Director’s Legend

() "Source Code" is a low-cost science fiction film directed by the famous director Duncan Jones in 2009. It tells a series of thrilling events experienced by Captain Kurt Stevens, a U.S. Air Force pilot on mission in Afghanistan. . The production cost is 32 million U.S. dollars, which is about 250 million yuan according to the exchange rate relationship. The global box office of the final harvest is 120 million US dollars.

Of course, it's 2004 now, and prices haven't risen that much yet. What's more, "Source Code" invited three big-name stars, and the salary alone accounted for a large part of it, and it was filmed in the United States. If it is filmed in China now, Shao Shuaijun is sure that the cost will be reduced exponentially.

He has learned about the current special effects company, which can completely create the effect of a train explosion. Depending on the length of the shot, the charges are also different. Shao Shuaijun summed it up, and the explosion effect of about 5 minutes can cut and complete the needs of the entire movie. Calculated at 5 million per minute, 25 million in 5 minutes.

Coupled with some other special effects screens, the entire movie needs to spend more than 35 million on special effects.

Secondly, the biggest cost of props in the movie is spent on the train. At the very least, you have to lease several train sections, coordinate with the railway department, and take aerial photography with a helicopter. This part cannot be won without 10 million.

The special effects and props add up to 45 million. If you want to reduce the cost, you can save a little bit of the part reserved for filming and film remuneration. 500,000 contacted Liu Yifei, and Shao Shuaijun was very satisfied. Liu Yifei is very popular this year, which is a guarantee for the mainland box office.

Except for the heroine played by Liu Yifei, a college student. There is also a female officer who has a lot of roles. For this candidate, Shao Shuaijun contacted Huayi's own artist, Fan Bingbing. Fan Bingbing has been very popular since the little swallow in "Returning the Pearl and Princess". He has participated in many TV series and all of them received good ratings.

He and Li Bingbing claimed to be two soldiers besides the four little Huadans, and they seemed to have the attitude of attacking Huadans.

What is lacking is the achievements in the film, and he has not played any important roles.

With the support of Huayi Brothers and the female lead Liu Yifei's salary of 500,000 yuan, Fan Bingbing readily took over the role of the female officer with the same salary of 500,000 yuan.

Once the main actors are determined, the cost can also be determined, and they are pieced together on the line of 50 million.

With the cost budget, the next step is to start attracting investment. Shao Shuaijun went to Huayi Brothers first, and talked with Wang Zhonglei, who was in charge of the film and television project, in the office.

"Mr. Wang, the script of the film has been finished. With an investment of 50 million, how much can Mr. Wang solve?"

Wang Zhonglei knocked on the table: "Xiao Shao, this is a pure sci-fi movie. China's sci-fi movie is currently in a downturn. You should know that there is no pure sci-fi movie at all. Now shooting this kind of movie can make money Is it? 50 million is not a small amount of money, and Huayi will definitely not invest in full."

"I can be sure that the movie will be a hit. I calculated it. In the current market, the box office of 50 million is the minimum. If Chinese films want to develop, the Film Bureau will definitely encourage the filming of science fiction themes. Once they get the support of the Film Bureau, they will increase the number of films. And the duration, it should not be difficult to break the box office of 100 million. Moreover, "Source Code" is the touchstone I use to hit the US market."

Shao Shuaijun calculated wisely. The original version of "Source Code" landed in the mainland, and it got 43 million in the first week. It was just because the distribution company was not in place, and the number of films was reduced again and again. In the end, it only got 65 million at the box office. In fact, the audience did not reduce too much. If it is fair , Breaking 100 million is not difficult.

Nowadays, the film market is not as popular as later generations, but it will not be too much affected by piracy. In a fair way, there is a chance of breaking 100 million.

