Chapter 795: Grind some experience points?
Rachel McAdams, the actress who starred in the original "Red Eye," is a very popular movie star in Hollywood, though not known for her acting skills.
You can't say that an actress like Rachel is just a fleeting sensation.
The Time Traveler's Wife, Sherlock Holmes, Iron Fist, Spotlight, Doctor Strange...
She has starred in blockbuster films where she was a "box office guarantee," as well as Oscar-winning movies and participated in two globally high-grossing series.
Although her acting talent is undeniable, she has consistently maintained her top-tier status. Despite acting in films for so many years, she only received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for "Spotlight," yet no one has criticized her acting or deemed her performance in the film a failure.
Lu Yanhe felt that Jiang Yuqian could be an actress like Rachel.
Was Rachel unsuccessful?
Who would dare say such a thing?
Moreover, just like Demi Moore, who spent her whole life as a pretty face, her career took off in her sixties with the movie "Something". Even if she didn't win the Oscar for Best Actress, who would say that she was a bad actress and just a pretty face?
As an actor, you never know when you'll receive recognition and awards until you reach the end of your career.
Now, regardless of what others say, the box office success of "Red Eye Flight" has fallen on Jiang Yuqian.
Although Uber Clark is more famous and has a higher status than her, the core of this film is the female lead, not the villain played by Uber Clark.
Of course, although he is a villain, he is a very charismatic villain.
Uber Clark's performance in the film garnered widespread acclaim.
Especially among critics, Uber Clark has been praised for showing a side of himself that he had never shown before in his film career.
Many people have even suggested that this role could very well earn him another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
The reason Lu Yanhe attracted Eubert Clark to star in this film was that the role would help Clark open up new horizons for his acting career.
Now, both the popularity of his films among the public and the praise he has received from critics have brought him back into the public eye after years of focusing solely on awards season.
If a film receives positive reviews after its release, it often has a very positive impact on its box office performance.
Red Eye only saw a 30% drop in global box office revenue during its second weekend, which was well controlled.
By the end of the following weekend, the film had grossed over $120 million worldwide.
Judging from the box office trend, this film is very likely to reach $200 million in global box office revenue—with nearly $70 million coming from China alone.
In terms of the film's production costs, this is undoubtedly another successful example of achieving big results with small investments.
However, because the production and marketing costs of this film amounted to nearly 30 million US dollars, this "small investment yields big returns" doesn't seem so small.
This success, compared to Lu Yanhe's past illustrious achievements, seems less remarkable.
However, this was Lu Yanhe's first successful Hollywood film as a screenwriter.
Unsurprisingly, Midoriya wants to develop a sequel to Red Eye.
In Hollywood, it's perfectly normal to develop sequels once a movie is successful.
Lu Yanhe is unwilling to develop a sequel to a film like "Love Letter".
However, for genre films like "Red Eye," it's perfectly fine to develop sequels if you want.
Of course, Lu Yanhe will no longer serve as a screenwriter.
He also didn't have a second script to draw upon.
Unless it's a movie like "Non-Stop," which also takes place on an airplane flight, it's unlikely to be adapted.
But forget it, I might as well just write a script for "Air Rescue".
Um? !
-
Anyway, regardless of whether Midoriya actually plans to develop a sequel to "Red Eye," the news will definitely be released—
This is a common way for Hollywood film studios to boost the box office of films currently in theaters.
After being inspired, Lu Yanhe immediately wrote out the outline of the script for "Air Rescue".
This air thriller, starring Liam Neeson, Julian Moore, Michelle Dorrek, and Lupita Nyong'o, is also a crime story set in an airplane cabin.
Liam Neeson stars as an air marshal who is blackmailed by a mysterious man for $150 million. If the money isn't transferred to the man's account within a specified time, the man will go on a killing spree, killing one person every twenty minutes.
The movie tells the story of the two sides' maneuvering and strategic maneuvering.
After Lu Yanhe wrote out the outline of "Air Rescue", he originally wanted to give the script to Soren, since he had signed a three-film cooperation agreement with Soren. However, he thought that the filming cost of this movie would still be low - it was another "confined room movie" in a single scene, and the cost was very easy to control.
For low-budget films like this, it's best not to hire wealthy patrons like Soren.
Lu Yanhe decided that Linghe should film it himself.
The three films we'll be working on with Soren should be high-budget productions that Linghe can't currently produce, such as... *Independence Day*, which cost approximately $75 million to make. Or... the *Men in Black* trilogy, the first of which cost around $90 million to make.
Those were all scripts that Lu Yanhe had included in his script library long ago, but due to Linghe's lack of production experience, they were easy to flop.
Or, how about using Sauron to give the people of Spirit River some experience points?
It's not impossible.
Whether it's special effects production or coordination with other departments, these are currently blind spots for Linghe. But Soren isn't afraid of blind spots; it's a huge company with plenty of money and technology.
These are not resources that Lu Yanhe could acquire simply by throwing around a hundred million US dollars.
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Lu Yanhe acted immediately, creating a story outline for the first "Men in Black" film.
This classic film perfectly illustrates what it means for a classic to never go out of style.
Technology will advance and be updated, but a good story will be good in any era.
Lu Yanhe handed the story outline to Darren Wilson.
He said, "This is the film I'm going to work on with Soren, but it's a big commercial blockbuster. Conservatively speaking, the production cost will be at least $80 million. It's an A-list production."
When Darren Wilson received the story outline, he was initially taken aback before asking, "Is this the third film you're going to work on with them?"
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said, “of course, it’s also the first film we’re going to develop.”
Darren Wilson asked, "Why not develop The Notebook and The Fault in Our Stars first?"
