Chapter 310: A Business Worth Hundreds of Millions

During *Jumanji*, Wei Ming, as a newcomer to the industry, received a 9% royalty share, and it was shared by the original author, translator, and picture book illustrator.

By *The Lion King*, it was fine-tuned to 10% through Melinda's efforts.

Now, Wei Ming's works enjoyed a 15% royalty share.

*Jurassic Park* also didn't intend to be made into a picture book, saving the illustrator's share. It could also reduce the translation share by increasing the translation fee. It was completely no problem for Wei Ming to exclusively enjoy more than one-tenth of the total gross of *Jurassic Park*.

Wei Ming handed the new contract to Wei Lu to take a look. His English level in listening, speaking, reading, and writing was no longer a big problem, but he was not up to the task when it involved professional legal terminology.

There were no problems with the front part. Wei Wei Lingling focused on the terms of global distribution.

For example, distributing *The Lion King* to the Taiwan market—whether it was translated from the English version of *The Lion King Picture Book* into Traditional Chinese, or translated directly from the Chinese version of *The Lion King*—this was a problem.

Wei Wei Lingling hoped it was the latter, so Wei Ming's income would be higher, while the publisher hoped it was the former, because this could avoid censorship risks.

It was not easy for a Mainland writer's work to be published in Taiwan, but it was fine to take a detour from the UK.

Wei Wei Lingling also focused on the issue of the cooperation period.

The cooperation between an author's books and a publisher had a time limit. This period was generally five to ten years. Melinda helped Wei Ming fight for five years, and Wei Wei Lingling was very satisfied.

That is to say, five years after a book was published, Macmillan no longer had the right to print and publish it. Wei Ming could choose to cooperate with other publishing companies or continue to cooperate with Macmillan.

If it was just a best-seller that was popular for a while, it didn't matter. But if one wanted to make a "long-seller," one had to be cautious about this issue.

This was a bit like an artist signing a management contract. Those with a bit of ambition didn't hope to sign for too long.

Five years. Five years later, the movie *Jurassic Park* probably hadn't even been put on the big screen yet. The real hot-selling period of this set of books was far from arriving.

After long discussions and consultations, the contract, which Wei Ming originally felt had no problems, was modified in more than ten places, making it more favorable to Wei Ming as a whole and ensuring his standing as a global best-selling author.

Melinda had a brand-new understanding of the little aunt's professional ability for the first time. Even if those problems weren't deliberately targeted by the company, correcting them in advance was better than arguing afterwards. At the same time, Melinda also had some special thoughts about Wei Wei Lingling for the first time.

On the fourth day of arriving in London, Melinda took Wei Ming and Wei Wei Lingling to the New London Theatre in London's West End. The cooperation with Andrew Lloyd Webber regarding *The Lion King* musical carried no less weight in Wei Ming's heart than the royalty of the novel *Jurassic Park*.

Regardless of the future or the present, the ticket money for stage art forms like musicals and plays far exceeded movies. After all, it required real people to perform time and time again, and there was almost zero tolerance for errors.

Fortunately, Wei Ming and the others used complimentary tickets, and their seats were in the front row, so they could experience the charm of this musical more clearly.

Britain, which gave birth to Shakespeare, already had a super high foundation for stage plays. Plus, *Cats* had been popular across the board since its premiere last month, to the point where tickets were hard to find. So when they entered the venue, almost all seats were full, and there were quite a few children wearing formal attire.

*Cats* was adapted by Webber based on the British poet T. S. Eliot's fairy tale poetry collection *Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats*. The successful performance effect made Webber see the influence of children-oriented, or rather, family-friendly musicals.

If the old gentlemen in London wanted to cultivate their children to accept the edification of musicals, no matter how much they liked Shakespeare, they had to admit that *Cats*, performed by a group of cat characters, was definitely more suitable than Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies.

But what if this play was both related to Shakespeare and performed by a group of animals, and suited the children's taste!

Webber first knew about it because there was an actor in *Cats* named Sarah Brightman. She played a small role in this play, but suddenly one day her song became popular, and many people bought tickets for *Cats* to see her. She even became popular in North America.

This was a song commemorating John Lennon. Even without the element of commemorating a celebrity, it could still be called a good song.

So Webber knew this unfamiliar musician and learned through Sarah Brightman that this person was also a children's book author and actually came from the distant East.

