Before nine o'clock in the morning, Ang Lee met with Xu Ligong and took the hotel's vehicle to the place he had made.

Xu Ligong asked, "How are you asking?"

Ang Lee said directly: "Ronan Anderson is the boss of Embassy Films. This Embassy Films is very powerful. It has been established for more than 20 years. It was acquired by Ronan Anderson last year. The first film released after the acquisition was "Blair the Witch". It is said that it has won nearly $300 million in box office worldwide for more than 20 million in publicity and distribution expenses."

"So, is the distribution capability of Embassy Film Industry guaranteed?" It is not difficult for Xu Ligong to draw this conclusion.

Ang Lee said: "There is also the box office of "Death is Coming" in December last year. In North America alone, the box office was as high as more than 80 million US dollars."

Xu Ligong fell into thinking.

"Embassy Film has a cooperative relationship with major theater companies in North America for more than ten years." Ang Lee continued: "Everything theaters and commercial theater chains have cooperation."

Xu Ligong nodded slowly and asked for a while: "You have worked with several Hollywood companies, but contacted them has never been successful?"

Ang Lee shook his head directly: "I sent invitations to all six major companies during this premiere, but only Sony Entertainment came here, because Sony Classics is a bit of investment, and the audience didn't talk to us at all."

He sighed: "My last movie "Hiking with the Devil"..."

Xu Ligong knew that the film directed by Ang Lee could not be described as a crushing defeat. The film company has always been realistic. If it weren't for his understanding of Ang Lee enough, he would not have made up his mind to collaborate with him on "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Ang Lee asked at this time: "How did you talk to Harvey Weinstein last night?"

"It's not ideal," said Xu Ligong. "Millamax wants to buy out the North American copyright at one time, but Harvey Weinstein is only willing to pay $5 million."

Hearing this number, Ang Lee said: "This person has always liked to lower prices. I guess he has seen no other large issuing companies contact us, and he has always been well-informed."

Xu Ligong's contact with Harvey Weinstein seemed unpleasant, with a few angriness flashing across his face and said, "We'll talk to Ronan Anderson before we talk."

The films were premiered in Cannes, and the most important North American distribution has not yet been settled, so he is a little anxious.

As soon as ten o'clock arrived, Ang Lee and Xu Ligong waited for Ronan in the cafe.

The two sides shook hands and said hello, and soon turned to the topic.

Ronan did not directly say that he would release "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but instead questioned the film first.

This is also a test, to test whether the other party has a trump card in terms of issuance.

"Director Li, Mr. Xu." Luo Nan said seriously: "I have read the original work of Mr. Wang Dulu, the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Except for the background and the names of the characters, almost all the stories have changed."

Xu Ligong looked at Luo Nan with a little surprise.

Ang Lee has been in the United States for many years and knows that there are martial arts enthusiasts. He said, "Mr. Anderson has also seen martial arts?"

Ronan nodded: "I have read the original work, not the English translation." He switched directly to Chinese: "Don't doubt, I can understand."

Hearing a Chinese-style northern accent, Xu Ligong reacted and said, "Mr. Anderson knows about martial arts films?"

"Learn more." Ronan thought for a while and said, "This is also something strange about me. Director Li, I am bluntly speaking, the film you made is seriously inconsistent with the spirit of the Eastern martial arts films and martial arts films, and even completely subverted the Eastern martial arts films that have been developed for many years."

Ang Lee did not answer, and Xu Ligong said: "Mr. Anderson knows the meaning of martial arts?"

Luo Nan didn't care about Xu Ligong's continuous doubts at all. After all, his appearance is here. In the inherent concept of the East, how many Americans are interested in martial arts movies and martial arts?

Luo Nan ignored Xu Ligong's words and continued to question Ang Lee: "As far as I know, the theme of martial arts films is family and country feelings. Mr. Jin Yong's works have been described. The most heroic one is for the country and the people. The other is to be circulating in the world, stand up for injustice, and arouse revenge..."

Xu Ligong was a little surprised. The ability of an old man to say such words means that he not only watched martial arts movies and martial arts movies, but also conducted in-depth research.

A man who knows martial arts films is a publisher who is a publisher of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"? It seems to be better than those publishers who don't know anything and are messing around.

Ang Lee suddenly smiled and said, "Mr. Anderson's words make a lot of sense." He paused and said, "Your words summarize the essence of martial arts films and the spirit of martial arts."

Ronan didn't seem to have any complimentary words and continued to test: "But I didn't see these in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". This... doesn't look like a martial arts film."

Xu Ligong frowned, and suddenly felt that it was a troublesome to meet a ghost who knew how to behave.

Ang Lee was very calm and asked, "Mr. Anderson, do you really want to release this video of me?"

