Harvey couldn't believe his ears. Zhang Ran was not here to sell movies, but to buy movies. He looked at Zhang Ran in surprise and asked, "Do you want to buy "Fatus 911"?"

Zhang Ran smiled and nodded: "Yes, I want to buy the copyright of this movie."

Harvey thought about it and understood a little. "Fahrenheit 911" is a film that criticized the US government. This kind of film should be very popular in China. However, the Chinese film market is too small, and "Fahrenheit 911" is a documentary, and it cannot be sold for only tens of thousands of dollars. He was a little unhappy: "You want to buy the copyright of China, okay, let's get a price!

Zhang Ran smiled and shook his head: I bought the global distribution rights of Fahrenheit 911, including all copyrights for movies and audio-visuals."

Harvey was stunned, stared at Zhang Ran suddenly and said, "Do you buy the global issuance right?"

"Fahrenheit 911" is a documentary directed by Michael Moore. By telling the truth about the Iraq War and the War on Terror, it directly fired at the US government, and to be precise, it fired at President Bush. Michael Moore directly stated that he did not care about the reputation of the film, and he just hoped that the film could change the US presidential election in November.

Harvey signed an agreement to buy the release rights of the film in early 2003, but the final release of the film requires the consent of Disney executives because Disney EO has the right to reject the release of Miramax. In May 2003, Disney Eizner voted for the film because it was very difficult to make money in documentaries and made very little profits. More importantly, Disney has always paid attention to establishing good relations with the government, and this film may cause trouble for the presidential election.

However, Zhang Ran knew that by May this year, Fahrenheit 911 will win the Palme d'Or, and after winning the Palme d'Or, the movie will immediately become a money tree. Michael Eisner has been questioned by shareholders in the past two years and needs to use profits to prove his value to shareholders, so he will naturally not let this money tree go.

Disney can neither do public relations promotion by itself nor release by itself. It still needs to avoid being investigated by the media for the reason why it actually did not support the film. So Eisner came up with a solution. He asked Harvey to sell the copyright of "Fahrenheit 911" to a company controlled by Disney. After that, the company outsourced the right to release the film to Lionsgate Pictures, and the right to distribute the video products to Colombia Samsung Family Entertainment.

In the end, Fahrenheit 911 earned more than $228 million worldwide, sold 3 million DVDs, and earned $30 million in royalties. After deducting related expenses, Disney's net profit was $46 million. Eisner split it in two and gave it to its two subsidiaries, Disney Fund and Miramax.

The 46 million yuan originally belonged to Miramax, but half of the profit was divided by Disney, which naturally caused strong dissatisfaction among the Harvey brothers, which eventually led to the breakup between Harvey and Disney.

But it's only March, and the list of nominations for the Cannes Film Festival has not been announced. The current "Fahrenheit 911" is a bad project that Disney has banned from distribution and no company is willing to take over. It is entirely possible to buy it from Harvey.

If he could buy "Fatus 911" from Harvey, and after "Fatus 911" won the Palme d'Or, Zhang Ran could also outsource the movie to the Lions Gate for distribution. He had a good relationship with the Lions Gate. And when "Fatus 911" got the Palme d'Or, he would become a golden doll. It was a sure-making business, and the Lions Gate would definitely not refuse.

Of course, it's best to convince Harvey. If he can't convince, Zhang Ran will not lose much.

After a change of hand, it was a profit of nearly 50 million. Zhang Ran was a little ups and downs, but his expression was very calm, and he looked like nothing happened: "Yes, I want the global copyright of this movie."

Harvey didn't understand. Zhang Ran was not a movie distribution and had no distribution ability at all. What should I do if I bought the global distribution rights of the movie? He felt that this was a bit strange: "What do you buy the global distribution rights of the movie? Do you have the distribution ability?"

Zhang Ran knew that he had to come up with a reasonable reason, otherwise it would arouse Harvey's suspicion. He had long thought about this: "In fact, this is a political speculation. Fahrenheit 911 is a movie that criticizes the US government, which is popular for the Chinese government. When making movies in China, you will inevitably deal with government departments, and it is important to have a good relationship with government departments. If I can buy a movie that criticizes the US government and is released all over the world, I can leave a good impression in the eyes of the government. In the future, I will be able to get a lot of convenience when making movies, at least I won't easily shoot my movie."

Harvey thought Zhang Ran’s words were very reasonable. He knew that Chinese movies would be reviewed and nodded and said, “You are very honest!”

Zhang Ran said arrogantly: "I am a teacher. I often educate my students that you must be honest in life. Now Dinis does not allow you to release this movie, and no other company is willing to accept it. If you don't deal with it as soon as possible, the 8 million you spent on buying this movie will be wasted!"

In fact, Zhang Ran knew that Harvey only spent 6 million to buy "Fahrenheit 911", which was said to be 8 million, so that Harvey felt he had taken advantage of it.

Harvey was a little moved. Now "Fahrenheit 911" is a mess. In January this year, he asked Disney executives to release the movie, but it was rejected again. After knowing this, Michael Moore had been contacting other distribution companies, hoping that some companies could take over the release of the movie. But without exception, these distribution companies refused. The documentary itself could not make much money, so offending the government was not worth the loss.

