In the early 70s, special effects and special effects did not receive much attention in Hollywood, and many film studios closed their special effects departments in order to save costs, which was not favored by producers until the release of Lucas's "Star Wars - A New Hope" in 1977, but it took a few more years for "Industrial Light and Magic" to be truly recognized by Hollywood. [No pop-up novel network]

Wang Xiaohu is well aware of the important surname of "Industrial Light and Magic" in the future, and he also knows that Lucas has a vague concept in his mind, so when he put forward this set of wild ideas, it aroused Lucas's considerable interest.

"Tiger, you just said that you want to set up a company specializing in film special effects and special effects, did I hear that?" Lucas pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked Wang Xiaohu seriously.

"That's right, stunts aren't popular in Hollywood at the moment." Wang Xiaohu banged on the wine glass and made a crisp sound, then he raised his head and said to Lucas: "George, I don't know if you have seen "IP-MAN" starring me? ”

"Of course I did!" Without waiting for Lucas to answer, Spielberg beside him preemptively said: "I watched George no less than twice, and at that time I thought that Chinese kung fu is really that magical?" ”

Wang Xiaohu smiled and said: "In fact, most of the kung fu movies you see are exaggerated or mythical, as far as I am concerned, when I kick with all my strength, it is impossible to completely fly several meters, that is to use stunts." ”

"But it's realistic!" Lucas hurriedly asked, "Give me a kind of what most Orientals are with Bruce. Lee's as strong! How did you do that? ”

"If you want to express a sense of power, you will use power powder, which is very visual, of course, Hollywood does not favor Via at present, in fact, with the help of Via, it can also express the magic of high and high"

Wang Xiaohu seems to have returned to the time when he taught Qi Xiaofu and others, but what he was in front of was no longer Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, but the two top directors in Hollywood in the future, and the content he told completely attracted Lucas and Spielberg.

An hour later, Wang Xiaohu's mouth was dry, and he took a sip of beer and concluded: "If you want to shoot a moving robot, let him walk, talk, or even shoot the shape of a spaceship that comes to Earth from outer space or"

Lucas listened attentively, and after a long time he let go of his brow and said, "Tiger, I feel that you are a connoisseur in this area!" What you said was unheard of to me, but I felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. God, why can't I remember it for a while? ”

It's strange if you're not familiar with it, some of the things I just said were taken out of Star Wars, but only a few words from it. Wang Xiaohu was secretly happy in his heart, but he didn't point out Lucas, what he wanted was this effect, first hooked up this person's interest, and the rest of the things were relatively easy to do.

As the minutes passed, Lucas struggled to remember where this familiarity came from, so he shook his head in annoyance: "I'm sorry, maybe I'll go back and check my notebook to find it." ”

"George, don't worry about this, I just have such a general idea, I want to set up a company in Hollywood, specializing in providing special effects services for major film and television companies." Wang Xiaohu comforted Lucas with a smile and said, "But I need a few like-minded partners at the moment, I wonder if you two are interested?" ”

Lucas and Spielberg didn't think about it, and said urgently in unison: "Yes!" Why not!"

"It's just that I feel like it's a bit thankless to set up a company like this." Wilson, who had been acting as a listener, interjected, "Guys, this is going to require a pretty big investment of money, and I'm afraid no one will hire us then." ”

When it comes to funding, both Lucas and Spielberg frown, yes, this is their weakness, although this plan is tempting, but they don't have much money to invest in this kind of money-burning plan right now. Just when they were worried, Wang Xiaohu knocked on the table and said: "I can take out 5 million as start-up capital now, but you need to consider the personnel and company address." ”

"Tiger, are you telling the truth?" Lucas's eyes lit up, he stood up excitedly and wanted to hug Wang Xiaohu, but Wang Xiaohu stretched out his hand to stop him: "George, calm down, what I said is true, if you want to express your excitement in the future, it is best to use this way." As he spoke, he clasped Lucas's hand.

Lucas shrugged innocently, obviously he was very puzzled by Wang Xiaohu's reaction. Wilson explained with a wry smile: "This guy thinks that a same-surname hug will be said to be a same-surname relationship, and this is the first time I've heard such remarks. ”

"Me too."

"Me too."

