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After the release of "Reservoir Dogs", it caused great controversy both in the media and within the film festival organizers.

The purpose of the Sundance Film Festival is to find "adventurous, aggressive, and experimental films that do not rely on the Hollywood box office formula to attract audiences."

Among the outstanding films selected by previous Sundance films, there are very few deaths and very few even guns.

And "Reservoir Dogs" not only has guns, but also has a lot of gun battles, which is very different from the tradition of Sundance in terms of subject matter and style.

But this movie is very good. On the surface it is a gunfight movie, but it contains rich inner layers and anti-type expression techniques. It is a mixture of Hong Kong movies, American B-movies, film noir and French New Wave.

The movie has become a deconstruction of traditional genre films.

On the one hand, it is unconventional, but on the other hand, it is excellent. The emergence of this film put Sundance in a dilemma - they didn't know whether they should accept such a new type of film?

In the media, "Reservoir Dogs" has also been widely reported and discussed, with some saying that this movie is the pinnacle of the new wave of movies and will inevitably open up a new movie genre.

Some people also said that this movie has various problems, including too many swear words, 254 times of "fuck", too much plasma, and Mr. Orange bleeding for the entire 80 minutes.

There's also the infamous ear-cutting scene, which the Los Angeles Times called "offensive."

No matter how the media comments, "Reservoir Dogs" is a hit, director Quentin Tarantino is also a hit, and his talents are recognized by more people.

When "Reservoir Dogs" caused huge controversy, major film studios approached LV Pictures one after another, hoping to obtain the regional distribution rights of "Reservoir Dogs".

There are 14 film studios in North America who want to obtain the distribution rights and DVD rights of "Reservoir Dogs" in North America, including New Line, MGM, Columbia and other major companies.

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Among them, TriStar Home Video Distribution Company of Colombia offered the highest price, with a package price of 6 million US dollars for the film distribution rights and DVD distribution rights. New Line Cinema quoted 5 million US dollars, which was also a package.

But neither Columbia TriStar nor New Line were willing to sign a "no re-editing" agreement.

Their attitude is obvious. There are several parts of the movie that are quite gory. If they are deleted and the film is given a wider screening rating by the American Film Institute, the box office results will be much better. It cannot be done without deletions.

Quentin objected.

In order to take care of Quentin's emotions, Duca did not immediately accept Columbia Samsung's offer and said he would consider it.

Then the fat man Harvey Weinstein came to the door and made a new offer of US$4 million, and he was also willing to sign a "no re-editing" agreement.

"Duka, how's it going?"

"I think 8 million is more appropriate!"

Phew~

"Eight million? Duca, do you really take the rumors seriously and want to multiply my quotation by two?"

Harvey took the glass and took a sip of beer.

Duca smiled and said, "Harvey, this price is not high. First of all, "Reservoir Dogs" has received a lot of attention before it was released, which can save you a lot of publicity expenses.

Secondly, "Reservoir Dogs" has a good reputation. We do not rule out the possibility that it will be a hit and even have a box office of over 100 million. Even if it does not exceed 100 million, it is still possible to have a box office of tens of millions. The DVD distribution data is definitely better than the box office performance, so 8 million is not an exaggeration at all."

"Humph, you are thinking too well. This movie is too niche. It cannot be released in most theaters without editing, so it cannot get a high box office. The 10 million box office is just your imagination.

DVD distribution is not that simple. Publicity, engraving, production, and shelf distribution. The distributor can only get 18% of the share. Even if we sell 1 million copies, we will not make much money, so 8 million is absolutely impossible.

."

Harvey said with a dark face.

Duca frowned slightly. He didn't know how much box office "Reservoir Dogs" could get in North America, but the DVD release performance should be good. He also had a "Reservoir Dogs" video tape, so 8 million is not high.

"How about you both give way?"

Seeing that the two were silent and the atmosphere was a bit tense, Quentin looked at the two and suggested.

"Okay, for Quentin's sake, I will add another 1 million or 5 million. This is my bottom line."

Harvey said with a cold face.

"Now that Quentin has spoken, I will give in 1 million or 7 million. This is my bottom line."

Duka also said with a straight face.

Quentin grinned and asked both parties to give him 1 million. For the first time, he realized that he was quite respectable.

"Seven million is impossible. There is no independent film copyright that can sell for 7 million. Duca, I think you need to have a good understanding of the operating rules of film copyright."

Harvey said with a big face.

"I have learned that the most expensive movie currently traded is "Blood Labyrinth" by the Coen brothers in 1984. It is also a black thriller movie. Columbia Tristar Home Video offered 3.2 million US dollars that year, and finally received 5.7 million box office, and the DVD distribution income was 1.

More than ten million, a big profit.

"Reservoir Dogs" is considered to be a movie that is not inferior to "Blood Maze". Taking into account the inflation factor, 7 million is a very reasonable price."

Duka said with his fingers clasped on the table.

"No, no, it can't be calculated like this. Colombian Samsung released "Blood Labyrinth" and spent more than three million on promotion and distribution to get such box office data. In fact, Samsung lost a lot of money at the box office. I am very satisfied with this.

clear."

Harvey retorted.

"It's just a loss on paper, and we all know that."

Duca said.

"But "Blood Maze" is indeed not good at the box office. This is undeniable. Compared with "Blood Maze", how much better can "Reservoir Dogs" be? 7 million is too risky. I can guarantee that absolutely no film company will

I’ll give you this price.”

Harvey shook his head.

"How about you each take a step back?"

Seeing the two sides arguing, Quentin chuckled.

He hopes that the movie can be released as soon as possible so that the audience can see the movie. If the movie rights are not sold, it will not be released. He is a little anxious.

Duca and Harvey did not give in anymore. Both parties calmed down for a while and proposed an additional clause.

Based on 5 million, if "Reservoir Dogs" can win an award at the Sundance Film Festival, Miramax will give LV Pictures another 500,000 US dollars.

Won an award at the International Category A Film Festival, an additional 500,000, the box office exceeded 10 million, an additional 500,000, and the DVD distribution exceeded 2 million, an additional 500,000.

This agreement is equivalent to 5 million + 4X 500,000 ≈ 7 million. If LV Pictures wants to get 7 million, it still needs to see the results of subsequent movies.

Duca is basically satisfied with this agreement. The figure of 5 million has broken the transaction price of independent films, which is a new record.

More than ten years later, a movie called "Little Miss Sunshine" was released at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Fox Searchlight, an independent film label under 21st Century Fox, for 10.5 million, setting a record.

In 1991, 5 million was not bad.

After the two parties reached an agreement, Miramax and LV Pictures signed a contract.

After the contract is signed, the Sundance Film Festival has reached the final awards stage.

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