Chapter 29: Betting Agreement, Cooperation Finalized

John really liked the script Wu Yuan gave, and submitted it to the company's review department as soon as possible.

He was very satisfied with the young Chinese director he discovered in Sitges, and felt that Wu Yuan was born to belong to Hollywood and should not be born in a small place like China.

However, being satisfied with the script does not mean that Wu Yuan can go to Hollywood to make a movie immediately.

It is precisely after the script is reviewed and approved that the quarrel begins.

Next, Wu Yuan spent more than a month negotiating with John and the film investment and production departments of Fox Searchlight, but he never came to a good result.

Wu Yuan knew that he was a newcomer and it was unrealistic to want to get a share of the box office for free, but he hoped to participate in the film investment.

The asking price was not much, just invest 10% and take 10% of the box office share income.

In theory, this is not a very demanding requirement. Some big Hollywood directors not only do not have to invest a penny, but also get paid and share when making a movie!

However, Fox Searchlight is not a fool.

Never underestimate the subsidiaries of the six major film studios in Hollywood.

As soon as the script of "Juno" was received, the market analysis department of Fox Searchlight judged that this script would definitely be a movie that would attract American audiences.

In the North American market alone, the box office can get at least 50 million US dollars!

And the production cost accounting of this movie, if it is a little economical, it only needs to spend 5 or 6 million US dollars to get it done!

This means that this movie can create ten times the box office revenue!

In the case of determining that this movie is likely to make money, would Fox Searchlight be willing to let Wu Yuan participate in the box office sharing?

Don't be ridiculous, they are capitalists who run companies, not philanthropists.

Fox Searchlight is even willing to offer Wu Yuan a director + screenwriter of 1.2 million US dollars, but is unwilling to let Wu Yuan pay 1 million US dollars and become one of the investors.

The negotiations reached this point and reached a deadlock.

Fox Searchlight is unwilling to give Wu Yuan, a Chinese director, too much money that seems to be at his fingertips.

Wu Yuan is also unwilling to make a movie for Fox Searchlight that may have a box office of more than 100 million US dollars, but only receive more than 1 million in remuneration!

Some people may say, can't we shoot it ourselves?

Yes!

Let's not talk about where Wu Yuan got the $6 million from. Even if he had the money and the movie was shot, how to get the distribution?

For North American distribution and global distribution, you have to find a professional distribution company.

Whether it is the Big Six in Hollywood or the second-tier companies such as New Line and Lionsgate, they are all ruthless.

The precedent of "Little Miss Sunshine" is right in front of us.

After finally raising enough money to shoot the movie, Fox Searchlight chose to buy out the distribution rights for $10 million instead of acting as an agent.

This is equivalent to the producer only making $5 million.

And the movie eventually made over $100 million at the global box office.

This is how new directors and new works are treated in Hollywood.

Unless it is a movie that all major Hollywood distribution companies are unanimously not optimistic about, they will only charge you a sum of money to act as an agent for distribution and follow the profit-sharing model.

Otherwise, if your movie has any value, they will choose to buy out the rights and take the lion's share, leaving you a sip of soup.

Of course, this refers to the first work of a new director.

This is bound to be exploited by major Hollywood studios, which is equivalent to buying a ticket.

Even if Wu Yuan took the script to the other six major Hollywood studios, he would still be treated like this. Capitalists are all the same.

Who said that the script of "Juno" really looks like a big hit!

However, Wu Yuan still refused to give in and negotiated with Fox Searchlight with difficulty.

In this way, time quickly came to December, and heavy snow fell in Beijing.

Wu Yuan's home.

The heavy snow did not make the surroundings quiet, but the courtyard was full of people.

Two mahjong tables were set up in the front hall of the huge main house.

Wu Yuan's friends, led by Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, and Qin Hailu, are fighting here!

Since knowing that Wu Yuan has a courtyard, his group of friends have set their sights on this good place and often set it as a gathering place.

And more and more people come to the party.

At first, only the leading actors of "The Night the Comet Came" would occasionally get together, and gradually their friends were also pulled in.

Like Chen Kun's classmate Huang Xiaoming, Qin Hailu and Zeng Li's classmates Yuan Quan, Xia Yu, and Liu Ye, they were all pulled in to play together.

Wu Yuan also accepted everyone who came.

Since his relatives passed away, Wu Yuan has been alone in the huge courtyard all year round, which is quite lonely.

Now there are often friends who come to have fun, which makes the courtyard more lively.

I don't know where they learned it from, but the students of the 96th class of the Central Academy of Drama and the 96th class of the Beijing Film Academy love to play mahjong when they get together!

As a result, Wu Yuan, who was not very good at mahjong before, has improved his mahjong skills now, which is a result of losing a lot of money!

"Two cakes!"

