I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 286 - 286 285. Admitting Defeat_1

Chapter 286: 285. Admitting Defeat_1 Chapter 286: 285. Admitting Defeat_1 Lu Ban’s meeting with Thomas Lee was less than ideal.

The main issues lay in the distribution of profits and the scheduling of screenings.

Lu Ban’s preferred release slot was around Christmas and New Year’s Day, half a year away, which allowed enough time for his team to complete the film and provide a master copy.

Moreover, Christmas is akin to the New Year for foreigners, with many holidays during that period and numerous moviegoers. Similarly, in China, the New Year’s holidays would attract a vast audience.

However, for foreign cinemas, this period is also very significant, even possibly the most important, comparable to the Chinese New Year slot for domestic films. It’s when the strongest movies are released. Under such circumstances, to show a film made by “foreigners” could be somewhat unjustifiable, and it’s not certain that the shareholders of the cinemas would agree.

After all, Lu Ban was not yet famous enough.

The distribution of profits was quite straightforward.

After deducting a certain special business tax and special funds from the domestic box office, over fifty percent of the remaining money goes to the film and cinemas. Thomas Lee wanted to increase this proportion. They were aiming for more than sixty percent, nearing seventy percent of the revenue share.

Lu Ban wasn’t particularly interested in money, but this mission demanded a revenue of five billion. If the domestic box office could reach that figure, the other half would have to come from international markets. With a sixty-forty revenue split, he would need to achieve around nine hundred million US dollars in box office abroad, a number far surpassing the record set by previous domestic films. If the split was seventy-thirty, Lu Ban would have to secure box office receipts of one point two billion US dollars.

The additional three billion alone would exceed the overseas record of any domestic film.

Lu Ban was by no means an irrational and deluded madman. On the contrary, he considered himself a common filmmaker without any exaggerated techniques or a prodigious sense of cinematography. Apart from the subject matter and the immersive power it brought, his films were not vastly superior to others.

That’s why Lu Ban, aiming to fulfill his mission securely, definitely wanted to reduce his own difficulty.

Fortunately, this was the first negotiation, not the final decision. Thomas Lee would remain in the country to talk with a few other companies. Lu Ban wasn’t in a rush. He believed that if Thomas Lee wasn’t just an empty talker, he would surely research Lu Ban’s works. After watching these, he certainly wouldn’t let Lu Ban release his film exclusively in other cinemas.

Meanwhile.

Thomas Lee was also troubled.

As the manager of AMC in China, he was responsible for importing Chinese-language films.

In the past, during the eighties and nineties of the last century, the main imports were Hong Kong movies, including crime films, zombie movies, and later martial arts movies became mainstream. This included a series of martial artists making waves in Hollywood, sparking a craze.

But with the decline of Hong Kong cinema and the rise of mainland films, the importation work became much more difficult.

Firstly, cultural differences played a big role. Many former martial arts films had simple plots that Europe and America enjoyed watching; the flashy fight scenes were enough for them.

But later domestic films increased their focus on thought and content, with themes such as national hatred and historical revolution becoming the themes of martial arts films. Chinese audiences enjoyed seeing martial arts masters beating up foreigners, while foreigners found it slightly awkward.

Actually, according to Thomas Lee’s understanding, what Europe and American audiences wanted to see was the traditional, simple, and backward world of the mysterious East – like civilized people observing a primitive tribe.

In their perception, the East was backward, so films showing how modernized and strong the East was were mostly not accepted by Western audiences.

Not to mention in recent years, there have been many box-office-driven films; even the domestic audience doesn’t like them, let alone foreigners, who find them even less comprehensible.

The work of film importation was getting more difficult.

Thomas Lee had talked with several companies over the last few days, but none felt quite right.

Although there was still time, if the negotiations dragged on, he would not be able to meet his targets.

That evening, he returned to his home in Yannan.

Turning on the TV, he wanted to watch some movies.

At that moment, Thomas Lee thought of the discs Lu Ban had given him.

He knew of Lu Ban, the leading director of domestic horror films with frightening box office records in the horror genre. Furthermore, many Europeans and Americans had a taste for Asian horror films.

However, Thomas Lee could not afford to seem too interested in Lu Ban; he had to maintain a strong position in order to negotiate effectively.

According to Thomas Lee’s previous bottom line, he would let the cinema’s revenue split remain at sixty percent, with about five percent of the screenings.

On the wonderful Christmas, horror films aren’t usually so popular, unless it’s Halloween, that’s a different story.

But how it actually turns out still depends on the quality of the finished film.

Thinking this, Thomas Lee, who had never watched a film by Lu Ban before, pulled out the disc for “Cry” and placed it into the projector.

He wanted to see for himself why this movie was such a box office hit.

Two hours later, Thomas Lee sat stiffly on the couch, unable to move at all.

His expression was rigid and ferocious as he stared wide-eyed.

The armrest of the sofa bore the mark of his grasp, a result of his instinctual reaction to excessive fright.

Thomas Lee had seen many horror movies, particularly those from Asia, as he had always been fond of zombie films.

But now, the feeling this movie gave him was no less than the terror of being forcibly taken to the hospital for injections as a child.

Thomas Lee conceded defeat.

It wasn’t until the production list ended and the movie finished playing that Thomas Lee finally came back to his senses.

He realized that because he had been tense all along, now that he had relaxed, all his muscles had loosened up as well.

Including some that shouldn’t have.

“…F**K!”

Feeling the moist and warm liquid on the couch, Thomas Lee couldn’t help but curse aloud.

He tried to stand up, but his weak legs would no longer allow him to move, and he failed.

He sat back down again.

“…”

It took Thomas Lee another ten minutes before he finally managed to get up, change his clothes, and clean the living room. Looking at the second DVD Lu Ban had given him, he fell into deep thought.

“No wonder such a movie could achieve such high box office sales in its home country,” Thomas Lee remarked.

In an era where audiovisual experiences are becoming increasingly complex, to evoke such a horror movie experience is very difficult.

Humans are ultimately keen on seeking thrills.

And this kind of experience… is very special, one that, so far, Thomas Lee had only experienced through Lu Ban’s films.

This unique experience could potentially be the key to his movies becoming big hits overseas.

“It’s just, I don’t know if only this one is of such a caliber, or…”

Many directors exhaust their talents in their first film, begin to coast on their past achievements from the second one, and eventually fade into obscurity. Lu Ban’s upcoming work would be his third, and it was hard for Thomas Lee not to be skeptical.

Of course, Thomas Lee now had the idea of bringing Lu Ban’s two movies overseas, even though the box office might not be high due to timing, but perhaps they could serve as a buildup to create momentum for Lu Ban’s third movie.

“Let’s watch this second film first.”

Thomas Lee had already inserted the DVD into the projector but then glanced at the sofa.

He decided to change into a pair of swim trunks to watch.