Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 199 Strange things
It was October 2003, 10, Beijing time, and it was also the 10th in Los Angeles local time.

Today is Lu Kuan’s birthday in both his and her lives, and it is also the first ten days of the simultaneous release of "Thief" in Asia.

The filming of the crew is still in full swing, and Boss Lu took some time to review the emails sent from China.

The first thing that needs attention is the box office performance in mainland China. By the end of the tenth day, the total box office was 2556 million, which made Han Kuo-yi very happy.

In a small meeting before the premiere of "Thief", Lu Kuan explained to Han Shanping, Zhang Yimou and others his prediction that "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" would not win the Oscar.

By the way, I also expressed my pessimism about their domestic box office.

Everyone present that night was horrified to discover that "Heaven and Earth", which was released three days earlier than "Thief", had actually been overtaken in box office figures!

The box office data is 2556 million compared to 2432 million, but the cost data of "Heaven and Earth" is nearly 6000 million more than "Thief"!
Where can Huayi put its face after this?

In addition, we signed a contract with Eagle King to guarantee a minimum of 4000 million for distribution in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

According to the original agreement, the two parties will continue to share the portion of the box office revenue in the three locations that exceeds 4000 million according to the agreed ratio.

At the end of ten days, according to statistics in RMB, the box office of "Thief" in Hong Kong was reported to be 1600 million, and in Japan and South Korea it was reported to be 900 million and 600 million respectively.

Hong Kong is the base camp of Eagle King, and Little Days is the country of origin of the film. When it premiered, it invited friends such as Takeshi Kitano and other road bosses to promote the film, and the film was very popular.

In addition to the honors that "Thief" itself has won at Cannes, the wide distribution channels in the mainland have given the film a boost of "challenging tear-jerking" topic marketing and carpet-style coverage by Focus Media.

Although the mainland film market cannot compare with Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea at the moment, the remaining stock is almost all taken up by "Thief".

In the same period, there was only one competitor, "Heroes of Heaven and Earth", and that was the kind that Lu Kuan put in quotation marks in his mind.

According to the parabolic law of box office trends, the first ten days are still in the stage of word-of-mouth fermentation of the movie, and the real climax will come around the twentieth day.

Boss Lu called the distribution company and Han Shanping and Jiang Beichun, and also symbolically expressed his concern for the work of Ning Hao and Xue Xiaolu's crew.

Only then did he put his energy back into the filming and pre-sale agreement of "Foreign Land".

Zhang Ziyi took leave on the pretext of her brother Zhang Zinan's full-month celebration and her parents' poor health, and has not returned for three days.

Lu Kuan spoke rudely to her on the phone and asked her to return to the crew immediately. She had no choice but to shoot some minor non-male and female lead scenes first.

This part of the work was temporarily handed over to assistant director Justin Lin. The script and storyboard were ready, and he only needed to review the film with the completion guarantee company in the evening.

There was still a big stone hanging in his heart, that is, the pre-sale contract issue of "Foreign Land".

As the producer of this film, Tom Cruise gave him the final plan after considering various factors including the opinions of Hollywood professional film consulting companies.

The North American distribution of "Alien Land" was given to Miramax, and the distribution in other regions except China Film Group and Eagle King was given to Disney.

He also provided sufficient reasons.

Needless to say, Harvey's Miramax made huge concessions on distribution points. Disney is also the Hollywood film giant with the strongest distribution capabilities in the world.

Its distribution company, Bowei, has branches in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, North Africa and Europe, and its distribution business is highly professional.

However, Boss Lu, who was still resentful, would naturally not make a decision too arbitrarily. He had been looking through the contract in the hotel room for a day.

Lu Kuan had no doubt that the Hollywood film company and Harvey would cheat people. As long as there was a chance, it would be 100% certain.

The "Melrose" investment project, which later became famous, was jointly launched by Paramount and Wall Street. It plans to co-produce 7 films in the next 40 years, which will be released at the end of this year or early next year.

It was supposed to be a model of cooperation between art and capital, with joint investment, risk and profit sharing. However, Paramount used all the tricks that Hollywood film companies used to cheat the Germans and Japanese, and wiped out most of the project's profits through accounting.

The Jews in Hollywood film companies are ruthless, and the Jews on Wall Street are not to be trifled with either. The two sides have been suing each other since 08 and have been fighting for more than ten years.

Even the savvy investors on Wall Street would dare to cheat, let alone a Chinese director with no background.

"Ding dong!"

