary Hollywood star might not know what he is talking about, but a veteran like Tom Cruise must understand.

This is a textbook Hollywood film financing process that has been cited as a template countless times by later generations.

Tom was stunned for a moment and sighed softly: "You are such an amazing young man. You shouldn't be a director. Producer seems to be more suitable for you."

Lu Kuan took out another financing plan and handed it to Tom Cruise, which was the real core content of the entire project.

Even if you have a script but no money or superstars, the movie will still be a flop.

His financing plan was almost copied from "Tomb Raider" because it was a proven, efficient and feasible plan in this era!

The funding for the $7000 million budget is divided into four steps from easy to difficult.

First, Lukuan’s own capital investment, which is about 1000 million US dollars.

Second, the filming location will receive a tax rebate of US$1000 million, with the filming locations expected to be Louisiana in the United States, Toronto in Canada, Sydney in Australia, New Zealand and other cities.

Third, advertising placement costs $1000 million, targeting McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, as well as mobile phone and car brands.

Fourth, take advantage of the tax reduction policies of countries such as Britain and Germany to lease back the film, with an estimated cost of US$1500 million.

The remaining US$2500 will be used as a bank loan through the project pre-sale agreement after the film is completed.

There is no need to explain much about tax refunds for own funds and filming locations, especially Toronto’s “Film Service Tax Credit” policy.

First, you will be exempted from 16% of your staff salary costs. If you have a local household registration, you will be exempted from another 18%;

A 20% subsidy will be provided for special effects completed within the country, and there are also various exemptions and reductions for other hardware items such as venue rental, costumes, props, etc.

Ad placement is also a piece of cake.

Advertising projects for Hollywood movies are directly related to the stars. Choosing fast food outlets like McDonald's for placement is convenient, and they can use their stores for marketing and promotion.

The fourth point about tax refunds from countries like Britain and Germany is also a routine operation in Hollywood.

Take "Tomb Raider" as an example. After Paramount launched the project, it sold the film rights to a British company and then leased them back to Paramount.
The total tax refund was $1200 million, which directly covered Angelina Jolie's $750 million salary. (Note 1)

It is even worse in Germany. German tax law stipulates that film investment is not taxable, but investment returns are treated as normal income.

Suppose a German invests 1 in "Alien Land", but he actually only pays 4900.

Because according to the 51% income tax rate, the 5100 portion should have been paid to the IRS.

If "Alien Land" doubles the profit for this German, then he has basically successfully avoided taxes.

This is also the reason why Hollywood was frantically reaping German hot money during that period. Films like Kevin Costner's "Dragonfly" and Sylvester Stallone's "Vengeance" belong to this category.

However, this BUG was later fixed by the government.

The most critical part of this plan is the final 2500 million in financing.

Financing requires taking the pre-sale agreement of the film to apply for a loan, and the pre-sale agreement of the film requires that your film be favored by distributors!
Because you are discussing the distribution in advance with the plan, and the film has just been approved and has not been completed yet!
There is no doubt that a famous director, a superstar, and a reputable producer are the core elements.

Lu Kuan can barely be considered a qualified director. Although he has won three major awards, he has not yet proven his ability in North America, the largest film market.

The producer's responsibility of course lies with Tom Cruise. He is familiar with the rules of Hollywood movies and will not be tricked by distributors in the contract.

A superstar...

Tom Cruise hit the nail on the head: "Who is your leading man? If the leading man is not chosen well, it will be difficult to raise the price in pre-sales."

Excluding the supporting roles, the main characters in Lu Kuan's adaptation of the script of "Foreign Land" are two men and one woman, but the focus is only on two of them.

The male lead has more roles, while the female lead is equivalent to a supporting actress, so the box office appeal depends on the male lead alone.

Lu Kuan's first consideration was of course Tom Cruise, but his salary of $2000 million was too high.

Given his shrewdness, if he were to star in the film, he would definitely have to negotiate a contract similar to that with Paramount.

Boss Lu considered and said, "I'm currently considering several candidates."

"Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn."

Keanu Reeves has become popular in the past two years because of the two "Matrix" movies. He is considered because of his good reputation and professionalism in the industry, and he also has a certain degree of identification with Chinese culture.

The latter two are pure cheats. Brody won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2003, and Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2004.

The former is currently in the limelight, while he can now buy the latter at a relatively low price...

"What about the female lead? How about Lucy Liu? This movie has a lot of action scenes."