Lucas and Spielberg said at the same time, and then everyone laughed, Wang Xiaohu rolled his eyes helplessly, since then, this joke has spread throughout Hollywood, and some celebrities who have been praised by Wang Xiaohu even want to challenge this limit, but the next day they all wore masks when they went out, because their noses were red and swollen from Wang Xiaohu's punch, except for those female stars, of course.

George. When Lucas returned home, he immediately turned out his notebook, and the strong sense of familiarity was finally found by him in a small yellowed notebook, and he jumped up excitedly, exclaiming: "God, this is it, this is it." ”

Early the next morning, Wang Xiaohu was going to report to the director's union, and as soon as he walked out of the hotel, he saw the tired George. Lucas stood there. "Hi George, are you waiting for someone?"

"Oh yes, I'm waiting for someone, no, in fact I'm waiting for you!" George. Although Lucas showed a tired look, the moment he saw Wang Xiaohu, he suddenly came to his senses, walked to Wang Xiaohu's side in a few steps and said, "Tiger, hurry up, let's go register the company, I can't wait." ”

Wang Xiaohu looked at him with tears and smiles, "But I'm going to report to the director's union today." ”

"Okay, let's go to the directors' guild first, and then go to register the company." George. Lucas stopped a taxi, pulled Wang Xiaohu and drilled inside.

"Man, go to the directors' union, hurry up, we have urgent things to do." Lucas told the driver the destination, then took out his little notebook, and said quickly: "Tiger, I finally found that thing, I didn't expect you to be an enthusiast of "The Flash Gordon". ”

"The Flash Gordon?" Wang Xiaohu frowned, this name was very unfamiliar.

"Yes, Flash Gordon," Lucas nodded vigorously, "It's an American TV series that has had good ratings, and I've always wanted to draw on his plot to make a movie, but I can't get the point, and it dawned on me when you mentioned it last night." ”

Wang Xiaohu blinked, he was obviously talking about a small part of "Star Wars - A New Hope", how did it become a copy of "The Flash Gordon" in Lucas's mouth? Could it be that Lucas was inspired by The Flash Gordon to create Star Wars - A New Hope?

"Tiger, did you hear me?"

"Of course!" Wang Xiaohu was stunned for a moment and immediately said, "Yes, I'm listening." ”

"Oh God, you can tell from the look on your face that you're not listening." Lucas scratched his hair and said almost frantically, "I just asked you where you got your inspiration?" ”

Wang Xiaohu touched his nose in embarrassment, and after a moment of silence, he said: "George, actually, I have a not very mature script in my head, well, it's like this, a very huge idea, but in reality, there is no condition for me to shoot it." ”

"Can you tell us more about that?" Lucas leaned sideways and said anxiously, "I want to see if the idea between the two of us is the same." ”

"Well, the evil Galactic Empire has taken control of the entire galaxy, the inhabitants of the galactic empire are suffering from tyranny, the rebels are still persistently fighting against it, and Princess Leah has obtained the Empire's secret weapon, the Death Star Central Structure Data, stolen by intelligence officers. Princess Leah who obtained the blueprint of the Death Star in the Black Warrior Das. Vader chases her and captures her, but she has entered the data into the computer of the robot R2-D2, and the robots R2-D2 and C-3po have fled to a distant planet, Tatooine.

Wang Xiaohu roughly said it according to the plot of "Star Wars - A New Hope" released in 1977 in his memory, and also observed Lucas's reaction, and found that he had been silent when he was telling, but every time he said a point, he would clench his fists tightly, and the expression on his face would also appear flushed with excitement.

When Wang Xiaohu finally finished speaking, Lucas suddenly screamed, raised his hand and patted Wang Xiaohu's shoulder and said: "God, I really can't imagine that some of your ideas coincide with mine, no, no, your overall idea is more perfect than mine!" When are you going to shoot it, I want to see it now! ”

"Hehe, George, don't be in a hurry, okay?" Wang Xiaohu shook his head with a wry smile and said: "I said before that the current conditions are not yet ripe, and we must improve the special effects before we can shoot, otherwise such a perfect script will be stranded due to the imperfection of special effects and photographic equipment, which will be laughed at by peers." ”

"But, but" George. Lucas was already a little incoherent at this point, and he said no less than five buts, but after all, he didn't say anything.

