Chapter 30: Will he have a second movie?

In the fifth week of the screening of "Smart and Ghost Record", it continued to win the North American weekly box office championship with 24.158 million single-week box office. This has been its top position for 4 consecutive weeks; the sixth week, with the start of North American schools The school started one after another, and the box office of the film industry plummeted. "Ghost Record" only received 115.017 million box offices in a week. Although the number of weekly box office champions ended in 4 weeks, it still ranked third this week.
According to the momentum of the percentage drop at the box office, the potential of "Ghost Record" in North America is almost exhausted. With the gradual decrease in the number of theaters, when it is painted in North America, it can receive another 10 million box office. Not bad. But there is no doubt that this movie is already a miracle, a myth. The production cost of 10,000 US dollars, combined with less than 1 million publicity costs before and after, received a box office of 154.2 million US dollars in North America!
Lion Gate is already preparing for overseas distribution, because on the Internet, fans from many countries in Europe, Asia and other countries have expressed their expectations for this movie. It can be sure that overseas distribution is profitable, and popularity will not necessarily be There are hot spots in North America, but it takes tens of millions of box office to make the global box office of Ghost Records exceed 200 million US dollars. It seems that there is no difficulty.
This "supernatural phenomenon" has caused all film companies and all analysts to fall through their glasses. What film's revenue ratio can reach 15,000 times? "Ghost Record" tells everyone. In response, a Wall Street financial analyst lamented to the media: "The most profitable movie in 1998 was not" Titanic ", but" Ghost Record ", when it was logged on the big screen overseas and the DVD was released. The movie ’s revenue ratio may even reach 30,000 times. Lion Gate and Magic Young are simply 'scratch money couples!' "
Lionsgate is now the most popular film company in the United States. This small company has become famous and frequently reported in the newspapers. They are called "business miracles"; and the viral propaganda method of "Ghost Record" also makes professional People admired it, and everyone did not believe that the "rumors" that appeared on the Internet at first were not the handwriting of Lions Gate.
Naturally, there are also many movie companies that do not want to make Lions Gate better. They said to the media: "The publicity of" Ghost Record "is the idea of ​​the Chinese-American director. When he came to our company to seek a release, he told us. The guy has a complete plan, he told us 'I can put a lot of people and many audiences into the movie theater, believe me!' But we don't want to use this method of pretending to be ghosts, and the Lions Gate used them, they are all shameless. Liar. "
In fact, those film companies just said that grapes are sour just because they ca n’t eat the grapes. The fact is that because they missed the
Ghost Record
delivered to the door, there were several managers of the film purchasing department that were fired, suspended, and demoted by the company, including several Stephen Thomas of Artisan Company. The chairman of the artisan company heard that his company was one of the "54" film companies that once rejected Wang Yang, and called the CEO of the artisan to hold him accountable. Then Stephen Thomas became a punching bag and he was fired. .
And in the sixth week of the screening, as some cinemas ended the screening of "Ghost Record", Lions Gate also began to get pre-tax rent from the cinema.
"Ghost Record" currently has a box office of 154.2 million in North America. Of course, the money is divided, Lions Gate and the theater. So how is the box office revenue of a movie divided? This depends on the specific cooperation contract signed between the issuing company and the theater.
There are several ways to cooperate. One is called negotiated guaranteed price. This kind of cooperation means that the issuing company uses the money to buy out the big screen of the movie theater for a period of time. For example, Lion Gate handed over US $ 100,000 to the "Vita Projector" cinema and received a screening right for a screen from 00:00 to 6:00 for a month. Then, in the next month, no matter how many tickets are sold by Ghost Records, all the box office is yours. In the end, the cinema will not take you a dollar.
But this kind of cooperation is not popular. In North America, the distribution company and the mainstream cooperation method of the theater are divided into. The percentage of share is generally negotiated and signed before the film is released. After so many years, the share ratio of the two sides has long been established, and now basically adopts a model called "90 / 10-with-floor-of-70%".
