Li Mu hopes to increase the coverage and influence of zombie films overseas as much as possible. Based on this, he asked Makino Imaging to find a powerful distributor and then reduce Makino Imaging’s share ratio.
According to normal circumstances, for most countries, when overseas films are imported, the film studio's box office share should be between 25-35%, and most of them are in the 30% range. Li Mu's cost of acquiring these copyrights is surprisingly low, just Relying on the copyright income from domestic TV broadcasts, he can recoup all his copyright investment and even make a surplus, so the income from overseas licensing is not that important to Li Mu.
Immediately, Makino Image set a tone for cooperation internally, and only looked for the most influential issuers in a country's market. If the other party did not take the initiative to contact them, Makino Image could take the initiative to contact them, and Makino Image's cooperation requirements were , the box office share can be reduced to 15% or even 10%, but the film scheduling rate must be guaranteed to a certain extent, and the distributor must make it clear in the contract that 50% of the revenue discarded by Makino Imaging must be given to the theater chain.
Giving more profit margins to distributors will make them work harder to promote the film and implement various projects, while giving more profit margins to theaters will make them proactively allocate more resources for film arrangement.
If the attendance rate of movie A is 10% higher than that of movie B, the theater chain will naturally be more willing to schedule more movies for A. But if the profit sharing of movie B is 10% or 15% higher, then the theater chain will be more inclined to the latter.
The overseas market is very fragmented. The core theaters are North America and Europe, followed by Japan and South Korea. The rest are a lot of various countries. It is difficult for traditional film distributors, even the top film and television companies in Hollywood, to do this. Global promotion, but the Internet is an exception. If globalization is a trend in all walks of life, then the three words globalization are based on the Internet. Therefore, today when all walks of life have not truly realized globalization, the only The only thing that can achieve globalization is the Internet.
The great thing about "Plants vs. Zombies Online" is that it has wide coverage and is suitable for all ages. After the new version came out, players accepted it very well, so they became very curious about the Chinese zombies themselves. This is very important, and it is equivalent to being ahead of schedule. Zombie movies have been warmed up around the world.
In order to improve the performance of "Mr. Zombie" in the North American market, Li Mu specifically contacted Spielberg, hoping that he could introduce him to a distributor with sufficient capabilities to facilitate the release of the film in the North American market as soon as possible.
Spielberg is busy filming "Flying Tigers". A few days ago, under the pressure of SARS in China, he led the team to China and set up a filming location in Spring City. Since then, he has never left China, focusing on the film. At work, I naturally have no time to pay attention to what is happening on the Internet. I have not even heard of the new version of "Plants vs. Zombies Online".
When Spielberg suddenly heard that Li Mu wanted to release a movie shot in Hong Kong in 1985 in the United States, one of his thoughts was that it was impossible. No matter how good the movie in the United States was in 1985, it would be impossible to re-release it, even on DVD and There is little space in the video tape market, let alone a Hong Kong movie. No matter how influential Li Mu is, he cannot force the audience to pay for a Hong Kong movie made in 1985.
However, Spielberg did not explain this directly, because he knew Li Mu's routine and it was difficult for ordinary people to make him change his mind about the things he believed in. Even if he said something, he would still not give up. What's more, he You are asking for help from yourself. If you refuse to help, it will in itself be a harm to the cooperative relationship between the two.
Therefore, Spielberg could only agree first and promised Li Mu that he would communicate with publishers he knew to help Li Mu promote cooperation.
Afterwards, Spielberg immediately called the publisher that DreamWorks has the most and closest cooperation with. What he expected was to ask the other party for help. If the other party refused, he would offer some favors. Li Mu rarely Drag yourself to help, if you can't handle it this time, you'll feel a bit embarrassed.
Spielberg has had more contact with Chinese people recently, and has somewhat understood some of the Chinese way of life. He regards this way of life as an Eastern philosophy of life, and has studied it seriously for a period of time.
At this time, it was night time in Los Angeles. The other party received a call from Spielberg, and he joked like an old friend: "Hey Steven, how are you in China? Have you been infected with the terrible SARS?"
"Shit, Lucas." Spielberg smiled helplessly and said: "China is very safe, at least safer than the United States. You may not be able to hear a gunshot with your own ears even if you live here for thirty years."
"Haha." The other party laughed and said, "I can't even imagine what life would be like without guns. There was a shooting in Hollywood two days ago. A mentally retarded person who always played third-tier characters in third-tier TV series shot and killed him on the set. I hired a director and a screenwriter, and I happened to visit the studio next door that day, which almost scared me to the point of pissing my pants.”
Spielberg laughed: "You should thank God, you are such a bastard, God still bless you."
