China Entertainment Mythology 2004

Chapter 135 Surprise big melon, big director's salary
Just do it, Li Mu immediately called Cheng Long, and then said the idea of ​​holding a press conference, Cheng Long immediately patted his chest and said that making a movie is to know how to promote.

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu called Yang Ziqiong again. Yang Ziqiong said that he would be able to arrive in Beijing the next day. Li Mu told him not to rush, and the preparations for the press conference would take time.

On the second day, Li Mu arranged for his assistant, Chen Zhixi, to coordinate the preparations for the press conference. The selection of the venue, the arrangement of the process, the invitation of media reporters, and the contact with the TV station. .

Three days later, the press conference on the preparatory work of "The Collapse of Doom", which has attracted much attention, was grandly held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing.Kung Fu superstar Cheng Long, the first Chinese female hit star Yang Ziqiong, heroine Liu Yifei, director Li Mu, actress Li Lianhua, Yinghuang boss Yang Shoucheng, and chairman of Xiangjiang Yindu Organization Song Dai attended the press conference.

In addition to the producer, several leading actors, and friends in the circle, dozens of media reporters poured into the press conference, which can be regarded as an unprecedented event.As for the reason why so many media reporters rushed in at once, apart from the high enough attention of the film itself, the recent "Mu Feilian" official announcement incident that has caused a lot of noise is probably the main reason.

At noon that day, when Liu Yifei, who was wearing a light blue windbreaker, appeared at the entrance of the hotel lobby with Li Mu's arm, the press conference caused quite a commotion.

At this moment, no matter what kind of opinions they hold about Li Mu and Liu Yifei, they can't help feeling in their hearts that these two people are really talented and beautiful.

A group of people came to the stage with smiles on their faces. Before the media reporters interviewed, Li Mu took the microphone and directly announced the cast of "The Doomsday Collapse":

Actor: Cheng Long.

Actress: Yang Ziqiong, Liu Yifei.

humming sound.

There was a sudden uproar at the scene.

In recent days, there has been a lot of controversy on the Internet about Liu Yifei starring in "Inception", and the whole Internet is paying attention to how Li Mu will respond.

Now Li Mu's response finally came.

Do you think Liu Yifei is unworthy to star in "Inception" with an investment of 1.2 million US dollars?
You said that such a large investment and a film that has received such a high degree of attention are not just a matter of the investor, but are related to the face of the entire country?

You said that acting skills and roles must be put first in the casting of a movie that is concerned by the whole people?

Now, Li Mu is telling all of you with practical actions that you should do a good job in intelligence work before you gossip, gossip if you don’t understand anything, and condemn you if you don’t know anything, you will be struck by lightning!
Who said it was a waste of resources to let Liu Yifei star in a movie with an investment of 1.2 million US dollars?

Now widen your eyes and take a good look, Liu Yifei obviously starred in two movies with an investment of 2 million US dollars, okay?
Who said that letting Liu Yifei play with the Oscar winner and actress is to embarrass the Chinese people?

Not only has she played with the Oscar winner and actress, but she will also play with Brother Cheng Long again soon, and she will also play with the number one female star of Chinese descent!What's the matter, what else do you think?
The next step is the media free questioning session.

"Excuse me, Director Li. According to public information, the investment in "Inception" is as high as 1.2 million U.S. dollars, and "Doomsday Collapse" is a little less, but there are also 8000 million U.S. dollars. Such a large-scale investment can already be regarded as an investment for Huaxia Film Company. It is unprecedented, and the heroine of these two unprecedented investment films is Liu Yifei, what considerations did you have when casting the cast?"

Li Mu picked up the microphone and said: "The investment in these two films is unprecedented for Chinese films. According to the current scale of the Chinese film market, it is absolutely impossible for these two films to return their costs solely on the domestic market." Possibly. Liu Yifei has good English, good image, good temperament, good figure, and good acting skills, which is very suitable for entering the international market. It is indeed my personal preference to choose Liu Yifei to star in the two movies, but she is more suitable for these two movies than her in China. It’s really hard to find actors for movies.”

"And let me be honest, among domestic actresses, there are really few who can compare with Yifei in terms of willingness to endure hardships in filming." Li Mu then added, "Many bitter scenes, tiring scenes, and dangerous scenes are she herself,"

"When I was filming "The Legend of Condor Heroes", it was not that I accidentally fell into the water; when I was filming "The King of Kung Fu", I was accidentally hit on the head by a pipa. She couldn't get up, but she insisted on continuing to shoot after she slowed down; and Yifei's horse riding scenes were all done by herself-you can think about it in your mind, how many actresses in China can do this. "

Cheng Long interjected at this time: "I said earlier that I am very optimistic about Yifei. I have been in the film industry for so many years and have seen many actors of all kinds, but it is rare for Yifei to be able to do this. Among them, Yang Ziqiong is definitely one, so I am full of confidence in the filming of "Collapse", the world's best and most potential Chinese actresses, "Collapse" has two of them in one film."

Liu Yifei hurriedly said: "Actually, I am not as good as Uncle Long said, and I dare not compare with senior Yang Ziqiong. Many of her action scenes are really fighting for her life. Compared with the seniors, I am absolutely perfect." It’s just a little bit of a big witch.”

Yang Ziqiong said at this time: "Brother Cheng Long and I were willing to fight with our lives because of the environment at that time. If we didn't fight like this, we would have no chance of getting ahead. If we want to get ahead and change our lives against the sky, we must fight. Actually If you can not fight, who naturally likes to cut limbs and limbs when filming? It is not based on your conditions, but in the current environment, you can still succeed if you don’t fight like this, but you are still willing to fight. This is the most valuable thing about you s things."

