Chapter 406: The traces of making money and spending money
After Xu Ji finished speaking, Martin opened his mouth in shock.
"Xu, are you kidding me?"
He subconsciously thought Xu Ji was joking.
After all, an investment of 150 million U.S. dollars is considered a quite large project even if it is placed in the eight major film and television companies in the United States.
Although it is not the kind of capping, if it loses money, it can be said that the vitality of the eight major film and television companies will be seriously damaged.
In some small companies, a movie invested in this way is definitely a project that determines the life or death of the company.
"Of course not, I'm serious."
Xu Ji opened his mouth and answered.
In fact, Xu Ji had thought clearly about this matter before, so naturally he did not make a hasty decision.
Of course, the main reason is that Tongji Entertainment currently has sufficient funds, so it is not too difficult to come up with this investment.
"No, no, no!"
"Xu, you should be responsible for this kind of project yourself, I can't do it."
When Martin heard that what Xu Ji said was true, he subconsciously wanted to refuse.
After all, for him, his only hope before coming here was to get a script worth millions of dollars.
At most 20 to 30 million is quite high.
As a result, it has now become such a large investment, and he is naturally worried that problems will arise because of him.
After Xu Ji heard what Martin said, he couldn't help but want to laugh.
In fact, before, whether it was money from his father or investment from himself, Martin was basically involved in multi-million dollar projects.
For Martin, this is already the largest amount of money he has ever received.
It was such a huge leap all of a sudden, so of course he subconsciously felt that he couldn't do it well.
If the project fails, he won't be able to bear it.
Especially when Xu Ji trusts him so much, Martin doesn't want Xu Ji to lose money because of him.
......
Xu Ji cleared his throat at this time, but instead spoke to the other party with a formal expression:
"Martin, you are wrong to think so."
"Why do you think you will fail even before the project is approved?"
"I've said it before, I think you are the best producer in the entire United States, bar none!"
"The success of "Saw" just proves that my idea is correct."
"The most important thing is that besides you, I can't find a more suitable candidate. Even if it is myself, I don't think I can do it because I don't know the United States as well as you!"
“This project must be yours!”
......
Martin, who originally looked unconfident, became more and more excited as Xu Ji said these words.
I even felt a little embarrassed to tell him.
Am I really that powerful?
Martin couldn't help but begin to have doubts.
The previous unconfident thoughts gradually disappeared.
"Then..."
"Shall I try?"
Martin said tentatively.
Xu Ji immediately made the decision.
"Of course."
"By the way, this is the script, you have to read it first."
Xu Ji handed the script he had printed out long ago to the other party.
Martin always felt that something was wrong.
Did Xu Ji have the same tone when he spoke to himself at the National Film Festival?
While thinking about it, Martin opened the script.
"Pirates of the Caribbean?"
Martin muttered something quietly.
Then I calmed down and started reading.
......
As for Xu Ji at this time, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, what he just said was not entirely a lie.
Indeed, at present, Martin is indeed the best person to take charge of this project.
Of course, it's not because Martin himself has such outstanding abilities.
It's because the other party is the second son of Paige Pictures.
After this film project is established, it will definitely require a large number of crew members.
Except for Xu Ji who sent some people from Tongji Entertainment, other positions are also in short supply.
And when the time comes, although Martin will not take the initiative to seek help from Paige.
But when looking for someone, he would definitely prefer those people he knows in Pachi.
In this case, it can be regarded as borrowing the resources of the eight major film studios.
......
For more than half an hour, Xu Ji silently waited for Martin to read the script.
Martin also read the script very carefully, trying not to miss any detail.
At this point I finally put down the script in my hand.
But he was very excited.
In fact, Martin had been thinking about what kind of movie it would be that would require such a large investment.
But after reading the script, he suddenly understood.
This "Pirates of the Caribbean" is indeed worthy of such a high investment,
The most important thing is that Martin himself really likes this fantasy adventure story.
And he has even thought about which American actors are suitable to play some of the roles.
Of course, those are all top-tier American movie stars, and their salary is indeed not low.
But with such a high investment, the salary is really not a problem.
To put it simply, money can solve most problems.
And the remaining small part is most likely due to lack of money.
"Xu, please leave this movie to me."
"I feel like I can create the next box office miracle!"
All lack of confidence comes from the unknown.
But then I saw the script given by Xu Ji, plus such a large amount of investment.
Martin doesn't think there is any difficulty in this matter.
......
Of course Xu Ji agreed directly.
Originally, his plan was to let Martin be in charge.
Of course, in addition, some preparations are actually needed.
For example, there must be some people from Tongji Entertainment among the crew of this movie.
It also allows Xu Ji to control some key information of the crew in real time.
There is also the post-production aspect of the film, Xu Ji plans to involve Shanyue Studio.
Of course, most of them are auxiliary.
Nowadays, Mountain Studio really doesn’t have much time and energy.
The post-production special effects of all Tongji Entertainment dramas are produced by Shan Yue.
Although the school has expanded its enrollment several times, it is still very short of manpower.
At the same time, Xu Ji in the United States also plans to acquire another special effects company.
Just let him be responsible for some post-production special effects work there.
Otherwise, the cost of special effects is indeed too high.
Although acquiring a company costs a lot of money, it is a once and for all thing.
Don’t rush too late, so I just happened to finish it this time.
Of course, this matter is still left to Martin.
After all, the other party does have a deeper understanding of the American side than others.
......
Within a few days, Martin returned to the United States with the script and a lot of work arranged by Xu Ji.
Of course, people from Tongji Entertainment were also taken there.
In fact, they are all old employees of Tongji Entertainment.