Lu Kuan rubbed his sore eyes and walked to the door. In the cat's eye, he saw the beautiful face of Concubine Liu Yi.

"Xiao Liu, I taught you on the set of 'The Drummer' not to come to the male director's room at night. Are you crazy?"

Concubine Liu Yi seemed to be in a good mood: "Lu Kuan, come with me to the room, Teacher Liu will tell you about the play!"

Damn it?

This is not only blackening but also yellowing, right?

Boss Lu felt very absurd, as if he was being teased by a high school girl.

Liu Yifei looked at his stunned expression and chuckled, "I was just kidding. Mom bought some food at the Asian supermarket and cooked some in the hotel kitchen. Want to have dinner together?"

Lu Kuan looked at his watch and was a little surprised: "Really, it's already 7 o'clock."

He spent so long looking for faults in the two contracts line by line with a pen that even his cervical spine was stiff and aching.

In order to improve her daughter's diet, Liu Xiaoli often worked tirelessly to prepare some special meals for her daughter on the set.

Especially in this movie "Alien Land", because there are too many martial arts scenes, her fighting style is indeed more in line with the director's requirements than Zhang Ziyi.

Concubine Liu Yi's hard work is no less than that of the male and female protagonists, and Lu Kuan has also become accustomed to the mother and daughter inviting him to eat simple home-cooked meals.

There were no deliberately arranged surprises. There was an eight-inch birthday cake on the small table in the hotel room, and several plates of steaming home-cooked dishes.

"Wow! Such a rich meal! Thank you, Aunt Liu."

Liu Xiaoli smiled and said, "Our conditions are limited, so let's just have a simple celebration. Happy birthday, Xiaolu."

Concubine Liu Yi was dissatisfied: "Hey, why don't you thank me?"

"Thank you? Maybe you bought the only cake on this table?"

The two of them joked around for a while and then started eating together.

Unable to resist Concubine Liu Yi's unreasonable demands, Lu Kuan took out his lighter, lit the candle and made a wish.

"No, no, I won't wear this. It's too childish."

Liu Yifei insisted on putting a headband used as a birthday decoration on him, but was firmly stopped by Boss Lu.

"What wish did you just make?"

Lu Kuan's expression was indifferent: "I hope everything goes well for 'Foreign Land', otherwise I will go bankrupt!"

"Humph, you're just obsessed with money!"

Liu Xiaoli didn't think so. As a mother, she seemed to be able to feel the melancholy that Lu Kuan could not hide the moment he closed his eyes.

The child’s birthday is his mother’s suffering day. He is reminded of his mother who died when he was in junior high school in his previous life.

It has been two years since I came into this world. The long-forgotten memories of my previous life have come flooding back to my mind, like a ruthless knife scraping away those most cherished memories.

Liu Xiaoli smiled softly and said, "Alright, eat quickly, or the food will get cold."

After a small episode, Lu Kuan calmed down and returned to his room to continue finding fault.

I think I have a forward-looking function, but there is nothing wrong with this contract no matter how you look at it!

It's not that he is too cautious, but there are too many examples in Hollywood of people being cheated through contract traps.

A typical example was revealed in the book "Inside the Hollywood Economy" by Hollywood reporter and writer Epstein.

In 2007, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" earned nearly $9.4 million at the box office. After the producers' share of the profits, they received a profit of $4.6 million and paid another $1.8 million in distribution fees.

In the end, the producer's net box office revenue was less than $3 million, which was lower than the $3.2 million invested in the film. If we only look at it from this perspective, the producer is making a loss.

As a result, some of the cast and crew of this movie only signed a share of the net box office revenue when signing the contract with the investors, and they did not get a penny.

But if you are more careful when reviewing the contract and signing the box office sharing contract, the result will be very different.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, only top stars like Tom Cruise can bargain with the Big Six, such as the "unequal treaty" with Paramount.

Hollywood not only uses this trick to cheat its own people, but also does not hesitate to cheat German, Japanese and Chinese investors.

For example, two years ago, Xiao Gangpao's "Big Shot" was a collaboration with Columbia, and the total box office of overseas distribution was 820 million US dollars.

Huayi and Xiaogangpao were both very happy, thinking that not only were their performances in mainland China promising, but they could also make a fortune overseas.

It turned out that this was also their first time exporting a film overseas, and they signed a contract with Columbia to share the box office revenue.

The people at Columbia are already responsible for overseas distribution. It’s so easy for them to transfer money from one hand to the other, and do the accounting!
Finally, Huayi got the financial report and found that the movie not only did not make any money, but it was in the red. As a result, it sold for 820 million and did not get a penny of benefit.

