Chapter 57: Choice

The extradition of Chinese movie stars to Hollywood is definitely Liang Xiaolong's biggest interest at present, and in his opinion, if Chinese films want to enter the United States, they must first have enough Chinese movie stars to make a name for themselves in Hollywood. And now is a good opportunity, but you have to be careful in your selection, and pulling a can't afford Adou over will only waste this opportunity.

"Andy, it's you." Liang Xiaolong couldn't help but smirk, his favorite stars are Andy Lau and Jackie Chan, Andy's acting skills are not bad, as long as he comes to Hollywood for a year or two, he will definitely be able to gain a firm foothold in Hollywood. Thinking of Andy's information, Bruce Leung's admiration for him is like a surging river, and all film and television songs have been successful, starring in hundreds of movies and countless classic songs, which can be called the most Chinese and the most in the world. It's a pity that Andy failed to develop in Hollywood, and his international reputation is not as good as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun-fat.

But even so, Andy's popularity in China is well deserved, to be precise, as long as there are Chinese people in this world, there are people who know the name Andy Lau.

Moreover, Andy is kind-hearted, and there are countless newcomers who have become popular with him, and if a friend directs a film, he often reduces his salary; Andy is also passionate about philanthropy and is the vice chairman of the China Welfare Foundation for the Disabled, helping countless people...... Andy's deeds are numerous, and his life is a legend, enough to make his huge fan base remember for a lifetime.

"Through "The Peerless Tribulation", Andy has accumulated some popularity in Hollywood, and I will help him write a script in the second half of the year, and he will definitely become an international hit." In an instant, Liang Xiaolong's idea became extremely firm, and he was even more passionate when writing the script, and by the way, he helped that character increase a lot of opportunities to show his face and lines, in short, all for Andy.

The box office of the new week came out again, and the results were within Liang Xiaolong's expectations, but they made the media and fans fall through the glasses, and the box office of "Police and Thieves" this week was only a pitiful $12 million, which is so much worse than last week's $28 million, but the domestic box office also reached $160 million. Carl quickly made the decision to narrow the release and only release it in 800 theaters in the final week.

The overseas box office is still strong, sweeping another $36 million, and the total overseas box office has reached $190 million, and it will inevitably exceed 200 million next week. In this way, the total box office is as high as 350 million US dollars, and if you look at its production cost of 15 million, 22 times, it is definitely a terrifying comparison.

The equivalence between Liang Xiaolong and high box office is also getting stronger. However, Liang Xiaolong is still troubled, the profits from the local box office are basically spent on acquiring shares of Weta Digital Studio, and the profits that can be obtained from the overseas box office are only more than 40 million, plus the manuscript fee of "Tomb Robbery" is 9 million, and the liquidity is only 50 million US dollars.

More than 50 million US dollars, put it in China is definitely a huge amount of money, but the investment of a mid-range Hollywood film will cost 30 or 40 million, plus the publicity fee, 50 million will be gone immediately: "I owed Sister Dazui a big favor before, and this will definitely have to be repaid, but her salary plus production funds and publicity expenses can cost 50 million, so I don't want to make a movie myself." ”

What you promise others should be done, this is Liang Xiaolong's principle, especially when it comes to persuading everyone to be favored, so Julia's film must be made, even if her own film is not made. As for the money, we have to think of another way.

Disney also started a new round of hype, buying off the media, and titles such as Oscars, homegrown heroes vs. Scottish heroes immediately appeared in the media. Americans have always had great Americanism and the idea of American salvation, so when such a title appeared, public opinion immediately showed a one-sided trend, as if "Never Compromise" did not defeat "Braveheart" because the Oscar jury lacked justice.

Seeing such a situation, Mel Gibson, the director of "Braveheart", frowned, and he also regarded "Uncompromising" and "The Sun Like Me" as his strongest opponents, but he was also quite confident in himself, but he didn't expect Disney to use this hype: "Damn Americans, great Americanism will kill you sooner or later." ”

Looking at the tendencies of public opinion, Mark was overjoyed: "It's better to beat Braveheart and let the heroes of the Scots eat dust behind our backs." Liang Xiaolong didn't bother to pay attention to this, and after a week of hard work, the script of "Peerless Tribulation" was finally finalized, and he immediately rushed to Paramount. After reading the script, Shirley couldn't help laughing and said, "Xiaolong, what you said before is a bit exaggerated, you can't use 140 million, right?" ”

"That's up to you to get a few big names." Liang Xiaolong smiled faintly, in his previous life, this film brought together Bruce Willis, Michael Clark Duncan, Ben Affleck, Owen Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Taylor and a series of big-name movie stars, and the combined salaries of these movie stars can definitely scare a large number of people to death.

