1980 My literary era

Lin Weimin saw the surprise in Xu Feng's eyes. Seeing her sitting there with a troubled face, Lin Weimin could roughly guess what she was thinking.

At that time, Ms. Yang invested in the production of "Lover", which won awards in Cannes and Hong Kong, and the box office was good. It stands to reason that there is a good foundation for cooperation. Her willingness to invest in the production of "Farewell My Concubine" is very strong. In fact, it is not possible to cooperate again. Not a bad idea.

But the key problem is that Ms. Yang's financial strength is too weak.

"Farewell My Concubine" ranks first among Lin Weimin's works in terms of fame and sales. If you want to adapt it into a movie, you must be aiming for awards and box office success. Excellent production is the foundation, even if there is no investment in literary and artistic films. It's not high, but it's not something Ms. Yang can handle with her strength.

Compared with Ms. Yang, Xu Feng is much stronger.

In fact, from a financial perspective alone, Hollywood is the best choice for cooperation.

In 1988, when "The Last Emperor" was a hit at the Oscars, Lin Weimin's novels and scripts were once sought after by Hollywood. However, faced with invitations from many companies to cooperate, Lin Weimin was not tempted. He just combined "The Intouchables" and "Anyway," The rights to adapt "Life is Beautiful" were given to Spielberg.

These two works themselves have foreign backgrounds, and Spielberg is known to be a stable output player, so Lin Weimin was relieved to hand over these two works to him.

As for other works, Lin Weimin has some concerns.

The tragedy of Laurentiis' production of "Taipan" is still vivid in my mind. Even Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" had some aspects that made Lin Weimin not satisfied.

It is difficult for Westerners to capture the essence of Eastern things when photographing them. Lin Weimin does not want his pictures to end up being neither fish nor fowl.

The appearance of Xu Feng allowed him to see an opportunity. During the filming of "Farewell My Concubine", it was she who recruited Cheng Kaige, Zhang Guorong, Gong Li and other big names. During the filming process, she worked hard and participated in various roles. Various film festivals and award selections also try their best to publicize.

Whether from the perspective of investors or producers, the results are perfect.

So now Xu Feng comes to ask for the adaptation rights, and Lin Weimin is somewhat willing to cooperate.

The only problem is the price.

It has been nearly ten years since the publication of "Farewell My Concubine". The total domestic sales have exceeded 5 million copies, and it has been sold in more than 20 overseas countries. The total sales volume has already exceeded 10 million copies and is moving towards the record of 20 million copies.

If a work with such world-class influence is to be adapted into a movie, it is actually difficult to estimate its value.

Lin Weimin is not short of money now. The funds in the foreign exchange account of Bank of China have exceeded the 100 million mark.

If he only got some script fees, he would really lack interest.

"Haha, it seems that Ms. Xu is in a bit of trouble." Lin Weimin looked at Xu Feng with a smile.

Xu Feng's face was slightly embarrassed. She was very confident before coming here, thinking that the price she gave was sincere enough, but she didn't expect that it was only half of what others would pay for cooperation with Hollywood.

"Mr. Lin, I have to admit that Americans are indeed rich and powerful. But I think you should also understand that Americans are not good at photographing Chinese things. "Farewell My Concubine" is a classic of our Chinese literature and is famous all over the world. have broad influence.

If we Chinese cannot film this work, I think it will be a pity for all readers and Chinese people.

If you are not satisfied with the script price, we can discuss it again, but..."

Xu Feng looked embarrassed when she said this, and she complained: "You should also understand. "Farewell My Concubine" will definitely be filmed in the direction of a literary film, so the investment will not be too high. Before coming, I thought in my heart The investment amount set for this film is 4 million US dollars, which is already my limit..."

With an investment of 4 million US dollars, the script fee offered to myself was one-tenth of the investment in the film. The sincerity was indeed great.

Lin Weimin looked at the pleading look on Xu Feng's face, and with a thought in his heart, he said, "Ms. Xu, I think it's better to do this. I won't charge the script fee. How about changing it to pure profit sharing?"

Xu Feng's expression was stunned. She didn't expect Lin Weimin to make such a suggestion. She was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

Lin Weimin was not in a hurry and gave her enough time to think about it.

After a while, Xu Feng said: "Mr. Lin is very confident in his work!"

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "It's not so much confidence in my own work as confidence in Ms. Xu. You are the investor and producer of the movie. If the movie loses money, not only you, but also me will lose a penny." Can’t get enough.”

Xu Feng naturally understood what Lin Weimin meant.

The pure profit sharing is equivalent to risk sharing between Lin Weimin, the author of the original work, and herself, the investor. In this way, the investment pressure caused by the high script cost can be avoided and the production cost will be squeezed out.

From a filmmaking perspective, this is certainly a very good idea.

But Xu Feng is not only a producer, she is also an investor in this film.

"Farewell My Concubine" has been extremely influential after being published overseas for many years. Although it is a literary film, it is not a problem to make back the money, and the possibility of making a lot of money is not small.

That's why Xu Feng dared to set the investment scale at 4 million meters from the beginning.

