In front of the desk, Lin Youlun was holding a stack of sketches and looking at them carefully. Watermark Ad Test: Watermark Ad Test

Hearing footsteps behind him, he glanced back and saw that it was Xu Ke coming, and a smile appeared on his face as serious as a rock.

"Director Xu came just in time, help me take a look at these 23 pictures!"

As he spoke, he handed over a stack of drawings in his hand.

Xu Ke was a little confused, but he still took all the drawings.

"After a lapse of 6 years, there are new auditions for the series of films, and this time it is Hollywood powerhouse actor Pierce Brosnan who plays James Bond, and I must say that MGM made a very correct decision."

Xu Ke's reaction was not slow, and he immediately picked up Lin Youlun's words.

"Mr. Lin is very optimistic about this Brosnan?"

"Maybe he'll surpass Sean Connery as the most popular Bond actor of all time." Lin Youlun shrugged his shoulders, and then turned the topic back to the 23 drawings in Xu Ke's hand.

"After watching this new release, I've been thinking, why can't we produce Chinese films like that can be filmed one after another, is it because we lack similar themes?"

Xu Ke shook his head, "I don't think it's a matter of subject matter, the main reason is the lack of a 'long-lived' film company like MGM in Hong Kong." ”

One of the earliest films in the series was shot in the early '60s, and all Hong Kong film companies at the same time had gone bankrupt except for Shaw Brothers, and even Shaw Brothers was in a state of discontinuation in the mid-'80s. Sequels are launched one after another like the 007 series. First of all, the conditions are not allowed.

Another one. Hong Kong society has been in a period of rapid change in the past 30 years, the "Huangmei tune" in the popular film industry in the 60s has no market at all, and the development of Western society is stable, and the spy theme of 007 can always maintain its vitality.

"In addition to the reasons you mentioned, the immaturity of the Hong Kong film market is also an important factor, a good theme comes out, and a lot of people immediately follow the trend, and a theme will not be outdated for more than ten years. But now it will be completely scrapped in two or three years at most, zombie films, gambling films, and martial arts films. ”

Lin Youlun's tone was somewhat self-blaming, Xu could see that the atmosphere was wrong, and quickly said: "Since Jiayi Cinema Line made the rule that no more than 10 movies of the same type can be released together in the same schedule, the situation of following the trend and rushing to shoot is actually much better, otherwise the situation will be even worse." ”

Lin Youlun smiled and didn't speak.

Under the strong integration of Lin Youlun, there is no situation of internal friction among several theaters in the Hong Kong film market, but in the face of the problem of following the trend and rushing to shoot, Lin Youlun still feels powerless.

The main reason is that the main investment components of Hong Kong films in recent years are too complex. Underworlds, speculative businessmen, and all sorts of unrelated people are pouring into the industry, and these people don't even think about the long-term development of the entire market. Just thinking about making quick money, they shoot whatever type of money they make, and the market is messed up by them.

Over the years, Lin Youlun has continued to guide Hong Kong films to develop in the direction of large-scale productions, with the purpose of raising the entry threshold of the film industry, so as to eliminate a number of film companies that want to make quick money.

The Hong Kong film market has been able to maintain its prosperity, rather than showing signs of decline in the mid-90s as in later generations, and Lin Youlun's series of arrangements has played a great role, but the problem of following the trend and rushing to shoot has not been fundamentally solved.

"It's really a pity to have some themes, such as the series you filmed, if there weren't so many follow-up works coming out, and maintaining the speed of making one in two years, there should be no problem with filming this theme for more than ten years, and the box office would not be as low as the last few films you made."

Hearing Lin Youlun mention the series, Xu Ke's expression also became a little gloomy.

Originally, this series could indeed have a longer lifespan, but there were too many works to follow the trend and rush to shoot, if Xu Ke didn't shoot it himself, sooner or later this theme would be scattered with all kinds of "cottages", holding the idea that it is better to be bad in the hands of others than bad in his own hands, Xu Ke just shot 5 films in one go, and the first three box office were still satisfactory, but the situation in the latter two was very bad, relying on the reputation accumulated before and the income from selling the port to barely keep the capital, such a result is basically no different from a loss for Xu Ke.

"Okay, let's not talk about this, I came to you today just to ask you to help me come up with ideas, because I remember that you once mentioned to me before that you wanted to make a movie that combines martial arts and suspense, and then after I watched the latest 007 movie, an idea suddenly popped up, maybe we can extend this idea further and make a martial arts version of the 007 series."

Lin Youlun's words made Xu Ke's eyes light up, he just wanted to make such a movie to test the water now, but he didn't expect Lin Youlun's ambition to be even greater, and he wanted to make this into a series.

