1980 My literary era

In late March, the news that "Farewell My Concubine" won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 66th Academy Awards was like a typhoon, leaving a big shock to the Chinese cultural community.

Media at all levels across the country have reported almost all aspects of the Oscars news, with various special articles sorting, summarizing, and reviewing published one after another.

Names closely related to movies such as "Farewell My Concubine", Lin Weimin, Cheng Kaige, Gong Li, etc. frequently appear on TV, newspapers, magazines and other media, and they tirelessly attract the public's attention.

Everyone knows it!

"Farewell My Concubine" has created a news craze in China, and it is no less popular in the United States.

The novel "Farewell My Concubine" has been in the United States for more than 10 years and has sold nearly 10 million copies. The drama version has been performed on Broadway for several years and has attracted more than 2 million viewers. With such a huge readership and audience base, it can be regarded as a masterpiece-level work.

Since the start of filming, it has attracted the attention of countless readers, viewers and many production companies in the film industry.

At the end of last year, after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, "Farewell My Concubine" entered the Hollywood awards season with great momentum.

In just one month, it won three of the four major American Film Critics Association Awards, making it an instant hit.

Then came the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which was unsurprisingly won by this film, aiming for the Academy Award.

At the 1994 Academy Awards, the biggest winner was undoubtedly "Schindler's List," which won seven awards including Best Director and Best Picture. Spielberg's film reflected the tragic experience of Jews during World War II. The movie has surpassed the movie itself and become a kind of political correctness.

Of course, the quality of "Schindler's List" itself also deserves this honor.

Many of the films shortlisted this time were overshadowed by the shining light of "Schindler's List," with the exception of one film.

That is "Farewell My Concubine".

Because it had not been released in the United States when it competed for the Academy Award, "Farewell My Concubine" could only be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

Xu Feng and Mike had two considerations in doing this. First, focusing on the Best Foreign Language Film Award can avoid distractions and ensure the greatest possibility of winning; second, if it is released in the United States in advance in order to compete for other major awards, there will be no Achieving maximum publicity effect will affect the box office after release.

On the contrary, if it can be released with the greatest media exposure after being guaranteed to win the Best Foreign Language Film Award, it will definitely be a strong boost to the box office of "Farewell My Concubine".

Obviously, Xu Feng and Mike's strategy succeeded.

"Farewell My Concubine" not only successfully won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but also quickly made the headlines of major news media in the United States after winning the award. It received as much attention as "Schindler's List" which won seven awards. This level of attention is naturally inseparable from the folk foundation of the original novel "Farewell My Concubine".

On the third day after winning the award, "Farewell My Concubine" was officially launched in 1,400 theaters in North America.

Late March is always a quiet time in the United States, but "Farewell My Concubine" has grossed RMB 52.43 million within three days of its opening, with the addition of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, making it a worthy winner in the North American film market. Weekly box office champion.

This number not only set a box office record for Chinese films in the United States, but also broke the box office record for foreign films released in the United States.

The week after its release, the screening scale of "Farewell My Concubine" expanded again, reaching 2,279. The highest single-day box office occurred on Friday, with an astonishing 34.6 million US dollars.

In the seven days of the following week, "Farewell My Concubine" received an incredible box office of 125 million US dollars, once again winning the box office championship in North America that week, with a cumulative box office of 177 million US dollars, approaching the 200 million US dollars mark.

Everyone knows that 200 million meters will not be the end of "Farewell My Concubine".

It took 23 weeks for 1993's "My Little Daddy" to get 219 million yuan, 1992's "Aladdin" took 22 weeks to get 217 million yuan, and 1990's "The Last Day" used 23 weeks to get 219 million yuan. It took 30 weeks to get 218 million yuan, 1988's "Rain Man" took 25 weeks to get 173 million yuan, and 1986's "Top Gun" took 30 weeks to get 177 million yuan...

Looking at the North American film market, there are movies that took 177 million yuan in box office in two weeks and ten days, but they are very few. Almost all the movies that finally exceeded 200 million yuan in box office used extended screening, which took more than half a year. Got it.

In the face of "Farewell My Concubine", which has been building momentum and raising hopes for ten years, these movies are more than inferior.

Ten days ago, "Farewell My Concubine" was just an Academy Award-winning film for Best Foreign Language Film. There is one movie like this every year. Most of the movies will not make any splash in the North American film market and no one will pay attention to them.

Ten days later, "Farewell My Concubine" announced to the American film industry with its incredible box office that this was its era!

Today, there are only a handful of opponents facing "Farewell My Concubine".

"E.T." with a budget of 359 million US dollars, "Jurassic Park 1" with a US$357 million, "Home Alone 1" with a US$285 million...

Every opponent it will challenge is a classic that will remain in the history of film in North America. While challenging these predecessors, the name of "Farewell My Concubine" will also be written in the history of film in North America and the world.

A Chinese-language film conquers the North American market and has no enemy.

Even twenty years later, this will still be the most dazzling legend in Chinese movies!

The brilliant achievements of "Farewell My Concubine" are inseparable from all the movie audiences who support it. A large part of these people are fans of the novel and the drama. Based on the fans of the book and the drama, the film has formed The strong moviegoing crowd gave "Farewell My Concubine" unlimited box office potential, completely shocking the American film industry.

The North American film market has always been the back garden of Hollywood. Before "Farewell My Concubine", if you ask any American filmmaker, they would never have imagined that a Chinese film could be so raging in the North American market.

terrible!

"It's so scary!" Michael Phillips' tone was even a bit horrifying, "Lin, can you imagine? This is actually a Chinese-language movie, and a Chinese-language movie that I participated in investing in!"

