NOVEL NEXT Chapter 448 - 448: Miracle Wholesaler (Please Vote for Recommendation)
Chapter 448: Chapter 448: Miracle Wholesaler (Please Vote for Recommendation)
“Oh―”
Flakes of snow drifted down from the sky, and the vast Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City stretched white and endless before their eyes. From a bird’s-eye view, clumps of pine trees laden with snow remained vibrant green, while visitors fully geared for skiing dotted the wilderness and downhill ski runs, enjoying the thrill of the sport.
“OK! READY―GO!” On the boundless snowy plains, Wang Yang, Joshua, Harry George, Alexis, and others all pushed off with their skiing poles, the skis sliding forward from the pressure, as they all raced towards the agreed finish line, swift as lightning!
The ski resort of Park City was hosting the 22nd annual Sundance Film Festival, a crucible of films like “Reservoir Dogs,” “Clerks,” “Memento,” “Death Illusion”… Last year’s production with a budget of only 2.8 million US Dollars, “The Constant Gardener,” not only ended up grossing 23.56 million worldwide, but also became an award season dark horse with an approval rating of 82%. The production company MTV Films and the distributor Paramount Classics were the envy of many.
This year, a total of 120 films entered the festival, spanning ten days from the 19th to the 29th. The opening film starred Jennifer Aniston in “Rich Old Friends,” a romance film with a production cost of 6.5 million US Dollars, launched by the independent production company “This-Is-That Productions.” It became one of the most sought-after films in Park City this year after receiving widespread acclaim at its premiere, along with the closing film “The Producers,” and other works like “Coming of Age” and “The Inconvenient Truth.”
Even to this day, Sundance is never short of film industry personnel, celebrities, media reporters, and the like; Sony Classics, Fox Spotlight, Universal, Lionsgate, Weinstein… including Flame Film, it didn’t come here to boast about anything. Clearly, even though it has “Shanghai Kiss” in the festival, it couldn’t take on the heavy responsibility. FF was here to scout for treasure, and specifically that kind which is serendipitous rather than searchable. And it seemed that this year, they might just strike gold.
“Hey, you fatso, you ski too slow! Galileo was right, the speed of a falling body isn’t directly proportional to its weight! But he was wrong too! Because I’ll be faster!”
On the snowy slopes, Wang Yang, who had intentionally lagged behind to then push forward and overtake, shouted these taunts to the second-to-last Harry George, lifted his ski poles to pass him, and left a trail of hearty laughter, “Hahaha―”
“I’ll see you later… Yang.” Watching the swiftly disappearing back, decked out in a red skiing suit, the big guy helplessly shook his head. Who asked him to always be so bad at sports? Even losing three pounds was a struggle. Harry continued to carefully control his center of gravity, slowly gliding on his skis. How could Yang ski so fast? He could be in the Olympics…
Wang Yang was here both to attend the film festival and for a holiday, and he had called on several friends like Joshua to enjoy the skiing weekend together. Jessica hadn’t come as she needed to take care of Keke; after all, with the high altitude and the cold weather here, it would be bad if the baby got a cold, even though Keke had undergone cold resistance training.
“Oh―” Suddenly, there was an excited shout from behind. Joshua knew Yang was catching up! He immediately bent his knees more, leaned forward to lower his center of gravity, and briskly propelled himself forward with his skiing poles. How could he allow this! He had already known that Yang was an expert skier, never the last one! He wanted to mock everyone, so mean! “Oh no!” Suddenly, losing control of his balance, Joshua attempted to slow down by turning, but ended up tumbling over in the snow and coming to a stop against a pine tree.
Wang Yang exclaimed with a “Oh,” came to a parallel stop by turning his skis, and skied over to ask, “You alright, bro?” Joshua looked up, spewing a mouthful of snow; after Wang Yang inspected him for a few moments, he burst out laughing, “No problem!” As he quickly started skiing again, he joked, “Josh, I know the snow is free, but don’t eat too much of it! It’s not beneficial, you know! You never know if someone might have peed there…”
“No way!?” As he watched the retreating figure, Joshua took a deep breath, slowly turned his head to look at the snowy ground, and then lifted his gaze to the large pine tree in front of him. “Pfft—” Zachary Levi too caught a mouthful of snow, helplessly watching Wang Yang walk away, who even back during “High School Musical” was no rookie.
