China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 289 The Value of "The Matrix"

The history of Chinese-American co-production movies is very long, dating back ten years. The more famous examples are "The King of Kung Fu" eight years ago, which brought together two major kung fu superstars, and "The Great Wall" filmed last year. Of course, some of the films in between are bad.

There are countless co-productions like the crucian carp crossing the river.

Although it was not a success at the box office, it could not stop the enthusiasm of filmmakers from the two countries for cooperation.

Although he was a little surprised by Chen Jingxing's immediate agreement, Jeff Miller was still a little puzzled by Chen Jingxing's subsequent words.

"Of course you are not Zhang Yimou."

"What I mean is that the cooperation between the two parties must be based on me." Chen Jingxing said firmly: "I only accept Universal's money, but I cannot accept any interference from Universal's producers."

Hollywood is a producer-centered system, and many filmmakers have even fought to create so-called "independent films" for this reason.

On the surface, independent films are intended to rebel against big studios, but in essence they are concepts and production models that were born out of opposition to the producer-centered system.

In non-independent films, especially non-independent commercial films, the director does not have the right to edit, and the editors are all brought by the producer.

Among commercial film directors in North America, only those at the top of the pyramid have complete editing rights. They can count them with both hands. This is a privilege that only internationally renowned directors have.

Chen Jingxing's attitude was sincere: "Believe me, the value of "The Matrix" will only be higher than that of "Gravity"."

"What we want is an ambitious movie like "Gravity," not just a project like "The Signal" or "Source Code."

If Chen Jingxing randomly comes up with some projects that have no commercial value to fool Universal, Universal can naturally stop protecting and supporting DreamWorks at any time. Without Universal's support, and the rejection of other major studios, DreamWorks' subsequent films will not be able to be released in North America.

A large-scale release will naturally be difficult, which is equivalent to half the door being closed to DreamWorks in the North American market.

Universal wants to ride on the DreamWorks bandwagon and share the DreamWorks cake. DreamWorks is actually riding on the Universal bandwagon, and at least from Chen Jingxing's own perspective, it doesn't suffer.

In addition, there are some science fiction projects that are not suitable for setting in China, such as "District 9". In the current film market, with Hollywood major studios like Universal fully distributing, this film can at least achieve success.

Box office revenue of $4.5 billion.

Soon, the news that DreamWorks and Universal Pictures signed an agreement to jointly produce multiple movies in the future shocked Hollywood.

Moreover, due to China's current unclassified film review system, the production and broadcast of "The Walking Dead" in the form of a web series is already the limit, and it is almost impossible to put it on the big screen.

It's just that this "landing" has a completely different meaning from the traditional foreign director coming to Hollywood.

Obviously this is a signal that this foreign company wants to make further money in the North American market.

But if the target is DreamWorks, no one would think so, especially now that discussions on "Black Mirror"-related topics are booming on the Internet in Europe and the United States.

Chen Jingxing retorted: ""The Matrix" is a science fiction movie, and kung fu is only a relatively important element in the movie. You cannot completely define it as a kung fu movie."

Some right-wing media have even shouted the title "Chinese companies invade Hollywood."

Chen Jingxing already had a preliminary plan in mind.

As for a few years later, after DreamWorks has established a stronger global distribution network and its own brand influence has become more stable, the bargaining chips that Universal and even other Hollywood studios can threaten will become smaller, and they will be relegated to the North American market, which has the second largest ticket market.

It's not as big as it is now.

"Of course I do. I heard it's a kung fu... science fiction movie?" Jeff Miller said hesitantly.

The European and American markets are worth such a price, and with the help of Universal's mature peripheral development system, if "The Matrix" can replicate the success of its previous world around the world, the box office revenue will not even be the bulk of the profit.

As a director, Chen Jingxing himself has a relatively high reputation among young people. Coupled with the overwhelming publicity for "Gravity", it gives people the feeling that Chen Jingxing has landed in Hollywood.

Although Jeff Miller was a little surprised by Chen Jingxing's insistent request, he did not particularly object. Universal wanted to get on board with DreamWorks out of consideration of interests. As long as it could make money, it should not be interfered with or controlled.

Process is not the core issue.

There is no need to use Chen Jingxing's other film projects in the next few years as bargaining chips. The two "Matrix" movies, plus the new zombie-themed movie series derived from "The Walking Dead", and one or two other projects are enough to satisfy Universal's appetite within five years.

Already.

Chen Jingxing can accept co-producing a movie with Universal, but it is absolutely impossible for him to accept being a producer from Universal.

Because among the producers of "The Great Wall" is China Film, Chen Jingxing learned from Qin Zhonghe that Zhang Yimou was greatly restricted by Hollywood producers when he was filming "The Great Wall". "The Great Wall" is a film

Co-produced films under a filmmaker-centered system.

Although there are various dissatisfactions, Universal still adheres to the attitude of listening to Chen Jingxing's words, watching his actions, and walking around.

In addition to "The Matrix", there is another type of movie that is suitable for cooperation with Universal, and that is zombie movies.