Wang Xiaohu could understand his feelings, patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "George, calm down, okay, give me a little time, I will hand you the outline of the script before leaving Los Angeles, so that you can form a general concept in your mind first." ”

"Really?"

"Of course, there is a saying in our China that we can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, and we can only shoot our dreams after we have prepared all the conditions sufficiently."

The car stopped at this moment, and the driver turned his head and said, "Gentlemen, here we are!" ”

Lucas preemptively paid the fare and pulled Wang Xiaohu out of the car, "Maybe you're right, I was too excited just now." ”

After seeing them leave, the driver plucked his ears a little depressedly, "Are these two people crazy, why are they talking nonsense all the way!" ”

There's George. Lucas enthusiastically helped, Wang Xiaohu easily completed the registration in the directors' union, and he received a bunch of information, including the contact information of major Hollywood production companies, the list of main members of the directors' union, the duties and obligations of the directors union, and even a silver eagle medal representing the union.

"Tiger, I'm jealous of the silver medal in your hand." Lucas said without hiding the jealousy in his eyes.

"What's there to be jealous of?" Wang Xiaohu put the Medal of the Lost Eagle in the palm of his hand and played, "If you like it, take it." ”

Lucas shook his head and said, "No, I can't ask for it, because that thing represents status, and it can only be obtained after your film has received unanimous word-of-mouth and shocking box office, and has been selected by the union leadership, as far as I know, you are the first person to receive the Silver Falconry this year, and the first Oriental to receive such an honor." ”

Wang Xiaohu couldn't imagine that a small medal still had such a doorway, and asked with some curiosity: "What color is your medal?" ”

"Bronze." Lucas said with some embarrassment: "This medal symbolizes your director's identity, ordinary members only have medals, if the film makes millions of box office profits, you will get a bronze medal, if you make a million box office dollars, you will get a bronze medal, to a director with a box office of hundreds of millions of dollars can get a silver medal, if you make a visible contribution to the union, or promote the development of the entire film industry, you will get the highest award of the union, that is, the Golden Eagle Medal, but there are no more than ten people who have won it at present." ”

"This level is really strict." Wang Xiaohu said with emotion, he didn't expect that he would get a silver Flying Eagle Medal all of a sudden, this luck is really not ordinary. "George, believe me, as long as you don't give up on your dreams and stick to your own style, you will definitely get the Golden Eagle Medal."

"Thank you for your encouragement." Lucas smiled and said, "I'll follow your example." ”

The two laughed and got into a taxi again, and rushed to the registered company without worrying about lunch, and when passing by the bank, Wang Xiaohu exchanged a check for five million US dollars, handed it to Lucas and said: "This is our registered capital." ”

"Tiger, you're so generous. I only prepared less than 800,000 yuan, in fact, it was all my belongings. Lucas sighed and said, "According to the amount of capital invested, you are the major shareholder, and I am the second shareholder." ”

"That's what I thought, too." The corners of Wang Xiaohu's mouth curled, looked at Lucas and said: "But after the company is established, you may need to be fully responsible, and you know that I also have to take care of the business in Hong Kong." ”

"No problem at all." Lucas patted his chest and said: "If I have the opportunity, I really want to go to Hong Kong and feel the film art there, I can't imagine that you came out of there, because I have the impression that the movies there have always been rough and can't stand the slightest scrutiny." ”

"That's influenced by the cultural differences between China and the West." Wang Xiaohu said: "In fact, Hong Kong movies also have the inevitable value of their existence, and the first thing recognized by Hollywood is Bruce. Li, he let the world know about Chinese kung fu. ”

"It's a pity he left too early." Lucas said with some sadness: "I'm sorry, it seems that this mentions your sadness." ”

Wang Xiaohu shook his head, he was already injured and numb, no one in the world knew Bruce Lee's important surname better than him, but he passed away before he had time to break into Hollywood with him, leaving too many regrets, too many regrets.