Annie Darren was currently at the forefront of this ski race, not just an ordinary tourist. The independent romantic film “Flannel Pajamas,” in which she starred, was participating in this year’s film festival drama competition. When she saw Wang Yang catching up and moving along parallel to her, Annie smiled and called out a greeting, “Director!”
“Hey, Annie!” Wang Yang turned his head to look at this freckled woman. She wore a white fluffy hat, her long hair tied back and draping over her shoulders, her slightly freckled face no longer youthful and tender, but had a mature charm like that of the girl next door, making her feel very soft and comfortable. He called out with a laugh, “You ski really well! People wouldn’t know, they might think you grew up in Utah.” The Nebraska girl, Annie, smiled: “I didn’t, perhaps I just have… a bit of talent.”
Hearing her light laughter, Wang Yang laughed heartily too: “Then my talent is higher than yours.” He didn’t speed up to leave her behind right away, as it just so happened they were on a straight ski run. He called out again with a laugh, “We haven’t chatted like this in a long time, you know. We should get out more and have fun.”
Although he did not say “JUST-YOU-AND-ME,” his words still carried a hint of ambiguity, perhaps others would think it was some sort of insinuation. But Annie knew he meant nothing else by it, never had— he just saw her as a good friend, which was why he could be so brazen. She laughed, “Yes, I haven’t properly congratulated you on winning the Golden Globe for Best Director yet.” Wang Yang, puzzled, said, “Come on, didn’t you say ‘congratulations’? What else can you do?” Teased Annie could only laugh continuously: “I don’t know, a greeting card? Oh no no…” Naturally, she thought of “500 Days of Summer,” which amused her: “No, no!”
“Haha!” Wang Yang laughed as he looked ahead, slowly bending his body in preparation to accelerate. He asked, “So your film ‘Flannel Pajamas’ premieres tomorrow, right?” Annie replied, “Yes.” Wang Yang pushed off with his ski poles and shouted, “Bring us along to watch it tomorrow! See you later, girl!”
Wang Yang really wanted to see Annie’s current performance, to know what level and stage she had reached. Watching “Flannel Pajamas” was a great chance to find out. Regarding Annie Darren, Wang Yang knew he had some different feelings in his heart—this girl had become famous because of his persistence in her. He felt a bit like a parent wanting their child to succeed, hoping she could shine and show her own light. However, they hadn’t had the opportunity to work together in recent years, but Annie didn’t lack lead supporting role offers, and she actively participated in independent films, maintaining a low-profile and simple life without getting lost in the hard-earned spotlight, truly commendable.
Perhaps there would soon be an opportunity to collaborate, not on “I Am Legend,” though. The script adapted by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman for commercial considerations and the story still called for a female role to appear, but he didn’t plan on doing that. The entire film would feature only Robert Neville, with everyone else being zombies.
“Ohoho—!” The wind howled past his ears, the snowflakes felt cold against his face, and Wang Yang, without overthinking, continued to chase after Alexis at full speed: “Aah—!” If one were to look down from the sky, they would see a red spot quickly closing in on a blue spot, then moving alongside for a bit before the red spot overtook.
“What’s Flame Films’ next move?” Meanwhile, Park City was abuzz with rumors. Which films to buy? Should they acquire outright ownership or purchase distribution rights with a share of the profits? The distributors were all abuzz, and the executives from each company huddled like gossiping housewives, discussing which films to acquire. Sony Classics was about to secure “Rich Old Friends,” Universal Studios had already started negotiations for “Lead Dog,” Miramax Films was vying for “Midnight Listener”… And the center of attention was Flame Films, the “miracle wholesaler!”
It had bought “Crash” at the Toronto Film Festival, “Memento” and “Death Illusion” at Sundance, and then even swallowed up the production company Newmarket… At this 22nd Sundance, what miracle was Flame Films eyeing?
“Flame seems really interested in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’; they’re asking about the price.” “Some of the films are quite bland, whose idea was that?” “I heard Wang Yang hasn’t seen ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ yet; these days, he’s been skiing. He also said he’s here on vacation and doesn’t have much of an opinion.” “Do you believe that? Regardless of whose idea it is, we have to buy ‘Little Miss Sunshine’!” “‘Flannel Pajamas’ was spotted by Amazing Yang!” “He said the film is very cool!” “Flame is also inquiring about ‘The Illusionist’!” “Flame is interested in ‘Midnight Listener’!” “Flame has made an offer for ‘Boots’!”…
For a time, Flame Films’ targets spanned the entire premiere section and drama competition section, as well as several documentaries like “The Uncomfortable Truth.” Which one would it be?
