Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 23: "No One" is released

The two signed a contract with China Film the next day.

As soon as the contract was signed, China Film Group leaked the news and countless media outlets rushed to report it.

People in the circle received the news first.

Wang Zhonglei went to the filming site of Cell Phone immediately and said to Feng Dapao directly: "The overseas copyright of Unruly has been sold for a total of 1750 million US dollars. It's still easy to make money from foreigners! It took Shi Lei only six months from the approval of the new film to the completion of the new film. So far, he has made 750 million US dollars, and this does not include the domestic box office. After Cell Phone, should we make a martial arts film to keep up with the trend of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero?"

In his opinion, "No One" benefited from the popularity of these two blockbusters.

"What? The copyright was sold for 1750 million US dollars?" Feng Dapao was shocked. That yellow-haired boy Shi Lei really succeeded.

750 million US dollars is 6150 million RMB, which means a profit of about million after deducting taxes. It’s a huge profit!
"You're right. We have to catch up with the wave of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. We can't let this guy make all the money. My next movie will be a martial arts movie. Find someone to write the script as soon as you return."

In Hong Kong Island, Sammo Hung also received the news and immediately started making phone calls to organize a group to shoot a martial arts film. The first person he called was Jet Li.

In Hengdian, Shi Lei filmed according to the script of Warner Bros. This time, the shooting not only had real scenes, but also green screens. Fortunately, this clip was similar to an easter egg and the requirements were not high.

The shooting was completed on schedule in three days.

Mike was very satisfied with Shi Lei's efficiency. He shook hands with Shi Lei and flew back to North America with the finished film and shooting materials.

Shi Lei returned to Taolin Company and checked the $1750 million that had arrived in his account. He was overjoyed, as he had finally successfully opened up the situation.

With more than 100 million RMB after tax, he was able to stand up completely.

The first step after getting the money was to buy a somewhat dilapidated five-courtyard courtyard house of 2000 square meters in Beijing for 1300 million yuan.

He had been eyeing this courtyard house for a long time and had always wanted to buy it, and now he finally got his wish.

After buying the courtyard house, he bought ten houses of 50 square meters each at a price of yuan per house.

The current housing price in the city center is 5000 yuan per square meter, but it became 08 yuan in 20000. You must buy it early.

He spent another 500 million to buy a 300-square-meter villa. After one round of house buying, he had spent million.

Taolin Film and Television also spent 10 million to purchase two sets of filming equipment, so it will no longer need to rent them out.

Film cameras are still used today. Compared with the cost of cameras and other shooting auxiliary equipment, film is still the most expensive.

If the director cannot control it, the filming cost will be a bottomless pit. For example, Jiang Wen and Wang Jiawei are very slow in filming, which is not only time-consuming but also wastes film. The cost of their filming is often overspent.

Unlike him, who had the memories of his past life as a reference, knew what he wanted, had fewer wasted shots, and used less film than ordinary directors.

With the remaining tens of millions, Shi Lei plans to invest in TV dramas, starting with "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1". The film and television adaptation rights of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1" had come into his hands a long time ago.

Shi Lei called Deng Hongxu to his office, took out the script, and said, "This is the script for the TV series "Chinese Paladin 30". Take the script to Tangren Films and ask Li Guoli to shoot it himself and give them % of the investment."

He did not forget to withdraw Liu Yifei's capital plan. He had to find someone else to play Zhao Linger. After all, it was filmed for the NPCs in the book, so there was no problem of him ruining the classic. Moreover, "Legend of Sword and Fairy 1" was an ensemble drama, and the main plot was about Li Xiaoyao. It would be fine if someone else played the role as long as the performance was not too bad.

"My request is that the male lead Li Xiaoyao be played by Brother Hu, the female lead Zhao Linger be played by our Zhao Liying, and the second female lead Lin Yueru be played by our Liu Tao." In the previous life, the director's requirement for the female lead was to have spirituality. At that time, Liu Yifei was full of youthfulness and had a hint of immaturity on her face. When the immature her met Brother Hu, who was in his youth, "Legend of Sword and Fairy" was created. Now Zhao Liying completely meets the director's requirements. The girl version of Zhao Liying's costume looks younger and more immature than Liu Yifei, and her small round face is more lovely than Liu Yifei, which can arouse more sympathy from men.

