Chapter 199

October 10, 2003, Beiping time; it was also the 10th in local Los Angeles time.

Today was the shared birthday of Seeing Lu Kuan's two lives, and also the first ten days of "The Thief" being released simultaneously in the Asian region.

The crew's filming was still proceeding intensely, and Boss Lu found some time to review emails sent from the country.

What needed attention first was the mainland box office performance; as of the end of the tenth day, the total box office was 25.56 million, which had already made Old Han grin from ear to ear.

In a small meeting before the premiere of "The Thief", Seeing Lu Kuan had explained to Han Han Shanping, Zhang Zhang Yimou, and others his prediction that "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" would have an unfavorable run for the Oscars.

He also took the opportunity to express his bearish outlook on their domestic box office.

That night, everyone present was horrified to discover that "Heaven and Earth", which had been released 3 days earlier than "The Thief", had actually already been surpassed in box office numbers!

The box office figures were 25.56 million versus 24.32 million, but in terms of cost, "Heaven and Earth" was nearly 60 million more than "The Thief"!

Where was Yanda Huayi supposed to hide their face after this?

Then there were the Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea regions, where he had signed a guaranteed distribution deal of 40 million with Emperor.

According to the initial agreement, the two sides would continue to split the revenue for the portion exceeding 40 million in the three regions according to the agreed ratio.

At the end of the ten-day period, calculated in RMB, "The Thief" had brought in 16 million at the Hong Kong box office, and 9 million and 6 million in Japan and South Korea, respectively.

Hong Kong was Emperor's home base, and Japan was the film's country of origin; at the premiere, they had invited friends of Boss Lu like Takeshi Kitano to stand on stage and promote it, so the film's popularity was very high.

Apart from the honor "The Thief" itself received at Cannes, for the mainland distribution, Seeing Lu Kuan had layered on the "challenging tear-jerker" topic marketing and the carpet-coverage buff of Focus Media.

Although the mainland film market at this moment couldn't compare to Hong Kong, Japan, or South Korea, almost all of the remaining stock was wrapped up by "The Thief".

During the same period, there was only one competitor, "Warriors of Heaven and Earth", and that was the kind in quotation marks in Seeing Lu Kuan's mind.

According to the parabolic law of box office trends, the first ten days were still in the stage of word-of-mouth fermentation; the real climax would arrive around twenty days.

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

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

Zhang Zhang Ziyi had asked for leave on the excuse of her brother Zhang Zinan's child's full-month banquet and her parents' poor health, and had not returned for three days.

Seeing Lu Kuan had spoken quite harshly on the phone, telling her to hurry back to the crew; helpless, he could only film some minor scenes without the male and female leads first.

This part of the work was temporarily handed over to assistant director Lin Yibin; the script and storyboards were ready-made, and he would just have to review the footage with the completion bond company at night.

A heavy stone had been hanging in his heart, namely the issue of the "Exotic Land" pre-sale contract.

As the film's producer, Tang Mu Cruise, after synthesizing factors from all aspects including the opinions of professional Hollywood film consulting firms, had given him the final proposal.

The North American distribution of "Exotic Land" would be handed to Miramax, and the regions outside those handled by China Film and Emperor would be handed to Disney.

He also provided sufficient reasons.

Naturally, there was no need to mention the huge concessions Harvey's Miramax made on distribution points; Disney was also the Hollywood film giant with the strongest global distribution capabilities.

Its subsidiary distribution company, Buena Vista, had branches in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, North Africa, Europe, and other places, and its distribution business was very professional.

However, Boss Lu, who harbored resentment, naturally wouldn't make a decision too rashly; he had been flipping through the contract in his hotel room for a day.

Regarding whether Hollywood film companies and Harvey would screw people over, Seeing Lu Kuan didn't have the slightest doubt; as long as there was an opportunity, it was a hundred percent certain.

The very famous "Melrose" platter investment that Paramount and Huaerjie did together in the later years, which planned to cooperate to produce 40 films within the next 7 years, was about to be released at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

It was originally a model of cooperation between art and capital, jointly funding and sharing risks and returns, but Paramount used every trick in the book that Hollywood film companies used to screw Germans and Japanese people, using accounting to wipe out most of the project's profits.

The Jews at Hollywood film companies were ruthless, and the Jews on Huaerjie weren't to be trifled with either; the two sides started a lawsuit in 2008 and had been tearing at each other for more than ten years.

They even dared to screw over shrewd Huaerjie investors, let alone a Chinese director with no background.