“Little Miss Sunshine” indeed caught the eye of Flame Films right away, reaching the highest SSS tier—purchase it! Purchase it for sure!
The film tells a story of dream chasing. Seven-year-old Olive has a crazy family, her father is a motivational speaker selling his “9 Steps to Success”; her brother is a Nietzsche-worshipping mute, who took a vow of silence to get into flight school and hasn’t spoken to his family in nine months; her gay uncle is a total loser—dumped, unemployed, and a failed suicide attempt… Grandpa is an old reprobate kicked out of the nursing home, all foul-mouthed and drug-addicted; and Olive herself dreams every day of overnight fame, believing she will one day be crowned Miss America; her mother might be the only normal person if she wasn’t suffering from menopause.
With the support of her bizarre family, Olive entered a beauty pageant called “Little Miss Sunshine,” and the whole family embarked on a collective dream-chasing journey in a broken-down van.
Several development tracks of the film can somewhat explain the embarrassment this R-rated family road comedy, with a budget of 8 million, went through. 1: In the year 2000, Michael Arndt wrote the first draft of the script; producers Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger considered producing it but couldn’t, due to funding issues. 2: In 2001, producer Marc Turtletaub bought the script’s adaptation rights for $250,000, seeking investment from Focus Features. 3: Focus Features thought it over and over again, but couldn’t decide to invest in the film, because the script was too bland. 4: In 2004, Marc Turtletaub spent another $400,000 to redeem it from Focus Features. 5: The $8 million production cost was invested jointly by Bona Fide Productions, Big Beach Films, Third Gear Productions LLC, and Deep River Productions.
Even so, although this was the directorial debut of the husband-and-wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, “Little Miss Sunshine” now became a sought-after delicacy in Park City, not only for its potential that couldn’t be ignored, but Flame Films seemed quite interested in it.
“It has many qualities of success,” thought Marc Smerling, Chris Ball, and others, who found it exceptionally extraordinary, and this was also Wang Yang’s view. He really liked its characters, the story, and the themes; it was very interesting, very touching, and very emotional, and he knew even more about its potential.
Originally acquired by Sony Classics, “Rich Old Friends” earned $13.36 million in North American box office /$18.24 million worldwide, with a Rotten Tomatoes’ Tri-score of 71%/70%/37%; acquired by Universal Studios, “The Top Dog” reached $15.30 million / $32.14 million box office, Rotten Tomatoes Tri-score: 54%/56%/68%; acquired by Miramax Films, “Midnight Listener” achieved $7.83 million / $10.63 million box office, with a Rotten Tomatoes Tri-score of 40%/30%/36%…
Some of these had decent results, while others ended up as unprofitable ventures. What about “Little Miss Sunshine”? Originally, it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record-setting Sundance price of $10.5 million, including a clause that offered 10% of total revenue as a bonus. It didn’t disappoint Fox Searchlight; quite the opposite, it was a huge surprise—$59.89 million / $100 million box office, with a Rotten Tomatoes Tri-score of 91%/89%/90%, and earned Oscar nominations in 2007 for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.
How many Sundance editions does it take to produce a film like this? Certainly, a great many editions. Since Wang Yang knew of its tremendous potential, Flame Films wouldn’t operate as conservatively as FOX Searchlight, which had a maximum release of only 1,602 theaters (released on July 21, peaking in the 6th week from September 1-7); he believed that by increasing promotional efforts and adjusting the release schedule to around November-March, awards season, and maintaining patience, like the operational model of “Brokeback Mountain,” a North American box office of over $80 million was not an issue, even potentially surpassing $100 million.
“Little Miss Sunshine” would also be a core contender for Flame Films hitting the 06-07 awards season. With increased importance and investment in promotion, it could easily secure more nominations, rather than just having a single nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, with the Oscars feeling more like hitting the jackpot.
Higher box office, more nominations! The premise is that Flame Films would acquire it.
