Chapter 965 "Fast and Furious"
In one fell swoop, so many projects were launched.
While it's not possible to start preparations and production all at once and release them all next year or the year after, this scale is so large that it could be said that there are projects for the next five to ten years.
In a film and television industry that is changing so dramatically, almost no one else would schedule projects five years in advance like Lu Yanhe.
So far, almost all of Lu Yanhe's projects have been successfully completed without any setbacks or delays in broadcasting or release.
Furthermore, all of Lu Yanhe's overseas projects, except for the "Mist" series, have been imported and can even squeeze into all major release periods except for the Spring Festival, making him a unique presence among overseas films.
After Lu Yanhe had arranged the projects at Linghe Theater, he finally had time to talk to Hollywood about the projects he had announced on Weibo.
Apart from The Fault in Our Stars, which Soren regretted after The Notebook's huge success, almost all of those projects were big-budget productions with substantial investments.
No single film company could possibly take it all on.
Of course, even if there were a behemoth that could take over everything, Lu Yanhe wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket.
Competition is essential for one's value to be fully realized and guaranteed.
Lu Yanhe presented the first project and asked the Hollywood company for a quote.
Let them go and grab a round first.
This project is "Fast & Furious".
Actually, the Fast and Furious franchise wasn't initially a particularly successful box office hit.
The first film grossed $200 million worldwide.
For a film with a production cost of $38 million, it was naturally a huge hit and a huge profit.
However, the second film only grossed $230 million worldwide, showing very little growth. Moreover, its North American box office actually declined; the second film's success was due to its overseas box office exceeding $100 million.
Especially with the third installment, the box office dropped further, with North American box office only slightly over $60 million and global box office only $160 million. At this point, the production cost of this film, like all series films, had risen to around $80 million.
It's safe to say that it's almost about to be cut in half.
Fortunately, the fourth installment was the key to the series' revival.
With a production cost of $85 million, it grossed $360 million worldwide.
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The selling point of this movie initially lies in the very street-style element of car chases.
Later, it started to evolve into large-scale scenes involving gangs, spies, and saving the world; they could even drive cars into space.
However, the audience just loves it.
Many people believe that this movie owes its immense value to "Fast & Furious 7" and the death of Paul Walker. However, in reality, if the success of "Fast & Furious" were solely due to this event, the movie would never have reached its seventh installment.
This incident has elevated the film from a successful commercial film series to the ranks of top-tier IPs.
One movie grossed $1.5 billion.
Lu Yanhe is a die-hard fan of this film series.
He himself loves it very much.
Of course, he didn't start watching this series from the very first one.
He got hooked on Fast & Furious 7 and then went back to watch the series starting from the first one.
Lu Yanhe felt that this movie was very suitable for Li Zhibai.
As for the role played by Vin Diesel, Lu Yanhe planned to look for someone similar to Will Smith.
There are some differences in physique between Europeans and Asians, and Vin Diesel is on the muscular side; being too muscular would make Li Zhibai look like a "weakling." This was Lu Yanhe's consideration—
The character I'm most interested in from "Fast & Furious" is Sauron.
Soren even set a production budget of $120 million.
As long as Lu Yanhe is willing, no matter how the movie turns out, he can make a fortune.
However, what Lu Yanhe values most is no longer money.
Lu Yanhe proposed that companies wanting to compete for the "Fast & Furious" project, in addition to the standard production budget, also need to provide Li Zhibai with another lead role in an A-list production.
The prerequisite is that Li Zhibai takes a liking to the role and is willing to act in it.
This request... well, it's a bit excessive.
Lu Yanhe bluntly stated: "There's no way around it. Li Zhibai is my friend, and I want to make him a global superstar. I'm not only giving him a role in 'Fast & Furious,' but I also want to turn this IP into a series. So what if I want to get an A-list production lead role from you guys?"
Lu Yanhe's words were extremely straightforward.
These people in Hollywood, on the other hand, don't really have much to say.
However, because of Lu Yanhe's request, several top Hollywood companies were caught in a dilemma.
Each company produces only a handful of A-list productions each year.
Each company has a limited production budget.
Of course, if they don't have enough cash flow, they also have a very mature cash flow system with bank loans.
However, in any case, any film company will attach great importance to the A-list productions it has.
If an A-list production flops, it usually means the departure of a senior executive in charge of the project.
The fact that the protagonist is Li Zhibai is not as simple as just saying it.
If they could trade the lead role in a low-to-medium budget project for the "Fast & Furious" franchise, they would definitely agree. Those projects aren't part of the company's strategic portfolio and don't require any key KPIs.
Lu Yanhe quoted a production budget of $50 million for "Fast & Furious," including his own $10 million screenwriting fee, while his global box office target was $200 million.
This is yet another conservative estimate.
Because he no longer needs to make empty promises to attract people.
All he needs to do is maintain his "box office success philosophy".
A $50 million budget yielded $200 million in global box office revenue.
This suggests that the project's profit potential will be at least $100 million.
On-demand, television broadcast, streaming, merchandise operation, IP operation... Some people have calculated that box office profits often account for only a small portion of the profits of a mainstream Hollywood film.
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While Hollywood was hesitating, calculating, and discussing how to negotiate with Lu Yanhe, Linghe announced the start of filming for "The Fault in Our Stars," a project he had been preparing for a long time.
For the film, director Lu Yanhe brought in Lu Yao, who had worked with Li Zhibai on "Washe".
A very outstanding idol drama director.
Lu Yanhe got to know Lu Yao because of the TV series "Washe".