"Ding-dong!"

Seeing Lu Kuan rubbed his sore eyes and came to the door; through the peephole was Liu Liu Yifei's clear and beautiful face.

"Little Liu, I taught you back in the 'Drummer' crew not to come to a male director's room at night. Has your brain gone haywire?"

Liu Liu Yifei seemed to be in a very good mood: "Seeing Lu Kuan, come to my room; Teacher Liu will teach you about the scenes!"

What the hell?

Not only has she been "blackened", but she's also been "yellowed", right?

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

Liu Liu Yifei covered her mouth and chuckled as she looked at his stunned appearance: "Just kidding, Mom bought some groceries at the Asian supermarket and made some in the hotel kitchen; let's have dinner together?"

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

He had been "looking for trouble" line by line with a pen against the two contracts for too long, and even his cervical spine was stiff and aching.

In order to improve her daughter's diet, Liu Liu Xiaoli often worked tirelessly to cook extra meals for the crew.

Especially in this "Exotic Land", because there were too many martial arts scenes, and she indeed fought in a way that better met the director's requirements than Zhang Zhang Ziyi.

Liu Liu Yifei's level of hardship was no less than that of the male and female leads, and Seeing Lu Kuan was also used to them inviting him to eat some simple home-cooked meals.

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

"Whoa! This is so sumptuous; thank you, Auntie Liu."

Liu Liu Xiaoli smiled: "Conditions are limited, let's just celebrate simply; happy birthday, Little Lu."

Liu Liu Yifei was dissatisfied: "Hey, why aren't you thanking me?"

"Thank you? This whole table, maybe only the cake was bought by you, right?"

The two joked and laughed for a few sentences before they all started eating together.

Unable to resist Liu Liu Yifei's pestering, Seeing Lu Kuan took out his lighter, lit the candles, and made a wish.

"No, no, I'm not wearing this thing; it's too childish."

Liu Liu Yifei insisted on making him wear a headband used for birthday decorations, which was firmly stopped by Boss Lu.

"What wish did you just make?"

The expression on Seeing Lu Kuan's face was very calm: "I hope 'Exotic Land' goes smoothly, otherwise I'm going to go bankrupt!"

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

Liu Liu Xiaoli didn't think so; as a mother, she seemed to be able to feel the irrepressible melancholy in the moment Seeing Lu Kuan closed his eyes just now.

A child's birthday is a mother's day of suffering; he was reminded of his mother who passed away when he was in junior high in his previous life.

He had been in this world for two years, and the long-sealed memories of his previous life surged into his heart again, like a ruthless carving knife scraping open those most cherished memories.

Liu Liu Xiaoli said softly with a smile: "Alright, eat quickly, the food will get cold in a while."

A small interlude; Seeing Lu Kuan collected his mood and returned to his room to continue burying his head in looking for trouble.

He asked himself if he had the cheat-like foresight function, but no matter how he looked at this contract, there were no problems!

It wasn't that he was too careful and cautious, but there were too many examples of people being screwed over by contract traps in Hollywood.

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

In 2007, the box office revenue of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was nearly 940 million USD; after the producers split the revenue, they shared 460 million, and then paid 180 million in distribution expenses.

The final net box office for the producers, which was less than 300 million USD, was already lower than the film's investment of 320 million USD; if viewed only from this perspective, the producers were at a loss.

As a result, some of the film's cast and crew had signed contracts with the investors for a share of the net box office revenue, and they didn't get a single cent.

But if one were careful and cautious when reviewing the contract and signed a box office revenue-sharing contract, the result would be very different.

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

Hollywood not only used this trick to screw over their own people, but they also didn't go soft when screwing over German, Japanese, and Chinese investors.

For example, two years ago, Feng Feng Xiaogang's "Big Shot's Funeral" cooperated with Columbia, with a total overseas box office of 8.2 million USD.

Yanda Huayi and Feng Feng Xiaogang were both quite happy, thinking that not only were the mainland results gratifying, but they could also make a fortune overseas.

As a result, it was also their first time releasing a film overseas, and they had signed a box office revenue-sharing contract with Columbia.

Columbia's people were already responsible for overseas distribution; it was too convenient for them to do the accounting themselves by moving money from their left hand to their right!

In the end, Yanda Huayi looked at the report and saw that the film hadn't made money but had actually lost money; the result was that they sold 8.2 million and didn't get a single cent of benefit themselves.

The next day, Seeing Lu Kuan hired two more senior entertainment lawyers to specifically review the contract.