"Calm down, Mike, I think it will be difficult for "Farewell My Concubine" to break through the box office of 300 million US dollars." Lin Weimin said on the other end of the phone.

"Do you know what you are talking about? With 300 million US dollars, the box office of North American movies, you can rank in the top five in history!" Michael Phillips said in surprise.

Don't blame the boss for not seeing the world. He was really shocked by "Farewell My Concubine"'s incredible box office of 177 million US dollars in two weeks.

It is now the 1990s. The Titanic ship has not yet set sail, the Matrix empire has not yet risen, and the Marvel universe has not yet exploded. A movie with a box office of over 100 million dollars is already a big hit. It will be difficult to break through 300 million dollars in ten years. Encounter.

In a year when the box office is sluggish, with $177 million, it can even win the annual box office crown.

Such a shocking box office performance of "Farewell My Concubine" has been seen only a handful of times even if Michael Phillips has been in the industry for more than 20 years, not to mention that this is a movie he invested in.

Michael Phillips was venting his emotions on the phone, about things related to the movie box office, about the production company, about media reports...

In short, the success of the movie is a success. The world has opened its arms to "Farewell My Concubine". As one of the investors and producers of "Farewell My Concubine", Michael Phillips has naturally been enthusiastically received by Hollywood. sought after.

When Michael Phillips turned five years old, his old tree blossomed again, and he became a guest of major Hollywood production companies. He felt very proud for a while.

He also enjoyed this kind of treatment twenty years ago. In 1974, "The Liar", which he served as the producer, swept the Academy Awards that year, starting Michael Phillips' life journey as a well-known Hollywood producer.

In the past twenty years, Michael Phillips has enjoyed highs and lows. He has long been proficient in the tricks of Vanity Fair. He has a firm mind and knows how to enjoy life in time without any nostalgia.

Because he understood that all the applause and honors he received were due to hugging his thighs.

"Lin, really, you should really take a look at the faces of these production companies. Now whenever you meet me at a cocktail party, they will try their best to get your contact information from me and let me help introduce them to you. company.

They have probably forgotten how arrogant they were when you asked for five million dollars! "

Michael Phillips' words were full of pride, but Lin Weimin felt that this guy was stirring up trouble and stirring up dissension.

"Farewell My Concubine" is a hit and is expected to be among the top box office hits in North America. Lin Weimin, a famous screenwriter who has been ignored by Hollywood for several years, has once again returned to the attention of major production companies.

That year, "The Last Emperor" won nine Oscars, and "The Intouchables" grossed 200 million US dollars at the global box office. Lin Weimin once became a favorite in Hollywood, and major production companies offered him olive branches.

But Lin Weimin is well aware of the piss-poor nature of Hollywood. He is so open-minded that a script costs 5 million yuan, which immediately scares away countless production companies who are interested in taking advantage of his popularity.

Because of this, Lin Weimin was labeled as "ignorant of current affairs" by Hollywood. Since then, few people have paid attention to his works, and he has received a cold reception in Hollywood.

Now that "Farewell My Concubine" has been released in North America and exploded at the box office, no one will give credit to director Cheng Kaige.

Whether it's the audience or Hollywood, all they see is "Farewell My Concubine" and its creator Lin Weimin.

Such dazzling achievements are hard for even Hollywood to ignore.

When it comes to doing business, don’t say it’s a waste of time. You have to eat what you have to do.

Michael Phillips certainly needs to be wary of this situation.

It was hard for him to get hold of Lin Weimin. After running the business for so many years, he would not let it go easily.

The little goblins in Hollywood are very good at trapping people. He must not give those people an opportunity to take advantage of him. Taking this opportunity to give them some eye drops, Lin's chance of being seduced will be smaller.

Because the distribution capabilities of Xu Feng and Michael Phillips in North America are relatively weak, the distribution of "Farewell My Concubine" was handed over to their old partner Columbia Pictures.

The film distribution model in the United States is different from that in China. It is more market-oriented. There are generally three ways of cooperation between producers and cinemas: negotiated guaranteed minimum price, fixed price and share. The method of dividing the accounts of "Farewell My Concubine" is no guaranteed share.

The unguaranteed split method is a big test for producers and distributors. Most companies dare not sign it. Only those producers and distributors who are extremely confident in the work dare to do this.

The calculation method using this accounting method is more complicated. Generally speaking, the final box office share will be the producer, distributor: theater chain = about 5:5.

Producers and distributors are further divided. This ratio is generally 6:4 in Hollywood. If a weak producer cooperates with a strong distributor, the ratio can even reach 5:5. The producer of "Farewell My Concubine" and Columbia The share ratio of the film industry is very normal, which is 6:4.

If calculated based on the box office of 300 million US dollars, the theater chain will share 150 million US dollars, the distributor Columbia will share another 60 million US dollars, and Xu Feng, Michael, and Lin Weimin as producers can share 90 million US dollars. .

Michael Phillips accounted for 35% of the box office revenue, which is 31.5 million US dollars.

The box office revenue of one movie in North America alone exceeded Michael Phillips’s income for most of his life.

Let alone Hollywood, even if White G comes, Michael Phillips will not be able to let go of this thigh.

In the eyes of Michael Phillips, Lin Weimin now is a money-spreading boy with golden light all over his body.

"That's all you've been talking about for so long?"

Michael Phillips was still chattering on the other end of the phone, and Lin Weimin interrupted him.

"Of course not, there is another very important thing."

Seeing Lin Weimin's impatient tone, Michael Phillips stopped talking nonsense and became serious.

"What's up?"