"Will, the movie is going to be shot in San Francisco, and that's my territory! At least you don't have to worry about getting the crew lost. Looking at the letter in his hand, Will Smith smiled and continued to read the flying and beautiful words on the paper: "But the reason why I can make this movie well is not only for this reason. I know, everybody said that kid was too young, that he should go back to school movies, that he couldn't have made a good biographical film. But I have to say that some emotions have nothing to do with age, at least at the age of 19 can already understand that I am not a child anymore, I know what it means to be hungry and what it means to be attached ......."

There was a small stack of letterhead on the desk, a dozen pages long, and a long handwritten letter was full of sincerity, coherent content and analysis. Although Will Smith has read this long letter many times in recent days, every time he reads it, he is very moved in his heart, and now he is like a rat crossing the street in the eyes of the producers, but Marvel Young believes in him immensely, and the sincerity is also higher than he has ever seen.

Although Wang Yang did not visit in person, Will Smith had no doubts about his sincerity, and his sincerity was clearly expressed in these letters, yes, not a letter, he would send a new one every few days, and there were already several good ones. It was the first time for Will Smith to encounter such a situation, and after reading the last paragraph of the letter: "Believe me, "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" will be a good movie!" Will put down the letter and looked at the thick script next to him, what made Will Smith feel moved, in addition to sincerity, there is also this script, this is a very attractive script, the story is warm and touching, and the lines are also full of deep meaning, this is the kind of excellent script that makes him want to act after reading it once. He opened the script and looked at the pages of passages with storyboards, Chris Gardner holding his son to the toilet in the subway station for the night, the floor covered with tissues, Chris covering his sleeping son's ear, one foot propped up the knocked toilet door, silently weeping...... Will Smith took a deep breath, and when he saw it for the first time, he was moved, and the image haunted his mind for a long time, constantly appearing in front of his eyes, even in his dreams.

The excellent script and the full sincerity made him unable to refuse this invitation without hesitation, but he had been thinking about it for almost two weeks, and his concerns were still the same, can Magic Young direct this movie well? In "Ghost Shadow" and "Youth Musical", Magic Young has shown his directing ability, but now it is a biographical film, this is a middle-aged man's story, can Magic Young make up his mind? He really can't make up his mind.

Will Smith shook his head self-deprecatingly, the wrong choice of "The Matrix" and "Hurricane" was due to his personal preferences and the agent's misjudgment. And the current situation is different from the past, there are no examples and templates for the young director's affairs, which makes it impossible to make comparative judgments.

In fact, he tentatively asked his good friend Denzel Washington for his opinion, and Denzel said, "If it were me, I wouldn't be in the role, he's too young." ”

A few knocks on the door interrupted Will Smith's musings, and he turned his head to look at the door, only to see his wife Jada leaning against the door with her hands on her chest, and said, "Will, are you reading that script again?" Will Smith nodded with a smile and flipped through the script: "Its story is fascinating, it's a very good script." Jada ......" He frowned and asked, "Do you think I should promise Magic Young?"

Jada shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, Will, I asked you to play The Matrix, but you chose Hurricane Cop." ”

"Please!" Will Smith looked a little dissatisfied, she was stingy and jealous, he shook his head and said, "Jada, I admit it was a mistake, so I don't want to do it a second time." ”

"Make up your own mind, Will, and I can't tell. Jada said and turned away.

Seeing his wife's back disappear, Will Smith's eyes returned to the table, and he looked at Wang Yang's latest letter, which ended with Chris Gardner's phone number: "Will, you can communicate with Mr. Gardner, maybe you will be more interested in this story." Will Smith pondered for a while, then took the piece of letterhead, got up and walked to the phone, dialed the number on the paper, and said, "Hi, Mr. Chris Gardner, hello, I'm Will Smith......"

Next, Will Smith listened to Chris Gardner tell his story, and some thoughts on "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", Chris Gardner said: "I talked to Jan for a long time that day, and I could see that he had been through a lot, and he understood my mood and feelings, and he was a great young man. I don't know much about film, but I think he can make my story well......"

The two talked for a long time before ending the call, Will Smith looked at the script in his hand, he was indeed more interested in the story, and the urge to star in it was stronger, it was a real and touching story, he was moved, and so would others. Will Smith picked up the letters on the desk again, stood silently and read them for a while, and slowly made a decision in his heart.

"Alright, Amazing Young!" Will Smith nodded to himself, he took out his phone and pressed the number, and smiled briskly, "Hey Young, man, you convinced me that I was going to play Chris Gardner." ”

"Oh my God!yes!" Wang Yang couldn't help but raise his fist and wave it in a hotel in New York, and said excitedly: "Will, this is really good news, I'm so happy!" What is more happy than finding the actor of the movie? Maybe there are many, many more, but at this moment, Wang Yang is so happy that he wants to dance, he smiled: "This will definitely be a pleasant cooperation, ha! But Will, you need to grow more beard, and then you will have to ask the makeup artist to get you some gray hair, so that it will look a little more vicissitudes." ”

Will Smith was in a good mood from the moment he made up his mind, and laughed as if he was singing: "Yoyo, then I won't shave from today onwards, and I will grow gray hair......"

When Wang Yang put down his phone and looked at the beautiful flowers and plants on the balcony, he waved his fists excitedly again, wanting to imitate Will Smith's impromptu rap just now, but found that it was indeed a black talent, and he didn't have it anyway, so he had to end up screaming a few times.