"Lucy Liu is American, so using her wouldn't meet the requirements for a co-production. I'm going to choose a Chinese actress."

For imported films distributed by China Film Group, foreign films only receive 13% of the box office revenue, so the high quality of this co-production must be guaranteed.

Fan Bingbing looked at the man next to her with a radiant smile. Although her English was not very good, she could understand the admiring expression of the Hollywood star opposite her.

When she heard Lu Kuan say "Chinese actors", she couldn't help but feel confused!

She saw Lu Kuan writing a script in the room, but she didn't know if there was a role reserved for her.

This is a Hollywood movie!

Tom Cruise immediately understood what she meant and said with a smile, "I see. You want your girlfriend to play the role, right?"

"Don't mistake me for Luc Besson, I'm an honest director!"

The two of them laughed knowingly.

Luc Besson's first wife was the protagonist of "Nikita", and his second was the protagonist of "The Fifth Element".

The only difference is that he didn't turn his girlfriend into the heroine, but turned the heroine into his girlfriend.

This is different from Chief Jia, who is just praising his wife.

Tom Cruise smoothed the script in his hand with appreciation, as well as the project plan that had been fully considered by the Chinese director across from him.

It's hard to say that he wasn't tempted by this project, because it didn't cost him anything. All Lu Kuan had to borrow was his connections in Hollywood, his reputation, and his good relationships with movie stars and film companies.

That leaves only one last question.

"Lu, tell me, what can I get?"

“10% profit share!”

Don’t think that this number is too far away from his contract with Paramount. He put in a lot of effort in "Mission Impossible".

"Foreign Land" only requires him to sell his face, contact various forces, and send a professional manager to cooperate with Lu Kuan's company to go through the procedures.

“I want 13%.”

Boss Lu laughed: "Don't you Westerners hate the number 13?"

Tom Cruise said proudly: "I don't believe in Christianity, I believe in Scientology."

This is not a joke. The United States does have a Church of Science, also known as Scientology.

This sect advocates inner vision of the mind, body and spirit. Tom Cruise converted to Scientology at the age of 18 to solve his dyslexia that he had suffered from since childhood.

"Okay! It's settled!"

Lu Kuan took the initiative to stand up and shake hands, which was considered to have completed the core mission of his trip to Cannes.

Fan Bingbing strolled on the beach with his arm around the young director.

In the blink of an eye, she went from the extremely luxurious private banquet to the seashore with a gentle breeze. The future star, who was full of worries, felt like her dreams were shattered.

Fan Bingbing was uncharacteristically cautious, considering how to find out about the movie.

She was afraid of being rejected if she spoke out rashly, and she was also afraid of making him unhappy if she spoke out directly.

The figure of 7000 million US dollars covered Lu Kuan with a layer of hard capital armor, which made Fan Bingbing feel a little awed, and also made him more fanatical in his heart to hold on to him.

If Lu Kuan was just a talented young director who had just made his mark in the domestic film and entertainment circles;

This $7000 million project will undoubtedly push him to the altar and become his clarion call to join the ranks of film and television capital!
In 2002, the total box office in mainland China was 9 million yuan, and in 2003, the total box office in mainland China was 10 billion yuan.

The budget for this movie of his is nearly 6 million RMB!

The contrast is too shocking.

But if we shift our perspective to North America as a whole: the North American box office in 2003 was close to $93 billion, so a mere $7000 million is not such an outrageous number.

Or it is because the gap between the Chinese and Western film industries is like a chasm at the moment.

This is also why Lu Kuan was able to "export and sell domestically" at the Venice Film Festival;
And this time, his plan to use $1000 million in capital to leverage a $7000 million project was realized.

However, this $7000 million is not noticeable in North America, but it is like a huge beast in the domestic entertainment industry.

To put it bluntly, this film isn't just his own project.

It is also the ladder for countless top actresses from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan who dream of climbing into or sleeping in Hollywood;
It is a political achievement that Han Shanping and other leaders of official counterparts covet;

It is a major weight that Lu Kuan uses to move from director to investor, cultivate and develop his special effects company, and establish his position as an entertainment giant in the domestic entertainment industry!
　Note 1:

　　I spent 18 dollars on JD to buy a book called "Inside the Hollywood Film Economy". The information about film financing and 911 in these chapters came from here.

　　Don’t say I’m useless. This is also my paid knowledge. It shouldn’t be too much to earn back the money I spent on the book!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)