The meaning of this model is to take the weekly gross box office revenue of "Ghost Record" in a movie theater in units of weeks, minus the fixed expenses necessary for cinemas that were negotiated at the beginning, such as cleaning fees, electricity costs, etc., and then multiply At 90%, the figure obtained is the film rent obtained by Liongate.
However, this is only plan A. This mode will also sign plan B at the same time, that is, the total box office is not subtracted from the movie theater ’s screening expenses, but directly multiplied by 70% (this ratio is generally agreed between 60-70%). The figure is the share of the issuing company.
So publishers usually look at which one of A and B is bigger, and then choose the bigger one as the commission income from the movie theater this week.
Of course, the general situation "90/10" is only the ratio of the first three weeks of the screening, and then the fourth and fifth weeks are 60/40, the sixth week is 50/50, and the seventh week is 40/60 ... the specific changes will be It depends on the contract. It's just like what you set when you signed the contract.
Anyway, from the release of a movie to the next picture, the total box office revenue, the distribution of the distributor and the cinema, is generally about 50/50, half to half.
Then someone asked, will the cinema conceal the box office? First, the distribution companies themselves hire professional investigative companies, and sometimes go to the cinemas to check the situation publicly and sometimes privately. Secondly, the United States itself has a rigorous judicial system, including the tax department, which is staring, so it is not reported. Box office, lying at the box office is very rare. Basically, no theater company will have this stupid greed, undermine its credibility, and be subject to legal sanctions.
The share model of "Ghost Record" is "90 / 10-with-floor-of-70%". After six weeks of screening, 154.2 million box office, Lion Gate received 91.76 million, nearly 60% of the pre-tax share. After subtracting the cost of nearly three million yuan, which includes promotional fees, copy fees, shipping costs, printing fees, etc., the final six-week gross profit before tax at the box office is more than 88.75 million.
North America does not have a pre-tax profit of more than 100 million yuan, and according to the current situation where only more than 500 movie theaters are still showing "Ghost Record", and the share ratio has dropped to 40/60, the film is offline When painting, the profit before tax will not exceed 100 million. So Wang Yang agreed to implement a 40% dividend plan with Lion Gate.
Therefore, after the accounting was completed, the financial department of Lion Gate Company began to pay various corporate taxes to the tax bureau. Fortunately, Lion Gate Company was only a small business, so it could enjoy some preferential policies, but it still paid nearly 20% tax. After the tax, only more than 71.58 million US dollars remained, and Wang Yang was divided into 28.632 million.
But things are not finished like this, because Wang Yang still has to pay federal personal income tax, California personal income tax and other taxes to the tax bureau. There are so many types of taxes in the United States that an ordinary person can't even figure it out, let alone understand how to avoid taxes reasonably. So Wang Yang once again went to the "integrity" law firm and consulted the lawyer Hebrew-Karl for a long time before he understood the 28.632 million tax paid, and only about 21.4 million remained.
Of course, Wang Yang will not immediately report and pay taxes to the tax bureau, because the individual tax in the United States is generally paid once a year, and the annual tax declaration deadline is April 15th. It is sufficient to declare it before the end of that day. If you have n’t filed it after that day, it ’s tax evasion and tax evasion. What is waiting for you is the IRS investigation and heavy fines.
Wang Yang does not want to delay taxes, but the dividends of the movie are still being credited. It is most convenient to wait for the next year to clear all the taxes this year. Anyway, he got more than 21 million of available funds and became a multimillionaire in one fell swoop.
