At first, I just wanted to make money

Chapter 415 Originally Thought It Was Difficult...

"Is Xudong going to break into Hollywood?"

"It's Hollywood, but it's not a major studio, his character is too strong for a major studio, it's an independent film company...

"Is he only a screenwriter?"

"Just as a screenwriter, he won't go there on purpose... For details, you can ask him when he comes back!"

Gao Fenfen answered ambiguously...

It aroused the interest of the on-site media even more.

How do you say it, Hollywood!
Invite Shen Xudong to be the screenwriter, and it seems that he will be deeply involved...

It's about to take off!

But no specific information was collected at all...

Left full of entanglements, several media outlets even considered whether to fly to the United States, or to arrange an interview or something. Shen Xudong himself explained the reason for going to the United States on his blog.

"A lot of friends are concerned. Let me give a unified answer here. It's not about entering Hollywood, it's just a pure job...During the Venice Film Festival, I met judge Christine Vachen. She is a producer of Killer Films...It just so happens that she There is a novel called "The Price of Salt" that I want to adapt into a movie, and I found me..."

"Well, let me explain. I actually talked with Sister Gong Li about my views on the movie "Brokeback Mountain". Sister Gong Li relayed my views on "Brokeback Mountain" when chatting with Christine Vachen. And together..."

"Why did you mention "Brokeback Mountain"? Because "The Price of Salt" is a homosexual literature, "Brokeback Mountain" is about gay men, and "The Price of Salt" is about lesbians..."

"This kind of subject matter is very marginal. If it is adapted into a movie, it will cost about 1200 million U.S. dollars. The killer film company is very poor, so we provided 600 million U.S. dollars in funding..."

"Sister Gong Li has been chosen as the heroine, and now another heroine is chosen... As an investor, producer, and screenwriter, I will definitely go to the scene to see it... As for the director, I have chosen director Todd Haynes early in the morning... "

"Wish me well...By the way, "The Aviator" has been screened in 8 theaters in North America. The audience feedback and box office are not bad. Maybe it can be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (laughs)..."

Why send this smile?
Because... the original time and space, it is "The Promise" that represents Chinese movies for the Oscars...

This thing is selected above!
To tell the truth, in Yuanshikong, the films submitted for the Olympic bid in 05 include "Peacock", "Kekexili", "Green Red", and "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles". Selected "The Promise"...

——Each country or region can only submit one film for the Oscars each year...

A bad film like "The Promise", which has lost the face of Chinese films all over the world, is able to represent Chinese films in their Olympic bid under the unanimous praise and enthusiasm of various "experts" and "scholars"?

This problem fully proves that the so-called experts in the film culture circle either lack professional ethics, or lack the minimum professionalism to judge films, there must be one of the two!

Therefore, Shen Xudong needs "Carol"...

Because in China, he has no chance to get close to Oscar!

In terms of seniority, it will take at least 20 years. At that time, Oscars will be worthless.

Taking advantage of the fact that this award still has some weight, brush up a wave of pure feeling...

Of course, this time he came to the United States, in addition to the casting of "Carol", he also hopes to win "Twilight"...

"The Twilight Saga", Meiyu must make a copy!

Take the typical example of small and big.

Before coming here, he was very nervous because... he didn't know if "Twilight" had been published, whether the film copyright had been taken down, and how to contact the author Stephanie Meyer...

Good guy, he thinks too much!

……

"Twilight" was published in April 2005, Stephanie Meyer's first attempt at crying.

In just a few weeks of being on the market, the book skyrocketed to #5 on the New York Times bestseller list!
Odds are... no major studios are interested!
Nope, Paramount-owned MTV Films took the film rights to The Twilight Saga and made a violent action flick—thinking it would appeal to male audiences!
Then it was flatly rejected by the original author, Stephanie Meyer, and the copyright was withdrawn by the way-she wanted the original adaptation.

Just fall in love...don't mess around!
And then...no company wants to take over.

Because, in the eyes of major studios, simple vampire love elements are not enough to attract audiences!

Otherwise, "Underworld" wouldn't be a B-movie.

"Interview with the Vampire", Tom Cruise + Brad Pitt, the cost of 6000 million US dollars, the global box office is only over [-] million...

This result obviously did not meet expectations!

And... "The Twilight Saga" is essentially a best-selling novel for young people. This kind of adaptation works have gone all over the world. Among other things, "Dragon Rider" failed miserably in its first trial...

"Dragon Knight", produced by 7500th Century Fox Film Company, cost [-] million US dollars, and the publicity was [-] million US dollars. However, the total global box office was less than [-] million, and the North American mainland was only [-] million.

The project has cracked down on the market for adaptations of bestselling teen novels.

Therefore, Shen Xudong bought the adaptation rights of "Twilight" at a price of 200 million US dollars, and it went smoothly.

Of course, the contract stipulates that Stephanie Meyer must be the screenwriter, and it also stipulates that Shen Xudong has the priority investment right for subsequent works...

"I'll find a studio willing to make 'Twilight' before 2006 is over...guaranteed to release the first film before 2008 is over!"

After making a promise, Shen Xudong left New York...

Then head to Los Angeles, where Killer Films is at the…

By the way, "Twilight" he signed the contract in his own name.

He also paid for 200 million US dollars himself!

It's not that he doesn't want to bring the company, but it's just that he can't explain why he has to pay a huge sum of money to buy the adaptation rights of an American novel.

I have a hunch it will work?
What's the basis?
200 million US dollars... It is negotiable, but what about the production cost after that?
$3700 million!

It's not a small amount, how do you explain it?

forget it...

……

Shen Xudong probably knows something about Killer Film Company.

In fact, Christine Vachan mainly provides films to MGM...

In other words, MGM is responsible for distribution and investment, and Killer Films is responsible for production!
The cooperation has been very smooth.

Most of the small and medium-sized independent film companies in the United States are inextricably linked with the Big Eight in Hollywood, because only these eight companies have national distribution, and later joined Lionsgate, Emperor Pictures, etc., but the latter released Works, very few mainstream films…

Here comes the problem, the situation of MGM has not been very good in recent years...

In 2002, the war blockbuster "Windtalker" that MGM spent huge sums of money on was a disastrous box office failure. The company's executives were forced to resign, and MGM entered the auction ranks.

In 2005, the major shareholder Kerkorian sold MGM Films again and was acquired by Sony Corporation for nearly US$50 billion, of which US$20 billion was used to pay the debts owed by MGM...

Originals like Killer Films, there's no way they'd be investing in...

The risk is too great!
But after the reorganization, MGM signed an agreement with independent film companies such as Weinstein Films and Killer Films to release 14 films a year through joint production or agency distribution...

Of course, like "Carol", they only handle distribution!

Can't afford it.

Christine Watson worked with Chinese filmmakers before becoming a producer——"Laser Man", she is the assistant director, starring Liang Jiahui and Ye Qianwen, the director is Wang Zhengfang...

1987 movie!

That's why she took the initiative to contact Shen Xudong...

After the "The Price of Salt" adaptation was completed, she contacted director Todd Haynes directly.

She and Todd Hines are classmates at Brown University. They have similar views on art, so they collaborated on a bunch of works...

The above is what Shen Xudong knows, oh, and also, the director Todd Haynes is of the same sex~
Be careful with this, after all, Shen Xudong is handsome, so he can't be taken advantage of!
(End of this chapter)