Chapter 51: Joint Venture Blockbuster

"Aren't you tired?" Seeing Liang Xiaolong sitting stupidly in front of the computer for more than an hour, Rachel poured him a glass of milk: "Rest when you're done." Liang Xiaolong hugged her with his backhand and let her sit on his lap: "It's the new year soon, the company is going to develop, I also have to determine my own shooting plan, you help me come up with ideas." ”

Rachel thought for a moment and said with a smile: "You should go to Carl to discuss the development of the company, he is more knowledgeable than us." As for the filming plan, let me remind you first, you have to write a script for me, and then you become the director. Liang Xiaolong said: "Then we have to wait for the second half of the year, and Disney will shoot a sequel to "Tomb Robbery" early next year." Rachel couldn't help but sigh softly: "I'm going to China then, I really don't want to be separated from you." ”

Liang Xiaolong likes her little daughter very much, but adapting "The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" is imminent, and Mark has urged him to draft more than once. In terms of adaptation, Liang Xiaolong has made a lot of notes during this time, first of all, the image of Qin Shi Huang, no longer a simple evil tyrant, but a somewhat brutal, but with a great mind of the first emperor of the ages, otherwise China would not have Qin Emperor Han Wuyi. Of course, Qin Shi Huang cannot be over-embellished, otherwise it will not be connected to the later plot.

The second is the background of the story, which takes place in Shanghai in 1947. It was mentioned in the original film that post-war China was very dangerous and Shanghai was divided by warlords, which was obviously not in line with China's national conditions at that time. In 1947, it was in the War of Liberation and was ruled by the Kuomintang, how can it be said that it was divided by warlords? Moreover, the warlord leader (General Yang) played by Huang Qiusheng is still a feudal religious fanatic, which is even more nonsense.

In this regard, Liang Xiaolong has not made a big change, but it can be effectively changed, and it is enough to turn the warlord leader into a cult organization, and the ideal thing is to write it as a cult organization with a certain military background.

There is also something that cannot appear in Buddhism, Buddhism has not yet been introduced to China in the Qin period, and in the original film, Ziyuan (Michelle Yeoh) used Sanskrit to detoxify the treasure book of eternal life, and Shangri-La Buddhist Temple explored the fountain of eternal life, which did not conform to the cultural background of China. Liang Xiaolong's plan was to write the Immortal Treasure Book in oracle bone inscription, and the Buddhist temple in Shangri-La would be converted into a Taoist temple, so it was logical.

And the location of the Fountain of Eternal Life is also very disgusting, in the broken cave, Qin Shi Huang jumped into it as soon as he came, and then turned into a dragon and flew away, is it simple? Liang Xiaolong was ready to put the location of the Fountain of Eternal Life in Wudang Mountain, when Qin Shi Huang came, he was besieged by the Taoist priests of Wudang with a Taiji sword array, and only after a life-and-death battle did he get the Fountain of Eternal Life, and by the way, he showed the Taiji culture to the world.

However, in this way, it is necessary to change a few lines of dialogue, because the Wudang faction originated from the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and the existence of the Fountain of Eternal Life had to be determined first, and the Wudang faction later established a mountain gate in Wudang, and Ziyuan also established a friendship with the Wudang faction.

According to the original plot, as soon as the background is so modified, many unreasonable things are all reasonable, of course, it can't be said to be perfect, but at least it's much better than the original film.

If there is any aspect of "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" that is the most unsatisfactory and makes people vomit blood, it must be the special effects production. In the previous life, it took $70 million to shoot "Tomb Robbery 1" in 99, but it only cost $50 million to make "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" in 08. In the previous life, if there was no Chinese kung fu to support the whole film, the box office would definitely collapse to the end. But now Liang Xiaolong is not worried about this, Disney has just made enough money from "Tomb Robbery", which will definitely be willing to increase investment and improve the quality of the film.

And in this regard, Liang Xiaolong also has some designs, such as Qin Shi Huang's transformation into a three-headed pterodactyl, which has to be replaced by our Chinese dragon, and because it represents evil, it is most appropriate to use a black dragon. On the battlefield behind, he transformed into an unknown giant beast and knocked down a plane, Liang Xiaolong felt that it was completely unnecessary, so he directly transformed into a black dragon and struck a dragon tail swing. However, the snow monster in the original film is a highlight, and it deserves to appear again.

In addition, there are thriller elements in the film, and Liang Xiaolong didn't want to add any bugs or anything, but the organs of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang are indeed too few and can't show anything. Therefore, it is very necessary to increase the number of organs and to increase the number of organs that are in line with China's national conditions. This aspect of design is by no means a simple matter, so Liang Xiaolong has to consult various books before he can design the prototype of the black dragon, snow monster, trap, and terracotta warriors. Although Liang Xiaolong's sketching skills are not bad, he is not clever, and Liang Xiaolong is going to ask a painter to help organize the original drawings and make the colors of the prototype more vivid.

After sorting out his notes, Liang Xiaolong was not in a hurry to write, and he had to sort out his thoughts in his mind and calm down his brain in order to adapt a satisfactory script, otherwise it would just be a work with a hot head. The next day, Liang Xiaolong and Rachel disguised themselves and began to buy vegetables, forty dishes were enough for him to be busy for a day, and Rachel was on the side, this girl has been with Liang Xiaolong for a long time, and she can also cook a few Chinese dishes.

