After returning to Los Angeles, Lin Yuquan almost did not have any delays, and flew to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, with the script the next day.

One sentence can explain the status of Weta Digital in New Zealand, and New Zealand has "only" one director, and that is Peter. Jackson, there is "only" one film company in New Zealand, and that is Vita, and these two have established a film empire.

The founding of Vita began in the early 90s of the last century, in 1993 to be exact, when Peter Vita. In order to make special effects for his new film "Angel of Sin", Jackson and like-minded friend Richard . Taylor, Jimmy. Selkirk co-founded, Tong Guò Vita, who made a small-budget film with only $5 million investment into a film that could be considered a classic, and its visual effects made even veterans of ILM breathtaking, but even if "Angel of Sin" won the Silver Lion for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995, its influence was still limited, so Weta was just a small special effects company at the time.

What really made Vita famous in one fell swoop was the later "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Peter. After Jackson took over the directing rights of the film from New Line, one of the requirements was to hand over the special effects and post-production of the film to Weta, which was definitely a very excessive request at the time, after all, the investment of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was as high as 300 million US dollars, and the special effects were the top priority, and Weta was just a small special effects company with little reputation.

Here I have to say that the founder of the new line, Robert. Saya's courage, and in the end Weta did not live up to his trust, the film's magnificent and spectacular extreme special effects scenes immediately swept the world, and won three consecutive Oscars for Best Visual Effects, in addition to the previous "King Kong", "The Chronicles of Narnia" was also well received.

Although Industrial Light & Magic is a leader in the field of special effects and a well-deserved leader, Weta is unshakable in the field of 'performance capture' based on 'character animation' technology, and only it can make the major races of the Savage Continent shine brightly on the big screen.

"Wow, Lin, I have to say that the scenes in your film are so spectacular, and did you design these racial shapes? It's so imaginative, it's incredible. Weta Digital's VFX Supervisor Joe. Lettery said with praise while looking at Lin Yuquan's special effects script and related drawings.

"It's true that I've seen reports say you're all-powerful, and now I've seen that even the best visual effects artists can't do it better than you." Weta Digital's president, one of the studio's founders, special effects designer and director, Richard Brown. Taylor sighed and said, saying that the races and scenes in "The Lord of the Rings" are full of dreamy imagination, but that is the result of the meticulous efforts of hundreds of employees throughout Weta, where there is a pervert like Lin Yuquan, one person can design it, they just need to find a way to realize these designs.

Not only the two, but also several other senior designers in the conference room were also full of admiration.

"Where, your designs in The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia are just as amazing, and I'm just a little imaginative, and in the end I need you experts to do it perfectly." Lin Yuquan said with a smile: "By the way, Mr. Taylor, if my shooting is coordinated with your production, how long will it take you to finish?" ”

"This, Lin, I can't tell you the answer right now, you wait a minute, I need to study it with the others." Richard. Taylor looked at him apologetically.

"Okay, but don't mind if I use this time to visit the Vita!" Lin Yuquan nodded with a bright smile.

"Of course, I'll have someone be your guide right away." Richard. Taylor smiled and arranged for his assistant, a blonde beauty, to show him around.

Weta Digital's office building in Wellington is not large, and the overall look looks like the props workshop of Beijing Film Studio, the most eye-catching of which is a huge work area, which is distributed with a paint workshop, an inkjet painting workshop, a model workshop, a special effects makeup workshop, and a computer post-production room.

If you're a fan of The Lord of the Rings, you'll be greeted by the variety of Oaks monsters, human armor and weapons, and the famous Gollum monster.

For Lin Yuquan, such a close visit to Weta was undoubtedly a good experience, and the visit lasted for half an hour, until the blonde beauty who took him on the tour received Richard. Taylor's call, and the two of them returned to the office.

"Lin, how does it feel to visit?" Richard. Taylor.

"It's great, now I finally understand why Weta is the frontrunner in the field of special effects, and all the people at Weta are full of passion, not working, but really loving it." Lin Yuquan said with emotion.

"Thank you, that's our Weta culture, we chose this job because of our hobby and the desire to show our results on the big screen." Richard. Taylor was in high spirits, with indescribable pride in his words.

"yes, that's a great place to be." Lin Yuquan smiled: "Mr. Taylor, you must have come to a conclusion now!" ”

"Hmm." Richard. Taylor nodded, and then his face became a little solemn, vaguely embarrassed and helpless: "Lin, I understand that you want to finish your first Hollywood movie as much as possible, but your workload for this movie is too huge, even bigger than our previous "Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King". Cameron's new film "Avatar" is a special effects production that is now quite tight, and even if your design is very perfect, it will take at least a year to finalize. ”

"More than a year." Lin Yuquan's face changed suddenly, which means that he has no new films released this year, and "Wild Story: The Rise of the Ape Race" will not be able to meet the audience until next summer at the earliest.