Of course, Ronan would not give a positive answer and said, "I personally like martial arts movies, but your "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" gave me a lot of doubts because the adaptation is too large, which is completely different from the martial arts movies I know."

As soon as these words were said, Ang Lee immediately understood that if the doubts of the issuing company boss could not be dispelled, the business would definitely be hyped this time.

Currently, there is only one interested publisher in North America, and the offer is extremely unsatisfactory. If the issuing company gives up, when will it find a suitable North American publisher?

The tragic failure of "Historing with the Devil" has shaken Ang Lee's confidence.

Xu Ligong wanted to interrupt, but he held back. Compared to Ang Lee, he did not have a deep understanding of Hollywood.

Anluo Lee thought about it and said, "This is indeed an unconventional martial arts movie, which contains a lot of my personal things. A few years ago, I read Wang Dulu's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Among martial arts, I like Bai Yu the most, followed by Wang Dulu. When filming "Reason and Emotion", I conceived "Ice Storm" while Mr. Xu negotiated the copyright of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on behalf of Mr. Xu."

Ronan's real purpose is not to question the movie, but to test whether the other party has other cards in the release, and to disintegrate the other party's possible expectations, and did not interrupt at this time.

Ang Lee's voice is not very high, as if he is worried that Ronan will not understand, and his Chinese speaking speed is very slow: "Generally, martial arts always use men as the protagonist, and is more masculine. The focus of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is the heroine Yu Jiaolong, with a strange and complex psychological level. He is a daughter in the daytime, and he starts fighting at night. He is a hard-to-taught girl who has fantasies about the love of the children in the world, and is also a rare character in Chinese dramas."

"At the beginning of the project, many people were not optimistic, because the hero Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian in the book don't have many scenes and a lot of space. The very vivid and interesting little character Liu Taibao cannot take the lead. The protagonist Yu Jiaolong is a fierce character that everyone avoids and is afraid of. No one agrees except for me. But I have filmed three Western films in a row, and I must make the biggest hit."

"I think so about adaptation. There are two ways to adapt movies: you can choose to destroy the original work and make a good movie, or be loyal to the original work and make a bad movie."

Luo Nanji agreed with this and nodded slightly.

Ang Lee continued: "I think movies are different carriers. When adapting, they often have to be replaced from the inside to the face. The film is mainly good. If it is bad, why should it be loyal to the original work? If it is good, how can it be replaced by sound and shadow? On the contrary, the best movie must be difficult to describe. So whether it is loyal or not to the original work is not loyal to it."

Ronan was unmoved, as if his interest in the movie was limited.

Compared to director Ang Lee, Xu Ligong is more like a businessman. He interrupted at this time: "Mr. Anderson, in fact, this film is tailor-made for Western audiences!"

Luo Nan gradually confirmed the test results. Judging from the two of them, they probably didn't find a suitable publisher, and probably didn't even have a candidate.

Coupled with the xenophobic nature of the North American market and the upstream position of the issuing company's industrial chain, he instantly gave him enough confidence.

Ronan deliberately wondered: "What do you say?"

Xu Ligong is different from Ang Lee, and immediately said from a market perspective: "We have tailored two pairs of protagonists and two clues for Westerners. The protagonists Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian are prepared for Western intellectuals. Platonic love, Shakespearean dialogue, and lofty humanistic realm are all typical Western cultures."

Just like many producers, he is also selling his films to publishers: "The protagonists of the Western Cowboy character, Luo Xiaohu and Yu Jiaolong, who dare to love, hate, fight and kill, are prepared for ordinary American audiences; the story of Li Mubai killing the Blue-Eyed Fox for his master is in line with the main line of "The Earl of Monte Cristo", and the clue of stealing the Qingming Sword is very similar to the popular American drama."

Xu Ligong emphasized: "So the significance of this movie is not to show how many oriental elements it displays, but to make Westerners understand and accept this display in an appropriate way."

"What you said is a little bit reasonable." Ronan said lightly: "But one thing is very fatal! Director Li, this film is mixed with too many of your thoughts, making it more authoritative, not popular! "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has left the category of popular martial arts films!"

Facing someone who knows enough about martial arts movies, Ang Lee cannot deny this.

Ronan continued to criticize their psychology: "The reason I am willing to talk to you is because there are a group of martial arts fans in North America, who are the potential audience of this film, but the subversive style of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is very likely to make this group of people give up."

He emphasized: "Martial arts films are niche, and the audience of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" will be smaller. Releasing such a film is extremely risky."

Ang Lee and Xu Ligong's hearts are sinking, especially Ang Lee, who doesn't want to cooperate with the Weinstein brothers.
Chapter completed!