"Huh?" Only then did Li Xiaole turn around and see Maki Horikita standing behind him, and asked curiously, "What's the matter with Miss Horibei?" ”

"Hmm......? Oh~~~" Maki Horikita reacted at this time, raised her wine glass with a red face and said loudly: "I'm here to wish you and Miss Ha Ji Won a hundred years of good luck ~ give birth to a noble son early~!" After saying that, he drank a whole glass of wine and walked away.

"What is she talking about?" Ha Ji Won looked confused......

"I don't know, the Japanese she spoke ......" Li Xiaole shook his head helplessly.

"Why do I feel ambiguous......?" Ha Ji Won squinted his eyes and wondered, "Did she ask you to go to her room at night?" Just reported the hotel room number, it seems to be a hundred and a few numbers? ”

"Really~?" Li Xiaole was stunned for a moment, then stood up and pretended to be surprised: "Then I should go and confirm it~"

"Li Xiaole, you~!" Ha Ji Won's eyes widened angrily, and Li Xiaole laughed as if he had won.

Looking at the two giggling not far away, Inoue Yuhiko couldn't help but sigh, and comforted Maki Horikita, who came back to sit down, and said, "I'm not wrong." ”

"Well, they are a good match, alas...... After all, the hot love is still no match for the memories on the youth picture scroll~~" Maki Horikita also shook his little head and said, although he was laughing at himself, his eyes were still a little moist when he looked at Li Xiaole...... But he immediately wiped his tears, but he happily toasted with the person next to him.

A week later, Li Xiaole returned to the United States with Inoue Yuhiko and the crew, and then sat in the company's screening room with Tom Cruise and Wagner, the heads of the marketing department, and watched "Slam Dunk", but not only did Inoue Yuhiko tremble with emotion, but even Tom Cruise opened his mouth wide and wide.

They didn't expect that there would be such an effect after the final film was edited, and it was just a surging mood to watch every second, you know, this is just a half-finished product, and there are still a lot of post-rendering special effects that have not yet been added.

But everyone has another question, is this movie a two-game basketball game, or a Japanese high school league, can this become a blockbuster movie in the United States?

"The animated film is almost impeccable in terms of quality...... The only problem is that in the history of North American cinema, there has not been a single Japanese anime that has succeeded...... Not to mention the character-based theme. Wagner calmly analyzed.

This animated film invested 150 million US dollars in production costs, plus 120 million in publicity costs, and the cost is roughly the same as last year's popular "Kung Fu Panda", but "Kung Fu Panda" has achieved an astonishing result of 63.2 billion in the global market, ranking sixth in the box office list of animated films in history, can "Slam Dunk" get the same result? I'm afraid that normal people would not think that this is possible.

After all, the top ten animations in the global box office are all "animal movies", and there is no movie with a human protagonist selected. Because as long as there are characters, they will be divided into audiences, which will greatly weaken the advantage of cartoons for all ages.

"Let's do what we have to do." Li Xiaole smiled, winked at Tom Cruise and said, "Tom, if I say that I think the global box office performance of "Slam Dunk" will not be worse than "The Avengers", will you believe it?" ”

"No kidding." Tom Cruise couldn't help but laugh, "The Avengers" is the pinnacle of superhero films, will a Japanese anime be compared to him?

"Lee, we're very confident that 'The Avengers' will gross-exceed $1 billion at the global box office like 'Life of Pi', and I'm afraid no animated film has a chance to win us." Wagner is also confident, and the current highest record of animated films is only 920 million US dollars for "Shrek 2", not to mention the global box office of the Japanese anime champion "Thousand Words", which is only 280 million US dollars, "Slam Dunk" is not at the same level as "The Avengers".

"Then we'll see you in the theater~" Li Xiaole said with a smile.

Tom Cruise looked at Li Xiaole smiling and went out, and couldn't help muttering, "Shouldn't I lose to him this time...... Wagner...... What do you think the box office of "Slam Dunk" will go......" Li Xiaole's continuous box office miracles have made it impossible to judge him with conventions.

"There must be more than 200 million ......" Wagner also had a complicated expression on his face: "If you add his fame, there are also box offices in China and Japan...... Maybe the global box office will exceed $500 million, but it doesn't have to be ......"

"500 million ......" Tom Cruise also opened his mouth wide when he listened, a Japanese anime got a box office of 500 million US dollars, which is really too exaggerated......