Although Lion Gate did not disclose Wang Yang ’s specific dividend figures to the media, the media still found some details, and thus speculated that Wang Yang ’s dividend was more than 10 million. This guess has also been accepted by Lion Gate. The release manager Jon Filtim said: "He has gained wealth that many people can't get in a lifetime, and he is only 18 years old, too young, right? I I hope he can cherish these and wish him good luck! "
"The youngest multimillionaire", this is the latest title given to Wang Yang by the "Los Angeles Times". The article found a professional analyst who assessed Wang Yang's worth has exceeded 20 million. "Records" overseas and multi-channel distribution, his worth will soon rise to more than 30 million.
For these reports in the media, Wang Yang does not matter, neither denies nor responds. Compared to "the youngest multimillionaire," he prefers the title of "the youngest director."
After receiving this huge sum of money, his life has not changed. He still rents the original apartment, but only replaces the furniture that is so bad that it can no longer be used, and then purchases a set of high-end ’S home theater equipment, frantically swept down a lot of movie DVDs, ready to collect and enjoy; in addition, he also bought a general-purpose two-door sedan to facilitate his own travel.
The media's attention to him gradually subsided, and his unwillingness to cooperate was one of the important reasons. For example, "Vanity Fair" magazine invited him to shoot a group of photos, as well as an interview, he refused, he would rather read a book at home, watch a movie, rather than shooting photos. First, he has no such interest; second, he wants to get out of these things earlier.
What magazine interview, celebrity party ... He ca n’t indulge in it, he ca n’t let himself spend all his energy on it, he is still young, he needs to keep improving, not to be lost in the temptation of success until he is killed Kick out. He kept reminding himself: "Yan, you are just a rookie, you are nothing, look at the follow-up reports about the creators of" Witch Blair ", do you want to be them? Think about your original intention !? Become a Director, make a movie. "
Therefore, Wang Yang rejected the exclusive interview with Vanity Fair and rejected some party invitations. He knows that the final decision on whether a movie is successful does not depend on how many parties you have attended or how many magazine covers you have attended; it depends on the movie itself.
After finishing the post-promotion of Ghost Records, he faded out of sight and read books and movies at home every day. Sometimes he talked with Jessica and other good friends on the phone. Occasionally, he hung out and lived a quiet life. During this period, he joined the director's union (DGA). Although the schedule was very low-key, he was still published by a gossip tabloid. Then, until the end of September, he reported again.
The reason for the report is that Lions Gate Company announced a new shooting plan to the media. They will shoot "Spirit-Ghost Record 2", and they have already purchased a sequel copyright from Wang Yang for 5 million.
Yes, Wang Yang paid another 5 million. At first, Lion Gate only offered 1 million, but Wang Yangli did not want to ignore them. There was only one word "NO", which was revealed to Jon Fieldier. The message "Xinxian, Artisan ... There are many companies contacted me, they know that the copyright of my sequel is still there, they want to buy it." This is the fact, now it is Xinxian, Artisan, Dimen and other companies. He took the initiative to find him and discussed with him sincerely, and Wang Yang gave them a "NO" one by one.
However, he will not identify Lion Gate. Although he is very grateful for the opportunity given to him by Lion Gate, "Ghost Record" has also brought tens of millions of profits to Lion Gate. No one owes anyone. For the copyright of the sequel to the film, which company meets his conditions, he will give it to the company.
So, the lion gate company's asking price increased all the way to 5 million, but the artisans seemed determined to buy it, they raised the price to 7 million, plus 20% of the total box office dividends. In the end, Wang Yang chose the Lion Gate company, 5 million, plus 20% of the total box office dividend. He has several reasons for this choice. First, he has a good relationship with the Lion Gate company; second, he is really worried that the artisan will default on the dividend; three When it comes to shooting sequels of horror films, the future Lions Gate Company has been doing very well. Although the market needs time to digest "Ghost Record", but the second film will be released one year later, the profit should be no problem, not 20% What is the dividend, the important thing is to keep the "Ghost Record" signboard.
