Chapter 106 I Want It All (Two in One)
As Su Yun's transitional work, "Leon: The Professional" in which she adapted many details was released on Thanksgiving Day, November 27. However, it did not cause a sensation as in the past.
Because the plot greatly weakens the hazy and hidden ambiguity between the hero and heroine, what most people see is just the tenderness of two lonely people redeeming each other and the exhilarating new fighting style - although this is indeed a heartwarming and touching story, but compared with various outstanding works released before and after this year, it can only be regarded as a relatively mediocre art-oriented commercial film.
Knowing that even in the 1990s when the original version was released, it would have attracted a lot of criticism because the superficial meaning of the story crossed the line that many people could not touch, Su Yun is now trying to keep a low profile in the North American version, only slightly adding changes to the more acceptable Japanese version, so that a vague emotional line can be conveyed through those intoxicating green eyes.
Therefore, the true face of this story still needs to wait for time to polish and settle, and only in the future when people's average level of film appreciation improves can it see the light of day.
Compared to the film productions that Su Yun has participated in before, whether it is "Artificial Intelligence" whose special effects technology refreshed the concept of the era, or "The Exorcist" which became a horror classic, or "Memoirs of a Geisha" full of Japanese style, and "The Sixth Sense" with suspense and warmth but a surprising twist at the ending, and "Great White Shark" which opened the precedent of deep-sea horror and almost destroyed the summer beach tourism industry... This new work is unusually calm, as if the undercurrents underneath are hidden in the deepest darkness and have never been seen by the world.
However, the reputation of "Leon: The Professional" among film critics is much better than Su Yun's previous works - the corresponding phenomenon is the inevitable phenomenon of good reputation but low attendance.
Coincidentally, this year's Thanksgiving Day was also Lu Shaolong's birthday.
When Su Yun made a long-distance phone call to congratulate her master on his birthday on the night of the first snowfall, Lu Shaolong, who was in a much better spirit, gave high praise to Su Yun's new work.
"Master, you are really not trying to comfort me, are you? From the premiere to the preview, many people were not optimistic about it, and the feedback from the attendance today was not that good either." Su Yun made a little joke.
"Do you really think so?" Perhaps influenced by his studies in philosophy and traditional oriental implicit and hazy aesthetics, Lu Shaolong foresaw something else in the videotape Su Yun sent him that few people had noticed yet. "In addition to creating a new fighting style and innovating in filming and narrative techniques, the focus of your new work is also on the character images of the male and female protagonists and their relationship mode, right?"
"Master is worthy of being the master. Many people fail to notice this point. I think that only after time has passed can the charm of this new film be slowly unearthed." Even though she secretly asked Ovitz to bribe a lot of film critics who were paid to write good reviews as water troops, in terms of the information transmission of this era, the effect was far inferior to that of the Internet era in later generations.
Well-known and prestigious film critics are careful about their reputation and are not easy to bribe, so they can only express their thoughts after watching a movie as they please; most of the film critics who can make a living are only semi-famous, and the profits from marketing conversion are not very high.
Of course, the quality of the film is there, and there are quite a few positive reviews for its quality and content.
However, quality and reputation are only the focus of people in the industry. The box office, which is the most concerned issue, is always limited by the sensitivity of the subject matter of this era and the influence of the film's audience.
By the time the film was taken off the screen in North America, and taking into account the estimated sales of videotapes and discs, "Leon: The Professional" was barely able to break even; if only the box office revenue was counted, it could even be considered a small loss.
This was the first time that the box office tanked, and the word of mouth was not universally praised but rather had a mixed reputation. Although one failure was nothing for Su Yun at this age, compared to her previous record of making a lot of money and fame, this failure was a bit embarrassing.
After all, the process of her rise to fame as a little girl from the East actually has some of the typical style of the American Dream. This "collapse of personality" not only eroded the goodwill of many people who regarded her as a little idol, but also fueled the arrogance of those who already hated her.
"Without all those fancy post-production special effects, Marie Sue is nothing!"
"A grown man and an underage girl redeeming each other?! What on earth are those metaphors hinting at? Anyone with eyes can see it!"
"At such a young age, she has already mastered the art of hype, and even used the past relationship between Alain Delon and Romy Schneider to hype up her marketing!"