Although the number of people is not very large, it can be regarded as a simple crew if put together.
At the very least, it can guarantee the lower level of the entire crew.
Youman also found Xu Ji and said expressionlessly:
"Well, now our company building has no chance to be repaired."
Xu Ji couldn't help but laugh.
"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
When Youman heard Xu Ji's words, he felt helpless.
Originally, during this period of time, Tongji Entertainment’s funds were not sufficient.
It even feels like a rich old man.
Relying on the box office share of several movies, the liquidity in the account definitely exceeds that of most companies.
But I didn’t expect that Xu Ji still had the same style.
It’s true that you can make money quickly, but you can’t be lenient in spending it either.
This US$150 million, plus the subsequent acquisition of special effects companies.
It is estimated that Tongji Entertainment’s company account will start to bottom out again.
Of course, the main reason is that Youman feels that Xu Ji's behavior is a little risky.
With the current scale of Tongji Entertainment, it would actually be fine if it slowly develops and grows.
For a movie with such a large investment, the best way is to find other companies to take the risk.
But obviously, Xu Ji had no such idea.
Not only is it a movie with such a huge investment, but it is even planned to continue to acquire new special effects companies in the United States.
The stall is so big, if there is any problem, it will really affect the whole body.
But Youman has slowly gotten used to it.
After all, this happens all the time.
When Xu Ji makes decisions, he basically does not consider the consequences and impact of failure.
But Xu Ji really never failed.
......
On the 28th day after the release of "Operation Red Sea", the box office finally exceeded 3 billion.
Of course, because we got the extension key, there are still more than ten days before the release.
The final box office is estimated to be 3.3 or even 3.4 billion.
Of course, such results are actually affected by the schedule.
If it is a popular period such as National Day or Spring Festival, it is not too difficult for the box office to exceed 4 billion.
Of course, the more this is the case, the more outrageous it becomes in "Operation Red Sea".
Even against the disadvantage of schedule, it was still able to get a pretty scary box office.
This breaks the understanding of many first-line and even super-first-line directors.
What's more, this is a gift film, which is even more incredible.
At the same time, pressure has also been put on several other gift film directors.
I don’t know if netizens picked it up by themselves, or if someone with a heart specifically revealed it.
Anyway, everyone now knows that Xu Ji is not the only one involved in this gift film project.
There are also four other top-tier directors.
With a full lineup of directors and the high quality of "Operation Red Sea," it's hard not to raise expectations among the audience.
This has also led to everyone currently asking when the next gift film will be released.
......
"I don't think so. Judging from the current situation, it is basically impossible for any of us to complete the film production and release it in September."
"The earliest it has to be is the National Day holiday."
During the video conference at this time, Ruan Zhong, the official director, was the first to speak.
The four directors of this gift film project, except Xu Ji, all participated in this video conference.
Because Xu Ji's movie has already been released, so far, his mission is actually completed this time.
Only the other four people are left.
Of course, this meeting was not actually an official meeting. Neither Hu Lan nor Duan Shengyu attended.
And because several of them are either still filming on the set, or working on the post-production of their own movies, there is no time to meet offline, so we can only discuss via video.
As for the content of the discussion, it is still about the distribution of release schedules.
If we had followed the previous agreement, September would have been the official release of director Ruan Chong's movie.
Then for the next three months, each of the remaining three people will be divided into one month.
But now, Ruan Zhong is not very happy.
Because the current performance of Xu Ji's "Operation Red Sea" is really great, far beyond everyone's imagination.
Regardless of the box office, it also received rave reviews from word of mouth.
It also increased the attention of the gift film project a lot, and now because Xu Ji has whetted the audience's appetite too much.
If it is released after "Operation Red Sea", the higher the audience's expectations, the greater the disappointment will be.
Definitely a poor choice.
That's why Ruan Zhong resisted the previous arrangements.
I don’t plan to have my movie released after Xu Ji.
Although his own movie has indeed been produced, it certainly cannot be revealed now.
They also used the excuse that the movie could not catch up with the September schedule.
......
"Is anyone's movie ready to be released in September?"
Zang Sheng couldn't help but frown and said.
Previously, the five of them had basically determined their schedules.
Although he did take advantage of the National Day schedule, he also agreed to bear the box office risks.
And it’s already September, four months, four movies, just right.
At this time, Ruan Zhong suddenly said that if the production cannot be completed in September, it can only be postponed.
But if it is postponed, it is very likely that it will need to compete with the remaining two people for the same time slot.
This is definitely a situation that none of them want to see.
Therefore, regarding Zang Sheng’s question, the remaining two people, Deng Shengxing and Wang Huilan, silently closed their microphones and said nothing.
Of course, everyone is unwilling to do this. Let’s not talk about changing with Ruan Chong. Then the pressure will come to us.
And according to the current progress of several people, it is obvious that it will not be released in time for September.
Especially Wang Huilan, who was separated for December, and the other three have finally finished shooting the movie. She is the only one who continues to stay on the crew. She seems particularly relaxed because there is no time pressure.
Of course, December is a very embarrassing period. It is basically difficult to release any high-box-office movies. Most of them are small-cost movies that choose to be released at this time.
So I have plenty of time, but I suffer the most in terms of schedule.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Zang Sheng sighed helplessly.
"Well, since Director Ruan's film can't be officially released in September, then let's release it on National Day with me."
Anyway, there is no box office pressure now.
Xu Ji has completed more than three billion yuan by himself, and it is really not difficult for the remaining few people to divide it.
The most important thing is that after being hit by Xu Ji, Zang Sheng doesn't value these things so much.
Even with the advantage of the National Day release, he still doesn't think he can surpass the box office of "Operation Red Sea".