At such a large price, Lion Gate Company naturally values ​​"Smart and Ghost Record 2", so as soon as they bought the copyright, they publicized this matter and announced that "Ghost Record 2" will It won't be directed by Wang Yang. Lion Gate celebrity Jon Philtimer told the media: "We do n’t invite Wang Yang to direct because we want to change the style of the movie. The background of the second story will be put in the office, which is obviously not 18 years old. Scenes that people are good at. "
For this reason, many fans have long expected that, except for a small number of people who said "will not watch" The Ghost Record "directed by non-Wang Yang, most people are on the sidelines. When the media reported this news, they also expressed their views on Wang Yang ’s future. The Los Angeles Times said:
Although this lucky young man ’s worth has increased by another 5 million yuan, he has just been ruthlessly abandoned. He lost the director microphone of Ghost Records, and now it seems that no film company is willing to hand him a microphone. "
"Chicago Sun" turned out Wang Yang's previous reply to Oprah in "Oprah Talk Show": "No, I don't think I will make horror movies anymore." "Chicago Sun" The tone is quite bad: "Don't Yang already know that he will not be invited to become the director of" Ghost Story 2 "? A colleague of mine asked why he didn't choose to invest in a sequel, and once again 10,000 to 100 million ? I think this is his shrewdness, get 5 million directly, and then enjoy life, isn't it? The question now is, if he doesn't shoot DV horror movies, what else can he do? Oh, he will still have Is it the second movie? "
After reading this report, Wang Yang joked with Rachel on the phone: "He was right, I don't have to do anything, I just need to sit at home to collect money, which is good." Rachel smiled: "Yes Ah, just in line with your retirement plan. "Wang Yang ha ha, smiled at her:" No, I don't want to retire, I will have a second movie, I told you, song and dance. "Rachel Asked: "Yang, did you really decide?" Wang Yang nodded and said seriously: "Decided."
The lobby of the apartment has been remodeled. The sofa with a few holes is gone. Instead, it is replaced by a rattan sofa; the computer has also been moved out of the bedroom and placed on a brand new wooden desk, tabletop There are also books, camera models, and a pot of daffodils.
Wang Yang sat in front of his desk, looking at a blank document on the computer screen, frowning and thinking, what is he going to make in his next movie?
After the song and dance film entered a shrinking period in the 1970s, it came to the 90s. In fact, it was not without good works. Like Disney ’s Pocahontas launched in 1995, it was well-received and sold, but it is an animation; The "Mrs. Belon" that came out was only able to recover the cost, and the main reason is that the heroine of that movie is Madonna.
Why are only "fake songs" like "Pocahontas" now selling?
The big reason is that song and dance films have developed to the present. Compared with the "Golden Age", there have been qualitative changes. Song and dance films have also begun to focus on the plot, instead of making a simple content, and then singing and dancing all the way. In the future, the song and dance films can be revived, it is by combining the plot and song and dance, let people watch the story while watching song and dance, let song and dance serve the plot, rather than rigidly separating the two.
How will the future song and dance film revive? In 2000, "Dancer in the Dark" shocked the movie world with a dark horse; then in 2001 a "Moulin Rouge" made Nicole Kidman nominated for the best actress Oscar; in 2002, "Chicago" fame and fortune At the same time as the box office sales, it won numerous awards, including the best film of the 75th Oscar (2002-2003). If you go further, there will be a "Black Swan" in the future.
In fact, these movies are not pure song and dance films. Their most attractive part is the plot, and the words expressed in the movie itself. Like "Chicago", "Black Swan", etc., they discuss the desire of human nature, and singing and dancing are only for this purpose.
This kind of cabaret drama is very literary and artistic, and the production is also large. The selection of actresses is even more important. The performance level of non-film actors can't be achieved. In his current situation, even if he makes 20 million films, there will be no film that will later participate in his film. They do n’t lack money, no shortage of film appointments. The movie award.
