Chapter 168 Budget Cost, Attractive Benefits

While writing the script on the computer, Wu Yuan was also thinking about it in his mind.

"Gravity" is an IMAX 3D movie.

That is, this movie uses both IMAX shooting technology and 3D stereo technology.

This leads to a high shooting cost for this movie, or in other words, the shooting costs of mainstream science fiction movies after 2010 are rising.

Professional IMAX 3D cameras alone are used to shoot 4K movie-level, and these cameras are only rented and not sold.

And just the rental price, based on the lowest four units, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, and it costs tens of millions of dollars to shoot for a hundred days.

This thing is really expensive. When Zhang Yimou shot "The Great Wall", it was because the whole process was shot in IMAX, which resulted in a cost of more than 1 billion, and the final box office did not recover the cost.

The original version of "Gravity" cost $100 million, most of which was spent on setting up scenes and CG production.

This movie uses CG technology to restore the deep space and build a large number of real scenes and 1:1 models of space stations.

The remaining half of the money was spent on the actual filming, that is, the actors' salaries, the crew's salaries, and the most important IMAX3D camera rental.

But when Wu Yuan took out this script now, it was 2005.

Even if the preparations for the project shooting start next year, it will be released in 2008 at most.

These days, IMAX3D technology is still too early.

Audiences all over the world are watching 2D special effects movies. People don't even know what 3D movies are, let alone IMAX3D.

Reducing the cost of shooting an IMAX can immediately reduce the cost of "Gravity" by half.

In addition, if the space agency is asked to help make the real scene and the 1:1 model of the space station, the price will definitely be much cheaper than the United States where labor charges are high.

The same is true for the actors' salaries. The salaries of domestic actors are also not comparable to those of Hollywood.

Even if the price of making CG pictures is still very expensive, Wu Yuan can definitely control the cost of "Gravity" to around 50 million US dollars.

It is worth mentioning that the movie "Gravity" is a medium-to-small-budget sci-fi movie.

Yes, this movie has such shocking pictures, but it is already a medium-to-small-budget sci-fi movie.

Because in the era of IMAX3D, the cost of this movie was only $100 million.

In the era of 2D movies, the cost of a sci-fi disaster blockbuster like "2012" was already $200 million.

In the era of IMAX3D, sci-fi blockbusters, not to mention those superhero movies, take "Inception" as an example, the shooting cost is nearly $200 million.

In comparison, "Gravity" is really a very cheap movie. Like "The Martian", it is a box office dark horse made with about $100 million.

If Wu Yuan makes it into a 2D movie, the cost will be even lower.

Admittedly, changing a 3D movie to 2D will lose a lot of picture effects, and it will definitely not be as shocking as the original.

But the shocking pictures of the original are brought to the audience in 2013.

The audiences in 2013 have already seen superhero movies with full special effects like "Avengers 1". If you want to shock them, you really need more exaggerated and gorgeous pictures.

But Wu Yuan planned to bring a science fiction movie to Chinese and even Asian audiences in 2008.

Before "Avatar" appeared, before various space 3DIMAX movies appeared.

The 2D version of "Gravity", as long as the CG of the space environment and the earth, the human home, in space is done well enough, can already bring a little space shock to most Asian audiences.

The 1968 American movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" is hailed as a masterpiece and a science fiction enlightenment movie, but it can't be compared with the current movie special effects.

But it doesn't prevent this movie from being a classic in the hearts of moviegoers of that era, and it has inspired countless science fiction fans around the world and influenced their lives.

For the current Chinese audience, the 2D version of "Gravity" is enough to bring them a science fiction movie baptism.

Because most Chinese people now have almost no concept of "space".

Everyone knows that the earth is blue and the sun is red and orange, but that's all.

How beautiful is the earth when looking down from space? At the moment when China's aerospace industry is still in its infancy, most Chinese people are actually at a loss.

There are even rumors on the Internet that astronauts on the International Space Station can see the Great Wall when flying over China.

In this case, even a 2D "Gravity", through its own touching and philosophical story, coupled with realistic space CG effects, can already bring space shock to the audience in 2008.

After revising the story of "Gravity" in his memory, Wu Yuan quickly took out the first version of the script.

Of course, after the script was completed, he generally replaced "Tiangong Space Station" with "my country's Space Station" and "Other Countries' Space Station".

No, "Tiangong" is really not even a stroke yet, so he shouldn't name it first.