Wang Zhonglei was obviously not so optimistic about Shao Shuaijun, and sighed: "Xiao Shao, why do you insist on making science fiction movies? Now you can shoot some blockbuster movies like "Crazy Stone" and consolidate your director status while making money. You Still young, eighteen years old, many directors are still playing with mud at this age, why rush to hit Hollywood?"

I can tell you that I only have nine years, and the time is passing by little by little. If the best movie is not made, there will be no drama for me?

Shao Shuaijun is in a difficult situation, he doesn't know that his foundation is weak now, and the normal path should be steady and steady. But he must seize the time and race against time to shoot good movies for future generations. If they are only busy with the blockbuster comedies in China, wouldn't all the good foreign movies be wasted.

But he couldn't explain the reason, so he could only continue to persuade: "Mr. Wang, "Source Code" has a good idea. We don't want to shoot it now. When the movie develops rapidly in the future, there must be many sci-fi films of this type. "Source Code" There is no competitiveness. I am very confident about this movie. If it is not because I want the shares of Huayi Brothers, I really want to get back my 30 million and use it to invest in this movie. It is absolutely no problem to make a lot of money in the future If Huayi is afraid of taking too many risks, then it can attract investment, and Poly Bona, Media Asia, and Warner can all participate.”

Speaking of this, Wang Zhonglei has no reason to refuse to cooperate no matter whether it is emotional or reasonable: "Okay, if you have confidence, I will believe in you! Huayi's shares are already in sight, and Tom Group initially agrees to your holding share plan, you can join Huayi with confidence, and we will start a business together! I will discuss the investment in "Source Code" in person."

If a movie is successful, there is a possibility of shit luck. But the success of "Buried Alive" and "Crazy Stone" is not just luck. Wang Zhonglei is really optimistic about Shao Shuaijun's future. After the conversation, together with Shao Shuaijun, they began to go to major film and television investment companies to discuss film cooperation.

Wang Zhonglei talked about cooperation, and Shao Shuaijun was responsible for explaining the script. The investment, which was thought to be difficult, was unexpectedly easy.

The first stop was Century Hero. Century Hero is a film and television investment company jointly established by CITIC Investment and China Film Group. Chen Kaige’s 300 million yuan masterpiece "The Promise", which just started shooting this year, is a movie invested by Century Hero. The person in charge of Century Hero did not agree to invest. It is said that investing in "The Promise" exhausted the capital chain.

However, in the second stop, Pauli Bona, it went smoothly unexpectedly.

"Haha, if you don't come to me, I'm going to look for Xiao Shao too. "Crazy Stone" made me greedy, alas, I was wrong at the beginning, Xiao Shao, I solemnly apologize to you, when "Buried Alive" "I didn't pay much attention to it." As soon as Yu Dong came up, he spoke enthusiastically.

Shao Shuaijun was taken aback for a moment, and sure enough, the face of a businessman was all rolled out of the hob. Reaching out to not hit the smiling face, today it is attracting investment again, besides, there was no big festival before, and the scene immediately became active. For "Source Code", Yu Dong agreed to invest after reading the rough script.

"We, Poly Bona, are willing to invest 20 million, as long as the box office is divided into 30%."

"30% is too high. Huayi also intends to invest 20 million yuan, plus distribution, and only get 35%. Shao Shuaijun, as the director, screenwriter and starring role, does not get paid, but takes 10% of the share, leaving a 10 million investment gap , plus the investment in publicity expenses, at least 30% of the share must be reserved, and you can only account for 25% of the share at most."

"It depends on the next investment amount, we will discuss it later."

"OK."

After discussing the direction of cooperation from Poly Bona, the third stop was Media Asia Variety Entertainment, which is a film company in Hong Kong and had a good cooperation with Huayi Brothers. For this "Source Code", Zhuang Cheng, one of Media Asia's directors, is still very optimistic about the script, and once the sci-fi movie is finished, the word-of-mouth is no worse than the art movie.

Chinese-language movies need the embellishment of science fiction movies too much.

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(I'm going out for a wedding soon, so send it out in advance.)