"Can't we be quicker in time? It is best to complete it by October. ”

Although Lin Yuquan knows that good movies are grinded out, for super blockbusters, the rhythm of a movie in two years is quite normal, like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but it took a total of six years to complete, but he still feels that time is a bit too wasted, this is the difference between young directors and older directors, like James. Cameron's speed is something that no young director can endure.

"Lin, I'm sorry, it's really not, this is already our ideal situation, you know James. Cameron's madman style, that guy's "Avatar" is even bigger than your movie, and at the same time producing a movie for the two of you, we are very short of manpower, although we can recruit a large number of people, but there are only so many senior designers, it is really no way to speed it up, if you are really in a hurry, we only have to accept this order, you can find Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Field, or Sony Graphics and Image Operations to try. "Richard. Taylor finally said with difficulty, it is not so easy to push the big business delivered to the door.

Changing to another company, Lin Yuquan vetoed Richard without even thinking about it. Taylor's mentions, he chose Weta Digital mainly because of its leading motion capture technology and rich experience accumulated in the "Lord of the Rings" series and "The Chronicles of Narnia", which is exactly what "Wild Ages: Rise of the Apes" needs.

"How much does the special effects cost?"

Richard. Taylor's eyes lit up, Lin Yuquan asked this, which meant that he would not change the special effects company, and said busily: "What are your requirements for the quality of special effects?" ”

Generally speaking, when estimating the cost of a film, special effects companies will calculate according to the type of shots, production content, and quality requirements of the film.

"Of course, at the highest level that can be achieved at this stage." Lin Yuquan said with a smile.

"In this case, it is conservatively estimated to be more than 80 million US dollars, and we will give you a quotation after the specific cost is clear, and the time will be tomorrow afternoon!" Seeing that another big business was signed, Richard. Taylor's expression could not hide the excitement.

"No problem." Lin Yuquan nodded.

After having dinner with several senior executives of Weta Digital in the evening, and returning to his room at the Intercontinental Wellington Hotel, Lin Yuquan had time to think about it, and although he accepted the fact that it took a year to make the special effects of the film, he would not waste a lot of time in vain.

What to do? This is obviously a question worth pondering.

After a night of thinking, Lin Yuquan finally made a decision, and at two o'clock in the afternoon the next day, according to the agreement, he came to Weta Digital on time.

"Lin, we have carefully assessed the cost of special effects, and the total is 113 million US dollars, and a fraction of 300 US dollars will be counted, and you will be charged a total of 110 million US dollars." Richard. Taylor said with a smile.

"That's a lot more expensive than the conservative estimate of $80 million you said yesterday!" Lin Yuquan had a smile in his eyes, involving such a huge amount, of course, it is impossible for the other party to say how much it is, besides, film special effects production is a typical service industry, and the price can be discussed slowly.

"It's a little more, but yesterday it was just a rough estimate, and of course there will be some fluctuations in terms of prices." Richard. Taylor said without changing his face.

"But your fluctuation is too big, 30 million US dollars is not a small amount, and our Summit Entertainment is not the only one project, we will have many opportunities for cooperation in the future, not to mention anything else, my film is actually a series like "The Lord of the Rings", since I am doing this in your Weta, of course I hope that the second and third parts will also be made by you." Lin Yuquan looked at Richard. Taylor said slowly.

Richard. Taylor was obviously a little moved, and after hesitating, he said: "Lin, since you are so sincere in cooperation, of course we at Weta Digital are very welcome, as a sign, the cost can be reduced by $1 million." ”

Lin Yuquan shook his head with a smile.

"Another million dollars is really no less."

Lin Yuquan smiled and shook his head.

"Lin, this price is already very fair, at most another $1 million, if it is less, it will not be possible, in fact, if it were not for the fact that your design has saved us a lot of time in our work, I would have charged you at least $140 million."

"Lin, it really can't be less."

After some arduous negotiations, Lin Yuquan finally agreed to Richard. Taylor's initial offer of $103 million.

"Lin, you shouldn't be a director, but a businessman, this time we Vita will lose a lot of money." Richard. Taylor grumbled.

"Really? Thank you for the compliment, in fact, every successful director is an outstanding businessman, just like Mr. Jackson took over the directing of "The Lord of the Rings" back then, didn't he directly hand over the special effects of the film to you? Compared to him, I'm far behind, and I'm the person who can't see my friends suffer, if you really feel that it's a loss, I can find Industrial Light & Magic and make them lose. Lin Yuquan said with a smile.

Richard. Taylor burst into tears.

"Later I'll have Summit Entertainment's president, Chris. Anderson came to New Zealand to officially sign a contract, and the cooperation is pleasant! Lin Yuquan said happily.

"Happy working together!" Richard. Taylor smiled.

After negotiating the details of the special effects, Lin Yuquan returned to Los Angeles

"What, boss, you're going to shoot another movie?"