"Sir, there are no problems with the contract between Miramax and Disney; I can guarantee that."

The white-haired old lawyer who spoke was named Neil, who was Arnold Schwarzenegger's entertainment lawyer when he was filming "Terminator 3" last year.

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

It blocked loopholes in all directions and maximized the protection of the employer's rights and interests, and was known as a contract textbook.

Seeing Lu Kuan nodded silently, but based on his own judgment and Little Liu's secret observation, the other party was definitely preparing to cheat.

Because Zhang Zhang Ziyi had been asking for leave and hadn't returned for the past few days, Liu Liu Yifei had no one to stand in for her, so she came over to harass him again after lunch.

"Why are you still looking at it? Even with your craftiness, you can't see the trick?"

Boss Lu sighed heavily: "If it were in the country, I could play them to death, but unfortunately, this is Hollywood, the world of Jewish white-skinned pigs."

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

"No smoking! I'm still here!"

The lighter in Seeing Lu Kuan's hand was suddenly snatched away by her, and he helplessly held the cigarette and sniffed it in front of his nose.

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

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

The little girl, however, continued to analyze it for him on her own: "Don't you often tell me about information asymmetry, information asymmetry? You know Hollywood's rules very well; this is no secret in their eyes."

"You will definitely find entertainment lawyers to review the compliance and legality word by word; this is also something that can be completely inferred."

"Then what is it that they don't know?"

Liu Liu Yifei walked back and forth in front of him with her hands behind her back, acting like a veteran.

"For example, they don't know you're very lecherous, don't know you're very bad, don't know you... are very rich?"

Hmm?

Seeing Lu Kuan raised his head abruptly; Liu Liu Yifei's words were like a tube of mustard squeezed directly into his mouth, giving him a jolt from his nasal cavity to his crown!

He suddenly stood up and clamped Liu Liu Yifei's shoulders with both hands: "You're right!"

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

Boss Lu started to reverse-engineer and output his logic like a madman.

"Miramax and Disney are paying 12 million for the distribution advance for North America and the global region."

"With no problems in the contract, there is only one way they want to screw me over!"

"That is to not prepare to fulfill the contract at all!"

Liu Liu Yifei watched Seeing Lu Kuan's face get close, looked at him talking to himself with a hint of shyness, and followed his train of thought.

"The advance payment is a total of 12 million USD; if they want to bet their reputation on abandoning the contract fulfillment, then it can only be said that what they get from tearing up the contract will be much more than this 12 million!"

She thought of Seeing Lu Kuan's "Red Star Dock Battle".

Letting Liu Liu Zeyu acquire Cheng Cheng Jingfei's shares, tricking him into signing a contract, and then pulling the rug out from under him, directly voiding his contract with Red Star Dock!

"Hahaha! I know!"

Boss Lu excitedly picked her up, spun her around, and put her back on the ground, then turned back to carefully flip through the breach of contract clauses.

In fact, the plan of Harvey, Disney, and Tang Mu Cruise was very simple: tear up the contract and forcibly seize this film!

Especially after watching the pre-sale film, Tang Mu Cruise was once in a dilemma, neither wanting to fall out with a genius director like him nor willing to give up the benefits within reach.

In their eyes, why did the copyright of this "Exotic Land" seem like a dandelion on a mountain, within reach?

This still had to start from the core financing channel of the entire project.

As mentioned earlier, Seeing Lu Kuan invested 10 million USD, plus the 10 million USD pre-sale contract advance he obtained from China Film and Emperor with his personal credit endorsement, totaling 20 million USD.

Of the total cost of the film, about 25 million USD had to be obtained by taking the pre-sale agreement to a bank for a loan.

And if Seeing Lu Kuan wanted a loan, he had to obtain a completion bond agreement from an insurance company beforehand; the problem lay in this step.

Insurance companies don't recognize anyone; they are only responsible for ensuring that the film is finished within the previous budget range.

Once there is a serious cost overrun or the filming is significantly interrupted and cannot be resumed, the insurance company will use the contract clauses to directly take back the project's copyright.

And Harvey and the others' idea was to tear up the pre-sale agreement first, making the bank loan invalid, so the "Exotic Land" crew would lose the 25 million USD in pre-sale funds and be unable to continue filming.

At this time, the insurance company would take back his copyright.

And in Hollywood's practical operation, after the insurance company obtains the copyright, they certainly won't terminate the project and lose money themselves.

They will find a film company that previously took over, and offload the copyright under more favorable conditions to make up for their losses.