Therefore, this kind of movie is not his current choice; then it is the second category, the youth and campus music and dance films. This kind of song and dance film has a long history. "The Prodigal Son" in 1978 and "Lightning Dance" in 1983 are classics. There is no heavy theme for this kind of song and dance film. It is mainly about the mentality of young people in that era. ; Or the attachment to dreams; or the pursuit of love.
Once this kind of movie is made, an unparalleled craze will erupt, sweeping the student class around the world instantly.
The next wave of enthusiasm, in 2006, was fully detonated by a TV movie "High School Musical". In the same year, "Dancing My Life" happened unexpectedly, and then the youth and campus music and dance films fully revived. The entire market is flooded, famous for "Rock Summer Camp", "Beautiful Girl Cheerleading", etc., and the infamous films are countless.
"High school music?" Wang Yang murmured softly. This film is undoubtedly a good film, it has found the lifeblood of youth campus song and dance films, that is, there is a positive and motivating theme; there is music and singing and dancing that are in line with the times; it attracts handsome men and beautiful actresses of the student class. All of these aspects have been completed, and it is not surprising to get a huge response from the student class.
Wang Yang carefully analyzed the difficulty of shooting "High School Musical". The shooting scenes are concentrated on the high school campus, which is a place he is familiar with, no problem; there is no complicated lens, no special effects, no special effects, no Question: In terms of actors, Jessica, Rachel, and Zachary are all very suitable candidates. Besides, after Hollywood's lack of film actor, there is no shortage of young and beautiful acting men.
The only problem with his singing and dancing films is choreography and arrangement, but these jobs can be hired by professional dance instructors and arrangers. In fact, there is no problem.
However, it is now 1998. If "High School Musical" is launched, will the market accept it? Wang Yang raised his chin and frowned, thinking about the problem, trying to make a rational analysis.
He is also a young man. If he now has an excellent and popular school song and dance film, he will go to the cinema to watch it. The reason is very simple. He likes to dance and sing. There are not many people like him. Look at the dance floor of the bar is always full of people to know that singing and dancing are never outdated. No matter what age young people want to be in Sing and dance, release your enthusiasm!
But only for this reason is not enough, because he can go directly to the bar to dance, rather than go to the cinema to watch the movie; so the movie can not just sing and dance, but also to meet some of the needs of the audience,
Just like him, he misses the life of high school. He likes to be active and dare to pursue the theme of his dreams, so he will go to "High School Musical", which is the idea of ​​a college student who was once expelled; and if it is a high school student, He will also go to see, because in real high school life, he will not have such a wonderful story, he longs for being in the world of the movie, longing to pursue and realize his dream like the protagonist, but also wonderful love.
In addition, the students all went to see it, wouldn't it be outdated if he didn't go to see it?
This is why "High School Musical" can be popular, and why "The Hot Waves" with 6 million production costs can receive close to 400 million box office worldwide. They carry the expectations of young people for themselves and the pursuit of goodness. They Want to be that kind of person.
Therefore, campus music and dance films are timely at all times, and in the current market, the demand in this respect will soon overflow. Their young people also want to have their own "hot prodigal son".
In 2006, "High School Musical", regardless of the story content or shooting style, is also applicable in 1998.
But "High School Musical" is a TV movie. It was only broadcast on Disney's TV channels at the beginning. Disney just wanted to try the water, and didn't even invest much in publicity. As a result, the film started a wave of "singing and dancing" on campuses across the United States, and then swept the world, attracting more than 170 million viewers, allowing young people around the world to re-recognize the singing and dancing movies, and make them crazy. The popularity was so unexpected that Disney did so, so they filmed "High School Musical 2" and continued to broadcast on TV channels, and the popularity continued to be popular; then "High School Musical 3" moved to the big screen and received 252 million box office worldwide.