After completing the script, Wu Yuan contacted Mr. Han immediately, sent him a copy of the script, and hoped that he could help contact the National Space Administration.

To make this movie well, it definitely needs the technical support of the National Space Administration.

And with the support of the National Space Administration, you can save money!

You can save a lot of money!

Let's put it this way, the National Space Administration has one-to-one simulation props for some of the equipment needed for real shooting.

For example, the National Space Administration has one-to-one simulation models of space suits, space suits for extravehicular activities, and Shenzhou series spacecraft. On the one hand, they are used for astronaut training, and on the other hand, they are convenient for scientists to conduct various simulation experiments.

And if Wu Yuan wants to make these things himself, it will cost a lot of money.

If the National Space Administration provides these equipment support, it will save a lot of money.

Although "Gravity" has not yet made a specific budget, Wu Yuan can roughly estimate it based on his experience. At present, if this movie wants to be shot at an excellent level, it will cost at least 50 million US dollars, which is about 350 million yuan at the current exchange rate.

He plans to attract three parties to invest this time.

Light and Shadow Times will contribute part, China Film will contribute part, and then find a private film company to bear part.

There is no way. Shooting science fiction movies these days is really stressful to make a profit. It is thankless and destined not to make a lot of money. If you can make 100 or 200 million, you will be happy.

Maybe after two years of hard work, you can't make as much as "Your Name" with an investment of 60 million.

But shooting such a large-scale science fiction movie, the sense of accomplishment is simply full!

Sniping Wu Baige is one thing, and the sense of accomplishment that the movie itself can bring to Wu Yuan is another.

When the idea of ​​shooting this movie appeared in his mind, Wu Yuan's heart could not be restrained.

The next day, Han Dong, who was extremely shocked by the science fiction movie plan, invited Wu Yuan back to the headquarters of China Film again.

"Director Wu, are you kidding?" This is the nth time Han Sanping has said this to Wu Yuan.

It can only be said that Wu Yuan is indeed a man that Han Sanping finds difficult to understand.

"Of course I'm not kidding." Wu Yuan calmly sipped a cup of tea, "Boss Han, don't you like blockbusters the most?"

"Don't you like such Chinese science fiction blockbusters?"

"I like it." Boss Han nodded in confusion: "But can such science fiction movies make a profit?"

"Director Wu, we Chinese can't just rely on the domestic market to make blockbusters. We must look to Asia and even the world to recover the cost."

"But for foreigners, our Chinese movies only attract them with themes such as costume films and martial arts films."

"So Director Yimou made "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers", and Wu Yusen also made "Battle of Red Cliffs", all of which are aimed at the international market."

"And your "Painted Skin" is also aimed at the Asian market."

"But this science fiction movie."

Boss Han stopped halfway through his words, but Wu Yuan also knew what he wanted to express in the second half of his words.

"Why, Boss Han, as a Chinese, you look down on your own science fiction movies?" Wu Yuan asked with a smile.

"It's not that we look down on them," said Han, anxiously. "We have never made a science fiction movie before. The risk is too high."

"If another director were to make this script, I would indeed feel that the risk is very high." Wu Yuan nodded and said affirmatively, "But I am different."

"Han, let's do some calculations."

"Do you think that the mainland movie box office market can achieve a box office of 300 to 400 million yuan per film in two years?"

As the helmsman of China Film, Han Sanping can be said to be the person who has the most mainland movie market data. He calculated the current expansion speed of domestic theaters in his mind and affirmed, "It should be no problem."

"Then do you think that with my reputation and the first domestic science fiction blockbuster, can I get this ceiling box office performance?" Wu Yuan asked again.

"It seems. It's possible." Han Dong's eyes lit up, but then he said, "That's not enough!"

"Such a sci-fi blockbuster, even if it is shot in China, will cost at least 50 million US dollars, right?"

"Hey, don't worry." Wu Yuan said calmly: "I remember that the North American copyrights of "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" were bought out for distribution, right?"

"Both movies have a North American box office of tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but in fact they only received a buyout fee of a few million US dollars?"

"Yeah." When mentioning this, Han Dong's face was also very ugly.

"But I have a channel for North American distribution!" Wu Yuan spread his hands, "Mr. Han, now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you. I have set up an independent production company in Hollywood."

"In recent years, the cooperation with Disney and 20th Century Fox has been pretty good."

"I can use Fox's channels to distribute Gravity normally in North America."