Inside the office of Summit Entertainment, Chris. Anderson exclaimed in surprise, and the other five people all looked at Lin Yuquan with a calm and breezy face, if they were shocked when they first learned that Lin Yuquan had commissioned Weta Digital to produce hundreds of millions of dollars in special effects, they were more excited, but now they are completely shocked.

It's not that they make too much fuss, I'm afraid that any filmmaker will have the same expression they have now when they hear Lin Yuquan suddenly say that he wants to shoot another movie, because for any film company, even if it is the six major film companies, a blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars must be extremely cautious, and at the important juncture when such a film begins to enter preparation, which director would decide to shoot another movie on a whim like Lin Yuquan, really like this, It is estimated that the owner of the film company and the producer of the film must go crazy.

Of course, Lin Yuquan knew everyone's unbelievable thoughts, and it took him a long time to think about it, and finally made this decision.

"There's no way, the special effects production cycle of "Wild Story: Rise of the Ape Race" is too long, it will take at least more than a year, and this movie is not really much and not too complicated except for the special effects, and it just so happens that Weta Digital needs a period of time to prepare props and equipment for filming, rather than wasting this time, it is better to take advantage of this time to shoot a movie."

Everyone was a little dumbfounded, no way, for a blockbuster, special effects production zuò for a year or two is too normal, but no director would be so idle or enthusiastic to shoot another film in such a long production cycle.

Lin Yuquan didn't continue to say anything, but let everyone digest themselves, his decision was indeed a bit unexpected, but this is also easy to understand, because his situation is different from others after all, many directors often need to communicate with the special effects company repeatedly when preparing for such a special effects blockbuster, and it takes a long time to determine the character image and scene design, but he doesn't use it, this is what he is best at, and it is impossible for other directors to put down big projects and work on other movies like him. Because the producer will not let him go with confidence, but as the boss of the company, of course, he is free and free, and it is all up to his own will.

In fact, as long as you think about it, it is not difficult to figure it out.

"And what movie are you going to shoot, boss?" Chris. Anderson was the first to figure it out, not to mention that Lin Yuquan is his boss, Lin Yuquan has already proven himself with three movies, since he has decided so, he is naturally sure that "Wild Story: Rise of the Ape Race" will not be affected, in this case, why should he object, not to mention, if Lin Yuquan can bring another blockbuster movie, it will be better for Summit Entertainment.

"I only have a vague idea of this, but I haven't completely decided yet, so I want to hear your proposal, what do you think I should shoot?" Lin Yuquan asked with a smile.

"Of course it's an action movie." Kevin. After Durant calmed down and was shocked, he heard Lin Yuquan's question and blurted out.

"Why do you think so?" Lin Yuquan said with a smile.

Kevin. Durant immediately said a little excited: "Needless to say, since watching the boss your performance in "Huo Yuanjia" and the boxing practice video uploaded to Youtobe, all our action movie fans are especially looking forward to seeing the boss your cool kung fu, especially after Stallone and others were interviewed and said that you defeated them, this kind of love has become more and more intense, I dare to say, as soon as the news of boss you shooting an action movie comes out, all action fans will go crazy." ”

"That's right, boss, although your own identity is a director, but the biggest influence in the world is your identity as an action actor, after defeating Stallone and others, you have been recognized by all action fans as the world's number one action superstar, after "Huo Yuanjia", although the box office of "Painted Skin" and "Red Cliff" is quite good, but it has never shown your boss your kung fu, just like Kevin said, countless fans can't wait, if the boss you make action movies, our movie box office will definitely not be bad, And the boss needs to have such a film in order to completely ascend to the throne of the world's number one kung fu superstar. "Chris. Anderson's eyes lit up and he echoed excitedly.

"Action movie?" Lin Yuquan's smile became brighter and brighter, in fact, he himself thought so, he had thought about being like Peter. Jackson's triple shooting, not to mention that Weta Digital is too busy, it's too boring to do so, he wants to try something new, so after excluding the routines like "Huo Yuanjia", "Red Cliff", and "Painted Skin", the urban action theme jumped out of his mind, and the fight scenes are what he is very good at, and the unfamiliar modern urban scene shooting has been tempered and baptized by three movies, and he now has full confidence to shoot well.

Speaking of which, in addition to the magical epic blockbusters with amazing special effects, action movies were originally his favorite type of films, but with the memory of cultivators, ordinary action movies were no longer able to arouse his interest, and whenever he saw those flawed fights, he suddenly became excited.

And when the idea of shooting an action movie came up, the passion in his heart was immediately ignited, and he only felt full of energy, and there was only one thought left in his mind.

He wants to make an unprecedented urban genre action movie that will make everyone's blood boil.

"Okay, let's shoot an action movie!"

The words of understatement echoed in the conference room, but an unbearable excitement rose in everyone's hearts, because this is no ordinary action movie, this is an action movie from Kung Fu Lin, an action movie that is bound to make waves among all action fans in the near future. R1152