Shirley just smiled faintly: "Actually, I don't want to invite many big names, with you, a genius editor who is equal to the high box office, are you afraid that you will not have box office appeal?" Liang Xiaolong couldn't help but smile bitterly, indeed, his current box office appeal will never be weaker than any Hollywood first-line superstar, or even surpass. Shirley said again: "Xiaolong, you can make a price for the script, and then you can use this part of the funds to invest in the film." ”

Liang Xiaolong shook his head: "To tell you the truth, my company wants to shoot two movies at the same time, and the funds can't be used at all, so you still give me cash." Shirley is happy, Liang Xiaolong doesn't invest, all the box office goes to Paramount, but she can't wait to be like this: "This is what you said, I didn't force you." ”

Liang Xiaolong also has no choice, the company wants to run two films, and 50 million is not enough at all, so he can only tear down the east wall to make up the west wall, sell the script of "Peerless Tribulation", and exchange for funds to shoot his own film. Moreover, he believes that the profit obtained in this way will be more than investing in "Peerless Tribulation": "20 million, not too much, right? ”

Shirley nodded: "It's sky-high, but your script is worth the price, who made you a guarantee at the box office?" Liang Xiaolong smiled: "Of course, I still have two conditions, and some opinions. Shirley smiled: "About the actors, right?" Say, I know you're pretty good at seeing people. ”

Liang Xiaolong said: "The role of the astronaut dragon tooth at the Chinese space gas station must be played by our Chinese movie star Andy Lau, who has already shot dozens of movies in our China, so you don't have to worry about his acting skills." Shirley said, "No problem, I'll get in touch." Liang Xiaolong said again: "The role of Xiaojie (male number two) has to be filled by Ben Affleck." ”

Speaking of Ben Affleck, Liang Xiaolong is also guilty, in his previous life, he was the editor of "The Sun is Like Me", and also played the role of Xiaojie, Liang Xiaolong has already robbed him of the script, but he can't lose this role because he let the film be released in advance. Shirley smiled: "I know him, a supporting role in "The Sun Looks Like Me", that young man has a good appearance and good acting skills, enough to play the role of Xiaojie." Tell me about your suggestions. ”

Liang Xiaolong said: "The best director is to invite Michael Bay, he is definitely a super commercial director." In 95, Michael Bay directed "Jedi Men", which only had an investment of 19 million and won $150 million at the global box office, which has proven his ability, and in his previous life, "Death Island", "Pearl Harbor" and "Transformers" were also films directed by him. If Liang Xiaolong is not mistaken, he will take over the film "Brave Island of Death" this year, so the director must be finalized before this, otherwise he will have to hire another master.

Shirley said, "I'll ask him to come over and talk about it in detail, as long as he has the ability." Anything else? Liang Xiaolong shook his head and said: "No, you can find the rest of the characters yourself, just transfer the money to my account quickly, I am in a hurry to use the money." Shirley smiled: "Don't worry, it won't be a penny less for you." ”

The box office of "Cops and Thieves" in the last week of the domestic market also came out, only five million, and the total domestic box office was positioned at $165 million, deducting theater commissions and taxes, Yanhuang Film Company made a net profit of 110 million. Among them, it cost 80 million to invest in Weta Digital Studio, 10 million to buy the adaptation rights of "The Lord of the Rings", and 20 million remaining.

The overseas box office this week is also good, with $20 million, and the total overseas box office is as high as $210 million, and it will be released for another week, with an estimated total overseas box office of $220 million, and Yanhuang Film Company can get $44 million. As for the profit from CD distribution, it has to wait for the film to be fully drawn, and the fund return cycle is also very long, and now Liang Xiaolong does not consider it at all.

In terms of box office, Yanhuang Film Company still has $64 million in liquidity, plus $9 million in "Tomb Robbery" and $20 million in "Peerless Crisis", Sword Pavilion has earned more than 10 million US dollars, and the total liquidity is as high as hundreds of millions of dollars. Seeing this report, Liang Xiaolong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "The funds are finally enough, and I will be able to shoot two films at the same time at the beginning of the year, one of which I will do by myself, and the other one will require you to be the producer." ”

Carl, of course, knew that one of them was written by Liang Xiaolong for Julia, and couldn't help but smile wryly: "I hate working with that damn big mouth." Liang Xiaolong glanced at him: "You didn't provoke him first that time, if you want me to see, you are a cheap person and deserve to be punished." Carl exhaled angrily: "I'm not all for the company, you say this too unconscionable, no, you have to have a treat, otherwise I can't get rid of my anger." ”

has money, Liang Xiaolong has enough confidence, and when he returns, he is ready to write a script, among which it is simple to write a script for Julia, because Julia has staged many classic films in her previous life, as long as you copy it. However, writing a script for himself is a headache, he knows his level, although the level of directing "Cops and Thieves" has improved, but there is still a big gap compared with Hollywood first-line directors. If you can't choose a suitable script according to your own level, you will only make a good script into a bad movie, and then the media will make a big slap, and fans will spit on it.

ps: There is one more more, thank you for your support.

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