July 2007 was as hot as ever.

Lee completed the production of "The Hangover", and Carly wrote a fast song, which was recorded.

He listened to it for a while, and he felt okay, Carly sang fast songs very well.

"The Hangover" completed post-production, and then sent it to the Beautiful Country Film Association for rating.

And Li Shengyao returned to China and watched the variety shows produced by Fenghua, and he called the director, assistant director, and editor of the variety show over and told them how to make the editing and establish the style of these variety shows.

After doing this, he rushed to the beautiful country again.

One evening at the end of July, when the sky was covered with colorful clouds, Mr. Li met Mr. Cheng at a villa in Los Angeles.

At the invitation of Cheng Long, he came over to exchange feelings.

Cheng Long was wearing a black and white shirt with a pair of jeans and a pair of tennis shoes at this time.

This combination made Cheng Long look younger, but his eyes were bloodshot and his face was tired.

This villa is a house that Cheng Long bought in the beautiful country, and in addition to himself, Prince Fang is also there.

Prince Fang spoke in a very nasal voice, feeling a little like ABC, and a little like a young man on Hong Kong Island.

He chatted casually with Li Shengyao.

"Stinky boy, learn hard from Director Li, you know how to play all day long, look at people, and then look at you, won't you be embarrassed."

Prince Fang didn't pay attention to Cheng Long at all, and left a few times.

Cheng Long shook his head and said: "I'm annoyed, this stinky boy spoils his mother, and he plays all day long, either in a nightclub or in a sports car." ”

"It's getting more and more unsafe here in the beautiful country, and I plan to let him go back to Hong Kong Island."

"Come, Director Li, drink tea."

Aunt Cooking brought a pot of tea, Cheng Long personally poured a cup of tea for Li Shengyao, and then he lay back and leaned on the sofa, "Alas, I'm tired to death." ”

Recently, Cheng Long has been promoting "Rush Hour 3", running around, not only in beautiful countries, but also in several European countries, which is really tiring.

Li Shengyao said with a smile: "Let the cooking aunt make soup for you tomorrow to replenish your body." ”

Cheng Long laughed, waved his hand and said, "I don't have time, I'm going to New York to be on the show tomorrow." ”

He continued: "Director Li, how is it in China?"

"What else, generally, our movies are very miserable."

In 2006, except for "Hurricane Rescue" and finally "The City Full of Golden Armor", the domestic box office was almost suppressed by Hollywood movies.

The domestic box office in 2007 was actually about the same, in Li Shengyao's previous life, 2007 was also the world of Hollywood movies at the beginning.

It wasn't until December that "Casting the Name" and "The Assembly" came out one after the other, and both got 200 million box office, which made a little effort.

Cheng Long nodded, and then he asked, "Isn't "The Hangover" released in China?" ”

He's already heard about The Hangover.

Li Shengyao shook his head, "It's not going to be released in China, and it won't pass the trial." ”

"It should be okay to change it, right?"

"Forget it, it's too troublesome, let's release it in Europe and the United States."

Cheng Long nodded, and then changed the topic, "This time I went to Europe to publicize, I feel that the effect is not bad." ”

Although he was tired, the excitement in his eyes was very clear.

"Rush Hour 3" is his first film with a global box office share, and once the results are good, he will be more confident in the future, and he may be able to ask for a global box office share in the future.

For "Rush Hour 3", he is full of expectations.

"Director Li, how much box office do you think "Rush Hour 3" will have?"

Li Shengyao naturally knows that the final box office of this movie, with an investment of 140 million, and a global box office of 255 million, even if the revenue of the later disc is added, "Rush Hour 3" will inevitably lose money.

Of course, Cheng Long was so excited at this time, there was no need to say it.

It doesn't do him any good to tell the truth.

"I don't know, there should be a lot of them."

Cheng Long nodded, "When the movie is released, you must be supportive." ”

"When it comes to premiere day, I'm definitely over."

Cheng Long nodded, and seeing that there was not much tea in Li Shengyao's teacup, he immediately got up and poured tea for Li Shengyao again.

"I'll stay and eat later, my cooking aunt here is very good, and her cooking skills are very good."

Li Shengyao smiled and nodded, and did not ask Cheng Long what he invited him this time, since Cheng Long didn't say it, he naturally wouldn't ask.

An hour later, Li Shengyao and Cheng Long finished eating, Cheng Long's cooking aunt is indeed very good, and she has just prepared a sumptuous dinner, nine dishes and one soup.

