Only two people remained in the office.
Ronan looked at James Wong curiously, not understanding what this guy was trying to do.
Was he dissatisfied with the salary?
If it was about a raise, he would surely have to talk through his Agent, right?
$300,000 was already the highest price Ronan could offer, and that was only because of James Wong’s experience working on the x-files.
The actual budget for the purge was only $1.8 million, which included various expenses for Sand Sea Entertainment and himself.
“Is there something we need to discuss privately?” Ronan was direct.
It couldn’t be that James Wong had some designs on a handsome guy like him, could it?
If there was going to be any ‘casting couch’ business, it should be the producer doing it to others; since when did it become the other way around?
Perhaps due to his Eastern background, James Wong’s answer was a bit roundabout.
“Mr. Anderson, I am very interested in your project,” he said.
“Horror and thrillers are actually the genres I’m best at. I don’t know if you’ve seen the TV series I’ve directed, but my best work is in rendering a horror-thriller atmosphere.”
Ronan nodded slightly.
“That is true.”
If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have reached a verbal agreement on the salary with Edward first.
Thinking about the script he and Glen Morgan had come up with, James Wong felt like a cat was scratching at his heart; he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t give it a try.
Opportunities are fought for.
Even if the other party didn’t agree, it shouldn’t affect the project they were currently discussing too much, right?
He had heard very clearly just now that Sand Sea Entertainment had secured financial backing from Arabs.
Those oil guys were exceptionally wealthy.
James Wong thought for a moment and said, “Well… as for me, I used to be a screenwriter. I entered the industry with my good friend Glen Morgan, who is also a screenwriter…”
Ronan smiled.
“Wong, we hit it off right away. There’s no need to be polite. If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Glen and I wrote a script, a horror film.” James Wong opened his briefcase and pulled out a script.
“We had the idea while working on the x-files crew, then wrote an outline, and only finished the script in the last six months.”
He placed the script on Ronan’s desk.
“Could you take some time to look at it?”
Ronan frowned slightly, roughly guessing James Wong’s intention.
Seeing that Ronan didn’t touch the script, James Wong continued, “This is a new type of horror film, different from traditional American slasher horrors and ghost horrors. Mr. Anderson, I guarantee this will be a spine-chilling film that is sure to terrify audiences!”
“You want me to invest in your project?” Ronan asked directly.
It was very obvious.
There are too many directors in Hollywood searching everywhere for investment, but very few eventually obtain it.
“Yes.” James Wong stopped beating around the bush.
“I want to direct this script.”
Ronan nodded slightly, opened the script, and skimmed through a few pages, unable to help but raise an eyebrow.
Interesting, very interesting.
While reading, he asked, “Wong, if I don’t invest in your project, are you going to turn down The Purge?”
“Well…” James Wong hesitated for a moment before saying, “At least it wouldn’t be my first choice.”
He decided to increase his leverage: “Dimension Films invited me to direct scary movie, a parody of scream. They rejected my terms, so I haven’t accepted Dimension’s invitation yet. An executive at New Line Cinema thought my script was creative and wanted to buy out the rights, but refused to let me direct, so Glen and I turned them down.”
Ronan wasn’t stupid; he understood the meaning behind those words.
James Wong was saying he didn’t lack directing offers, and that companies were interested in this script.
This script… Find the original chapter at g.com.
well, how should he put it?
It really was quite interesting.
This man, James Wong, seemed a bit paranoid and also a bit impatient.
For a typical new director, getting an opportunity to direct a movie meant they would rarely set excessive conditions.
But this guy?
He was tying himself to another project.
Ronan remained calm, many thoughts flashing through his head in an instant.
He observed quietly; James Wong’s mindset was indeed a bit rushed.
He had likely hit many walls before.
For a director with no film credits to want to direct their own script, it was actually very hard to attract investment.
Not everyone was as lucky as James Cameron meeting Gale Anne Hurd.
Besides, James Cameron already had film directing experience before terminator.
James Wong was also observing Ronan.
It wasn’t that there weren’t companies looking to buy the script—the mention of New Line Cinema earlier wasn’t a lie—but he knew very well that those companies had no intention of inviting him to direct, let alone putting it into production anytime soon.
The script he and Glen Morgan wrote would most likely end up like countless others, entering some film company’s massive script library, only to potentially become a movie many years later.
That time could be three to ten years, or even longer.
In the eighties, he once had a movie script acquired by Fox, and the movie still hasn’t been produced to this day.
If he had known that would be the result, he wouldn’t have sold the rights in a one-time buyout.
