Chapter 56: Extradition of Chinese movie stars

The script of "The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" finally came out, Liang Xiaolong thought about it, crossed out the name again, and replaced it with "Terracotta Warriors", this name is more suitable for the script, and it can more intuitively reflect the terracotta culture of my country, making people think of the Chinese terracotta warriors and horses as soon as they see this name, the terracotta warriors and horses of the Qin Dynasty.

After writing the script, Bruce Leung rushed to Disney, along with Stephen, their main task today is to discuss the script, if there is something unreasonable, it must be revised, but the plan for modification must be decided by Bruce Leung. There is no way to do it, Liang Xiaolong is afraid that others will modify it into a script that spoofs my country's culture, and finally let him take on this infamy, so he would rather spend more time and resolutely block this situation.

"Chinese theme, it's a bit adventurous." Mark couldn't help frowning, as far as the film industry is concerned, anything new is an opportunity and an adventure, and it succeeds, the box office skyrockets, it fails, and a lot of money is wasted. So far, Hollywood has not made a real Chinese-themed film, and it is still unknown whether the audience can accept it.

"Mark, there are benefits and risks." Bruce Leung said with a smile: "Moreover, don't underestimate the audience's ability to appreciate it, Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" is Hollywood's first real action movie, with a ticket price of two or three dollars at the time, it won more than 200 million at the global box office; "The Cops and the Thieves" is Hollywood's first nonsensical comedy, and now it has a global box office of more than 300 million; So, it's not an adventure, it's a great opportunity for Disney and Hollywood to expand the subject matter. ”

Stephen said: "Putting that aside, the script is wonderful, and as long as the audience can accept Chinese culture, the box office will be guaranteed." Mark is still hesitant, after all, when it comes to hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, he has to be cautious. Liang Xiaolong added a timely fire: "Mark, if you want to make the series "Tomb Robbery" long-lasting, you have to expand the scope of the subject matter, not limited to Egypt, otherwise the two films will cause fans aesthetic fatigue." Also, even if you don't invest in this script, I just need to change the name of the protagonist in it and change the two leading actors, and it will become another series of films, and I believe other companies will be willing to invest. ”

Mark smiled wryly: "You kid is threatening me, okay, I agreed to invest." But you kid has to cheer me up and estimate the box office, I know you're right. Liang Xiaolong smiled: "Mark, believe me, this is the right choice, as long as you invest in this film, I can guarantee a box office of 400 million US dollars." Stephen hurriedly followed: "That's right, as long as you invest generously, I dare to guarantee a box office of 400 million." ”

Mark smiled bitterly, "Yes, you two are united, what else do I have to say." Stephen, do you budget, how much will it cost? Stephen said: "According to preliminary estimates, the production cost is higher than that of the first part, about 80 million US dollars, mainly because of the high requirements for special effects. Mark said: "Eighty million, it's acceptable, after all, this is a sequel, which can save a lot of publicity costs." "Eighty million, Liang Xiaolong is also happy, in 08 this film only had a production cost of 50 million US dollars, and now it is filmed in 96 years, and it is 80 million US dollars, so the effect of "Terracotta Warriors" will definitely far exceed the "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" in the previous life.

Stephen suddenly sighed again: "Xiaolong, if you don't take a hand again, you know it's too difficult to find a movement guide of your level." Liang Xiaolong smiled: "I have a lot of things in my own company now, so I still have time to do this." But don't worry, it's hard to find anything else in China, but a good action guide is a big deal. Mark said: "In this way, Xiaolong, you can help us recommend, including actors." ”

Liang Xiaolong nodded: "Then I'll tell you, if it doesn't work, you can find someone else." The first is the action director, you can find Yuan Heping, as long as you know about Hong Kong movies, you will understand his ability to be an action director. In terms of actors, first of all, the role of Qin Shi Huang, you can find Jet Li, he is Wu Jing's senior brother, and he is also a martial arts champion, with a strong kung fu foundation and good acting skills, and he is known as the emperor of kung fu in China. ”

Mark said: "I know him, the starring role of "Shaolin Temple", is really great. Liang Xiaolong said with a smile: "Yes, in our country, the number of moviegoers in Shaolin Temple is as high as 200 million, but unfortunately there was no authoritative statistical department at that time, so there was no specific box office, otherwise it would definitely be a scary number." Speaking of the role of Ziyuan, you can choose Michelle Yeoh, she is our first female star in China, and her temperament, acting skills, and kung fu foundation are very good. ”

Mark said: "I'll get in touch, and finally talk about the character of Lynn." "Lin is Ziyuan's daughter, she was played by Liang Luoshi in her previous life, but now she hasn't grown up yet, she can only change an actor, Liang Xiaolong's first thought is Wang Zuxian, she has a unique feminine temperament of an oriental woman, and the effect is definitely stronger than Liang Luoshi.