Coinciding with the hot sale of the new book *The Lion King* in the UK, Webber bought a copy on the spur of the moment. Upon reading it, he was amazed.

Although the story's direction didn't completely follow the tragic route of *Hamlet*, one could clearly see the influence of Shakespeare's works in this fairy tale. And the story was vivid and interesting. Compared to *Cats*, which only had a group of cats, the animals in *The Lion King* were richer, and the African continent was more mysterious.

He felt that the picture book version of the story was too omitted, so he asked Melinda for the complete text translation of *The Lion King* through Sarah's relationship. After reading the whole novel, Webber firmed up an idea: after *Cats*, he wanted to do the musical *The Lion King*!

This story, created by a Chinese author, taking place on the African continent, and having British blood, had extremely high commercial potential and was very suitable for global promotion.

When Wei Ming and the three were seated, on the side of the stage, the musical master Andrew Lloyd Webber had already poked his head out and seen them.

"Mr. Webber, what are you looking at?" A pure voice came from behind. Webber called her having child-like qualities.

"Sarah," Webber said gently to the little cat behind him, "Perform well. I'll take you to meet someone later."

21-year-old Sarah Brightman played a cat named "Jemima" in *Cats*. Her part wasn't much, but because of her unexpected success in pop music, many young audience members at the scene bought tickets for her.

Soon, the performance officially began. *Cats* was a two-act play, 140 minutes long in total, including a 20-minute intermission.

"Act I: Midnight's dance makes cats crazy."

Since it was a musical, there was definitely no lack of good music. The opening song introduced the gathering of Jellicle cats through singing, and then each cat's self-introduction was a song.

The rock cat's "The Rum Tum Tugger," a combination of dynamic jazz and rock, showed his rebellious and narcissistic personality, and the dance was also worth watching, with explosive power.

The theater cat's "Gus - The Theatre Cat," a lyrical and nostalgic style, the lyrics full of vicissitudes and memories of past glory.

And the railway cat's "Skimbleshanks - The Railway Cat," a tap dance song, relaxed and cheerful.

Of course, what Wei Ming looked forward to most was "Grizabella the Glamour Cat's" song, "Memory." Once this song sounded, the emotions of the whole audience were mobilized, and Wei Ming was also immersed in it.

Elegant, too elegant!

This was a song with themes of loneliness, regret, and redemption, and it was also the core theme song of *Cats*. Webber only spent one night completing the composition of this song. This was a true genius.

In just one song, it explained the life of the "Glamour Cat": young and peerless, but unwilling to be mediocre, so she left the cat tribe to roam the world, suffered setbacks, and returned in her old age with empty pockets, her face no longer the same, and the tribe unwilling to accept this wanderer.

At this time, the actor playing the Glamour Cat on stage was Elaine Paige. She was the undisputed queen on the world musical stage and had cooperated with Webber many times. Later, Barbra Streisand and Sarah Brightman had both interpreted this song, and in some singing programs in China, female singers often challenged this song.

This song's lyrics and music were both excellent, and the emotions could cross languages to reach the inner world of every listener. As long as the singer's level was sufficient, the final ranking was usually not bad.

"Memory" appeared once in Act I and Act II respectively. The first time, regret was heard; the second time, relief was heard. The intensity was pushed forward layer by layer. Elaine Paige's singing directly blew the theater's ceiling off.

Even if the old Londoners still had to maintain their gentlemanly character, the audience still couldn't help but applaud gently, offering their respect for her performance.

After the performance ended, all the actors, including the director and Webber, went on stage to pay tribute to the audience. The audience off stage finally couldn't help but burst into enthusiastic, uncontrolled, and long-lasting applause.

And Sarah Brightman also saw her new friend Melinda. Next to her was a tall and handsome Oriental man. Could he be Melinda's ex-boyfriend?!

Could it be that Mr. Webber was going to take me to see him!

As expected, soon after removing her makeup, Sarah met Melinda and the two in a reception room behind the theater.

Through the introduction, their identities were confirmed. The other Oriental woman was his lawyer.

Because Sarah sang Wei Ming's song and became popular all over the world, Webber called Sarah over, also to get closer and facilitate the negotiation of subsequent cooperation.

From the start, everyone was in the stage of getting to know each other. Webber only then knew that Wei Ming was not an overseas Chinese, but a genuine Mainland Chinese, yet he could converse fluently in English and even engage in music creation.

