Chapter 333 Rewards for Novel Sales

Although Zhou Yan just wanted to see how it felt, the Backstreet Boys' performance still surprised him.

The score and lyrics Zhou Yan gave them were relatively simple, with no arrangement. If it was just a singer singing, it would definitely be fine, but since they are a group, it is not that simple.

This night, they arranged a set by themselves, and the alto and bass were arranged properly, and they even did the harmony.

Although the work was not particularly good, they did not have much time after all, so it took them one night to make it. It was already very good.

Seeing how serious their attitude was, Zhou Yan also adjusted it for them and even made a simple song arrangement for them on the spot.

Doing this has wasted another hour.

In the end, Zhou Yan asked someone to record it directly for them, and then said to the boys, "Okay, you go back to sleep. I will have this demo sent to New Balance."

Nick asked innocently, "Y, can you sing this song for us?"

Kevin smiled and patted Nick on the head, "You idiot, send me the demo, aren't you just going to sing it for us?"

"Really?" Nick looked at Zhou Yan. Although the captain said so, he still waited for Zhou Yan's answer.

Zhou Yan nodded, "Of course, feel free to go back and rest. This day and night will not be easy for you."

Facts have proved that the Backstreet Boys are indeed suitable for this song. Although the performance of the verse part is a bit poor, there should be no problem after practicing. The key is that the chorus part is sung very well, and it has a particularly youthful feeling.

After hearing Zhou Yan's affirmative reply, the young men finally showed relaxed smiles on their faces.

For this song, their spirits have been tense from last night to now.

After getting the score last night, they simply tried singing it and felt the charm of the song.

This song will definitely become as popular as "yellow", or even more popular than "yellow", because compared to the style of "yellow", this song will be more popular with North American fans.

"We Are Young" is somewhat similar to the theme songs of some sports events. It is easier to spread, especially the chorus lines, which are very catchy. After listening to it once, it will keep looping in your mind.

The feeling of hearing "tonight, we are young" is the same as the feeling of hearing "we are the champions my friends", which can make people's hearts surge at once.

Knowing that this was a song that was destined to become a hit, they certainly didn't want the song to slip away from them, so they stayed up all night last night just to perform better and gain Zhou Yan's approval.

But now Zhou Yan's affirmative reply made them feel that their efforts were not in vain.

Kevin smiled and said, "I'm afraid we can't go back to the hotel to sleep. We have to go to Phoenix as soon as possible. There are performances there, but we can sleep in the car."

Hearing what they said, Zhou Yan nodded, "That's okay."

I have to say that it’s not easy for these young guys. I heard that they just finished three consecutive performances, and they didn’t have a few days of rest in between, but they spent a lot of time with him.

People often say that he is very busy, but compared with these young men, he is relaxed.

…

After Zhou Yan separated from the Backstreet Boys, he was thinking of finishing the arrangement of "Someone Like You" for Maria when he had time tomorrow and the day after returning to China, but as soon as he returned to the hotel, he received a call from Zhang Youan.

"where is it?"

"Hotel, what's wrong?"

"I have something to report to you. The matter of "Shutter Island" has been negotiated. According to the novel licensing model, the novel licensing fee is 1.8 million U.S. dollars, and the screenwriting fee is 770,000 U.S. dollars, a total of 2.57 million U.S. dollars. Thousands of dollars.”

Zhou Yan couldn't help but give a thumbs up. Zhang Youan was quite capable and was able to negotiate the price down to US$2.57 million. This price was already among the top in Hollywood.

Although Shane Black just sold his script "The Secret Service" for US$4 million, this is not representative, because US$4 million is a record-breaking amount in the screenwriting industry.

Most top screenwriters can earn one to two million US dollars.

"Two million five hundred and seventy thousand US dollars is already very good."

Zhang Youan smiled and said, "Warner has an additional condition."

"What strings attached?"

"Unless there is force majeure, the novel "Shutter Island" must be published within 18 months, starting from the day the contract is signed."

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "This condition is not difficult."

They had already made plans to turn "Shutter Island" into a novel. It would not be difficult to publish it within one and a half years. If Zhou Yan is willing, it can be published within this year.

"I know it's not difficult for you, but I can't tell the truth to Warner. I told them that you have been very busy with work in the past two years and can't spare the time to do it. I asked them to relax the time limit to five years."

"It seems they didn't agree."

"Of course they disagree. The reason why they set the time limit of eighteen months is that they hope that the publication of the novel will have a positive impact on the box office of the movie. If it is relaxed to five years, it will be of no use to them."

Hearing the pride in Zhang Youan's tone, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "In order to complete the novel within eighteen months, they must have agreed to some conditions for you, right?"

"Otherwise, I would say you are smart. Yes, they agreed that before the movie is released, you can get a certain amount of bonus for every number of novel sales. If the novel sales exceed one million copies, you can get 1.2 million US dollars, which is still very generous. If the sales reach two million copies, the bonus will be higher than the money you got this time."

Hearing this reward condition, Zhou Yan couldn't help but tut his lips. Warner is really generous.

But Warner is not at a loss. If the novel "Shutter Island" can really reach two million sales before the movie is released, Warner can make a lot of more than two million US dollars.

They are not stupid, and they have calculated the accounts clearly.

If nothing else, a novel with two million sales can at least save Warner millions of publicity costs.

Why do Europe and the United States like to adapt literary works? Isn't it because movies adapted from literary works are popular? Whether it is classic masterpieces like "Sense and Sensibility" and "Les Miserables", or some influential novels at present, or some celebrity autobiographies, they are all favored by directors.

For example, the classic film "The Godfather" is adapted from Mario Puzo's best-selling book of the same name, and "The Shawshank Redemption" is adapted from Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption".