After talking about this, everyone talked about this year's Oscars, Mark said: "Braveheart is too strong, if we can't beat it, I'm afraid we will have to go home empty-handed this year." Liang Xiaolong can't help but worry, in his previous life, "Braveheart" won the Best Screenplay Award in 96, and now although he has won two nominations, it is still unknown whether he can beat "Braveheart". However, Liang Xiaolong has a crooked trick: "Mark, "Braveheart" is a hero who writes about the Scottish, right? Mark nodded, a little inexplicable, and Liang Xiaolong said again: ""Never Compromise" is a hero who writes about Americans, right?" ”

Mark suddenly realized and laughed: "I love this arrogant country, with this hype, American fans must stand on the side of "Never Compromise", although I don't know if I can beat "Braveheart", but I will definitely be able to overpower each other in public opinion." Liang Xiaolong smiled: "American heroes vs. Scottish heroes, I hope the media can fire him upside down." ”

As soon as he came out of Disney, Shirley called him again and asked him about the joint venture to shoot a blockbuster, Liang Xiaolong couldn't help but smile bitterly and didn't hide it: "Shirley, the script has been conceived and the investment is very large, but our company does not have much liquidity, and there are no conditions for joint venture to make blockbusters for the time being." Hearing this, Shirley couldn't help but be overjoyed, the less Yanhuang Film Company invested, the more profits Paramount could get, which was exactly what she wanted to see: "Xiaolong, otherwise, you can directly use the money from the script to invest in the film, and I can appropriately increase the price of the script." ”

Liang Xiaolong didn't answer directly, but said to think about it first, this is not a trivial matter after all. Back home, Liang Xiaolong began to think deeply, originally he was preparing to shoot "The Peerless Tribulation" (aka: The End of the World, not 2012) in a joint venture with Paramount, which was produced and distributed by Touchstone in 98, with a production cost of up to $140 million, plus publicity costs of up to $200 million. However, it also grossed a considerable amount of $550 million worldwide, and with CD sales and other earnings, the profits were definitely significant.

Moreover, shooting such a popular and blockbuster film is also very good for the company's image, Liang Xiaolong believes that as long as the script is taken out, those big companies will definitely rush to ask for it. However, when he thought that his company was short of funds and wanted to share most of the profits with others, Liang Xiaolong was depressed. But Liang Xiaolong still decided to write it, first of all, it is very beneficial to the development of the company to have a good relationship with a supergiant like Paramount, just like the release of "The Police and the Thief", if it weren't for Paramount squeezing out 520 theaters, the box office would definitely be miserable, let alone acquiring the shares of Weta Digital Studios.

Secondly, Paramount helped him a lot, and Liang Xiaolong had no reason not to repay this favor: "Okay, if you invest the money in the script, you can make a lot of money, and you have to know how to be content." ”

The plot of "Peerless Tribulation" is actually not complicated, and its main line is that a meteorite hits the earth, and the only way is to change the meteorite's flight path so that it can bypass the earth. However, it will not work to bombard the meteorite directly, and someone needs to dig an 800-foot-deep hole in the meteorite and then put the nuclear bomb in it and detonate it to blow the meteorite in half, thus changing its path and bypassing the Earth.

For the sake of safety, NASA decided to find the world's best drilling experts to drill holes in space meteorites, so it found Harry, the owner of the oil well, and Harry asked his drilling workers to go to space together, so there was a team of astronauts composed of drilling workers. To be on the safe side, NASA used two teams to go into space at the same time, and successfully blew up the meteorite after twists and turns.

Disaster strikes, saves the world, and shows great Americanism everywhere, which can be said to be a bit silly, but Americans love this set, so in the previous life, they won more than 200 million box office in the United States. Of course, the huge success of this film definitely does not depend on any big Americanism, otherwise how could it win more than 300 million overseas box office.

Although the film shows great Americanism, it is still a great story, a few small oilfield workers are ordered to save the earth when the earth is in crisis, and become heroes who save the earth. Especially at the end, when everyone hopes for a happy ending, the protagonist sacrifices his life to save the world at the end, which makes the audience remember the most.

However, as a blockbuster, the biggest highlight of the film is its special effects production, beautiful outer space, meteorites, disasters, space flights, etc. are vividly expressed in this film, which can be called the pinnacle of 98 years, in fact, it is also the annual box office champion of Hollywood in 98.

However, Liang Xiaolong was not ready to copy it completely, he had to change something, in the original film, the US Space Agency cooperated with the Russian Space Agency, so why can't it be changed to the Chinese Space Agency? If such a change is made, then the scene of the space gas station must be changed, because the original film has a strong tendency towards cultural aggression, and the Russian Space Agency actually had an oil spill and explosion, satirizing Russia's backwardness in science and technology, which seems a bit absurd.

Therefore, Liang Xiaolong was about to change to be hit by a meteorite, this is a natural disaster, and the explosion of the space gas station seems reasonable. And with such a change, the original Russian space worker has to be replaced by a Chinese actor, which is in line with Liang Xiaolong's idea of bringing Chinese movie stars into Hollywood. But Bruce Leung also has a headache, there are so many Chinese movie stars, which one do you want to choose? Choosing that one, you have to consider whether he can gain a foothold in Hollywood, otherwise it will just be a waste of places.

ps: Thank you for the reward of "Travel". The second phase of the content is opened, and it will definitely be more rigorous than the first stage, but it will be more refreshing, with the support of votes and collections.

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