It is completely different if DreamWorks and Universal want to promote Chinese-American co-productions. If other foreign companies cooperate with Universal, people usually just think that this is Hollywood trying to make foreign money.

The carrot of "The Matrix" will also allow Universal to contribute more to the distribution of other DreamWorks films.

However, Jeff Miller obviously seemed to be dissatisfied with this "carrot". He did not hide his expression and opinion: "Chen, let me remind you that the kung fu craze has long subsided here. I'm afraid this movie alone

Not sincere enough.”

Not to mention that it is still a Chinese company.

The two parties plan to initially sign an agreement that stipulates how many film projects DreamWorks will provide and co-produce with Universal in the next few years, and the maximum share that Universal can hold. Universal will participate in the global distribution of DreamWorks' films in the next few years, and

Try to ensure that DreamWorks movies receive local treatment when distributed in North America.

So movies based on the world view of "The Walking Dead" can only take the overseas route. Universal is a very suitable partner. If it can achieve the same influence as the "Resident Evil" series in the previous life, then this will also be a decades-old movie.

A billion-dollar IP.

Because "The Matrix" is a film solely produced by DreamWorks, Chen Jingxing believes that he can give up 40% of the following two films. In order to obtain the full support of an established Hollywood giant for distribution in the global market, he believes that this is still a good deal, especially

This was at a time when other major Hollywood studios were hostile to DreamWorks.

"Yes, Universal can invest in the two follow-up films of "The Matrix"."

This version of DreamWorks' "The Walking Dead" combines the world view of the previous world "Resident Evil", the TV series "The Walking Dead", "World War Z" and other top zombie-themed works.

Chen Jingxing's confident attitude still slightly infected Jeff Miller. After all, judging from Chen Jingxing's historical performance, it seems that he has never said anything big. However, "The Matrix" is still in post-production, and there is no way for Jeff to see it.

It is completely different from "Gravity", so for the vice president of Universal, it is difficult to rule out the suspicion that Chen Jingxing is self-proclaimed.

Of course, such an agreement does not have much coercive force. The guarantee of cooperation between DreamWorks and Universal is actually the hostility of other major companies towards DreamWorks.

However, Chen Jingxing's self-described "generousness" was dubious by Universal.

You must know that DreamWorks is not NBCS in Hollywood. It can be said that it is the foreign film company that has made the most money in the North American market in recent years.

What Universal wanted was a project like "Gravity," but whether it was "The Martian" or subsequent major science fiction productions, Chen Jingxing didn't want Hollywood companies to share the cake.

Chen Jingxing's previous movies will also have a steady stream of follow-up revenue. For example, "Source Code" has sold the rights to adapt the game, but they can't compare with this series. The complete story and world view of "The Matrix" make its commercial value

It is at the top of the pyramid among hard science fiction movies.

Of course, the follow-up two installments of "The Matrix" alone will be slow to satisfy Universal's appetite.

In fact, even with Chen Jingxing's resume, if he left China and came to Hollywood to make a movie, he would not be able to directly obtain editing rights.

It is absolutely worthy of Universal’s protection and support for DreamWorks.

"You know the movie I just finished filming, The Matrix, right?"

Universal is not always aware of the developments at DreamWorks, but he has been keeping track of Chen Jingxing's own films.

"You're saying we could work together on a sequel to The Matrix? I heard it's a three-part series, right?"

Indeed, in the eyes of many people, this is a very serious matter. Even if a Japanese company acquired a major Hollywood studio in the past, and the media shouted "Japan bought Hollywood," the movies produced by the major studios acquired by the Japanese company were still Hollywood movies.

It's just an "invasion" in the sense of equity.

Of course, this depends on whether DreamWorks' next major film "The Walking Dead" can successfully elevate this theme from a niche niche plasma film to a more popular subculture.

In the past life, the total revenue of the "Matrix" trilogy exceeded 3 billion US dollars in twenty years, and the film's main creative staff, including the actors, received dividends from the profits every year.

Compared with the sophistication and completeness of its own worldview, the current level of the zombie genre is simply overwhelming. If it can have a wider influence like "Black Mirror", it can definitely be upgraded to a popular subculture.

, then the subsequent development of film, television, animation and games will be a big gold mine.

The production cost of "The Matrix" is less than 50 million US dollars, which is really not enough in today's Hollywood. In the eyes of Jeff Miller, it is at most a movie project of the level of "Source Code", which is not enough.

Global appetite.

Of course, there are many people who are excited about this. Many people don't care who is making money from the film market. They just want to see better and cooler movies and TV series, especially science fiction works.

Chen Jingxing and DreamWorks have already gained a large number of fans and established a brand image through several previous science fiction movies and the recent mini-series "Black Mirror".

Many fans who love Chen Jingxing's movies and "Black Mirror" have even spread the news about whether "Black Mirror" will be made into a movie version, or whether "The Signal" will be made into an American version.

At the same time, news of the high-profile cooperation between DreamWorks and Universal Pictures also spread to China, triggering a lot of speculation and discussion in the media and industry.

(End of chapter)