Cheng Long poured tea for Li Shengyao again, and he said the purpose of inviting Li Shengyao to his house this time.

"Director Li, has the production of "The Hangover" been completed?"

Li Shengyao nodded, "It's done, I plan to arrange a release at the end of September." ”

"That's good, Director Li, you just saw that stinky boy in my family, do you think he is suitable for acting?"

Li Shengyao understood what Cheng Long meant.

Prince Fang has actually been acting and singing since a few years ago, of course, he is not a desperate Saburo, he is relatively lazy, one or two plays a year.

That way he has plenty of time to play.

As for Prince Fang's ability, Li Shengyao thinks that in terms of talent alone, it should be not bad.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with him.

"Big brother, what do you want me to do?"

"Director Li, I think this stinky boy has been lazier lately, he keeps running to Los Angeles, you can help me, give him some work, and let him be busy."

Cheng Long continued: "I owe you a favor. ”

It's good to owe favors, in this case, Cheng Long will shoot "Hurricane Rescue 23" later, and he should be more cooperative.

Li Shengyao pretended to think about it, and then said slowly: "Big brother, with your connections, it should be easy to introduce him to a job, right?"

"This guy wants to be funny, I can't introduce those, you've always been smarter than me, so I want you to help me."

Li Shengyao then thought of his variety shows, and he felt that maybe he could arrange Prince Fang to go to variety shows.

In the future, Prince Fang will not be able to play anymore, and he will be easier to replace.

"Big brother, I have a few variety shows in China, you can try it for him, but in the end, whether it will work or not, it depends on himself."

……

Time flies, and half a month flies in a flash.

On August 10, 2007, the world premiere of "Rush Hour 3", in the beautiful Guokai Painting is 3,778 Pavilion, which is definitely a blockbuster treatment, and New Line attaches great importance to this movie.

They also held a grand premiere for the film.

At the Huaxia Theater in Los Angeles, dozens of Hollywood stars and artists passed that day, and many stars walked the red carpet, as if it was a film festival awards party.

Li Shengyao naturally followed, not only him, but also many Chinese in the beautiful country.

Cheng Long's face was very good on this day, he was as happy as a child for the New Year, looking forward to it.

At this time, there are still blockbusters, and the most powerful movie is "Spy 3", which was released a week ago.

Two hours later, the premiere ended, and at the Huaxia Grand Theater, there was a sensational applause, and it sounded like everyone recognized the film.

However, this is not the case, after the reporters and stars of the premiere left, the word of mouth about "Rush Hour 3" slowly fermented.

The freshness of Rotten Tomatoes is only 20 percent, which means that only 20 out of 100 people think it is good-looking.

Yahoo Movie has a rating of C, just passing.

The IMDB rating is 6.2 and the professional rating is 4.4 points.

"There is no difference between a film without creativity and the first and second films that just changed the set."

"I hate clown-style funny."

"Terrible choices, Jaekie should understand that comedy like his is outdated."

"This should be the first and last time Ijaekie will win a global box office share, and the new line will definitely regret it now."

All sorts of low scores, bad reviews.

Under such circumstances, the movie got a box office of 50 million US dollars in the first three days, surpassing "Spy Shadow".

Looks like the results are not bad.

However, most professional people understand that under such a word-of-mouth of this movie, the box office will not be too good.

The box office trends that followed proved everyone's opinion.

In the end, "Rush Hour 3" got a box office of 139 billion US dollars in the beautiful country.

In other countries and regions, it has received a box office of 116 million US dollars, and the global total box office is 255 million US dollars.

This number doesn't look bad.

It's just that relative to the cost, you really can't make money.

In fact, the movie has no poisonous points, there are no major logical problems, it can only be said that Cheng Long's kung fu comedy is really no longer liked by European and American audiences.

With such a global box office, even if the post-production income is added, the filmmaker will inevitably lose money.

Although the new line did not announce that the "Rush Hour" series would end here, one of their senior executives said indignantly when interviewed by reporters: "He is not suitable for shooting high-budget blockbusters at all, and my advice to latecomers is that his films are best controlled under 50 million US dollars, and he must not take a share of the global box office." ”

"We hurt him badly this time, and I can't imagine the future of the new line."

This "he" refers to Cheng Long.