And they don't know that Li Xiaole's goal is far more than that, in Li Xiaole's heart, he has always believed that youth and sports are the themes that the world loves, among the world's current three major box offices, China and Japan, the promotion of the movie "Slam Dunk" has reached its peak, and this is still a work that is more popular than "Transformers", and the box office prospects do not have to worry at all.

The only problem, of course, is that there are huge cultural differences in the North American market, and the only way to conquer the audience is the visual effects of motion capture technology.

However, he had already planned his countermeasures, and when "Slam Dunk" was released, that is, when the NBA Finals series was broadcast, the NBA league wanted to be popular like him.

At this time, when this annual global basketball event comes, there will be an overwhelming NBA advertising campaign on TV, and this year Black Pearl has reached a strategic partnership with the NBA Major League, and he will shoot this promotional video.

This promo will not only be shown on TV, but will also be shown in the cinema as a trailer for "Slam Dunk", which is a win-win strategy.

In 1996, when Michael Jordan filmed the animated film "Space Slam Dunk", he also combined the movie into the promotional film, which was not only popular in the finals that year, but also won an amazing box office of 230 million yuan for this childish animated film.

This time, "Slam Dunk" was joined by many NBA stars, and it was directed by Oscar-winning director Li Xiaole, and the NBA Major League will certainly not let go of this publicity opportunity.

So on Wednesday afternoon, Li Xiaole had a three-hour meeting with the NBA's marketing department to decide how the new advertising campaign should be filmed.

In this regard, Kevin Tru, the head of the NBA's marketing department, expressed his opinion at the meeting: "I don't think there is anything to discuss about this, since "Slam Dunk" has the same theme as the NBA, it is to promote the charm of basketball, then we think we should edit the most exciting dunk actions of the stars, so that fans can see the most exciting moment of basketball~~ Let their hormones rise higher and better~!" ”

"Hmm...... It's not a bad idea, it's just that I think there's a better way. Li Xiaole shook his head and said.

"What's the problem? We've been doing this for the past decade. The tall Kevin Trew asked with a frown.

This time, the NBA major leagues asked Li Xiaole to shoot an advertising video for the finals, just to use Li Xiaole's fame and the 3D technology he displayed at the Beijing Olympics to promote the advertisement, and he is just a layman when it comes to sports advertising.

The positioning of sports promotional films is very important, whether it is basketball, baseball, or football, the competition is for an audience interested in sports, this type of audience is usually 15-40 years old men, they all love the fierce scene.

"I think it's too old-fashioned." Li Xiaole pursed his lips and said:

"It's not the Jordan era of the past, the era when the audience worshiped superstars, and no matter how much the advertising portrays the players as superstars, the audience will not look at them with reverence."

The NBA is a commercial league, and it has been relying on the creation of basketball superstars to improve the influence of the entire league, Jordan, Kobe, and now LeBron James are all iconic figures in the league, and the major leagues have deliberately shaped them into high "gods", as omnipotent as gods descend from heaven, so that fans can look up and worship.

In the United States, baseball, football, ice hockey, basketball and other commercial sports leagues are all operating stars in this way, but this set, advocating individual freedom, the new generation of viewers is tired of it.

"What we're trying to win over this time is the audience who doesn't watch basketball, and I think the general audience has a lot of potential, and I want to create some players that the general audience likes, rather than superstars." Li Xiaole thought about it and proposed, the current Internet era can't follow the old path.

"Ordinary spectators?" Kevin Truw felt a little speechless and said, "I'm afraid this is a little difficult...... Basketball players are not as good as football and football, the stars of basketball are all black, and ordinary viewers will not like black people~"

In the United States, after all, it is still a white society, and for non-sports fans, blacks are really not very attractive...... What's more, the NBA has been full of scandals in recent years, not only on the court, but also on the court, rape, shooting, and drug abuse......

"Well, yes, black people can't be idols for ordinary people, but they become role models in life, and we have to tell the audience that they are not gods, but a group of ordinary people who work very hard~" Li Xiaole explained with a smile.

These older generation of sports people have not yet realized that the Internet age will disintegrate all authority, and any god-making movement is futile, and they can only show sincerity and temporarily weaken themselves in order to be recognized by the audience.

"We want to use the most primitive charm of sports to infect the audience, just like those Japanese high school students in "Slam Dunk", temporarily give their weaknesses and vulnerabilities to the audience, let the audience regard them as friends, and let the audience identify with them from the bottom of their hearts." Li Xiaole explained......