Jessica was the first to come to the door, and when she saw the things on the table, she couldn't help but exclaim: "Xiaolong, do you really cook forty dishes?" Liang Xiaolong shouted in the kitchen, "I want to do less, but if I really want to do that, that big mouth will definitely hurt me." Rachel laughed, "Jessica, you sit in the living room now, I'll go in and do it." Jessica said, "I'll go and help too." Rachel said, "No, there are only a few dishes left." ”

It wasn't long before Brandon, Julia, and Danny arrived, and Julia joked to Danny in the living room, "Honey, you'll have to learn from Dragon, at least a few home-cooked dishes." Danny looked up at the ceiling and pretended to be stunned, "Huh? What did you just say? Julia was so angry that her teeth itched: "Damn, you will take care of our family's food tomorrow." ”

After the forty dishes were ready, Liang Xiaolong was also tired enough: "Guys, it's time to eat, you have to finish these dishes today." Jessica stuck out her tongue, "I don't have that big belly." Julia said unceremoniously: "I haven't finished eating, I can only say that your craftsmanship is not up to par, but we can't blame it." Liang Xiaolong rolled his eyes, this was shameless.

The dishes are ready, the wine is served, everyone is eating and chatting, the topic is nothing more than the popular trend or the little in the entertainment industry, Julia said: "Xiaolong, what are the shooting plans for next year, I can count on you to write me another script." The company will definitely increase the scale of filming next year, so even if Julia doesn't mention it, Liang Xiaolong will have to find her: "Next year, everyone will have a share, and when the time comes, everyone should not think that my company is small." ”

Julia gave him a blank look: "Who doesn't know that you are a genius editor now, as long as you are willing to come up with a script, few actors will refuse." But Xiaolong, "The Cops and the Thieves" was a box office hit, are you ready to shoot a sequel? Liang Xiaolong also thought about this problem, filming a sequel will definitely make another profit, but the original filming of "The Police and the Thief" was completely out of training himself, and if he filmed a sequel, it was not conducive to accumulating directing experience. After thinking about it carefully, Liang Xiaolong still nodded: "There will definitely be a sequel, but there will be a different director." ”

The box office list of the new week is out again, and although the box office of "Cops and Thieves" is not as exaggerated as the previous week, it still occupies the top position at the box office. Among them, the average attendance rate from Monday to Friday was 80%, and it was basically full on the weekend, earning 37.5 million, and the total local box office has reached 90 million, and it is not a problem to break 100 million. At the same time, it has also been released overseas for a week, and the box office is even more terrifying than that of the mainland, winning a staggering 60 million, Shirley specially called to congratulate him: "Xiaolong, I said that the overseas box office is 200 million, and I will never let you down." ”

Liang Xiaolong was indeed frightened by this number, 60 million US dollars, which is more courageous than the gods descending from the earth. Shirley said again: "Xiaolong, do you have a script on hand, maybe our two companies can have a deep cooperation." Liang Xiaolong said: "I have to talk about this next year, and now I am writing the script for the sequel to "Tomb Robbery" for Disney, and I don't even have time to write the script of my own company." Shirley said: "I'm not in a hurry in terms of time, but Xiaolong, I really hope that you can write a script for a blockbuster film for our company, and co-production." ”

To make a blockbuster, you must first have advanced special effects technical support, and Yanhuang Film Company does not have this condition. Of course, it can also be handed over to a special effects company for production, but it is particularly money-burning, just like Disney's filming of "Tomb Robbery", although the production cost is 70 million US dollars, but the special effects are completed by their own company, and the actual investment will not exceed 50 million.

The second is the director's ability, anyway, Liang Xiaolong does not have the ability to shoot blockbusters now, even if he wants to shoot, he has to invite other directors. In addition, don't look at the box office of "The Police and the Thief", but the overseas box office can only get 20%, and in the end, there is not much that can actually be earned, and the local box office will make more than 100 million again. These funds are only enough to support the shooting of a blockbuster film and the promotion costs, but he also wants to make other films.

Finally, there is the distribution system, the box office of blockbusters largely depends on the overseas box office, if the company does not have the ability to distribute overseas, like this time with Paramount, the profit will definitely be very weak. Therefore, on the whole, it is impossible for the current Yanhuang Film Company to shoot blockbusters.

But unfortunately, Liang Xiaolong has a blockbuster complex, as long as a blockbuster movie is released in his previous life, no matter how bad the reputation is, his principle is to watch it first and then talk about it, at most, he will waste dozens of dollars and hours. So if there is a choice, Liang Xiaolong is still very willing to let some blockbusters with low special effects requirements be released first, which is enjoyable, and at the same time can stimulate other companies to produce blockbusters.

And Shirley's proposal is definitely a good plan, joint venture shooting, you can not only see the blockbuster, but also make a lot of money: "Shirley, if I agree to joint venture shooting, how much will the script cost?" How much money can our company bet? Shirley smiled: "You're really a layman, the script hasn't come out, the budget hasn't come out, how can I determine the plan?" But I can assure you that the price of the script will never be less than $15 million. Liang Xiaolong smiled: "That's okay, but you Paramount have to prepare the money, and I'm afraid the production cost will exceed 100 million." ”

Shirley said confidently: "As long as the quality of your script is excellent, we Paramount dare to invest 200 million US dollars." Liang Xiaolong said with a smile: "The confidence of large companies is enough, and when I write the script for the sequel to "Tomb Robbery", I will write the script for your company, and I will also give you a guarantee that the global box office will be 500 million US dollars." ”

ps: This week is coming to an end again, friends are really amazing, thank you. The first year of the content in the book is over, and we are about to enter the second stage, so I hope you enjoy it.

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