"Everyone has box office failures sometimes, but the script that Mary Sue chose this time was indeed problematic. Has her vision for selecting scripts deteriorated with age?"
"Mary Sue shouldn't have chosen this script. Her strength is the special effects that seem to transcend her time. Of course, we have to admit that even for an oriental face, her looks are good enough - so, I think she should continue to participate in the behind-the-scenes production of things like "Star Trek" or "The Exorcist" or play some beautiful foreign girl roles that suit her, so as to gradually gain a firm foothold, rather than being too aggressive in challenging new themes..."
The above comments are all mildly worded. There are also more disgusting and filthy comments, but Ovitz and his partners have filtered them out. If you really want to see them, you will find all kinds of positive, negative, fair and weird comments mixed together, one after another.
"Are you okay?" Ovitz asked carefully as he watched Su Yun calmly reading newspapers and magazines, as if he was afraid of hurting her fragile heart.
"I'm fine. I had anticipated this outcome when I started filming this movie - actually the current situation is better than I expected." She and Jared were not considered box office poison; they just failed in their film selection. Spielberg was famous for innovating a new film style rather than making bad films, and the box office of the movie was not disappointing. Therefore, this "failure" in the eyes of the world was considered a success in her eyes.
"So what are you going to do next?" Ovitz took out his itinerary notebook and wanted to record Su Yun's future schedule.
"I will probably focus on the improved design of Apple II and DOS operating system during this period. I will probably be in California until January next year." When Apple and Microsoft were first established, they were still small companies with less than ten people in total, and the only R&D personnel were the bosses themselves. Su Yun rarely had time off during this period of time, so she had to go over to help.
Logically speaking, the technology is almost mature, and what they lack now is the correct ideas, so they can only choose to use trial and error to find the best path for improvement and development - and what Su Yun currently has is the optimal solution obtained by predecessors after continuous trial and error.
"Is there anything else I need to do?" Ovitz asked again.
"Yes, I've prepared a new movie. Last night, Steven called me and said he had taken on a new movie and couldn't direct it anymore, so he recommended his friend George Lucas to me." Su Yun handed a plan to Ovitz. "Director Lucas is planning to make a science fiction action movie recently, so he specially created a new film special effects production company called 'Industrial Light & Magic'."
"He wanted me to join the company as a production consultant under the name of Future Dream Studios, and in exchange, Lucas would personally direct my next new film."
Ovitz thought about George Lucas's resume - he and Su Yun had a connection. Su Yun's first overseas work, Artificial Intelligence, had surpassed his American Graffiti by a slight margin at the box office. But if you think about it carefully, the investment in Artificial Intelligence far exceeded that in American Graffiti. So the most profitable box office dark horse in 1974 was American Graffiti and George Lucas.
Moreover, Lucas also received five nominations for Best Director, Best Picture and other awards for his films when Su Yun won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. His strength is definitely sufficient.
"Are you going to shoot Home Alone or Wonder Girl?" Ovitz said as he opened the folder Su Yun handed over. "If George Lucas directs it, his style should be more like Wonder Girl..."
At this point, Ovitz almost choked when he looked down at the new film plan.
After a while, Ovitz recovered and raised his head again, staring at Su Yun seriously: "Are you sure you want to shoot this? And the choice of actors is so unique?"
"I referred to Lucas' style and came up with a new plan after careful consideration." Compared to the conservative approach of using children's films like "Home Alone" or "Wonder Girls" to return to the ranks of child actors but with a steady increase in box office, Su Yun is more inclined to do something big and then use this opportunity to start the transformation.
"Is it just an ordinary youth romance film? Is it worth inviting these big names? And adding a lot of Chinese supporting roles?" The more Ovitz watched, the more he felt that he had begun to see another "Léon: The Professional" No. 2, which barely made a profit...
"Believe me, if we don't shoot now, we may not be able to put together this lineup in the future." Those big-name stars who agreed to make guest appearances were brought together through personal connections and coincidences. In addition, this movie also has a large number of adolescent and child roles, which is perfect for putting together a large gathering of young Chinese and foreign stars.
"You have to know that my real debut work has never been a special effects science fiction movie in their eyes, but a comedy romance movie." Su Yun said meaningfully.
"But Warner probably won't be willing to invest in this subject..." As Su Yun's agent, Ovitz certainly knows Su Yun's journey better than anyone else, but looking at the new project plan in his hand... Although the story is good and the angle is novel, the group drama and the simple teenage love main line are indeed too risky.
