Chapter 223 Male Host Selection and Investment Confirmation
Two weeks after the release of "Red Cliff", Liu Zhou flew to the United States.

As the leading actor this time, Liu Zhou was very responsible. Not only did he cooperate with the film's various pre-promotional activities, but after the film was released, he also took the main creators on a ten-day roadshow.

It can be said that Liu Zhou also made great contributions to the explosive box office success of "Red Cliff".

Two weeks after the movie is released, word of mouth will spread completely, and the final box office will only be left to fate. The crew actually can’t do much.

Besides, the box office performance of "Red Cliff" not only satisfied Liu Zhou, but even surprised him, so he had nothing to worry about.

So after seeing that there would be no accidents, Liu Zhou went to Hollywood to prepare for his new film "Edge of Tomorrow".

Although Lionsgate has been preparing for the film, Liu Zhou is the director of the film after all, and he is also the core of the crew, so he can't just ignore it.

During this period, Lionsgate often called overseas to communicate related matters.

This way of communication is too troublesome and inefficient. Since there is not much to do here, I might as well rush over there.

More than a month later, when Liu Zhou arrived at Lionsgate, the crew had actually been formed.

The producer who collaborated with Liu Zhou this time was his old acquaintance Jason Tatum.

Having worked together before and having talked on the phone frequently recently, there wasn't much awkwardness when they met again.

Jason Tatum also reported to Liu Zhou in detail the specific preparations of the crew.

The behind-the-scenes staff have all been recruited, and most of the actors have also been confirmed. The only thing left is the selection of the male lead, which needs to be determined by Liu Zhou himself.

"What's the situation with the male lead? Are the candidates willing to accept our invitation?"

In response to Liu Zhou's question, Tatum smiled and said:

“Yes, they all accepted our invitation, Liu, you are no longer an unknown person, but a rising director in Hollywood.

Besides, our script this time is pretty good, even these Hollywood stars might be looking forward to working with us.”

"Don't think too much. Which Hollywood superstar is short of projects?" Liu Zhou also replied with a smile, "But no matter what the reason is, since they are willing to cooperate with us, it is also a good thing for us."

"That's right, so you need to choose it yourself."

"Then tell me about your communication with the three of them."

Tatum pondered for a moment and said:
"First of all, Christian Bale, he would love to work with you and Anne Hathaway again, but his schedule is tight.

Because in November, he will be filming the sequel to Batman, The Dark Knight.”

"What's the price he offered?"

"Twenty million dollars plus 10% of the North American box office share!"

"So high? Last time we talked about his salary, it was less than 10 million dollars, right?"

"After the release of the Batman movie, he offered $20 million.

Although we took advantage of the popularity of "Source Code", the two sides complement each other.

"Source Code" did well at the box office, and it also proved his ability to resist the box office.

In addition, this year he collaborated again with Christopher Noren on "The Prestige", which also achieved very good results.

So now his agency’s offer is this high.”

"Well, it seems that I underestimated Bell's current popularity."

Liu Zhou originally thought that Bale would become a member of the 20 million club only after starring in The Dark Knight, a classic that grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

I didn’t expect that not only has his salary reached 20 million, but he will also have to share in the box office profits.

If Liu Zhou was just a simple director, he would be very willing to continue working with a dedicated actor like Bale.

But now Liu Zhou is not only a director, but also an investor in the film, so he has more to consider.

To be honest, in Liu Zhou's opinion, Bale's pay must be inflated.

After all, "Batman" is a superhero movie, and this character is a household name in the United States.

It is hard to say who made the other successful between him and the movie.

If he offered 20 million for the sequel, there would definitely be no problem.

However, his offer for films outside of this series was also 20 million, and he also wanted a share of the profits. Liu Zhou definitely felt it was not worth it.

All the superstars in other 20 million clubs have accumulated their popularity step by step, but Bale has suddenly become popular in the past two years.

His fan base and box office appeal are definitely not as good as those of other superstars.

Originally, Liu Zhou thought that even if the shooting time was tight, it wouldn't matter, as his and Anne Hathaway's reunion would be a good publicity gimmick.

But it's not worth it compared to the price you have to pay.

So Liu Zhou first excluded Bell.

"Jason, you talked about Bell first. It seems that you also think he is not suitable?"

Tatum smiled and replied:

"Yes, I think Bale has no advantage over the other two, and his schedule is also very tight, which is not conducive to filming."

"Okay, who are you going to talk about next?"

“In fact, the remaining two actors, Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage, are similar, but relatively speaking, Tom Cruise has a stronger appeal.