In fact, Wang Yang is also trying, he did not go to the interview with Will Smith in person, firstly, because there is no need for an audition, and secondly, sometimes the interview is not clear, and it is easy to make the other party lose patience, and it is not as touching as a long letter written by hand. Now it seems that his attempt this time has been successful. And he continued to stay in New York and did not return to Los Angeles because he also had to participate in the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios, an animation company in New York.

The most important actor has been determined, and the filming of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" can basically be put on the agenda, but there is another important role that needs to be time-consuming to find, and that is the actor of Chris Gardner's son. Originally, in the original version, the actor was Will's son Jaden Smith, but now Jaden is just a baby of one year and two months. Although in reality, Chris Gardner's son was almost a year old when he quit his job and came to New York, in the movie, little Chris has to look like 5 or 6 years old.

"That's a problem. Wang Yang frowned and thought, the original Will Smith father and son partnership was a highlight, and it was also very helpful for them to deduce the warm feeling between father and son, and he suddenly thought of something: "Will seems to have a son? And now he is 6 or 7 years old? I don't know if I am interested in acting or not......

Next, Flame Films quickly negotiated a contract with Will Smith's agent, and after a few days of discussions, Will Smith finally signed a contract with a salary of 15 million, plus a 5% dividend at the box office in North America. This contract can be said to be very generous for his current situation. For A-list superstars, box office dividends are customary, but in terms of salary, Sandy Pikes originally wanted to lower it a little more, but Wang Yang stopped it, he was not willing to hurt his feelings for one or two million, nor did he want to fall into the trap.

The most important point is that he feels that the actor's acting emotions are very crucial, and only when the actor is truly satisfied and fully committed can he play his best. Everything is about the effect of the film, and as long as the actors' emotions are high, he doesn't care about increasing the production costs. Besides, the cost budget of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" is 40 million, which is enough to include Will Smith's salary of 15 million.

After signing the contract with Will Smith, Flame Films couldn't wait to announce the news to the media public, and at the same time released some information about "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", which is based on the biography of the famous investor Chris Gardner.

Will Smith starred as the male lead in "When Happiness Knocks on the Door"!?When the media and fans saw this news on the official website of Flame Movies, they all looked at the calendar in confusion, oh, it's not April 1st? So, this is not April Fool's Day news!

Then, everyone was in an uproar, Will Smith's fans had mixed feelings, and the joy was that some die-hard fans didn't think how bad "Hurricane Cop" was, with Will here, they watched it with relish, and now Wilga is magical, this combination is too attractive! But some fans are pouring cold water, is Will not insane, didn't the fiasco of "Hurricane Cop" teach him a lesson? Turn around and join a 19-year-old director's biographical film? Shit!

Now Wang Yang's die-hard fans and hardcore female fans have fought back, Will Smith is about to take the worst actor in Jin Sour Mei, and now he wants to play the leading role, they are still not happy!

And the attitude of the media almost represents the attitude of the film industry, Marvel Yang is crazy, Will Smith is also crazy! Of course, no one said it explicitly, but the comments on the Internet were revealed, and the official website of the "Film Newspaper" commented on the news: "Amazing Yang is crazy, he invited an action superstar to play a drama biopic, and what is even funnier is that the male protagonist of this biography is a stockbroker, not boxing champion Tyson or Ali." Are we going to see a quiet, unfunny Will?

"Will Smith is also crazy, and it seems that "Hurricane" has hurt him so much that he doesn't want to fight and be funny anymore, and tries the acting school path. But did he choose the wrong movie again? I can't say that "When Happiness Knocks" is an improvisation by Magic Young, just maybe, but looking at his age, it's too worrying. Good luck, Will!"

In the face of doubts, Will Smith and Wang Yang did not respond, nor did they need to respond. When the filming of the movie starts, the crew will do an exclusive interview with the media for preliminary publicity, and by then the mood of the fans has already become accepting of reality and beginning to look forward to it, and the most important thing is to shoot the movie well! Because doubts are doubts, as long as the publicity is done properly, there will still be a large number of people who will be the first to enter the cinema.

Wang Yang is still in New York, and during this time, he has been completing the storyboard script of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" every day, and at the same time participating in the acquisition of Blue Sky Studio. As early as more than two weeks ago, Flame Film contacted Blue Sky Studio and proposed the first acquisition plan, injecting 80 million yuan to get 85% of the shares, and the 68 million belonging to Flame Film will also be used to produce "Ice Age";

This acquisition plan is much more generous than Fox, as long as Chris Waiki nods, his stake will become 10%, and his net worth will suddenly increase by 8 million, and 5% of the shares will be concentrated in Mike Elingkis, the technical director, and several technical backbones and senior management.

But Chris Waiki didn't nod his head in agreement, compared to 20th Century Fox, Fire Movies is just a small company, a small company means instability, if in two years Fire Movies has to lay off employees and sell Blue Sky because of serious losses, it must be a very chaotic situation, and it is also what he doesn't want to see; more importantly, if Blue Sky is acquired by Fox, they can get some technology sharing from Fox's animation department, and if they are acquired by Fox Films, they will not make any progress.

After learning of his concerns, Mark Slunt listened to Wang Yang's wishes and raised the purchase price to 90 million, which was deposited in the account of Blue Sky Studios in a one-time payment to ensure that "Ice Age" completed the entire production, and promised on paper that no one in the production team would be cut until "Ice Age" was completed. And in addition to producing "Ice Age", they are allowed to carry out a number of technical research and development, and if necessary, expand the staff.

Chris Weckey was impressed by this plan, and now, the negotiations have entered a decisive stage.

(To be continued)