The next day, Lu Kuan hired two experienced entertainment lawyers to review the contract. "Sir, there are no issues with the contract between Miramax and Disney. I can guarantee that."

The white-haired old lawyer who was speaking was called Neil. He was Schwarzenegger’s entertainment lawyer when he was filming “Terminator 3” last year.

His team reviewed Schwarzenegger's contract for half a year, drafting a total of 21 versions, and the contract was 33 pages long.

It plugs loopholes in all aspects and guarantees the employer's rights and interests to the greatest extent, and is known as a contract textbook.

Lu Kuan nodded silently. Based on his own judgment and Xiao Liu's secret observation, he knew that the other party was definitely planning to cheat.

Because Zhang Ziyi has been on leave for the past few days, Liu Yifei has no substitute, so she came to harass him after lunch.

"Why are you still looking? Even with your cunning, you can't see through the trick?"

Boss Lu sighed deeply, "If it were in China, I could beat them to death. Unfortunately, this is Hollywood, the world of Jewish white pigs."

Liu Yifei took the contract from the table curiously, flipped through two pages pretentiously, and then threw it down out of boredom.

"No smoking! I'm still here!"

She suddenly snatched the lighter from Lu Kuan's hand, and he held the cigarette helplessly and sniffed it in front of his nose.

"Have you ever considered that the problem isn't the contract at all?"

Boss Lu glanced at her indifferently, without any expectation that she could provide him with any constructive advice.

The girl continued to analyze the situation in detail: "Don't you always tell me about the information gap? You understand the rules of Hollywood very well. This is no secret to them."

"You'll definitely have an entertainment lawyer review every word of compliance and legality, which is entirely inferred."

"So what don't they know?"

Concubine Liu Yi put her hands behind her back and walked back and forth in front of him in an old-fashioned manner.

"For example, they don't know you're lecherous, they don't know you're mean, they don't know you're... rich?"

Ok?
Lu Kuan suddenly raised his head. Liu Yifei's words were like a tube of mustard that squeezed directly into his mouth, causing him to shiver from his nose to the top of his head!
He suddenly stood up and put his hands around Concubine Liu Yi's shoulders: "You're right!"

"They don't know I'm rich! I'm rich! I can get more than the pre-sale contract!"

Boss Lu began to work backwards and output his own logic like a madman.

"Miramax and Disney paid $1200 million upfront for North American and international distribution."

"There's nothing wrong with the contract, but they want to cheat me. There's only one way!"

"I'm not going to fulfill the contract at all!"

Concubine Liu Yi looked at Lu Kuan's face approaching, watched him talking to himself with a little shyness, and then continued talking along his line of thought.

"The advance payment is $1200 million. If they're willing to risk their reputation and abandon the contract, then I can only say that if they tear up the contract, they'll get much more than that!"

She thought of Lu Kuan’s “Battle of Red Star Wood”.

He allowed Liu Zeyu to acquire Cheng Jingfei's shares, tricked him into signing a contract, and then cut off the source of his financial support, directly invalidating his contract with Hongxingwu!
"Hahaha! I get it!"

Boss Lu excitedly picked her up, spun her around, and put her on the ground. He turned back and carefully read the breach of contract clause.

In fact, the plan of Harvey, Disney and Tom Cruise is very simple, which is to tear up the contract and seize the movie!
Especially after watching the pre-sale film, Tom Cruise was in a dilemma. He didn't want to make enemies with such a talented director, but he was also reluctant to give up the benefits that were within his reach.

In their eyes, why is the copyright of this "Foreign Land" as easy to get as a dandelion on the mountain?

This still has to start with the core financing channels of the entire project.

As mentioned earlier, Lu Kuan invested US$1000 million, plus the US$1000 million pre-sale contract advance payment he obtained from China Film and Eagle King with his personal credit endorsement, a total of US$2000 million.

Of the total cost of the film, approximately US$2500 million was obtained by taking out a bank loan with a pre-sale agreement.

If Lu Kuan wanted to get a loan, he had to obtain a completion guarantee agreement from an insurance company, and the problem lay at this step.

The insurance company doesn't recognize anyone; they are only responsible for ensuring that the film is completed within the previously budgeted range.

Once there is a serious cost overrun or filming is significantly interrupted and cannot be resumed, the insurance company will use the contract terms to directly recover the project copyright.

Harvey and others' idea was to tear up the pre-sale agreement first, making the bank loan invalid. The "Alien" crew lost $2500 million in pre-sale funds and could not continue filming.