His Mission: Impossible 3 was released not long ago, but the word of mouth and box office did not meet expectations, so he urgently needs a high-quality movie to make up for the loss.”

"That's not the case. He was the most popular star in Hollywood at the time."

"Nothing is impossible. Since the beginning of the new century, Tom Cruise has had no outstanding works except the Mission: Impossible series. If he had not accumulated a huge fan base in the 1990s, he would not be able to get such good treatment now. Hollywood is very realistic."

"How much is his salary?"

"20 plus 20, million US dollars plus % of the North American box office share."

"He has no other requests, does he?"

Tom Cruise is notoriously difficult to deal with in Hollywood.

Let’s not talk about what sect he joined. That was his belief and Liu Zhou respected that. But he was worried that Tom Cruise would have some other strange requests.

Moreover, Tom Cruise is quite strong and often interferes with the crew.

In the Mission Impossible series, he is not only an actor, but also a producer, and even pockets most of the profits.
Because of this incident, Paramount Pictures and he completely fell out.

Paramount didn’t have any notable film series before, and could only rely on "Mission Impossible" to hold the scene, so they had to accommodate him all the time.

Later, Paramount acquired DreamWorks' live-action film department and developed the hit "Transformers" series, and no longer indulged him.

In the end, it was Tom Cruise who gave in first, which led to the subsequent Mission: Impossible films.

"No."

"What about Nicolas Cage?"

"It's also twenty plus twenty, but I think the box office share is negotiable, and he is more willing to cooperate."

"Then go talk to Nicolas Cage's agent. If you can negotiate a lower commission, then choose him."

"What if we can't come to an agreement?"

"I still choose him!"

Although Tom Cruise was the male protagonist of "Edge of Tomorrow" in the original time and space, Liu Zhou really didn't want to bet on his character.

He didn't want to deal with all the hassles on the set, he just wanted to finish the film safely.

Moreover, Liu Zhou felt that Tom Cruise was not tall enough and his figure was a little thin, which was somewhat inconsistent with the role of the male protagonist, a special forces soldier in the play.

What's more, Nicolas Cage is quite popular now, his acting skills are much better than Tom Cruise, and his figure is much better.

So Liu Zhou still thinks Nicolas Cage is more suitable.

"OK, can you confirm when it will start?"

"Since everything else is almost ready, let's do it at the end of this month."

After discussing the work, Tatum went to do other things.

Liu Zhou went to the office of Jaylen Brown, director of production at Lionsgate, to discuss investment matters for "Edge of Tomorrow."

Jaylen Brown seemed to have been waiting for Liu Zhou to arrive, and when he saw him he said enthusiastically:

"Liu, you are finally here."

"I'm here. Seeing you still sitting in this position, I feel relieved. Haha."

"Liu, have you ever doubted my ability? I won't be fired so easily."

After a little joke, Jaylen Brown got down to business:
"Liu, the total investment of Edge of Tomorrow is 80 million US dollars. How much are you going to invest?"

"This movie requires a lot of special effects. Is 80 million enough?"

Liu Zhou remembered that in 2011 or 2012, the investment in "Edge of Tomorrow" exceeded 100 million yuan, but now it is so much cheaper.

“Don’t worry, it’s enough. We have already found a special effects company and negotiated the price.

But this is only the production cost, not including the publicity cost.”

"Ok, in that case, I will invest 30% of the shares as we agreed before."

"no problem."

Because these situations had been communicated before, there was no need for any wrangling, and the contract could be signed after Liu Zhou's investment share was determined.

This time, the two parties negotiated a salary of 4 million US dollars for director Liu Zhou, and the copyright for changing the novel "Killing Cycle" was 1.5 million US dollars, and the script fee was 500,000 US dollars.

Liu Zhou used the total of 6 million US dollars as investment, and then put in another 18 million US dollars in cash, totaling 24 million, accounting for 30% of the investment share of "Edge of Tomorrow".

Lionsgate invested $56 million in cash, accounting for 70 percent of the film.

Within a week, both parties deposited the funds into a dedicated account for the project.

After signing the contract, both parties breathed a sigh of relief.

"Liu, happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

After signing the contract, Liu Zhou did not stay in his office for long, but went to find a special effects company to cooperate with according to the address given by Jaylen Brown.

Compared to "Source Code" which only had a few special effects shots, "Edge of Tomorrow" has a lot more special effects shots.

Moreover, the alien monsters and some futuristic sci-fi equipment inside need to be made using CG.

For these special effects shots, we need to communicate with the special effects company in advance on how to shoot them, and then formulate a real-life shooting plan.

This was also the main reason why Liu Zhou rushed over.

(End of this chapter)