In the registration of the company, Lucas showed the relevant formalities, these things are a parent's convenience for him, (he now has several properties) when filling in the company name column, he asked Wang Xiaohu: "Tiger, give our company a well-known name." ”

"Industrial Light & Magic." Wang Xiaohu said without thinking: "The full name is iindustrial-light-and-magic"

"Industrial Light & Magic, hey, it's called Industrial Light & Magic!" After a few words, Lucas carefully wrote his name on it, and negotiated the property rights of the shares under the notarization of the lawyer, according to the initial amount of capital investment, Wang Xiaohu occupies 83% of the shares of Industrial Light and Magic. Lucas owns 17% of the shares, and when the two sides signed, Wang Xiaohu looked at the share distribution certificate and laughed stupidly, very stupid, very stupid, no one in the world knows why he laughed so stupidly

After all, history has changed a lot, Wang Xiaohu became the largest shareholder of "Industrial Light and Magic" in early March 1973, and Stallone also became a new generation of powerful stars with "Rocky". Wipner has also become a well-known figure in boxing clubs, and has been pushed by several clubs to be the spokesperson, according to whom he said the idea of making money was found in "Rocky".

"Sylvester." After reading this report, Wang Xiaohu called Stallone: "Listen, you tell Chuck that bastard, if he still wants to play the role of a boxing champion in the "Rocky" series, he will immediately put Lao Tzu into boxing training." ”

Stallone didn't know why the boss was angry, and asked a little puzzled: "Boss, why is this, is there anything wrong with this?" ”

"Nonsense! If he doesn't train, he will definitely not perform well when shooting the boxing champion! Wang Xiaohu didn't say his true intentions, in fact he did it with his reasons, because I remember Chuck two years later. Wipner will have a very different fight with boxing champion Ali, and if Chuck ignores boxing for the sake of making money now, this "world war" will not be staged, and whether Chuck can hold on for 15 rounds or not, he is counting on using this fight to promote "Rocky 2" or "Rocky 3" for free.

After a burst of fire on the phone, Wang Xiaohu finally calmed down and began to work on the script creation of "Star Wars - A New Hope", to be honest, this is a bit of a test of his nervous system, after all, he only had in-depth research on kung fu movies and action movies in his previous life, for this kind of sci-fi blockbuster, although he has watched it a few times, after all, he does not have the same deep memory as professional researchers, but it does not prevent him from smoothing the story.

Wang Xiaohu completely sorted out the most profound scene in his memory, it was already a week later, during which Zhao Yazhi temporarily acted as a translator and typist, after all, her English writing is much more proficient than Wang Xiaohu, Wang Xiaohu made the Chinese version of the script, Zhao Yazhi translated it into English, when the script with dozens of pages thick was sent to George. When Lucas was in his hands, Wang Xiaohu had already left Los Angeles with Zhao Yazhi.

"God, the script is so detailed!" Lucas was shocked for a long time after reading the script, and he finally realized the biggest difference between Hong Kong scripts and Hollywood scripts: Hollywood screenwriters often come up with a commercial value outline, and then modify and add around this outline in combination with the actual situation, most of which are only a few pages. But the Hong Kong script is indeed detailed in all aspects, and the storyboard scripts, props, dialogues, costumes, and scenes are all recorded in great detail.

Wang Xiaohu also wrote at the end of the script: "George, I feel that this script is not perfect enough, and some specific settings will be perfected by you in the later stage, remember to send it to Hong Kong for me to see as soon as possible." ”

"God, it's all so detailed and it's not perfect, how can you make me perfect?" George. Lucas took off his glasses and pinched his eyebrows and said in distress. But when he saw it for the tenth time, he was surprised to find that this script, called "Star Wars - A New Hope", was only the smallest, simplest, and easiest part of the entire huge framework. Most of them bear a striking resemblance to what I've put together before, and even better than what I've constructed. (At this time in history, Lucas had already begun to construct the script for Star Wars in January '73, so don't go into details.) George. Lucas felt empowered, yes, he had a very good script at hand, but it wasn't enough for him to shoot.

So George. Lucas immediately followed the plan agreed with Wang, and he rented a large factory under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco for $5.8 million, and then hired people who seemed to have nothing to do with the movie.

Some of these people are engaged in architecture, some are modeling, some are shooting commercials, and some are playing mechanical design. Almost no one has ever worked in film. But there is also a good thing: this energetic group is imbued with a hippie spirit, completely free from the constraints of the system. In the large warehouse of the early Industrial Light & Magic office, Lucas and his team embarked on a dream journey to change the world.

(To be continued)