To a film company, that small buyout fee for a script was not worth mentioning at all.
He was already forty years old and didn’t want to wait much longer.
Ronan had read the first quarter of the script and began to skim.
His mind was no longer on the script itself, but on how to use it to gain profit.
There were roughly two parts to the profit: short-term interest and long-term interest.
The former involved James Wong and the purge.
Looking at it from all angles, James Wong was very suitable for the position.
The latter, of course, was the script in his hands.
This was a famous project after all.
After reading the first few pages of the script, Ronan remembered who James Wong was.
If this guy had given his Chinese name instead of the English name James Wong, he would have remembered long ago.
Wong Yi-yu.
This name was not unfamiliar at all to those in film production.
A director who started out and became famous through horror films was, overall, quite suitable for The Purge.
A 100% match was impossible, but out of all the candidates interviewed, Wong Yi-yu was the best one.
Ronan closed the script, suppressed the urge to buy the rights immediately, and said calmly, “This isn’t a traditional American horror film. There’s a saying in Hollywood: don’t easily try things you’re unfamiliar with.”
“But appropriate innovation is what brings fresh excitement to the audience,” James Wong argued.
“Slasher films need a certain level of innovation.”
Ronan stroked his chin.
“A group of students escape a plane crash due to a sudden event, and then are hunted down one by one by Death. How should I put it?” He frowned.
“The horror core of this film feels somewhat like Eastern culture.”
James Wong asked, “You understand Eastern culture?”
“I know a bit. When I was studying at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, I spent some time researching it specifically.” Ronan shook the script in his hand.
He put on a look of recollection.
“When Death wants you dead at three o’clock, he won’t leave you until five?”
James Wong agreed, “Exactly! There is no suspense about death in this story because the protagonists are doomed and will definitely die. The entertainment value of the story lies in the process of the journey to death rather than the result.”
Ronan kept shaking his head.
“Using an Eastern-style core to build a Hollywood horror film is a bit risky.”
James Wong fell silent.
This script seemed very creative to him, but there were too many creative scripts in the industry, and most went unnoticed.
Moreover, his ambition was even greater; he wanted to direct this script himself.
“James, you should be very clear that this film doesn’t fit the usual aesthetics of North American horror audiences.” Ronan wasn’t talking nonsense; the genre with the best overall commercial performance in Hollywood horror was the slasher/torture type.
“Personally, I think your script is interesting, but I’m a businessman and I need to be responsible to the investors.”
James Wong was certainly aware of this; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hitting walls everywhere.
“Sigh…” He sighed in his heart.
Should he temporarily set aside this script, direct another movie first, and wait until later?
Just as James Wong’s face was filled with disappointment, Ronan said at the right time, “I… can consider investing in this project of yours.”
He looked as if he had made a very difficult decision.
“But I have to convince the investors.”
James Wong, who had lost hope, now looked straight at Ronan with eyes full of expectation.
Ronan’s brow was tightly furrowed.
“My funding comes from the Arabs. Arab oil tycoons are very rich, but they value money highly and are very stubborn. If the conditions aren’t generous enough, it’s hard to get them to pay up.”
“Is there anything I can do?” James Wong asked quickly.
“This project of yours won’t work with a low investment.” Ronan spoke as if after deep deliberation.
“The production investment will certainly be high, so I must cut costs in other areas, such as the script buyout fee.”
James Wong was silent for a good while, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, and finally gritted his teeth.
“That’s no problem. We can use the minimum price set by the Writers Guild as the transfer fee, but I must be the director! My directing fee can be the same as what we discussed this time!”
In his eyes, this was nothing.
To direct terminator, James Cameron had sold the script for only $1.
Ronan continued to reach out for more benefits: “A full rights buyout.”
“Fine.” James Wong’s goal was to direct; everything else was negotiable.
Ronan still maintained that troubled look, but in his heart, he was overjoyed.
Full rights naturally included merchandise and sequels.
As long as the first one could be as successful as in his previous life, he could make many installments following this formula.
“My funds are very tight.” He was a businessman, so of course he had to keep pushing for advantages.
“The earliest your project can begin preparation is after the purge is released.”
James Wong nodded.
“That works.”
“I need you to dive into the purge as soon as possible.” Ronan knew his own limits; at this stage, he wasn’t professional enough in the Hollywood style of film production.
“Develop a detailed shooting plan for Sand Sea Entertainment.”
James Wong continued to nod.
Ronan lowered his voice slightly.
“There might be some parts of this project that raise questions. You only need to do your job as a director and not ask about other aspects.”
“I understand.” James Wong wasn’t new to Hollywood.