It is even more adventurous than the previous "Léon" - at least "Léon" could still take advantage of the residual warmth of kung fu movies and the popularity of action movies, while this new work is a real-life plot, and it is a nostalgic and fresh love story between boys and girls that no one has ever tried before.
"I recently received a share of the profits from Nintendo, plus the box office share from Leon: The Professional, and during the Chinese New Year, I went back to Hong Kong to talk to Mr. Zou from Jiahe about bringing his people here to brush up their qualifications, and he would be responsible for investing part of the money to pave the way...it should be enough." Su Yun briefly explained the money-making plan she had prepared.
"No wonder you chose to use Hong Kong actors as some of the supporting roles. In addition to the role setting, it was also to get investment from Hong Kong..." Ovitz suddenly realized: Su Yun, this kid, really took the exchange of interests and mutual benefit to the extreme.
"So in the future, I will be busy attracting investments and looking for actors in Hong Kong. I'll leave the early preparations in the United States to you." Su Yun shook hands with Ovitz and made an agreement to run around both sides.
Therefore, at the end of the year in 1976, when Su Yun returned to sunny Hong Kong from snowy North America, she immediately went to Jiahe's door.
After learning the details of Su Yun's new film project, Zou Yunhua, who had made a lot of money from the Xu brothers' comedy films in the past two years, hesitated for a moment, then decisively invested 3 million US dollars. He planned to send some of his company's people abroad to make films to "brush up their qualifications" as Su Yun suggested.
From this we can see that compared to the Zhao family who stick to the Hong Kong market, Zou Yunhua is really obsessed with the international market.
"How are you going to choose the other family members? We don't have any handsome young men who can sing and have a good image at the moment." Although Xu Gujie is still a young actor, the role of the heroine's brother in Su Yun's new movie script is set to be within the age range of American high school students, so he is not suitable.
After all, Xu Gujie is going to go back to his old job this time, putting on some old makeup to play the role of Su Yun's father in the play.
"Let's have a round of auditions. Hong Kong people are talented and smart, so we should be able to choose one. We should also choose a few young actors from childhood." Su Yun, who had a secret thought in mind, waved her hand, "Thank you for your hard work, Master Qi!"
"Who called me your foster father... Alas." Xu Gujie took the promotional flyer from Su Yun with a resigned look, "I'm going to Central to get a custom-made suit, so I'll go find a friend to help you put the stickers on."
As Su Yun walked out of the company with nodding and bowing her head and saying "thank you for your hard work", and took a taxi to the old-fashioned tailor shop in Central, Xu Gujie suddenly saw a figure that looked familiar.
"Sam!" When he came to get his clothes and met his idol, Patrick Tam immediately shouted happily.
Seeing that they were two members of the recent new band Wynners, Xu Gujie smiled and nodded: "Are you guys here to order custom clothes too?"
"Yes, yes, I'm so lucky today that I get to meet you!" Although he already has a certain degree of fame, when facing a pioneer like Xu Gujie, Tan Yunlun still looks like a silly little fan.
But Xu Gujie would not regard them as fans he met by chance: according to last year's movie box office statistics, "The Genius and the Idiot" co-produced by Jiahe and his brothers received a box office of 4.55 million. Although it is still the annual box office champion, it has declined significantly compared to the 6.25 million box office of "The Ghostly Twins" last year.
On the contrary, Zhao's "The Legend of Chusen" has improved compared to last year, reaching 2.43 million.
However, the most eye-catching movie was "Everybody's Happy" starring the new band Wynners and produced by a small film company. The box office was 1.9 million, which was a real conversion of their popularity in the music industry into box office profits. This shows how popular they are among young people.
I don’t know whether we will become friends or rivals in the future, but since the other party has reached this position, we must give him respect as an equal.
The two chatted for a while. Tan Yunlun, who had sharp eyes, saw a stack of flyers on the table next to him and picked up one to read.
"Hey, you're not! It clearly states here that we need to meet handsome young men who can sing, and the age limit is between 15 and 20 years old. How old are you this year?" Zhong Zhentu came over curiously to take a look, and his tone was actually a bit uncertain and teasing: Although Tan Yunlun is already 25 years old, he still looks a bit like a baby. It's not impossible for him to put on some makeup to look younger and pretend to be in his 20s.