If "Fathan 911" cannot be released, then Harvey's 6 million spent on the movie will be wasted, which is something he absolutely does not want to see. Now someone is willing to buy this movie, and he is reluctant to ask for it.

Harvey was willing to sell the movie, but he had to fight for more benefits for his work. On the surface, he asked, "Then what price can you pay?"

Zhang Ran repeatedly considered the quotation. Harvey was a greedy person, otherwise he would not let go if he made money: "You spent 8 million to buy the copyright, and I don't want you to lose money, just 8 million!"

In early March, the post-production of "Space-Time Warriors" was completed. After watching the movie, the film advertisers were very satisfied with the quality of the movie. They paid $180,000 in post-production payment. These compensated Reeves' 4.5 million yuan in pay and the remaining 13.5 million yuan. In addition to the remaining 6 million yuan reserve fund after the movie was filmed, all of which became profits. Zhang Ran shared this part of the money and received nearly $1,200. Now he has enough money to complete the transaction.

Harvey was happy. He bought it for 6 million yuan and sold it to Zhang Ran for 8 million yuan. But Harvey still did not agree on the spot. He didn't know where Zhang Ran's bottom line was. He tentatively said: "This price is too low, 12 million!"

Facing Harvey's lion's big talk, Zhang Ran seemed very calm and even a little disdainful: "Harvey, do I need to give you some popular science? So far, the highest box office of documentaries is Michael Moore's "Columbia Campus Incident", which has only 19 million yuan. Although "Fathurt 911" is in line with the current hot topic, no one is willing to offend the government and no company is willing to release it. Buying this film is destined to lose money, and your price is simply a joke!" Zhang Ran frowned slightly and looked very unhappy: "Let's do this, 8.5 million yuan, no matter how high I am, I can't do anything!"

Just as Harvey was about to quote a price of 11 million, Zhang Ran stood up and stretched out his right hand: "This is my base price. You can only open this price. There is still some time before the end of the expo, so you can think about it!"

Harvey looked at Zhang Ran in front of him and felt extremely depressed. Bastard, how could he talk about business like this? He left after a disagreement. But he had no choice but to hold Zhang Ran's right hand: "I will consider your suggestions."

Harvey thinks that 8.5 million should be Zhang Ran’s bottom line, and he can accept this price. As soon as the film changes, he makes 2.5 million, which is a good deal. If he missed Zhang Ran, he still doesn’t know when he will wait.

But Harvey still did not agree immediately because he still wanted to fight for Disney again, hoping to let Miramax release the movie. This year's presidential election is a hot topic. As long as it works well, "Fathan 911" should achieve a good box office, which is definitely better than transferring it to Zhang Ran.

Two days later, Harvey found Zhang Ran again and talked about the copyright issues of "Fahrenheit 911".

During these two days, Harvey contacted Disney executives again, hoping that the company would agree to release his "Fahrenheit 911", but Harvey's proposal was ruthlessly rejected again. Eisner even lost his temper on the phone, and don't mention that damn movie again!

Harvey didn't give up and tried to contact several distribution companies, hoping to outsource the distribution rights, but no one was willing to take over. Documentary films couldn't make much money, and offending the government for this was not worth the loss, and no company was willing to do such a thing.

Harvey was helpless. Now there was no better choice, so he could only sell it to Zhang Ran.

Of course, as an old fry in the film and television industry, Harvey couldn't say 8.5 million, so he accepted it. It was inevitable to raise the price: "10 million US dollars, Zhang, you may not know. Moore told me that "Fahrenheit 911" has been shortlisted for the main competition unit in Cannes, but the list has not been announced yet. You know that entering the main competition unit will attract a lot of attention!"

"I believe this is true. Moore's "Columbia Campus Incident" was also a nominee for the main competition unit and was also a hot social event, but the final box office was only 19 million, and "Fatus 911" was at this level. I didn't feel your sincerity at all. Since that's the case, I don't think there is any need to continue talking!" Zhang Ran's expression turned cold, and he picked up the coffee and took a sip. The meaning of seeing off the guests was very obvious.

Seeing Zhang Ran reacting so much, Harvey quickly said: "8.5 million is too low, 9 million, otherwise I would rather let this movie sleep in the warehouse!"

Not to mention 9 million, as long as you can take it out, even 20 million US dollars Zhang Ran would agree. However, Zhang Ran's face was very unhappy, and he was making a decision with his avatar down. In fact, his heart kept beating, and he muttered in his heart: I'm a bargain, right? It's so exciting!

After waiting for almost two minutes, Zhang Ran finally raised his head and said unhappily: "Okay, it's only 9 million!"

The contract for buying out the issuance right is not as twists and turns, and the format and content are almost fixed, and the two parties quickly signed the contract.

Harvey was very satisfied with the business and invited Zhang Ran to have dinner, but Zhang Ran did not agree. He was afraid that he would laugh out loud.

However, after Zhang Ran returned to the hotel room with the contract, he threw the contract into the air and then burst into laughter. He had no choice but to laugh. Nearly 50 million US dollars, he got it!

This is really a shocking leak! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!