"Of course, 'The Fault in Our Stars' is different from 'Washa.' The former has absolutely no fantasy elements. However, in my heart, the core of both is actually very similar, which is the appreciation of life." Lu Yanhe specially recorded a video to promote the start of filming for "The Fault in Our Stars." "Perhaps some people will think I'm being sentimental and valuing life, but I truly believe this. What makes 'The Fault in Our Stars' different from other romance films is that love and life are intertwined. It's warm and heartbreaking, but its essence is to allow people to feel the weight of life through the beauty of love, and in the name of love, to make what may be a short life seem light and easy."
At the start of filming, someone asked, "Was Li Zhibai the intended choice for the male lead role in this movie from the beginning?"
Lu Yanhe was not present.
Li Yuefeng was the direct target of the attack.
Chen Yin, as the vice president of Linghe, said, "We considered more than a dozen male leads for 'The Fault in Our Stars.' Initially, it was even planned to be an American film starring American actors, with no connection to Li Zhibai. It was President Lu who suggested that this story could become a romantic film that Linghe could produce for the global market, like 'Flypaper.' Of course, 'The Fault in Our Stars' features all Chinese actors, unlike 'Flypaper,' which used many well-known international actors. Although this will make the global distribution of 'The Fault in Our Stars' challenging, the overseas box office success of 'Love is Not Blind' has given us confidence. Li Yuefeng and Yan Lingyu were personally selected by President Lu, and they are the two most suitable actors for this film."
A reporter asked, "Li Yuefeng's previous film, 'My Sassy Girl,' didn't perform well at the box office. Isn't Ling He worried about the box office performance of 'The Fault in Our Stars' in China?"
Li Yuefeng's face almost turned black.
Chen Yin countered, "Where did you come to the conclusion that 'My Sassy Girl' didn't perform well at the box office? Talking about box office without considering the subject matter, production costs, and market positioning is just being irresponsible. I think not only production companies need to understand what President Lu said, but the media also needs to understand. 'My Sassy Girl' achieved such good box office results, including overseas, which exceeded our expectations. But to judge it as not good simply because its box office seems a little lower compared to other films of different genres is, I'm sorry, Linghe doesn't think that way."
"Compared to 'The Classic,' 'My Sassy Girl' did have a significantly lower box office, didn't it?"
"The Classic attracted over 30% of the audience, especially older viewers, by relying on its classic and nostalgic elements, thus creating a box office miracle. If you compare it to The Classic, how many romance films worldwide can rival it?" Chen Yin said. "If 90% of romance films after The Classic won't achieve the same domestic box office of over 1 billion yuan, does that mean we should stop making romance films altogether?"
Chen Yin's response was firm.
But his attitude also deeply moved Li Yuefeng.
The box office performance of "My Sassy Girl" even became a stain on his reputation, which was something he really didn't expect.
Chen Yin's ability to so forcefully refute those "lame arguments" was undoubtedly a powerful counterattack.
"Besides, believe me, we production companies who pay the actors' salaries know best which actors can carry the box office and which can't," Chen Yin smiled. "If Li Yuefeng is an actor who can't carry the box office, would Linghe keep cooperating with him? Do you think we're stupid and have too much money?"
The whole audience laughed.
Li Yuefeng himself laughed.
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"For the second installment of 'Grasshopper,' I won't be returning as the lead actor. We discussed the potential for developing this IP, and we decided to expand its world."
When Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe were having lunch together, Li Zhibai updated Lu Yanhe on the progress of the "Flying on Grass" series.
“The second part of ‘Grass on the Grass’ will tell the story of a very important force organization from the first part,” Li Zhibai said. “This way, Liu Manbo and the others won’t have to wait for my schedule to keep delaying filming.”
Li Zhibai has several upcoming projects. If the second part of "Grass on the Grass" is scheduled to be filmed, it will indeed be a long wait, and filming may not even start until the year after next.
Lu Yanhe said, "Doing this can further expand the worldview of 'Flying Grass' itself, which is definitely a good thing in the long run."
“Yeah, I think so too,” Li Zhibai said. “But, about the ‘Fast & Furious’ movie you mentioned before, are you really going to make it into a series that will last for almost twenty years?”
Lu Yanhe nodded: "It will become the world's top commercial film series."
Li Zhibai: "I have no doubt about that."
“You don’t need to feel pressured. This movie is definitely made with you at the center,” Lu Yanhe said. “The shooting time and pace will also be designed around your schedule. If you get tired of filming and want to take a break, that’s fine too. We can take a break for a few years.”
In Lu Yanhe's words, a commercial film series becomes very capricious, as if it can completely accommodate Li Zhibai.
But that's what Lu Yanhe thought.
Since Li Zhibai was born to be a star, he should take the path of a true superstar.
The roles he plays should be star roles with the largest audience.
With Li Zhibai's personal charm and his talent in acting, his career path—at least for the next five years—can be completely comparable to Tom Cruise's.
Lu Yanhe said, "Moreover, I also hope that you will participate in the production of this film as a producer."
"ah?"
"Believe me, for a long time to come, even after two or three movies have been made, people will still tell you that the charm of this IP lies in racing and those thrilling scenes. But in reality, its core is still in the fact that in this seemingly very formulaic and templated racing movie, it has established several very key characters, allowing this film series to gather a group of fans who love these characters and their fates. This is the core. I need you to participate as a producer because you need to create this movie based on your feelings. Which actors do you like? Which actors should be cast for which characters? You have the best feeling for it. You are the fulcrum. If your feeling is right, this group of people will be formed."
Li Zhibai: "...Holy crap, why do I feel like you're keeping me? Is this what it feels like to be kept by a big shot?"
(End of this chapter)
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