As for the issue of ruining the classic, he is a man who makes money and picks up girls, not a bootlicker of Liu Yifei. If he ruins it, then he ruins it. If he doesn't ruin it, how can he easily control Liu Yifei?
Moreover, the classic is in his heart, wouldn’t it be more beautiful to enjoy it alone?
"If we can come to an agreement, then we will do it. If we can't, we will find another director."

Deng Hongxu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go and talk to him in person."

"Brother Hu, are you going to sign into the company?"

Shi Lei rolled his eyes and asked, "What do you say?"

Deng Hongxu understood and nodded, "I'll find someone to sign him."

"Go!" Shi Lei waved his hand.

After Deng Hongxu left, Shi Lei took out the script of "Jade Guanyin" and began to complete the script.

This is the TV series that made Liu Tao famous, so he was very enthusiastic. There are two scripts in total, one for the movie and one for the TV series.

Half a month passed quickly, and the script of "Jade Guanyin" had just been submitted for review when Tang Ren expressed his intention to cooperate. However, they failed to agree on the investment amount, and Tang Ren wanted 50%.

He unexpectedly received the new film "No One" and its release plan in North America.

"No One" was released earlier than "The Matrix 2".

This was beyond Shi Lei's expectations. Shouldn't "The Matrix 2" be released first, followed by "No One"?
Why is it the other way around?

Apart from the issue of order, the time is too tight!
Shi Lei immediately called Mike.

"Hey, Mike, why did you release "No One" first? Shouldn't "The Matrix 2" be released first?"

“Shi, ‘No One’s Back’ has been renamed ‘The Matrix: Keepers’. In addition, our plan has always been to release ‘The Matrix: Keepers’ first, but since you didn’t ask, we didn’t tell you.

Do you think it's possible for us to release The Matrix: Keeper after The Matrix 2 to make No Man's Land? The Matrix 2 has always been our top priority.

The Matrix: Guardians of the Galaxy is a warm-up for The Matrix 2. "

"Aren't you afraid of failure and affecting the box office of The Matrix 2?" Shi Lei couldn't help but complain.

He doesn't care that the movie was renamed "The Matrix: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", what he cares about is the North American box office.

Although the copyright has been sold, the higher the box office in North America, the higher the box office in mainland China. Of course, he wants to maximize the profits.

Apparently Warner Bros. doesn't think so.

"Shi, The Matrix: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 500 will be opening in theaters. If the response is not good, we may withdraw it urgently." Mike told the truth.

Now that the film is ready and the copyright has been acquired, it doesn't matter if I tell Shi Lei the truth.

"You guys..." Shi Lei was really angry and was about to curse, but he held back in the end.

After taking a few deep breaths, he gritted his teeth and said, "You are really smart."

"It's the same with you, Shi. Don't be angry. The Matrix: Keepers will definitely be a success. Even if it fails, with your talent you will surely be able to come up with a good product again. When your next product comes out, I will be the first to buy it."

"Thank you so much!" Shi Lei said in a deep voice.

The first person to buy it may not necessarily buy it, it all depends on the quality of the film.

"Why don't you come over and take a look? We can hold a premiere for you." Mike said soothingly.

"Forget it, I have other things to do recently, so I won't go." Shi Lei refused.

This premiere is just a compensatory event, and there is no point in having it.

On May 5, "The Matrix: Keeper of Darkness" (formerly known as "No One") was released in North America.

Shi Lei tossed and turned all day long and finally received a call from Mike.

"Shi, we succeeded. The box office on the first day was 265 million, the overall audience rating was B, and the film reviews were also good. We plan to slowly increase the number of theaters to more than 2000."

"Nice!" Shi Lei shouted happily.

What makes him happiest is not the first-day box office, but the audience evaluation and film reviews.

The first day box office was affected by "The Matrix 2" and may not be accurate, but audience evaluations and film reviews cannot be false.

A B rating is already a high score for a foreign language film.

(End of this chapter)