This was the time for Harvey and Disney to use their own influence to take action; they would pay the price of a 12 million advance to obtain the copyright of "Exotic Land", which was worth far more than 12 million!

Then it would just be a matter of finding another director to finish filming according to Seeing Lu Kuan's ideas; talented is talented, but he wasn't irreplaceable.

And the main reason why Harvey and the others were convinced or believed that they could screw over Seeing Lu Kuan using this method was, first, they had persuaded Tang Mu Cruise to participate in the backstabbing.

Seeing Lu Kuan was the initiator of the entire project, but Tang Mu Cruise, as the producer, was the soul and the iconic figure.

Without him, so many film distributors wouldn't have given face to attend the pre-sale promotion, the bank wouldn't have given a loan for the pre-sale agreement, and the completion bond company wouldn't have underwritten it.

Now, if Tang Mu Cruise stood up and shouted: This is a piece of trash film, Seeing Lu Kuan is a trash director, everyone don't buy it, don't distribute it.

Then, at least in North America, Seeing Lu Kuan would face great difficulties in selling the copyright and distribution rights, because he hadn't yet proven his box office strength in Hollywood.

The second, and also the main reason, was the information asymmetry that Liu Liu Yifei had inadvertently mentioned just now!

They didn't know Seeing Lu Kuan was a rich dog!

The most direct consequence of the pre-sale agreement being torn up was that the bank loan would become invalid, the crew would not have enough filming funds, and the insurance company would take back the copyright.

But if Seeing Lu Kuan promised the insurance company with 25 million USD or even more funds that the film would definitely be finished, they would have no choice but to accept it.

Because the issue the insurance company cared about from beginning to end was only whether there was a possibility of the film being aborted.

As for how to get this 25 million USD, Seeing Lu Kuan had plenty of ways.

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

He could mortgage his Blog Network shares to a bank or venture capital institution;

He could find Emperor and China Star to borrow bridge loans;

He could even scrape together his entire net worth: the profits from "The Thief", the DVD revenue from "Ghost Shadow", and the box office revenue.

The reason he used the "small-to-big" fundraising method in the beginning was just to avoid risk.

If the project failed, he would only lose this 10 million USD.

Even though he was full of confidence in the prospects of "Exotic Land", if he could borrow a chicken to lay eggs and use other people's money to play with films, why would he pay out of his own pocket?

Better early than late; before, it was Harvey and the others urging him to sign the contract, but now it was his turn to hurry up and finish signing the contract.

Once it was in black and white and took effect, as long as he could come up with this 25 million USD to shut the mouth of the completion bond company, then he would definitely eat up this 12 million USD advance!

Big fish eating small fish is a stable industry ecology, which is reflected not only in surface commercial competition but also in secret transactions under the table.

Even in a small-scale film market like the domestic one, this kind of forcible seizure was already common.

When Harvey and the others saw such a mouth-watering piece of cake like Seeing Lu Kuan and "Exotic Land" on their home turf, how could they resist not taking action?

What's more, they believed they were guaranteed to win.

On October 20, 2003, Boss Lu landed in Beiping.

This trip had two purposes: one was to participate in the celebration banquet for "The Thief" breaking 55 million at the mainland box office and temporarily becoming the mainland box office champion.

The celebration was fake; another round of hype was real.

The remaining ten days of the release period were a process where the box office growth rate gradually turned negative; such hype was a necessary boosting method.

The crew's filming in the United States was proceeding in an orderly manner; all Lin Yibin, Cao Yu, and others had to do was implement his filming intentions.

Moreover, Zhang Zhang Ziyi had already been away from the crew for nearly a week.

When the assistant director asked, it was either that her brother's child was having a full-month banquet or her parents were in poor health.

Although they could film the supporting actors' scenes first, Seeing Lu Kuan had to get to the bottom of why she kept asking for leave and delaying her return to North America.

The acting contract signed with "Exotic Land" clearly stipulated that she was not allowed to film multiple projects at once, and she also claimed that she had persuaded Zhang Zhang Yimou to delay her joining the crew.

Before filming started, Seeing Lu Kuan and Zhang Zhang Yimou had already confirmed that she had indeed arrived at the "Exotic Land" crew first to participate in filming and was not participating in "House of Flying Daggers" at the same time.

After getting off the plane, he made a direct phone call to Zhang Zhang Yimou, and only then did he grit his teeth and give an order to A Fei.

"Go to Jishuitan Hospital!"

(End of Chapter)