"Come on." The other party smiled and asked, "What's the matter with calling me from half a world away, bro?"
Spielberg smiled and said: "You know Li Mu, right? It's Li Mu from Makino Technology."
"Fuck!" The other party's voice immediately became serious and said: "Of course I know. Not to mention anything else, his Muying ticketing system has helped me a lot. Otherwise, the box office would not be as good as it is now. The Internet Really awesome, Li Mu is really awesome, that guy is simply a god!"
"Okay." Spielberg smiled: "Since you know him, you should be more careful about what I'm going to say next. After all, Li Mu has brought you a lot of help."
"you say!"
"That's it..." Spielberg said with a somewhat embarrassed voice: "Li Mu has a movie shot in Hong Kong in 1985. Yes, you haven't heard of it. In 1985, it was a work in the 1980s. What is the name of the movie? "Mr. Zombie", according to him, is about the pioneering work of China-Zombie. Sorry, I don't know what China-Zombie is... "
The other party interrupted with a smile: "Shit Steven, you are out of touch with the times now! China-Zombie, this is a Chinese zombie, this thing is very popular now! Don't you want to play "Plants vs. Zombies Online"? Even my three Even my 20-year-old grandson can play.”
"Oh please..." Spielberg said helplessly: "I'm working, a big production with nearly 200 million US dollars of investment, it's almost sucking all my energy out, how can I still have the energy to play computer games! But I have played this game before, what does this have to do with China-Zombie?"
"They have released a new version!" the other party said with a smile: "In the new version, many local Chinese elements have been added, including a complete set of images and systems about China-Zombie. To be honest, their zombie system is better than ours Their zombies and vampires are much more interesting. At least their upgrade system is very clear and huge. Unlike us, our zombies are all about the same, with the same level of combat power. There is no clear hierarchy for the strength of vampires. It just depends on who survives. longer…”
As he said that, the other party suddenly came back to his senses and blurted out: "Wait a minute, Steven, what did you just say? Li Mu has a Hong Kong zombie movie? God, does he want to cooperate with us?! Release it in North America?" "
Spielberg hummed and said a little embarrassedly: "If you feel it's difficult, don't force it, oh no! I hope you can help me with this..."
"Oh God!" the other party said excitedly: "Steven, if you can get the North American distribution rights for this movie, you will be doing me a favor!"
"What?!" Spielberg was full of surprise and confusion.
The other party said excitedly: "You know, everyone is talking about Chinese Zombies now. Many people have dissected the Chinese Zombies movie into graphic explanations, which has aroused a lot of curiosity and attention on the Internet. Everyone wants to actually go to the cinema to watch it. It’s a Chinese zombie movie. It’s so damn mysterious. It’s said that they have a profession that specializes in dealing with zombies. They can immobilize zombies with a piece of yellow paper, glutinous rice, black dog blood and black donkey’s feet. , you can drive away zombies, just like our vampires are afraid of sunlight and garlic. It’s really an interesting setting... "
Spielberg was puzzled and asked him: "You mean, American audiences are now looking forward to seeing a 1985 Hong Kong movie in theaters?!"
"Yes!" the other party said excitedly: "Everyone hopes to spend a few dollars to learn about the mysterious Eastern culture. It's so damn worth it. To see an exhibition of foreign culture, the ticket costs at least dozens of dollars, so They say there’s no limit to the money you can make!”
Spielberg felt that his three views had been subverted, but when he thought about it differently, this was how Li Mu did things! Impossible things become possible with him, and he always performs many amazing operations.
So, Spielberg asked him: "Would you like to distribute this movie in North America?"
“Shit Steven, of course I would, I would fucking love to! Do you know how many distributors around the world want to get the rights to this movie right now? Oh my god, there are so many, and Makino Pictures doesn’t have the rights to it right now. Respond to these requests and if you can help me secure North American distribution rights for this film, I will personally fly to China and kiss your ass!”
Spielberg said: "Li Mu is asking me to help find a powerful North American publisher. In this case, let me help you connect the dots. You can discuss the details with Li Mu's people!"
"Great!" The other party was overjoyed and said, "Please help me convey this to Li Mu. Now is the period when theater movies are scarce. If possible, we'd better release them as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to operate until the summer. , the overall vacancy rate of theater shows now exceeds 60%. When the time comes, I will definitely strive for maximum filming efforts to make this movie very profitable in North America!"
Spielberg smiled and said: "I think it is necessary for you to come to China. Li Mu cares about the sincerity of the other party."
The other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then suddenly made up his mind and said: "OK, I'll fly to Yanjing tomorrow morning!"
"Do you have a visa?"
"Of course I do!"
(End of chapter)