While Huan Ya's executives were still considering whether to accept Li Mu's proposal, they suddenly received news that Li Mu had bought the English remake rights of "Infernal Affairs" from Warner Bros. for 3.5 million US dollars!
Moreover, Warner Bros. was really decisive. It took them less than a day to consider and another day to complete the process. Now, the English remake rights of "Infernal Affairs" belonged to Makino Image …
When Huan Ya heard the news, they were dumbfounded. They did not understand what Li Mu was trying to do. He had just offered to cooperate with them on the distribution rights of "Infernal Affairs" in North America, and then he bought the English remake rights of "Infernal Affairs" from Warner Bros. at double the price.
Everyone knew that the goal of the English remake rights was to target the North American market. Huanya's executives were particularly hesitant. They gathered together to brainstorm and asked Analyst Li what the purpose of this move was.
"Why do you think Li Mu bought it? If he cooperates with us to bring the original 'Infernal Affairs' to the North American market, he can make money empty-handed. What a great thing! "
"How am I supposed to know? Is Li Mu trying to use this to force us to accept his exploitation plan? "
"My God, how long will that take? He got the rights today and started filming today. It will take at least half a year for it to be released! If we find a suitable partner, 'Infernal Affairs' might be released in North America next month! We are not in the same time frame … "
"Does Li Mu think that the English remake of 'Infernal Affairs' has a greater profit margin?"
"Not likely. Although the script of 'Infernal Affairs' is good, it will not adapt to Hollywood. In Hollywood, the production cost is at least 30 to 50 million US dollars. If the box office is less than 200 million, there is no profit at all."
"Whether it is possible or not depends on how the script is changed, who will film, and who will act."
"Everyone, even if Li Mu thinks that the remake of 'Infernal Affairs' is profitable, it has nothing to do with the original 'Infernal Affairs'. Our priority now is to determine how to operate our 'Infernal Affairs'. Should we sell it directly to Hollywood or accept Li Mu's proposal?"
"Li Mu's plan is too ridiculous! We are the owners of the copyright, and he only gives us 30%! This guy's heart was not just a normal kind of black! Unless he's willing to give us at least 50%, I won't cooperate with him! "
"No less than 50%? Then let's report it to him according to 50%! "
"Alright, I agree!"
…
When Li Mu heard Huan Ya's final offer from Li Ziwei, he was not surprised or angry at all. He just said lightly, "Tell them directly that I take back the offer. In the future, don't communicate with Makino Image about this movie. Makino Image will not cooperate with them in any form based on this movie."
"Okay!" Li Ziwei immediately nodded and said, "I'll reply to them now."
Li Mu hurriedly said, "Don't be so anxious. It's not necessary. It's just a film company. Whether it's the size of the company or the space for cooperation, it's nothing to us. We can reply to them when we're in a good mood."
After saying that, Li Mu shook his head self-deprecatingly and said with a smile, "I'm getting worse and worse. Even a small film company has the guts to bargain with me."
Li Ziwei smiled and said, "I understand how you feel. What you care about is whether Chinese movies can go out of the Chinese circle, not how much money they can make from Chinese movies."
Li Mu nodded and said, "For some capitalists, movies are indeed very profitable, but for me, the money that movies make is really pitiful. Logically speaking, I should be concerned about when Makino Technology and Taobao Technology will go public and when their market value will exceed the 100 billion mark. I shouldn't be calculating whether a movie can make tens of millions of dollars if it is released in North America. Even if I want to make this money, I shouldn't do it myself. It's more cost-effective to put my energy in other areas. But movies are powerful cultural export tools. If I want to do a good job in cultural export, I must firmly grasp the main battlefield of movies."
As he said that, Li Mu took a sip of water and said, "By the way, Ziwei, help me contact Spielberg and ask him to tell the management of DreamWorks that I intend to start the English version of 'Infernal Affairs'. This movie will be the next major film for Makino Image after 'Flying Tigers'. I hope to continue to cooperate with DreamWorks. If they are interested, they can arrange a video conference according to everyone's time."
"Okay, I'll contact Director Spielberg now."
Speaking of this, Li Ziwei hesitated for a moment, as if she was hesitating for a moment, but still asked Li Mu, "Li Zong, may I ask you a question? Are you going to let the original 'Infernal Affairs' go? I always feel that it's a pity … "
Li Mu smiled and asked, "Ziwei, what do you think of the movie 'Infernal Affairs'?"
"It's very good." Li Ziwei replied without hesitation, "It should be the best Hong Kong movie in the past few years."
Li Mu smiled and asked, "What's good about it? What do you think?"
Li Ziwei said, "The plot is great, the actors are also very good, and the cast is strong. They are all well-known actors in the Hong Kong film industry."
