Chapter Sixty-Four: Overseas Release

"My Sassy Girl" officially wrapped up filming, with all scenes completed. Nearly a month of shooting had passed, and the entire crew had barely taken a single day off. The exhaustion and strain went without saying; persevering in such bitterly cold conditions for so long led many to catch colds or fall ill along the way.

Now, everyone felt relieved at last to escape this tormenting environment. Yet the actors, on the other hand, seemed reluctant to part ways. Hailing from all corners of the country, they had happened to meet and collaborate, uncertain if they would ever cross paths again. This brief camaraderie became all the more precious.

Their personalities varied greatly, but their earnestness in acting was shared, as was their desire to create a remarkable film. Lu Chuan maintained his usual pretentious air, but during breaks he would pore over the script, often pulling Gao Yuanyuan and Tong Dawei aside to discuss scenes and help them delve into their characters’ psychology.

Ni Dahong and Huang Haibo, despite playing supporting roles, were no less dedicated. Ni Dahong, in particular, patiently answered the newcomers’ questions about acting on set, never showing the slightest impatience.

Gu Zhi remembered all their efforts. Though he had not spoken much about it, he would never forget them in the future.

With filming finished, the crew gathered that evening for a wrap party. After a day or two of rest, post-production work began.

This time, Lu Chuan was chiefly responsible for post-production, while Gu Zhi focused on editing. As for effects, sound, color grading, and so forth, these relied mainly on the coordination of the China Film professional team.

Yet Gu Zhi had barely begun editing when Han Sanping approached him to discuss matters concerning "The Butterfly Effect."

"The Butterfly Effect" had been in theaters for two months, with total box office revenue reaching over seventy-two million. Director Feng’s "A Sigh" had earned less than half that, barely approaching thirty million.

The theaters had decided to extend both films’ runs until the end of December. With the additional month, screening rates naturally dropped, and pirated copies had spread like wildfire. Gu Zhi estimated that "The Butterfly Effect" would likely not exceed eighty million in total box office.

Though somewhat regrettable, its domestic performance was beyond dispute.

Success in the domestic market was Gu Zhi’s anticipated first step; next, he needed to consider whether the international market could be opened.

In Hollywood, a film’s global box office often accounts for half of its total earnings—a feat unimaginable for Chinese films. Overseas promotion for Chinese films had always been a challenge; most productions ended up consumed domestically, with local box office as the sole guarantee. For those few films that made it abroad, reaching even a million dollars in foreign box office was considered outstanding.

There were many reasons for poor overseas performance, chiefly language and cultural barriers.

For example, movies shown domestically—whether imports or homegrown—always came with subtitles. But in North America, proud American audiences rarely watched subtitled films, resulting in all foreign-language films struggling, with only about three percent market share.

This was why more domestic directors began casting foreigners in leading roles. Chinese-language films never abandoned attempts at internationalization; aside from Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou had long sought to bring his works to mainstream global audiences.

His first attempt was "The Flowers of War," inviting the globally renowned Christian Bale to participate. Next came "The Great Wall," featuring Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal and other international stars, with English as the main language, all to break into the Western market.

Unfortunately, results were less than satisfactory.

Up until Gu Zhi’s rebirth, the highest-grossing foreign-language film in North America was still "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from 2000, with box office earnings of $128 million, more than double that of the Italian film "Life Is Beautiful," which ranked second.

The second highest-grossing Chinese-language film in North America was Zhang Yimou’s "Hero" from 2004, with a final box office of $54 million, followed by "Fearless," "Kung Fu Hustle," "Iron Monkey," and "House of Flying Daggers."

Without exception, all these films centered on Chinese kung fu elements.

Foreign audiences’ impression of Chinese films had not changed for years: period martial arts or kung fu movies. Yet even this genre was losing steam, both domestically and abroad, as viewers grew weary.

A further reason for poor overseas box office was the lack of proactive strategies among domestic filmmakers.

Many Chinese producers believed that securing the domestic market was enough, and rarely considered overseas distribution at the outset.

Chinese filmmakers often took their films to the three major film festivals before pondering overseas distribution.

"This is far too difficult. Professional film marketing should intervene in the early stages of production, and which festivals a film should attend, and how, are all strategic decisions," complained Mike Warner, president of an international film sales company, in a media interview.

Moreover, this delayed approach to overseas distribution brought another drawback: piracy.

Due to language issues, Chinese films released overseas required English subtitles, which meant shipping them to dozens of major North American cities. The time lost in transit gave ample opportunity for rampant piracy.

Just a week after "Let the Bullets Fly" premiered, pirated discs with the original audio and English subtitles were already being sold on the streets of New York for just two dollars apiece.

If even such things happened, how could domestic films hope to succeed overseas?

Gu Zhi’s situation was similar. "The Butterfly Effect" had not been prepared for overseas distribution in advance, and pirated copies had already spread worldwide, both as discs and online high-definition downloads.

It was not that he did not want to reach out to overseas distributors from the start; it was simply that the Chinese film industry lacked experience and channels to do so.

Moreover, as a low-budget film led by newcomers, "The Butterfly Effect" would not attract foreign distributors until it proved its box office potential.

After two months in domestic theaters, "The Butterfly Effect" had finally demonstrated its potential, attracting the attention of overseas distributors.

This was why Han Sanping sought out Gu Zhi.

Columbia Pictures, the globally renowned film distribution and television production company, recently approached China Film to buy out the overseas distribution rights to "The Butterfly Effect."

Columbia Pictures had established a representative office in Beijing as early as 1995, making it one of the first Hollywood giants to enter the Chinese film market and among the earliest multinational film companies to cooperate with Chinese counterparts.

This year’s "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was both invested in and released overseas by Columbia, and they had recently co-produced Feng Xiaogang’s next film "Big Shot's Funeral" with Huayi.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was distributed on a buyout basis, while "Big Shot's Funeral" used profit-sharing overseas distribution—the first Chinese film to do so.

Before "Big Shot's Funeral," all Chinese films were buyouts, regardless of how high the overseas box office was; all proceeds belonged to the distributor.

Profit-sharing distribution treated the global market as a single entity, with worldwide box office income split among investors.

Profit-sharing undoubtedly better protected the interests of Chinese filmmakers; otherwise, all overseas earnings would end up in foreign hands, leaving the film’s creators empty-handed.

"Big Shot's Funeral" could use profit-sharing distribution because Columbia was an investor, and Huayi had the leverage to negotiate. As a co-production, profit-sharing would not harm Columbia’s interests, making it possible to set a precedent.

Foreign capital was never charitable; given the chance, they would not even leave a bone behind.

Of course, "The Butterfly Effect" would not receive such treatment, and only the buyout option was available.

Han Sanping met Gu Zhi and got straight to the point, revealing Columbia’s offer.

"One hundred thousand dollars."