At this point the insurance company reclaims his copyright.

In reality, in Hollywood, after obtaining the copyright, the insurance company will definitely not terminate the project and lose money itself.

They will find the film company that took over the copyright before and sell it to them at more favorable terms to make up for their losses.

This was the time for Harvey and Disney to use their influence. They paid a 1200 million dollar advance payment and obtained the copyright of "Alien Land" which was worth far more than 1200 million dollars!
Then it’s just a matter of finding another director to finish the film according to Lu Kuan’s ideas. Although he is talented, he is not irreplaceable.

The main reason why Harvey and others were convinced or believed that they could use this method to trick Lu Kuan was that they persuaded Tom Cruise to participate in the backstab.

Lu Kuan is the initiator of the entire project, but Tom Cruise, as the producer, is the soul and flagship figure.

Without him, so many film producers wouldn't have given him the honor of attending pre-sale promotion meetings, banks wouldn't have given loans for pre-sale agreements, and completion bond companies wouldn't have provided insurance.

Now if Tom Cruise stood up and shouted: This is a fucking crappy movie, Lu Kuan is a crappy director, don’t buy it or distribute it.

At least in North America, it would be difficult for Lu Kuan to sell the copyright and distribution rights because he has not yet proven his box office strength in Hollywood.

The second and most important reason is the information gap that Liu Yifei just mentioned inadvertently!

They don’t know that Lu Kuan is a wealthy dog ​​owner!
The most direct consequence of the pre-sale agreement being torn up is that the bank loan becomes invalid, the crew does not have enough funds for filming, and the insurance company takes back the copyright.

But if Lu Kuan promised the insurance company 2500 million US dollars or even more that the film would be completed, they would have no choice but to agree.

Because the issue that insurance companies are concerned about from the beginning to the end is whether there is a possibility that the movie will fail.

As for how to get the 2500 million US dollars, Lukuan has plenty of ways.

He can go to Europe, Japan and South Korea to do pre-sales himself;

You can mortgage Blog.com shares to banks or venture capital institutions;
You can ask Eagle King and Hua Guoxing to borrow money to cross the bridge;
Even if he squeezed his entire fortune together, he could come up with this money: the profits from "The Thief," the DVD revenue from "Ghost," and the box office revenue from theaters.

The reason why we used the method of raising funds with a small investment and a big return was just to avoid risks.

If the project fails, he will only lose $1000 million.

Even though he is confident about the prospects of "Alien Land", why should he pay for it himself when he can use other people's money to make movies?

The sooner the better. Before, it was Harvey and others who urged him to sign the contract. Now it’s his turn to hurry up and sign the contract.

Once the written agreement comes into effect, as long as he can pay the $2500 million to shut up the completion guarantee company, he will definitely get the $1200 million advance payment!

The big fish eat the small fish is a stable industry ecology, which is reflected not only in the surface business competition, but also in the secret transactions under the table.

Even in a small-scale film market like the one in China, this kind of unscrupulous plundering is not uncommon.

When Harvey and others saw such mouth-watering products as Lu Kuan and "Exotic Land" at home, how could they resist taking action?
What's more, they think they are sure to win.

On October 2003, 10, Boss Lu landed in Beijing.

There are two purposes for this trip. One is to participate in the celebration party for "Thief" which broke the 5500 million box office in mainland China and temporarily became the box office champion in mainland China.

The celebration is fake, and the real purpose is to hype it up again.

The remaining ten days of the release period will see the box office growth rate gradually turn negative, and such hype is a necessary means to boost the box office.

The filming of the American crew is proceeding in an orderly manner. All Lin Yibin, Cao Yu and others have to do is to implement his filming intentions.

Besides, Zhang Ziyi has been away from the crew for almost a week.

When the assistant director inquired, he found out that either her brother's baby was one month old or her parents were in poor health.

Although he could shoot the supporting role first, Lu Kuan had to find out why she repeatedly asked for leave and delayed her return to North America.

The acting contract she signed with "Alien Land" clearly stipulated that she was not allowed to film multiple projects at the same time, and she also claimed that she persuaded Zhang Yimou to postpone joining the crew.

Before filming began, Lu Kuan and Zhang Yimou had already confirmed that she had indeed joined the "Foreign Land" crew to participate in the filming first, and did not participate in "House of Flying Daggers" at the same time.

After getting off the plane, he called Zhang Yimou directly and then gave orders to A Fei with gritted teeth.

"Go to Jishuitan Hospital!"

(End of this chapter)