“Yes, of course, both scripts are ready,” Lu Yanhe said. “But first, give the story outline to Soren. Tell them that my idea for this story is a trilogy. Of course, whether the latter two will be produced depends on the success of the first one, so for now, I will only submit the outline for the first one. Linghe already has extensive production experience with 'The Notebook' and 'The Fault in Our Stars,' and can make them, but the 'Men in Black' series needs Soren’s deep involvement, not just providing production funding.”
Upon hearing this, Darren Wilson said, "I understand. I need to sound them out first, to see how keen they are to produce it, right?"
"To be precise, this is the third film I want to work with them on. If they're not very interested, I'll take the script and talk to other film companies," Lu Yanhe said. "They need to give me a reply as soon as possible. I have many projects, and I need to coordinate things on my end."
Darren Wilson was momentarily speechless.
“…” Darren Wilson said, “Okay, I’ll go talk to them. There are a lot of companies vying for your script, and they need to make a decision as soon as possible.”
That's not what I meant.
"Okay, that's what I mean."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
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Red Eye Flight's box office performance was outstanding this summer.
This directly impacted Jiang Yuqian, as Hollywood suddenly sent her a script of the same genre.
Another young girl gets caught up in a "world-destroying" crisis, but this time she's not the main force fighting terrorists; she's a special agent.
In Hollywood, this is a very typical spy movie.
Fighting, car chases, crisis, love...
After reading the script, Jiang Yuqian was somewhat perplexed.
She came specifically to find Lu Yanhe.
"Can you take a look at this script for me? Should I take the job?" Jiang Yuqian had completely given up on her own judgment when it came to scripts.
Over the years, she has worked very hard and made many sacrifices, and what she has gained is not only a surge in fame, but also another fact—
She lacks the ability to choose good projects.
Lu Yanhe read the script and said, "I saw on the cover that the director is Rumen Savage. He is a fairly famous director in Hollywood who specializes in this kind of subject matter. However, this does not seem to be an A-list blockbuster. It is just a medium-budget production."
“Yes,” Jiang Yuqian said. “The script didn’t restrict the female lead to any particular race, but I guess they initially wanted to find a blonde, blue-eyed, sexy actress to play the role. There are a lot of hints about that in the script. I guess it’s because ‘Red Eye’ became a hit that they approached me.”
“Actually, the story is quite good. The script is very cinematic. You can almost see the camera movement when you read the script,” Lu Yanhe said. “However, it is true that the character you play is somewhat limited. Although you can’t be called a tool, you are not a major character in the film.”
"Mm." Jiang Yuqian nodded.
Lu Yanhe said, "But if I were you, I would accept it."
"Um?"
“This is based on the most realistic considerations. Just like when they asked me to act in the movies ‘Hurricane 2’ and ‘Cloudy’, and when I took on ‘Godless’ on my own initiative, it was all for the same reason. We are outsiders in Hollywood, and we need to constantly prove our value. We may need to prove it twice as much to get some opportunities,” Lu Yanhe said. “I wrote the script for ‘Red Eye Flight’. In other people’s eyes, I was the producer of ‘Doomsday’ and that’s how you and Mr. Jiang Jun got into the cast. Now, this project has its flaws, but the script is solid, the director is experienced, and with Hollywood’s global distribution capabilities, the box office should not be bad. It is exactly what you need at this stage.”
Jiang Yuqian nodded.
Lu Yanhe: "Of course, you can make your requests to the script. In fact, if they want to get you to act now, the initiative is in your hands. I think you can ask them to add some highlights to your role. For example, on the basis of the female vase, add some scenes that can show your wit, intelligence and quick reaction. This is the most advantageous direction for adding scenes for you without affecting the main body of the script, and at the same time, it can continue the audience's love for your character in 'Red Eye Flight'."
Jiang Yuqian nodded.
“I knew I’d have to talk to you,” Jiang Yuqian said. “When I talked to my agent, all she did was tell me that the movie had good prospects and that I was the female lead.”
Lu Yanhe said, "Some agents are good at judging projects and roles, while others are good at securing a project. Their abilities are different. The fact that she was able to get this script for you so quickly, even if it was just riding the wave of 'Red Eye Flight,' is still impressive. At least she cares about your work."
That's true.
"However, these kinds of movies usually have scenes that require you to show off your sexy figure. Are you okay with that?"
"As long as I don't show any nipples, it's fine," Jiang Yuqian said. "If you were to say that I, as an actress, completely avoid any sexy or seductive scenes, I would have been eliminated long ago."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
That's the truth.
Jiang Yuqian said, "Actually, it was because of this that I turned down a lot of roles before. The scale here is much larger than in China, and I couldn't stand it. There was a manga adaptation that approached me before. The script was actually quite good, but I gave it up because the role required me to be very exposed."
Lu Yanhe: "Indeed, you know, there was a director who asked me to act before, and the first thing he asked me was whether I would accept showing my penis. I said that as a man, showing my penis is embarrassing, but it is not completely unacceptable. But under normal circumstances, which director would ask you this right away?"
Jiang Yuqian: "He doesn't look like a proper director at all."
“Yes, sometimes you really need to make some sacrifices. The director’s starting point is definitely not like that,” Lu Yanhe said. “But sometimes when I think about it, I don’t think it’s necessary to make so many sacrifices. What kind of script and role would make you willing to put aside your instinctive embarrassment to act?”
“I completely agree.” Jiang Yuqian nodded. “By the way, it seems that Midoriya really wants to make a sequel to ‘Red Eye Flight.’ Have they talked to you about it? They talked to my agent and want to get in touch.”
Lu Yanhe said, "We talked, but I've made that clear that I won't write the script for the sequel."
(End of this chapter)
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