Chinese directors also like to adapt literary works, but there are essential differences between the two countries' directors in this matter.

At least at this stage, when Chinese directors adapt literary works, they don't really pay much attention to the fame of the author and the popularity of the work, because the novel will not bring anything to the promotion of the movie.

For example, "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Farewell My Concubine", before the movie came out, not many people knew the original novel, and even after the movie was released, not many people knew the original novel.

Now go to the streets of China and ask anyone, you may know these two movies, but you probably don't know what the original novel is.

Hollywood attaches great importance to the popularity of the author and the work, and their main focus is on best-selling books.

Of course, they are also very willing to spend money on film and television adaptation costs. It is very normal for a book with slightly higher sales to cost more than one million US dollars.

In China, if an author can get tens of thousands of RMB for adaptation, it is already a sky-high price. This is not only a gap in economic level, but also a gap in film development model.

Zhou Yan has no ambition for this bonus. After the publication of "Shutter Island", he will be very satisfied if it can sell hundreds of thousands of copies.

It is not impossible to exceed one million copies, but it needs to be released together with the movie, or after the movie is released.

Through the popularity of the movie, the sales of the novel will be driven in turn.

However, this is obviously different from what Warner wants. They hope that the novel can sell well before the movie is released to drive the box office of the movie.

Zhou Yan wants to take advantage of the movie, and Warner also wants to take advantage of the novel.

"Since the cooperation has been negotiated, who are they going to find as the director? Can Martin Scorsese be invited?" Zhou Yan is more concerned about this issue.

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "I was just about to tell you about this. The director has basically been decided. It is Martin Scorsese. I heard that after he saw the script, he immediately agreed to direct. Now that the cooperation has been negotiated, Warner wants to arrange for your screenwriter to meet with the director and communicate. Now let me ask your opinion, is it okay in the next two days?"

"No problem." Zhou Yan agreed immediately, "Meet him before I go back."

As for composing music for Maria, if I have time after meeting Martin Scorsese, I will help her. If I don't have time, I will write it for her in China and then communicate remotely. Anyway, it won't affect anything.

"Okay, I will tell Chris right away and let him arrange the time."

"It's just these two days. It won't work after that."

"Of course I know that."

After hanging up the phone, not long after, Zhang Youan replied to Zhou Yan. He told Zhou Yan that the time has been decided, tomorrow morning.

Martin Scorsese is also in Los Angeles during this period, so it is also convenient to meet.

The meeting place was arranged at Warner, and they could just go and sign the contract.

…

The next morning, Zhou Yan and Zhang Youan went to Warner together, and Chris came to pick them up.

Although they had not known each other for a long time, Chris had a good relationship with them. After all, Chris spoke Chinese very well and had a better understanding of Chinese culture.

When they met again, Chris had a bright smile on his face.

This time, things went smoothly. They got the script of "Shutter Island" and invited Martin Scorsese to direct it as they wished. With such a lineup, the start was very good.

The key is that Martin Scorsese praised the script, which made Chris more confident in the film. Martin Scorsese has professional judgment. If he can say it is good, then the script must be good.

Now the company has decided to hand over this project to Chris. If such a project of 40 to 50 million US dollars is done well, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial to his development in Warner.

On the way to the office, Chris also told Zhou Yan and others that he would take over the project.

Zhou Yan asked curiously, "Then you don't care about the business in China?"

"The Yanjing office originally hired a local from Yanjing, who can handle all the specific matters. I only need to control the general direction. I don't need to stay in Yanjing all the time. Besides, the film is now in the early preparation stage, and I have enough time to run back and forth between the two places." Chris explained.

Zhang Youan smiled and said, "You will have a hard time in the future. The project of "Shutter Island" is not simple, and there are many things to deal with in the early stage. Casting and filming locations all need to be taken care of."

"Casting is done by the director team. I just need to control the budget for them. The three actors recommended by Zhou Yan before are all very good, and Mr. Scorsese also approves. As for other roles, the director should have his own ideas."

A director like Scorsese is different from An Li. When he directs a movie, he must have the autonomy to cast.

Not only casting, if Scorsese is willing, he can form a team composed entirely of his people. This is the privilege of a great director.

"As for the filming location," Chris said, "we have already found several alternative locations and are arranging people to conduct on-site inspections."

Zhou Yan nodded and did not ask more questions. He did not know the situation in the United States and could not express his opinions.

And he did not want to interfere in this film and take over the show. A director like Scorsese did not need him to comment.

The group went to the conference room and signed the contract first.

After the contract was signed, the group waited for a while, and Martin Scorsese hurried over.

As soon as he arrived at the conference room, Martin Scorsese apologized repeatedly, "I'm really sorry, I'm late."

Zhou Yan said politely, "It's not late, we just finished our business."

Martin Scorsese shook hands with Chris and Zhang Youan first, and finally shook Zhou Yan's hand, "Y, I have always wanted to see you, and today I finally got my wish."

"Me too." Zhou Yan smiled.

Martin Scorsese is not tall, only up to Zhou Yan's chin, probably just over 1.6 meters tall.

He wore a pair of black-framed glasses, had a big nose, and the upper half of his face looked a bit like "Uncle KFC".

Compared with James Cameron, Scorsese gave people an academic feeling. The weather was quite hot today, but he still wore a black costume, and the whole person looked very serious and meticulous.

Zhou Yan liked Martin Scorsese very much. Among these American directors, Martin Scorsese definitely ranked first in Zhou Yan's heart.

Interestingly, Martin Scorsese was of Italian descent, and there were several Italian directors that Zhou Yan liked very much, such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Giuseppe Torredona. (End of this chapter)