"I think, although North American movie fans will definitely look down on a so-called Chinese science fiction movie, with my popularity and influence in North America, as long as I promote it more diligently."

"It is still possible for Gravity to get a box office of 30 to 50 million US dollars in North America, right?"

"According to the normal profit-sharing ratio, the producer can also get 10 million US dollars, right?"

"In addition, I plan to invite Gong Li to play the heroine and Zhang Fengyi to play the hero. With their popularity in Europe, plus my double award winner in Berlin and Cannes, it is not too much to sell the copyright to him for 10 million US dollars in more than 30 countries in Europe?"

"Look, isn't this a return on investment?"

"Adding Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and other markets, I think it will be no problem to make 100 million or 200 million after Gravity is made."

Han Dong's eyes widened, with a look of shock: "You have a film company in Hollywood?"

"And you have cooperated with Fox?"

"Yes." Wu Yuan said frankly: "You may not know the name of the company, but you should know the R-rated film "The Hangover" series that swept North America in the past two years, right?"

"This series was made by my company."

"The North American box office of the two films combined is several hundred million US dollars, and the global distribution and DVD distribution are all handed over to Fox."

"Plus, I will soon cooperate with Fox on a fantasy comedy movie, and our two companies are in the honeymoon period."

The fact that Wu Yuan opened a film company in the United States can no longer be concealed for long.

Although Cheng Long is very tight-lipped and has not revealed this to any friends in China, with the launch of the "Rush Hour 3" project and the subsequent cooperation with "Kingsman"

"Wu Yuan x Cheng Long" will inevitably become the focus of publicity for these two projects. It is difficult to conceal the relationship between Wu Yuan and the behind-the-scenes production company, Light Era.

It is better to make it clear to Mr. Han now, and give him more confidence.

Wu Yuan really holds the key to Chinese-language films landing in North America.

Other Chinese-language films, even "Lust, Caution" shot by Li An in the mainland later, can only sell the distribution rights if they want to be released in North America. It is impossible to negotiate a normal profit sharing.

But Wu Yuan can.

Because his Light Era can bring considerable benefits to Fox, driven by interests, Wu Yuan asked Fox to help with the North American distribution of a movie he made, and Fox would agree.

Let alone "Gravity", Fox is actively negotiating with Light Era about the North American distribution and release of the movie "Love".

If you change to other domestic directors, even if you win Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, the six major Hollywood studios will not come up and actively negotiate distribution with you. At most, they will negotiate a buyout.

Just like when Wu Yuan sold "The Night the Comet Came" to Fox Searchlight for two million.

Hollywood is such a realistic place. If you can bring benefits to the Big Six, especially long-term benefits, the Big Six will be easy to talk to and helpful.

Anyway, according to the North American distribution system, companies that undertake distribution business have distribution requirements every year, and at least must release XX movies.

Every year, the Big Six will release some rotten fish and shrimp in the garbage month to make up the required number of annual releases.

It is not difficult to help Wu Yuan release one more Chinese-language movie.

The premise is that everyone is a good friend and a partner with a vested interest.

"Director Wu, you are not kidding, are you?" Mr. Han asked this question again.

Wu Yuan's face was full of black lines, "Mr. Han, who has the leisure time to joke?"

"Okay." Mr. Han nodded fiercely!

With Wu Yuan's current fame and influence in Europe and North America, as well as the basic base in Japan and South Korea that has been established, and the domestic box office market that is higher year by year.

He can indeed make a science fiction blockbuster with a cost of 50 million US dollars!

Moreover, as the helmsman of a state-owned enterprise, Mr. Han knows that China now needs a near-realistic science fiction movie like Gravity!

"I'll help you contact the Space Administration!" Mr. Han said excitedly.

If you still don't understand why you want to make Gravity and think it will definitely be a loss, I have nothing to say.

Don't look at 2006 with the eyes of 2022. This was 17 years ago. Gravity only needed to be made into a 2D special effects CG movie, which was enough to bring space shock to Asian audiences.

Before 2006, the last space science fiction movie was in the 1990s.

The high cost of Gravity is the high cost of IMAX3D. This movie has a total of three and a half actors, and the outdoor scenes are all CG. It is really not a high-cost movie.

From the current perspective, if Gravity is not IMAX3D, the picture will be boring.

But in 2006, before "Avatar" and "2012", even if "Gravity" was made into a 2D movie, it was enough to shock the audience, because people at that time had never seen such a realistic space.