The Best Entertainment Era

When he came to Cannes this time, Ronan was not as lucky as last year. Although he also recorded the names of several films at the film festival trade fair, there were no real blockbusters among them.

Therefore, he took the time to contact Monica Bellucci, and under her introduction, he met the director of Irreversible, Gaspar Noo.

But things didn't go as smoothly as expected.

US$3 million in North America. Gaspar Noor offered a somewhat exaggerated price: I sold all the North American copyrights of the film to Embassy Pictures in one lump sum.

Ronan almost suspected that he heard it wrong, just such a film, selling for 3 million US dollars?

300,000 dollars. Ronan directly cut nine tenths of it.

Gaspar Nou has the style of a European director: We don't need to talk anymore.

Hearing this, Ronan didn't force it, and just said goodbye and left.

Although it is unavoidable to be a little disappointed, but the movie deal is about what you want and what you want, and you can't force it.

Perhaps after the news of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon spread, Gaspar-Nau had the illusion that Irreversible was valuable.

The project was not completed. Ronan made a phone call at noon and asked someone to make an appointment with the film producer in Hong Kong City. After lunch, he met his colleagues in Hong Kong City in the coffee shop of the hotel.

Earlier, at the trade fair of the film festival, Ronan saw a film called Shaolin Soccer.

Ronan, this is Stephen Zhou, a well-known movie star, director and producer in Hong Kong. Gabriel, director of the French office of the Embassy Films, introduced the two parties: Mr. Zhou, this is Ronan -Anderson, the boss of Embassy Pictures and the affiliated Relativity Entertainment Group, the operation of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in North America is from Mr. Anderson.

Hello, I've heard of you for a long time. Stephen Zhou offered his right hand.

As a native of Hong Kong City, Stephen Zhou's English is not very good, but he can also guarantee daily communication.

Ronan shook hands with him, and at the same time looked at him a little. This man was thin and serious, and at first glance he looked like a very rigid person, not a comedian he had seen countless times in his previous life.

It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Zhou. Ronan said with a smile.

Zhou Xingxing's movies were one of the most important entertainment activities in his youth in his previous life,

In the video hall at that time, apart from some indescribable tertiary films in Hong Kong City, Zhou Xingxing's films should be one of the most popular.

Of course, the most popular actors in Hong Kong at that time were Jin Jiang-Thor-Aquaman-Santa Claus-Xu.

With Ronan's current state of mind, these are all memories from his youth, and of course it will not affect the business negotiation.

After a few simple greetings, Ronan said directly: Mr. Zhou, I saw the Shaolin Soccer filmed by you the day before yesterday. It is very interesting. I would like to ask, is the North American copyright still in your hands?

Stephen Chow immediately thought of Ang Lee and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but unlike European directors, although he played some absurd characters, he was a very realistic person.

The North American copyright is still there, Stephen Zhou said.

Ronan said: Embassy Pictures wants to buy out the North American copyright of your film.

These words were not what Stephen Zhou expected, he had thought of them before he came.

Stephen Zhou asked, I don't know how much Mr. Anderson bid?

He doesn't ask much, as long as there is a third or even a quarter of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is enough.

200,000 dollars, Ronan said.

Stephen Zhou frowned immediately: The price is too low.

Ronan said simply: Shaolin Soccer basically has no market in North American theaters. North America is a football desert. The biggest selling point of this film is the elements of kung fu and football. It may be very popular in the East, but it is not suitable for American audiences It's not friendly, and the English translation of Mr. Zhou's comedy is very difficult.

There are too many nonsensical lines, and the taste changes after being translated into English.

Stephen Zhou was a little disappointed: Can't enter North American theaters?

Ronan didn't say anything: Even if it goes to theaters, it will be screened in places where Chinese people gather, such as Los Angeles and New York. There are at most a dozen or twenty theaters. Mr. Zhou, I want to buy your movie mainly because There's a segment of the audience in the videotape market.

$200,000 is too little. Stephen Zhou was clearly dissatisfied: The last Chinese film Mr. Anderson bought cost $8 million.

Ronan smiled: There is no comparison between movies.

When it comes to the revenue capabilities of their films in the Eastern market, Li An is far behind Stephen Zhou.

But in North America, the status of the two is just the opposite.

Ronan said bluntly: US$200,000, all copyrights of Shaolin Soccer in North America. He took out his personal business card and handed it to Stephen Zhou: If Mr. Zhou is willing to do this business, you can contact me at any time.

Stephen Zhou put away the business card, then took his leave and left.

Ronan didn't force it, because what he said before was the truth. Shaolin Soccer has reached North America, that is, in the offline rental market, and there are still a group of audiences.