Li Mu asked again, "Do you think the North American audience will like the original version of 'Infernal Affairs'?"
"Well …" Li Ziwei thought for a moment and said, "I think they will? After all, 'Mr. Zombie' is a successful precedent. "
Li Mu smiled and said, "I don't think so. I don't think the North American audience will be able to accept the original version of 'Infernal Affairs'. At the very least, based on their current understanding of Hua Xia, they won't be able to accept it."
Li Ziwei asked, "Why do you say that?"
Li Mu said, "'Mr. Zombie' is actually very simple. It's the system of Hua Xia's zombies that it exports to the outside world, and it itself is a fictional folklore. So even if the North American audience doesn't understand Hua Xia's culture, they will still be very immersed in it. It's just like when we watch a Hollywood sci-fi movie like 'Alien'. As long as we recognize the system of 'Alien', we won't feel any different watching that movie than westerners. But 'Infernal Affairs' is different."
Li Ziwei hurriedly asked him, "Why is that?"
Li Mu said, "'Infernal Affairs' contains too many Hua Xia elements, and it has a strong Hong Kong flavor. It focuses on human nature, strategy, Buddhist fatalism, benevolence, righteousness, morality, and infernal purgatory. We understand these elements, but the westerners don't. Moreover, when Hong Kong films are made, there is a very common theme, which is that the darker the better. They believe that the darker the film is, the more successful it will be at the soul level. This is not a problem for us Hua Xia audience, because we accept and are used to such routines. But for westerners, it's too difficult for them to accept so many things that they don't understand all at once."
Speaking up to this point, Li Mu added, "So when you look at Hollywood blockbusters, the main plot is clear, the rhythm is fast, and most of the characters do not have complicated personalities. It can be said to be distinctive, especially action movies. There is basically nothing else, just a bunch of action. But the more such a movie is, the more it can sell globally. Why? It's because it's simple and direct. There are more than two hundred countries in the world, countless ethnic groups, and countless cultural styles. Do you know how these cultures develop? "
Li Ziwei was confused. She shook her head blankly and said, "I'm not very clear. This question seems a little profound …"
Li Mu smiled and said, "Actually, it's not profound at all. Let me put it to you this way. There are so many cultures in the world, and they are like a huge towering tree. Not only does it reach the clouds, but it is also lush with branches and leaves. The branches and leaves are extremely complex, but no matter how big a tree is, it ultimately grows from a seed. From a root system, it sprouts and grows into a thick tree trunk. Then, it slowly spreads its branches and leaves and continues to develop. The more it extends and develops, the greater the difference between the different branches."
"If every branch is a different culture, then every culture is not just its own branch. Instead, it starts from its own branch and traces back to the trunk and roots that extend all the way up. Although everyone has the same root, because the subsequent development path is completely different, there is a huge difference.
Although every culture develops from the beginning to the end for thousands of years, everyone who lives in the present is living at the end of their own culture. So you can't take something from one end and ask people at the other end to adopt and accept it. What is' Infernal Affairs'? It is a product of the end of our culture. Do you think people who are not in our culture can completely understand and accept it? "
Li Ziwei shook her head gently. "According to your analogy, it should be very difficult to accept."
Li Mu continued, "So, going back to the topic of Hollywood that we were talking about just now, Hollywood action movies are very simple. They don't have any connotations, and they don't have any special end culture. They don't even use the end thinking of Western culture, but the front-end thinking, so they are a product of Western culture. Then, as I said earlier, every culture is actually a branch and a leaf growing from a tree. This is also destined to a rule: The more you explore the front-end of a culture, the closer you are to other cultures. Conversely, the farther you are from them.
If you explore the front end to the extreme, to the root of human civilization, then all cultures are actually the same. All cultures are inseparable from eating, drinking, and defecating. All cultures are inseparable from sex, love, and hatred. All cultures agree that good people should be rewarded with good things and bad people should be punished when they are beaten. All cultures also agree that good people should be punished when they are bullied by bad people. So Hollywood makes such a simple but not surprising thing from other cultures. It may not have any depth, but it can be accepted and recognized by everyone. "
After saying that, Li Mu sighed softly and said, "In my opinion, this is the key to the success of Hollywood commercial blockbusters. When other movies, such as Hong Kong movies, can't find any depth, they turn around and throw it to the back of their minds. They look for things that can be accepted by people from all cultures. So, look at 'Infernal Affairs'. It stands at the end of Hua Xia culture. Maybe some Western audiences can see the depth and praise this movie, but most Western audiences will not accept its depth. This is why it is destined to be difficult to achieve commercial success in North America."
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