Though “Little Miss Sunshine” is now a delicacy, if it weren’t for the involvement of Flame Films, FOX Searchlight would have already bought it. In fact, the record-setting high price of $10 million seems scary, but after subtracting production costs, the profit was only $2 million, hardly comparable to “Crash,” which had a production budget of $6.5 million and a buy-out fee of $20 million—the 10% total revenue share bonus seeming like a worthless promissory note. Yet, even so, Marc Turtletaub was frightened; he was tormented by Focus Features for a full four years! Then throughout the production process of “Little Miss Sunshine,” no one showed interest, but now…
“SSS-grade.” Maybe FOX Spotlight envisioned it garnering a $30 million box office, perhaps other distributors were alerted by the buzz, but Wang Yang knew all too well that no one could stop Flame’s determination, whether it was an outright purchase or a profit-sharing deal, be it $15 million, $20 million, or $30 million—bring it on!
Flame’s distribution capabilities weren’t inferior to those of Fox Spotlight; now it was a matter of price, sincerity, and promises that would determine the winner. All these competitive negotiation affairs were managed by Marc Slaughter and others; everyone felt it was best for the eagle-eyed chairman to just relax on vacation until the critical moment arrived.
Besides “Little Miss Sunshine”, Flame Film also had another must-buy real target, the PG-13 fantasy drama “The Illusionist”.
This was director Neil Burger’s second film after his silver screen debut with the faux-documentary “The Kennedy Assassination Proved” (2002), starring Edward Norton, Jessica Bell, Paul Giamatti, and others. It was jointly invested in by five small production companies including Bull’s Eye Film, Bob Yari Film, and Michael London Film, with a budget of $16.5 million. It’s worth mentioning that both “leading brother” Bull’s Eye and Bob Yari were the producers of “Crash”.
In comparison, “The Illusionist” didn’t have as many legendary stories behind it; this was just a normal production investment. However, the $16.5 million production budget showcased the producers’ confidence and aggressiveness, especially since Bull’s Eye and Bob Yari had just made a significant profit from Flame. In truth, everyone understood that they didn’t come to Park City to look for an expensive buyout—who would spend $20 million or even more to purchase an independent film? However, “The Illusionist” needed a theatrical distributor, and if no one was interested, the producers would be forced to tough it out themselves, even though Bull’s Eye and YARI had no distribution experience at the time.
But the world is so strange, Flame Film was interested—and at a high buyout price no less!
“SSS-grade.” Why not? Wang Yang was very aware of the film’s potential, which had indeed been unable to find a satisfactory distributor. Bob Yari distributed “The Illusionist” under their YARI Film Group brand. With only 51 theaters at its opening (August 18th) and a maximum of 1438 theaters by the 5th week, “The Illusionist” eventually brought in $39.86 million in North America and $87.89 million worldwide, with Rotten Tomatoes scores at 74%/87%/83%.
YARI thus made a name for itself in one fell swoop, and its founder, Bob Yari, became even more ambitious, releasing on a large scale “Street Dance Sequel” (1816 theaters), “The New Frontier” (1605 theaters), “Final Season” (1011 theaters), and “The Perfect Christmas” (1307 theaters) in 2007, earning the infamous nickname “Upstart.” However, all four films together garnered only $14.89 million at the box office, averaging $3.72 million per film, which obliterated the success of “The Illusionist”. YARI Film Group filed for bankruptcy in December 2008.
Wang Yang felt that the relationship between Flame and Yari could be like that with Newmarket. If “The Illusionist” had been distributed by Flame, he couldn’t even begin to estimate the box office success it would have achieved. After all, YARI managed to gross nearly $90 million, and Flame Film … surely would have topped $100 million worldwide.
More importantly, by acquiring “The Illusionist” under its banner, Flame could link it with the end-of-year release of “The Prestige”, creating synergy with some connected promotions, as well as future post-theatrical DVD sales and rentals; both could benefit from cohesive bundled packages like a “Magical Movie Night Weekend Set”—pure perfection.
“Little Miss Sunshine” + “The Illusionist”! This was the secret mission Wang Yang designated to the people of Flame Film: other films didn’t matter, but these two were a must-have!
“What exactly has Magic Yang set his sights on?” A haze of mystery enveloped Park City. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer naturally wanted to catch wind of some news, so he dialed that number and cheerfully said, “Hey, Yang, it’s me, Jon! Are you in Park City? Have you set your eyes on any films? Oh, really? Just skiing? Haha, no way, I’m more suited for golf. Have you seen any movies?…” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly votes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)