"What are you thinking? I'm already such a mature man - I gave it to Danny!" Tan Yunlun said, and then he leaned over to Zhong Zhentu's ear and said, "You know, although Danny's father reluctantly agreed to let him study music, he still wanted him to go home and help the show business after he finished studying..."
"Our band is basically complete now, so it's hard to increase or decrease the number of members. Danny is coming back from vacation this time, and if we don't handle it well, there might be another disturbance at his house."
"And it's written on this GG paper that whoever gets the role will get a song composed by Marie Sue, and Jiahe will help contact a music company to make it into a single... If Danny can be chosen for this role and get the song, or accidentally becomes famous overseas, then he'll have a bargaining chip when he faces his father in the future."
"It's amazing that you think so far ahead." Zhong Zhentu sighed and quickly took a flyer.
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.
While the good brothers here were worrying about the little brother in the team, an old maid who came over to get the clothes repaired also silently took a flyer out from the pile of flyers on the table.
Carrying a large bag of things back to her young master's rented house, she saw Zhang Querong sleeping on the bed in an old man's vest and trousers. The old maid immediately called out distressedly: "Shizai, you've been working so hard lately?"
Zhang Querong was startled, rubbed his eyes and sat up: "Fortunately... not too hard."
"Come on, you don't have to coax me anymore. Sixth Sister, I know better than anyone how difficult it is to find food outside--here, here it is for you." The old maid, Sixth Sister, handed over the leaflet in her hand.
"What's it from?" Zhang Querong took it subconsciously.
"I heard someone in the store say that it was a flyer for some competition, and that those who were selected could make songs and act in movies..." Sixth Sister was not well educated, and she was just barely relaying the news she had heard.
"How can I do this? I have never learned to sing or act. If there are people who have studied these professionally, wouldn't I be outdone in an instant?" Zhang Querong read the contents of the flyer carefully and felt a little amused.
"You're thinking of backing out before you even start? Ah Shi, this is not you anymore." Sixth Sister kept on nagging while cleaning up the mess and lecturing the young master whom she had seen grow up. Then she fumbled in her inner pocket and took out 20 yuan. "Here, you're such a grown-up, but you still can't take care of yourself!"
"I have money, Sixth Sister!" Zhang Querong quickly refused: As expected, nothing can be hidden from her. She had just started working and had not noticed that she had spent all her money and did not even have money for the bus fare, but she still found out.
But Sixth Sister’s salary was not much to begin with…
"You are going to participate in the competition. This is more or less a blessing from the elders to the younger generation. You must take it." Knowing that the child would not admit that he had no money, the Sixth Sister forced the money into his hands.
Zhang Querong then silently accepted the money: "Thank you..."
"You're here like a fool, why say thank you? Winning the reward well will be the best reward." The sixth sister struggled to sort out a pile of sundries.
Looking at the warm and reliable figure in his memory but a little hunched in reality, Zhang Querong clenched the banknotes in his hand. The rebellious spirit in his heart and the determination to do his best to do his best were ignited at this moment.
What he didn't know was that at the same time, Chen Boyang, who also received the flyers and encouragement from his relatives and friends, also let go of his nostalgia for the beautiful misunderstanding in the past and began to fight for his own future.
Of course, probably no one knows that the "Red-Purple War", which was fierce enough even in the most intense era of struggle, had already been foreshadowed before the two parties had officially met.
After the first day of auditions, Su Yun inevitably fell into deep thought as she faced the two transcripts that had been selected.
"What do you think? Both of them are good-looking, and even have similar charms. No. 7 Chen Baiyang has a good voice and singing skills, and he studied at a professional music school abroad, but unfortunately his acting skills are so-so; No. 12 Zhang Querong has a natural acting talent, but his voice is a bit deep, and you can tell from his singing skills that he hasn't received much study and training..."
Su Yun picked up the pen and ticked the number 7 on the report card.
Xu Gujie nodded, and when he was about to say something, Su Yun's hand moved slightly and ticked the report card of No. 12.
"Are you planning to have another round of rematches to decide the winner?" Xu Gujie thought he roughly understood Su Yun's decision-making difficulty and asked.
Su Yun shook her head and said with satisfaction while holding the two report cards: "No, I want them all - the 'brother' character in this movie is a pair of twins."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