"Are there Lennon fans in the Mainland too?" The two asked with curiosity and inquiry.

"Yes, but not many. It's because I work at a university, have many international student friends, and some people with overseas connections can also hear the most popular music in Europe and America."

Webber asked curiously: "Then if we move *Cats* to China for performance, will there be a market?"

This guy hadn't even conquered Broadway yet, and he actually wanted to scrape oil and water from developing countries.

Wei Ming shook his head regretfully: "Maybe we have to wait a few more years. At this time, the popularity of English in China cannot cultivate so many audiences, and the consumption ability is also insufficient. But Hong Kong can try."

Webber nodded. He thought of the Chinese drama troupe visiting Europe with *Teahouse* some time ago. He also went to watch it. Although the stage art was great, he really couldn't understand it. Most of it was still supported by overseas Chinese.

After chatting about some side issues, Webber turned to the topic of *The Lion King*.

He gave a price he thought Wei Ming couldn't refuse at the beginning.

One million pounds to buy out the stage musical adaptation rights of *The Lion King*.

This price could be said to be a very high price for a novel that hadn't really become a million-seller yet. Even if *Cats* was so popular now, the total box office hadn't reached one million pounds, and it hadn't reached the profit point yet. One million pounds was also not a small investment for the Really Good Group.

Melinda and Wei Wei Lingling, who hadn't truly realized the future value of *The Lion King*, both felt this price was quite a surprise. One million pounds was equivalent to nearly ten million Hong Kong dollars!

Melinda and Wei Wei Lingling, who had not yet truly realized the future value of "The Lion King," both felt that this price was quite a pleasant surprise—one million pounds, which was equivalent to nearly ten million Hong Kong dollars!

Then if you count other copyrights, then if he writes a few more such works, wouldn't his financial resources be able to directly compare with the uncle?

A writer could actually compete in financial resources with a family that had been in officialdom and business for decades?

Unbelievable!

Webber said: "The reason for buying it out directly is also considering that you are Chinese, and it's inconvenient to participate in performance sharing."

At that time, how much the box office is is easy to say, but how much the cost is, how much the profit is, there is a lot of room for operation. It's better to make a one-off deal.

You are in China; how kind must you be to be able to resist not pitting you.

However, Wei Ming said one sentence: "I'm not afraid of inconvenience."

The implication was that he really wanted to participate in the sharing.

Wei Wei Lingling was the first to react. That's right. If there is really potential, not to mention anything else, even if it only has half the popularity of *Cats*, the sharing might be more profitable than a buyout.

And in reality, the total box office of *The Lion King* musical was about four times that of *Cats*! And the performance time was more than ten years shorter!

Even if Wei Ming could only share one or two points of the box office revenue from it, that would be a business of hundreds of millions!

In the musical world, as long as the work is successful, a play can be performed continuously. Similarly, before Wei Ming's rebirth, *Teahouse* on the stage still had super high box office appeal, and every performance was hard to find a ticket for.

If Shakespeare were alive, just by relying on the stage performance income of those works of his, he could directly top the list of the richest literati.

Webber mainly thought about facilitating Wei Ming. Buying it out with one million was also very stressful for his company. Since Wei Ming insisted, he didn't refuse.

So Wei Wei Lingling gave a suggestion directly: "It can be established by a trusted person overseas, and the copyright company can directly cooperate with Mr. Webber to develop the musical *The Lion King*. The copyright company collects the share and pays the manuscript fee."

This company is best to be a British or American company, which is convenient for checking accounts.

Webber had no objection to this. Then the question came: who should hold this company, which actually belongs to Wei Ming, on his behalf?

Wei Ming looked at the British Melinda, then at the American Wei Wei Lingling, and finally his eyes fell on Melinda: "Melinda, if you open this company, will it affect your main job?"

Wei Wei Lingling looked dejected, while Melinda rejoiced: "This won't affect it. Anyway, there's no business usually."

Wei Ming: "That's good. Then let the two of you open this company together. One is the European regional head, and one is the North American head. Not only will the musical rights of *The Lion King* be placed in this company for operation, but the overseas copyright operations of all my other works in the future will also be represented by this company."

It can be a functional empty shell. When the time is ripe in the future, Wei Ming might not be able to expand overseas business based on it and achieve a global hegemony in the cultural and entertainment industry!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 311 =====

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