"Hey, bang!"

"Three thousand!" Wu Yuan smiled and took away the two cakes Qin Hailu played, threw out a three thousand, and deliberately provoked: "Sister Hailu, I'm listening to the cards, be careful!"

Qin Hailu rolled her eyes: "With your bad luck, what's the use of just listening?"

"Hey, Yuan'er, is your Hao Laiwu thing going to work? Why have you been playing mahjong with us recently?"

Wu Yuan frowned and sighed: "We are still talking. I have made a lot of concessions, but the other side just doesn't agree. Let's grind it out a little more. There's no rush."

Just as he said this, Wu Yuan's cell phone rang again.

The call came from an overseas phone number that Wu Yuan was very familiar with.

Pulling Liu Ye, who was watching them play mahjong, over to replace him, Wu Yuan walked out of the yard with his cell phone and answered the call.

"Hi, John, it's two o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles right now?"

"What's so urgent?"

On the other end of the phone, John said in a very helpless tone: "Wu, the company has accepted your plan."

"We can sign a gambling agreement."

"If the global box office of 'Juno' exceeds US$100 million, the company can give you a 10% box office share."

"But if the global box office does not exceed $100 million, then you will only be paid $1.2 million, okay?"

"I have to say, you are a very good negotiator."

A satisfied smile appeared on Wu Yuan's face.

After talking to Fox Searchlight for more than a month, we finally came to a satisfactory condition.

From the beginning, Fox Searchlight was not willing to share Wu Yuan's profits from the movie, and was only willing to give him a constant payment.

From the very beginning when Wu Yuan wanted to participate in investment, to when he asked for $5 million in director and screenwriting fees, he still failed to get approval from Fox Searchlight.

Eventually, he proposed a betting deal that finally gave Fox Searchlight pause.

According to research and predictions by Fox Searchlight's marketing department, the global box office of the movie "Juno" is expected to be between US$50 million and US$80 million.

Let's put it this way, although Fox Searchlight thinks this is a good script, it doesn't think this movie can gross over 100 million at the box office.

Even in the global market, there are only a few movies with a box office of over 100 million dollars a year, and it is even less likely to be a small-budget movie with an investment of only a few million US dollars.

When Wu Yuan proposed a gambling agreement to split the box office accounts if the global box office exceeded 100 million US dollars, Fox Searchlight felt that this was really something that could be discussed.

If the final box office of this movie can exceed 100 million U.S. dollars, then giving Wu Yuan, the director and screenwriter, 10 million U.S. dollars seems to be an acceptable thing.

If Wu Yuan can make a movie with a box office of over 100 million US dollars, then such a director and screenwriter will definitely become a guest of the Big Six in Hollywood!

In this case, his Chinese identity is not important, what is important is the benefits he can bring.

Giving such an outstanding director a treatment that is consistent with his status and value, rather than maintaining a good cooperative atmosphere, is definitely more cost-effective than earning millions more!

Of course, if the global box office of "Juno" does not exceed 100 million, then Wu Yuan can only get 1.2 million US dollars, and most of it will go to Fox Searchlight.

This is a gambling agreement that is acceptable to both parties.

Since Wu Yuan is confident that the movie will gross over 100 million, Fox Searchlight doesn't mind taking a gamble!

After all, Fox Searchlight is the one making the biggest profit!

And Fox Searchlight is also worried that if they don't agree, if Wu Yuanzhen decides not to cooperate with Fox Searchlight and chooses another production company, then their work will be in vain.

Although Wu Yuan would end up losing both sides even if he did this, but isn't it nice to be able to make money with kindness?

"Wu, it's time for you to leave for the United States. The contract is ready for you."

John on the other end of the phone urged nonchalantly: "The early preparations of the crew, the selection of actors, and the scenery are all waiting for you, the director!"

"OK!" Wu Yuan said in a relaxed tone, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation. I will leave for Los Angeles as soon as possible."

"By the way, Director Wu, I think you should choose an English name." John said with a smile, "Your Chinese name is really difficult to pronounce."

"What do you think of the name Johannes? It's very similar to my name!"

What Wu Yuan signed was a "box office split account" rather than a "profit split account." What is popular in Hollywood is the box office split account.

10% means directly taking 10% of the total box office. This way it is less likely to be fishy and it is difficult for the producers to manipulate the film.

For example, superstars and famous directors usually sign a salary + box office split, and take money directly from the box office instead of dividing the money with the production company after calculating the profit after deducting costs.

The superstar effect in Hollywood is much higher than in China. In those superhero movies, the protagonists start with a salary of more than 20 million US dollars + a percentage of the box office split.

This is also the reason why Marvel can’t continue filming in the first phase. You get a little bit and I get a little bit. In the later filming, the actors get more money than the production company earns. They really can’t afford it.