Xu Ke was still thinking about this, so Lin Youlun continued: "The 23 drawings in your hand were drawn by me from Ma Rongcheng, representing 23 story ideas, and the name of the story is on the picture, you help me choose which one is more appropriate to shoot first!" ”

Xu Ke originally wanted to say that he had prepared a story, but he held back when the words came to his lips.

On the one hand, he didn't want to upset Lin Youlun's interest, and on the other hand, he was attracted by these 23 sketches.

Psychic Shrine, Bronze Warrior, Giant Spirit Palm, Feast of Death, Kunlun Golden Dome, Lover's Vine, Ghost Valley, Five Ghost Knocking Door, Nine-Tailed Fox, Garuda, Seven-Faced Man, Tongtian Empire, Mirage, Murderous Phoenix, Shendu Dragon King, Jiuding Divine Bead, Baimei Daoren, Linglong Pagoda, Heavenly Fire, Goryeo Beauty, Thunderbolt Sanskrit, Golden Scroll...... Looking at the 23 sketches, the little dissatisfaction in Xu Ke's heart was completely overwhelmed by curiosity, and his intuition told him that there must be a very wonderful story behind these 23 sketches, compared to the script he had already conceived, it was a little unseemly.

Lin Youlun didn't mention it, and of course Xu Ke was not embarrassed to take out the script he brought, and then put his mind on the study of these 23 sketches.

After Xu Ke finished reading it, Lin Youlun added: "These 23 stories are completely independent in terms of content, but there may be a certain continuity in the character setting, you can refer to the model of 007 for details, there are only two characters in the whole story, one is Di Renjie, the other is Wu Zetian, and the relationship between the two identities is similar to James Bond and Mrs. M in 007." ”

Xu Ke didn't speak, just carefully compared a few sketches, and finally selected two of them, holding them in his hand and hesitating.

Lin Youlun glanced at it from the side, and secretly smacked his tongue in his heart, because Xu Xuan was able to choose He, after all, he was the real original creator of these stories, and even the order had not changed.

Xu Ke couldn't say why he chose these two, but he felt that these two were suitable, but such an explanation definitely couldn't be used to satisfy Lin Youlun, so he thought hard for a while, and finally got a clue.

"With these two drawings, I can probably guess a little bit of the plot of the story."

Xu Ke first picked up the sketch of the Tongtian Empire, pointed to the huge Guanyin statue standing in Chang'an City on the way, and said: "This statue gives me a feeling that is a bit similar to the American Statue of Liberty, and the story must have a lot to do with this." ”

Lin Youlun smiled noncommittally and motioned for Xu Ke to continue.

Xu Ke picked up the sketch again, "This is more obvious, it should tell a story related to the sea monster." ”

The smile on Lin Youlun's face became a little meaningful, "I think you still have a reason why you haven't said it." ”

Xu Ke was stunned for a moment, and smiled bitterly in his heart.

Sure enough, I still can't hide it from Lin Youlun.

"Because I think of all 23 of these 23 stories, these two are probably the least expensive to shoot." Xu Ke gave the last reason.

Lin Youlun then asked, "Then which of the two do you think costs less?" ”

This time Xu Ke was finally stumped, he picked up the two drawings and looked at them again and again, and finally shook his head.

"It depends on the specific story content and what effect Mr. Lin ultimately hopes the film will achieve, such as this Guanyin statue, whether there will be a panoramic display in the film, how much realism needs to be achieved, these will directly affect the cost, and then this sea monster like a big octopus, will it appear directly in the film, overall or partial, how big the scene of the naval battle is, only by clarifying these questions, I can answer Mr. Lin's question."

"The minimum I want for Guanyin is to do something like the final battle at the Statue of Liberty, and then the octopus sea monster will be on par."

As soon as Lin Youlun gave an answer, Xu Ke immediately had a plan in his heart.

"There is no doubt that the cost of filming will be lower."

Lin Youlun immediately made a decision: "Okay, then shoot this first!" ”

Xu Ke's mouth moved, and he wanted to ask Lin Youlun who he was going to find to be the director of this movie, but Lin Youlun had never mentioned this question before, and he didn't have to ask directly.

"By the way, on the day of the finals of Sister Hong Kong, you called me and said that you were looking for Yang Gongru to make a movie, and Wang Jing agreed, but if you continue to insist on using Yang Gongru, her salary will not be the same price as before."

Xu Ke felt bitter, Yang Gongru became the champion of Sister Hong Kong, and her worth is naturally not what it used to be, and it is normal for Lin Youlun to propose a price increase, after all, Yang Gongru now represents the face of the entire Sister Hong Kong, and she cannot be contemptuous at will.