Under such circumstances, Cheng Long's mood was naturally very bad.

originally wanted to continue "Rush Hour 3" to soar into the sky, but I didn't expect it to be revealed.

When Li Shengyao received the call and rushed to Cheng Long's villa again, there were already many martial artists in the villa.

The scene was full of alcohol, and everyone else, including Cheng, drank a lot of wine.

Cheng Long didn't wear a Mao suit, but an ordinary T-shirt, a pair of practice pants and a pair of slippers.

His hair was no longer black and erect, but slumped against his scalp.

At this moment, he is an ordinary uncle in his fifties, not a kung fu superstar Jaekie.

Li Shengyao pulled a chair and sat down opposite Cheng Long.

Cheng Long saw Li Shengyao, and a trace of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.

The people in the family class are all their own people, and they have seen his depressed appearance, but in front of Li Dadao, it seems that there was no such thing before.

He was the one who wanted face, so he immediately got up, "Director Li, you sit down for a while, I'll take a shower." ”

Cheng Long hurriedly went to take a bath.

Not long after, he came back from the shower, and the whole person was much refreshed, but the loss, helplessness, and unwillingness in his eyes still couldn't be hidden.

He sat down and poured tea for Li Shengyao.

He opened his mouth to explain his state, but found that there seemed to be nothing to say.

He then wanted to say what he thought of "Rush Hour 3", and he wanted to say that it wasn't that he couldn't do it, but that he was unlucky.

"I ......"

As soon as he said a word, he stopped.

Just like the media said, there is actually no problem with the quality of the movie, but it is too old-fashioned, and everyone is tired of watching it.

When Cheng Long thought of this, he couldn't help but feel even more lost in his heart.

Li Shengyao saw it in his eyes, and he naturally understood Cheng Long's mood.

However, some words should indeed be pointed out, so that Cheng Long will better cooperate with him in filming "Hurricane Rescue 23" in the future.

"Big brother, what do you want to say?"

"Director Li, is my kung fu comedy really bad?"

The biggest problem with kung fu comedy is that the emotions are very separated.

Many times it should be tense and exciting when it is obviously a life-and-death fight, but kung fu comedy is funny at this time.

I still think it's interesting at first, but after the new century, the pace of life is getting faster and faster, and European and American audiences are obviously pursuing a more energetic and direct coolness.

Kung fu comedies are naturally not good.

Mainland audiences will have to delay for a few years, and Cheng Long will have two or three blockbuster movies in the future.

"It's really not good in Europe and the United States, they like to watch "Mission Impossible", or action movies like "Spy Shadows".

"Mission Impossible" also has a funny plot, but it is only the occasional cold humor.

It won't be like Cheng Long's comedy, with a lot of scenes to make people laugh.

Cheng Long nodded, let out a long sigh, and looked at the martial artist of the family class who was drinking next to him, with loss and reluctance in his eyes.

Li Shengyao said in a low voice: "Big brother, we still have "Hurricane Rescue", you don't have to worry, you will be killed back soon." ”

When Cheng Long heard this, he looked at Li Shengyao in a daze, but did not answer.

"Hurricane Rescue" is the brainchild of Director Li, and the kung fu comedy is Cheng Long's own idea.

He has been acting in kung fu comedy for almost thirty years, and he is naturally lost.

"Big brother, as long as you can catch mice, whether it's a black cat or a white cat, it's a good cat, "Hurricane Rescue" can make money, and you can make the family class have something to do, isn't that enough?"

Li Shengyao continued: "Do you remember what I said before, as long as you are willing, I still have a lot of scripts over there, which is enough for you to be popular for another ten years, big brother, you will be in your sixties in ten years, which is already a rare achievement in the entertainment industry." ”

Li Shengyao can also write a lot of "rescue" movies, the cost of these movies will not be too high, even if Cheng Long is given a top salary, it will only cost 50 million US dollars at most, and the box office plus later income will definitely earn it back.

Of course, Li Shengyao will not accompany Cheng Long to shoot, he doesn't want to be bound to Cheng Long for the rest of his life.

After filming "Hurricane Rescue 23" and other rescue movies, he published the script and contributed some money for Cheng Long to shoot it himself.

When Cheng Long heard this, he came back to his senses, and then nodded, "Okay, I'll make your movie next, this group of people in Hollywood laughed at me for losing money, laughing at me for not making movies in the future, I want them to see, I, Cheng Long, can still make money, and I can be popular for another ten years." ”

(End of chapter)