You must know that nowadays, film investment in the Mainland rarely exceeds one million yuan. The Hong Kong film market is booming. For ordinary big casts and big productions, 20 million Hong Kong dollars is already a very large production.

The 4 million yuan she set for "Farewell My Concubine", converted into Hong Kong dollars, is 31 million Hong Kong dollars. In the Hong Kong film industry, it is a first-class large-scale production, and it is the kind of commercial film with all big stars.

Xu Feng couldn't help but regret when he thought of this. If he had known it earlier, it would be better to just give Lin Weimin a satisfactory price. At worst, he could go back and ask her husband for help and invest some funds in her.

Fortunately, Lin Weimin proposed the idea of ​​pure profit sharing. If he did not agree, he would be disadvantaged.

Xu Feng's mind was running rapidly, weighing the pros and cons.

She knew that since Lin Weimin proposed a pure profit sharing method, he was bound to win. The worst he could do was not cooperate. The other party would have nothing to lose, but she missed out on "Farewell My Concubine", a classic work with unlimited adaptation potential.

After much deliberation, Xu Feng finally made up his mind.

"Since Mr. Lin has so much confidence in me, I naturally want it. I just don't know the proportion of pure profit sharing..."

Lin Weimin smiled calmly, "30%!"

Xu Feng couldn't help but lean back after hearing this. For a moment, she really wanted to stand up and slam the door away.

30%!

This number is simply too exaggerated. Lin Weimin dared to ask for 30% of the net profit just by publishing an original work.

"Mr. Lin, with all due respect, your request is too outrageous." Xu Feng said in a serious tone.

"Outrageous?" Lin Weimin smiled and shook his head, "Ms. Xu, do you know what the four words "Farewell My Concubine" stand for?"

Xu Feng's face was stiff. She understood what Lin Weimin meant.

With the influence "Farewell My Concubine" has created overseas for many years, as soon as the filming of the movie is announced, it will inevitably attract the attention of countless readers.

You must know that even if it is a conservative estimate, there are tens of millions of readers of "Farewell My Concubine" worldwide. These readers are very likely to become the most solid audience of the movie. This is the basic box office base of the movie.

"Ms. Xu, let me be blunt. If I agree to you the film adaptation rights of "Farewell My Concubine" today, tomorrow you will finish coding the crew and hold a press conference to announce the filming of "Farewell My Concubine", and even You don’t even have to sell the film, just selling the distribution rights is enough to make your money back!”

When Lin Weimin said this, his eyes were stern and full of confidence.

Xu Feng couldn't help but said: "Since Mr. Lin believes that "Farewell My Concubine" is a business that is sure to make money without losing money, why not prepare this movie by yourself?"

Faced with her slightly sarcastic words, Lin Weimin was not angry at all and said: "It takes too much energy to invest and produce a movie. I have a job and writing at the same time, so I am too busy."

After answering Xu Feng's words, Lin Weimin added: "Ms. Xu, you may think that I want to give you a high percentage. But I can tell you responsibly that even if you invite ten big stars, it will not be as good as "The King's Farewell". "The influence of the work itself."

"Mr. Lin, your figure is so insincere. I invested real money in making the movie, but you are reaping the benefits." Xu Feng said with a bit of frustration.

"Ms. Xu, when it comes to doing business, you and I agree. If you think my conditions are too excessive, just pretend I didn't say anything." Lin Weimin said with a smile.

Xu Feng looked at Lin Weimin steadily, trying to find flaws in his eyes, but Lin Weimin's eyes were calm, his expression was calm, and he had no intention of giving in.

She couldn't help but feel a little angry in her heart, and said sarcastically: "Are all writers so willing to spend money?"

Lin Weimin smiled and said: "Compared with you businessmen, I'm still a little behind."

After saying this, Lin Weimin didn't wait for Xu Feng to speak again, and then said: "Well, in order to express my sincerity, how about I get some investment for Ms. Xu?"

"Investment?" Xu Feng looked puzzled.

"Getting some investment from Hollywood will be beneficial in terms of participation in film festivals and film distribution in the future. What does Ms. Xu think of my proposal?"

Xu Feng was silent, and his face showed an expression of careful thinking again.

"Mr. Lin, since you can attract investment from Hollywood, why not hand over "Farewell My Concubine" to them?"

"You just said that the Americans can't make Chinese stuff, so wouldn't it be a waste of money if I hand my novel over to them? Although I said I would get you investment from Hollywood, you are still the main producer of the movie."

Xu Feng nodded when he heard this, and everything made sense.

No wonder "Farewell My Concubine" is so famous, but it has not been adapted into a film and television. No wonder Lin Weimin has been slow to take action even though he has the ability to invest and produce on his own.

She knew that Lin Weimin also needed a reliable and attentive partner.

After thinking about this, Xu Feng gained some confidence.

"10%!" Xu Feng said suddenly, almost breaking Lin Weimin's bones.

"Ms. Xu is joking, 10% is impossible."

"12%, Mr. Lin, I am already very sincere."

"Ms. Xu, you have to show some sincerity when doing business. "Farewell My Concubine" is different from commercial films and does not require large investment. The film and television version is completely supported by the reputation of the work."

"15%, no more, you just produced a script."