China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 136 The simultaneous release plan went bankrupt

Regarding the overseas distribution of "Signal", Chen Jingxing originally had some ideas, or fantasies.

Many of Hollywood's A-level blockbusters can be released globally, at least in major markets at the same time.

After "The Signal" was scheduled for National Day, DreamWorks discussed this matter with publishers in other major markets, especially those from North America.

The results were not very promising.

First of all, distributors in North America are not willing to cooperate with China's schedule. Hollywood distributors have their own schedules and will not easily greenlight a foreign film.

"Fatal Identity" won the gold medal at the Orlando Film Festival. After Colombia obtained the rights, it waited more than two months before it could be released in North American theaters.

Then there is the distribution method. DreamWorks proposed a global release, or at least a release in the two major markets of China and the United States. This is actually to test whether the distribution method can be changed.

Because DreamWorks’ price for selling off the copyright to “The Signal” is absolutely outrageous, it’s 35 million US dollars, and it’s limited to North American rights.

There is no doubt that it is impossible for North American publishers to accept it.

This price is enough to set a historical record. Never before has the copyright sale price of a foreign film in North America exceeded 30 million US dollars.

On this basis, there is room to discuss whether to sell off the copyright or distribute it in separate accounts.

In the past, the more than 20 million US dollars for "Heroes" was already the limit.

This is DreamWorks' test of Hollywood distributors, wanting to abandon the method of selling out copyrights and instead use box office splitting to release the film in North America.

However, now that the plan for simultaneous global release has been shattered, DreamWorks is not in a hurry to acquire the rights.

At this time, he had a feeling in his heart: "Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west of the river, don't bully young people into poverty."

Unfortunately, when Chen Jingxing went out for a road show, the only people who received him were Xu Wenshen and the company's legal adviser Yang Dairong. Both of them were stones in the pit, so Edward Birch could only leave in frustration.

If it encounters a movie with a good reputation in its second week in North America, or even a superhero movie, the final box office results will be slight.

There are many movies in China that claim to be "simultaneously released worldwide", and of course, from a certain perspective, they can indeed achieve it.

This time Xu Wenshen tried again and wanted to sign a split distribution agreement with Columbia, and made relatively large concessions, but Edward Birch still spread his hands and expressed that he was helpless.

But Chen Jingxing didn't even bother to give them a look.

Moreover, "Fatal Identity" is his first movie to be released in North American theaters, so he can accept a three-digit theater opening. It would be really boring to have "The Signal" open low and go high again.

Chen Jingxing is also a layman, so it is impossible that he does not have such thoughts at all.

Now that these big publishers seem to be colluding together and locking the path of separate distribution, DreamWorks can only retreat.

Of course, DreamWorks also knows that this price is unrealistic. If the copyright cannot be reached, it will naturally be impossible to release it in China and the United States at the same time.

Even if Columbia can take "Fatal Identity" from 725 theaters to its peak of nearly 2,500, that is something that only a distributor of Columbia's level can do. Hollywood is not a fairy tale world, and not everyone can play Counterattack.

Son's.

And he firmly requested that only North American copyrights be sold, while insisting that the amount of 35 million remains unchanged.

As for what Edward Birch kept saying, "North American audiences and Chinese audiences have different tastes, so Chinese box office results will not be a reference for them to purchase copyrights." Xu Wenshen, who received him in the office, dismissed it.

Nowadays, major North American publishers such as Columbia and Universal are very resistant to this. Regarding Chen Jingxing's confusion, his fourth uncle Yang Dairong had some guesses.

Keep selling copyrights.

North American theater chains are very different from those of more than ten years ago. There is basically no room for long-term development. Once there are not enough theaters to open, it will be very difficult for movies to counterattack.

It seems that these big Hollywood distributors have really joined forces to fight him.

Of course, except for a few large publishers who unanimously refused, many small publishers readily accepted DreamWorks' proposal, and some even offered conditions that were so generous that people thought they were scams.

Columbia still refused to give up and sent Edward Birch, an old acquaintance, to try to use his friendship with Chen Jingxing and Xu Wenshen to see if he could soften DreamWorks' attitude.

The counterattack of "Fatal Identity" was actually well-timed. It was because the competitors behind him stretched their hips too much that he showed his talent.

And these small distributors that Chen Jingxing looks down on can at best do something better than a symbolic screening. Even with the fame bonus of Chen Jingxing's previous works, "Comet" and "Fatal Identity", they can make up for five

The opening of hundreds of movie theaters is already considered impressive.

He believes that these big publishers must have reached some kind of py agreement with DreamWorks behind the scenes. They must have expected that DreamWorks would want to get rid of the passive distribution method of selling out copyrights, so they wanted to sign a split distribution agreement with DreamWorks.

A certain consensus has been reached in this regard, which reduces DreamWorks' negotiation space.

Since North American publishers insist on doing a one-time deal, DreamWorks will certainly spend every penny.

For example, in the past life, "Demon Slayer", which broke the North American opening record for foreign films such as "Heroes", signed a split distribution agreement with Funimation Animation. This North American distributor specializes in distributing Japanese animation works.

This is exactly the negotiation strategy of DreamWorks, just like Zhang Weiping once watched "Hero" achieve a box office of 140 million US dollars in North America and other parts of the world, and jealously said that he regretted selling out the copyright.

In fact, Chen Jingxing didn't really intend to close the deal at this astronomical price. He just wanted to drag it out and let Huaguo's box office become his bargaining chip.

However, compared to Columbia's slight dissatisfaction, Chen Jingxing felt even more angry after hearing Xu Wenshen's call.

Universal and Lionsgate may have also seen DreamWorks' mentality, so they stopped entangled and went back to wait for the right time to come - the domestic box office results of "The Signal".

When Japanese animated films enter mainstream theaters in North America, almost all of them sign box office sharing agreements.

However, this proposal was firmly rejected by several large North American publishers.

In the years before Chen Jingxing traveled through his past life, this was almost a mainstream operation.

This makes Chen Jingxing very strange, because it is not uncommon for foreign films to enter into the North American market by signing box office sharing agreements with North American distributors.

Therefore, if "The Signal" wants to achieve outstanding box office results in North American theaters, not to mention that it cannot be lower than "Fatal Identity", then it must choose a major distributor to cooperate with.

This kind of screening is nothing more than screening in a few Chinese theaters in Chinese-populated areas, and it can only be regarded as a "symbolic screening" at best.

For example, Chen Sicheng once mentioned in front of him that "Northern Ireland" was released simultaneously in China and the United States.

To solve this problem, either a domestic company will enter Hollywood and acquire a large studio or distributor; or there will be a distributor like Funimation that specializes in distributing movies from a certain country overseas.

If neither of these are expected, the only way left is to increase Chen Jingxing's appeal in the North American market.

It seems that the success story of "Fatal Identity" is not enough. If "The Signal" once again achieves outstanding box office results in North America, maybe the situation will be different.

In order for these major North American manufacturers to really take themselves seriously one day, it seems that they will have to work hard for a while.

(End of chapter)