So, if "High School Musical 1" is directly screened in the cinema, will this film still be successful? Wang Yang is not sure, but the chance of success is very high. Because the response of "High School Musical 1" is actually the biggest in the trilogy; "High School Musical 2" made a new attempt, the background of the story was moved to the resort, the structure of the plot became complicated, although the audience record was broken, the fans They didn't buy it, and expressed their disappointment; "High School Musical 3" returned to the campus background, and the story structure was adjusted back to a simple style, but it was still criticized by some film critics and fans as a novel film with no new ideas.
It can be said that the last two parts of the trilogy are largely supported by the popularity of "High School Musical 1", and it's just an old version. This is a rage, and then decline, and exhaustion. And the audience will have a mentality, the first two can be seen on TV, why does the third require me to enter the cinema? If the goal is to target the big screen from the beginning, the audience will not think so much. But "High School Musical 3" still received 252 million box office.
Besides, the success of the "High School Musical" series is not just breaking the ratings, not just the 252 million box office; there is also the big sale of the movie DVD, the soundtrack music CD becomes the annual sales champion, and the tour stage theater is full ... These are "High School Musical" "1" has a huge influence, so as long as it is properly promoted, "High School Musical 1" directly onto the big screen may not be the second "hot prodigal son".
Of course, if you want to shoot, you need to make a lot of changes. Because the TV movie is based on the feeling of viewing on a small screen, whether it is a performance or a form of expression, there are many differences from the screen movie. This is not limited by the production cost, but the TV movie is a TV movie. Have your own set. If "High School Musical" is aimed at the big screen, it needs to be changed, and it needs to follow the set of the big screen movie.
Wang Yang thought to himself, thinking about how the rhythm of the movie changed, and suddenly his phone rang. He shook his head, took the phone on the desk, and when he saw it was Jessica, he pressed it, and while looking at the pot of daffodils, he said, "Hi, Jessica, what's wrong with me? ?"
"Hi, Yang." Jessica smiled sweetly over there: "Nothing, just want to talk to you. Oh!" She said embarrassedly: "Are you busy, I have bothered you?"
"No, I was just thinking about something." Wang Yang laughed irrespectively, and he suddenly asked: "Jessica, will you dance?" He knew that Jessica would have filmed a youth in 2002 Inspirational type song and dance film "Sweetheart Dance", in that movie, her dance posture is of course very charming, but that is guided by the dancer, but I don't know if she will dance now.
Jessica was startled, UU reading www.uukanshu. Com said, "Well," Wang Yang wondered what this meant, did he want to invite her to dance? Her heart jumped, but ... she shook her head: "No, I won't, I haven't learned to dance." Wang Yang said with a little disappointment: "Oh, this!" Jessica could not help but he was disappointed. He raised his eyebrows and asked tentatively, "Yang, do you want to go dancing?"
"No, not now." Wang Yang smiled and told her his thoughts: "I want to make a campus song and dance film."
Jessica's heart suddenly tightened and she couldn't help but be surprised: "Oh, God! Really? Are you going to make a school song and dance film?" Then she reacted and asked if she would dance, or she was asked to participate Does it mean? God, see what you said! Oh god! Jessica patted her forehead a little anxiously.
Wang Yang yelled, reached out and fiddled with the camera model on the table, and said with a smile: "You know, I like to make movies, and I happen to have a lot of money, so why not do it? The campus song and dance movie is my order The plan may cost millions, I paid for it myself. "
Oh my god! School song and dance film, but she can't dance ... Jessica's face is full of wonders, she asked with a frown: "Yan, is there a role for me?"
"I haven't finalized the script yet, but in a campus movie, there are always roles for you." Wang Yang stood up, walked over to the kitchen and poured water, laughing: "But I need to be able to dance ..." He Before he said it, Jessica interrupted his voice nervously: "Yang, I can learn!"
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PS: canvassing, canvassing, wowli continue to canvass! Everyone! In addition, I am very grateful to everyone for the reward, especially "Canglan" and "Winter Boy". There are suddenly two more deacons. Wow Li is happy, thank you for your support!