It was impossible for Ronan to give millions of dollars foolishly just because the other party was Zhou Xingxing.

That was really head-scratching.

Taking a step back, I did owe Zhou Xingxing movie tickets due to many factors such as video halls and piracy in my previous life, but since Shaolin Soccer, Ronan has been buying movie tickets for Zhou Xingxing's movies. Even after buying expensive genuine dolls and the like, the quality of Zhou Xingxing's films dropped drastically. Not only did he continue to buy tickets to enter the theater, but he never slandered him anywhere, not even becoming an Internet keyboard warrior.

The movie tickets owed back then have long been paid off.

You can't pay back the lifetime ticket, can you? Emotions are also limited.

The Hong Kong City film has begun to decline, and the only way out is to go north. It seems that next year, there will be a Hong Kong City film to save the market, and it seems that the copyright can also be bought.

Of course, the romantic and poetic gangster style has only one way to go to the street in North America, and the best way is to remake it.

Most of the old American gangster movies are realistic, dark and cruel, and the words in the mouth of the characters are always fucked and fucked.

The next day, Ronan continued to look for films at the film festival trade fair, and dropped by to see the premiere of Irreversible.

This film, which seeks to shock audiences visually and psychologically, is filled with a mood of extreme cynicism and typical anarchist catharsis from beginning to end. The sloppy narration, abrupt and blunt switching, the sudden and fast camera movement, accompanied by the gunshots from time to time on the soundtrack, constitute a rough film with strong emotions.

Well, that's the word of a film critic ahead of Ronan.

The real situation is that Irreversible has done a lot of large-scale publicity before, just like watching other banned films, most of the audience came here looking for pornography and violence.

All kinds of meaningless shaking shots, like a boring experimental film, Ronan was even a little dizzy by the confusing story.

In fact, Ronan never really watched this movie in his previous life, because he always watched the middle and last ten minutes.

Then, in the middle of the film, there is the scene where Monica Bellucci is violated.

This scene of violent sexual assault in the underground passage is shocking, disgusting, and even overwhelming.

There was a lot of discussion around Ronan. Less than two minutes into the invasion scene, a large number of female audiences left angrily. Five minutes later, even some male audiences also began to leave.

It has to be said that European art directors have focused on darkness for decades, and they can always shoot the ugliest things in human nature.

Ronan used to watch this scene on the computer and watched it on a small LCD screen. He never had the opportunity to enjoy it on the big screen. Now thousands of viewers are in the same cinema, watching this scene on the big screen, even if it is People like him can't stand it.

Twenty years from now, or even just five years later, you'd think there's nothing to be fussed about.

Someone said so before.

But there are more and more curses, and more and more people are leaving.

The auditorium fell into chaos, and even the audience fainted due to excessive fright, and there was more than one person.

By the time the scene ended, nearly a quarter of the seats in the theater were empty.

Ronan is very clear that films like Irreversible may only survive in the avant-garde consciousness of Cannes.

The price of this kind of North American copyright is 3 million US dollars? It's crazy.

On the day the premiere of the film ended, Ronan got the news that the film set a record of 250 spectators leaving halfway, and 20 spectators fainted and needed oxygen treatment.

It can only be said that director Gaspar Nou is too good.

The discussion caused by this film can be imagined. In a TV interview after the premiere, Monica Bellucci's husband Vincent Cassel reportedly cried on the spot because of the tremendous pressure.

In this regard, Vincent Cassel is simply weaker than Monica Bellucci, who is used to filming large-scale scenes.

Monica Bellucci said in an interview: Irreversible is somewhere between A Clockwork Orange and 120 Days of Sodom, a bold mix of violence and ecstasy, bestiality and poetry. Sometimes movies can cause people to feel uncomfortable, and this discomfort is not malicious, but because the pretense of good human nature has been severely pierced.

It can only be said that every filmmaker has their own opinions.

Irreversible has gained popularity, but it has no good results.

Just one day later, the Cannes Film Festival officially announced the cancellation of all screenings and related promotional activities of Irreversible during the Cannes Film Festival.

This is tantamount to expelling Irreversible from this Cannes Film Festival.

Afterwards, Ronan got the news that the companies that were negotiating with Gaspar-Noo on the distribution broke off the negotiations one after another.

This film can indeed create buzz, but it is hard to predict whether it will be released in the domestic market.

For countries that are a little more conservative, let alone theaters, there is no hope for the offline market.

After Ronan, Lionsgate contacted Gaspar Noo, but after much consideration, they also gave up the film.

It was at this time that Ronan received a call from Monica Bellucci, and Gaspar No wanted to talk to him about the North American copyright.