Director’s Legend

The audience didn't dare to say it, but American Film Company knew a lot about Shao Shuaijun. Both "Buried Alive" and "Source Code" were excellent works. They didn't make a lot of money, but they didn't lose money, and they accumulated a little reputation for him. Therefore, there are many distribution companies interested in "Painted Skin", among which Miramax Films and Lionsgate Films are the most interested.

Needless to say, Lionsgate has collaborated with Shao Shuaijun twice and is very optimistic about "Painted Skin", especially after watching the director's cut version, Rob is full of praise. Miramax Films is also actively contacting Wang Zhonglei and Yang Hongtao. The release of "Hero" last year made them a lot of money. They naturally don't want to miss "Painted Skin", which is also from China.

In addition, several other companies are interested, but they are somewhat discouraged. If "Hero" and "Source Code" made American film companies start to pay attention to Chinese films, Chen Kaige's "The Promise" undoubtedly poured a pot on this momentum water. First, the box office of screenings was not satisfactory, and the Weinstein Company and "The Promise" terminated the North American distribution contract, and then the American media gave "The Promise" a negative review.

""The Promise" did not use characters to impress the movie audience like Chen Kai's previous classics "Farewell My Concubine" and "The Wind and Moon". This time, Chen Kai abandoned the movie itself to pursue special effects in the digital field, which made the movie It gets bad, and on a technical level, the film is more like a video game."

"Fundamentally speaking, movies are entertainment. However, the characters in Chen Kaige's movies are too pale, the plot design is a little childish, and it relies too much on 'magic', which makes the audience feel too far away from reality."

After such an evaluation came out. Undoubtedly, the road to release "The Promise" in North America has become hopeless. Even the impression scores of Chinese films in North America have been greatly reduced. They have just improved commercially, but they were immediately labeled as "Chinese films are only suitable for showing at film festivals".

Fortunately, Li An's "Brokeback Mountain" became a heart-saving pill, which slightly restored the image of Chinese movies. It's a pity that "Brokeback Mountain" is an American film in essence, and it can't play a fundamental role. This makes American film companies hesitate to talk about "Painted Skin", fearing that it will become the second "The Promise".

For more theaters, and a better way of sharing. Six investors are Huayi Brothers, Poly Bona, China Film Warner Hengdian, Huaxia Film, Media Asia Variety Film and Television and Universal Film. After the director's cut version came out, they immediately sent people to the major theaters in the United States to lobby. Shao Shuaijun and others, just near Hollywood, Lions Gate Films held a small meeting. It was finally determined that Miramax Films and Lionsgate Films would compete for the North American distribution rights of "Painted Skin".

Miramax is a Disney company. Can affect more theaters. Lionsgate has a good cooperation and is willing to return the box office proceeds on top of the original 17% share. Increase share.

Both sides have pros and cons.

Shao Shuaijun is more inclined to cooperate with Lionsgate, but in "Painted Skin", he is only the director and does not have any say in commercial operations. In the end, after negotiation, the six investors reached an agreement with Miramax Films, and handed over the North American distribution rights to Miramax Films in the form of a 17% share.

They pay more attention to being able to arrange more theaters for release, and believe that the release cycle of Chinese films in the United States is usually not long, and a larger number of theaters means higher box office.

Rob, who was drinking coffee with Shao Shuaijun, had disappointment written all over his face: "Shao, what a pity, "Painted Skin" is very good, but we can't work together."

"Rob, I'm sorry too, but it doesn't matter what I say."

"I know, by the way, Shao, you came to the United States this time, is it because of the release of "Painted Skin". I know that one of your new movies has just won the highest box office in mainland China. Do you have any new movie plans? If If not, we Lionsgate would like to invite you to direct a movie, I wonder if you are interested?"

"Ask me to direct a movie, what kind of movie is it?"

"A horror movie, remember the last time we chatted privately about James Wen, the director of "saw". You talked a lot about horror movies, and I found that you have a lot of thoughts about horror movies. We just happened to I received a book, which is an adaptation of Clive Barker's novel, called "Midnight Eater Train."

Rob briefly talked about the content of the script.

Shao Shuaijun listened patiently, and finally declined politely. He is not very good at horror films. Maybe he will delve into this in the future, but now he has no time to waste for himself: "Robo, I am not sure about horror films. Thank you for your invitation." , I don't think I'm suitable."

"Oh, that's a pity."

"Actually, we still have the opportunity to cooperate. I am here this time to come to the United States to make a film, which is to adapt the current popular "Twilight Saga: Twilight". I think you will be interested, Rob? If Lionsgate If it helps us get a foothold in the US, we can co-invest in Twilight."

Opening an agency in the US, such as Twilight Entertainment, is simple. But to open a film company, it is not easy to obtain shooting licenses, film production licenses, exhibition licenses, etc. Li Xiuxiu sent a team of professional operators from Golden Harvest to operate the new company, but they haven't figured it out yet.

The United States is a country that claims to be democratic, but in fact it is very xenophobic towards the Chinese, and many places deliberately make things difficult.

Shao Shuaijun hopes to gain a foothold with the help of Lionsgate Films.

Whether to acquire a company or start a company has not yet been decided.

Rob was very interested in "Twilight". After introducing Li Xiuxiu to Rob, Shao Shuaijun didn't care about it anymore. Now another troublesome matter lay before him.

"What, Miramax Films wants to shorten "Painted Skin"?"

Wang Zhonglei shrugged his shoulders: "Junzi, there is no way to post it. Mira Company thinks the movie is too long, with a total of 145 minutes. They hope to cut it to 120 minutes."

"120 minutes, Brother Lei, that means I have to cut out 25 minutes of footage. It took us a lot of effort to shoot the content! I cut it once before, and I feel that many good shots have been cut. Give up, now I have to cut it again, cut it again and again, is "Painted Skin" still "Painted Skin"!"

Although "Painted Skin" boasted a production cost of 500 million yuan, the real cost of 200 million yuan could not be escaped. The filming alone cost more than 50 million yuan. If the special effects shots are not counted, "Painted Skin" has a total of 3,200 sets of shots, which means that each set of shots costs at least tens of thousands of dollars.

In a word, Mira Company will give up millions or even more than 10 million shots. Shao Shuaijun feels that it is no different from digging meat. Moreover, since the movie was cut short, can we still explain clearly what Shao Shuaijun wanted to express?

"No way, Mira Company is very firm in this regard and must be cut. Junzi, if you can't do it, we will hire a professional editor to cut it?"

Shao Shuaijun gritted his teeth: "Forget it, I'll cut it!" (To be continued...)

ps:   It’s finally on the shelves. No matter what the grades are, I will write this book with all my heart. I hope that friends who subscribe can vote for a monthly ticket to support, thank you! Thank you for accompanying "Legend of the Director" to grow all the way!