……

During the first half of the press conference, when the media reporters were interviewing, the questions were still focused on the movie, and the second half was completely turned into a "Mu Feilian" official announcement press conference.

"Miss Liu Yifei, some time ago, director Li Mu said in an interview at his alma mater that he chased you. Can you tell me more about it? I think your fans must also want to know some of the details."

Liu Yifei glanced at Li Mu next to him, and then said: "Actually, he lied, in fact, I chased him first."

"What?"

The reporters at the scene immediately became energetic, and everyone instinctively realized that there was a hot spot here.

Li Mu interjected: "It's not that you don't joke, the media will take it seriously."

Liu Yifei smiled and said, "I'm not joking, I was the one who chased you."

"Miss Liu Yifei..."

"Excuse me, Director Li..."

"Hello, Ms. Liu, I'm Nandu..."

In an instant, all the reporters were asking questions frantically. No one could have imagined that Liu Yifei would reveal that she was chasing Li Mu, but everyone knew that this news would cause a sensation on the Internet.

And more importantly, it seems that Liu Yifei may continue to reveal some more details!

Headlines!This is definitely headline news!

The reporters didn't care about the order of the interview anymore, and they stopped talking about being gentle and courteous. Everyone was asking questions independently, and it took a long time for the scene to recover.

Then Liu Yifei continued: "I remember when it was the premiere of "Super Body", I went to cheer for him. In fact, I was very irritable and angry at that time. I was angry that he didn't chase me. I remember that the movie was broadcast When I was sitting next to him, I kissed him suddenly by accident. At that time, there were people in front, back, left, and right. After the kiss, I was afraid for a while, afraid of being seen, but then I was not afraid. The thought of being seen was actually pretty cool Well, if someone sees him, he will give me a clear answer, whether he likes me or not, I don't have to be so entangled all day long."

Li Mu quietly leaned into Liu Yifei's ear and said, "Can you say this?"

Liu Yifei looked up at Li Mu slightly and said, "Can't you say it?"

At this time, the reporters in the audience were all extremely excited.

"My God! Did Liu Yifei take the initiative to chase Li Mu?"

"Buddha Tathagata! It's alright for Liu Yifei to chase after Li Mu, but she is so generous with it?!"

"Damn it! It's fine to say it on your own initiative, but it's actually Li Mu who Liu Yifei took the initiative to steal a kiss?"

The scene is boiling again. To be honest, today's press conference has a lot of information!

"Madam Liu Yifei, when did you start to have a good impression of Director Li?"

Liu Yifei's face was already red, but she continued: "I don't know exactly when it started, it seems that I think this person is quite interesting when I first met him."

"Isn't that just love at first sight?"

So the media reporters turned their attention to Li Mu.

"Hi Director Li, just now Yifei said that her first impression of you was very good, we understand that this is love at first sight, so may I ask you? Did you also fall in love with Yifei at first sight?"

Li Mu looked down at Liu Yifei, and Liu Yifei was also looking at Li Mu curiously. Li Mu slowly picked up the microphone in his hand and said, "It's definitely not love at first sight for Yifei."

The scene gradually quieted down, and everyone was waiting for Li Mu's next words.

Liu Yifei was also waiting.

Although Li Mu said that it was not love at first sight that made her feel a little disappointed, but she was also curious about when did Li Mu start to have a good impression of her.

I just heard Li Mu continue: "Strictly speaking, I'm not in love with you."

"I haven't seen love?"

Everyone was taken aback, what do you mean?
I just heard Li Mu continue: "Many fans have never seen idols on the scene, but they just like idols very much. In fact, I am the same. I have seen her countless times in film and television dramas before I met Yifei for the first time. Again. In "Golden Fan Family" and "Tian Long Ba Bu", I told myself at the time that I was looking for a girlfriend, not anyone else, but Liu Yifei if I was looking for it."

"But at that time, our identities were too different. Normally speaking, it was absolutely impossible for the two of us. So if I want to really catch up with her, I have to develop in the entertainment industry."

Speaking of which, Li Mu looked at Cheng Long and continued: "It happened that Uncle Long came to Xijing to film a movie, and he happened to be filming scenes in the Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, and my father happened to be the deputy curator of the museum, so I had the opportunity to meet Uncle Long. .”

"So I wrote a script, which later became "Taken". Of course, the hero is based on Uncle Long, and everyone knows that. But what no one knows is that the script has another reality prototype, that It’s the role of the movie’s daughter. In fact, when I conceived the script, I was writing this story based on Yifei.”

The reporters were all dumbfounded, is it true or not? !

"Director Li, that is to say, when you were just an ordinary college graduate, before you even met Liu Yifei in real life, you were already planning to chase Liu Yifei, right?"

Li Mu nodded and said, "That's right."

"But...you don't mind, what I want to ask is, where did you get the confidence at that time?"

Li Mu replied: "Because I think, since God sent me to this world, and since it has stuffed so many precious good things into my mind, then I must not let God down. Since I like TV so much Liu Yifei in the movie, then I must go after her, success or failure is not important, the experience of chasing is important, and the most important thing is to do it immediately when you have an idea."

……

After the press conference, the media went crazy.

[Question that Liu Yifei is not qualified to act in a big-budget movie with an investment of 1.2 million US dollars?Li Mu tells you with practical actions, where did the 1.2 million US dollars invest in Pomeranian Smile?Obviously it is 2 million US dollars! 】

[It was revealed that the heroine of Cheng Long Michelle Yeoh's new work "Doomsday Collapse" is still Liu Yifei, and it is said that the investment is 8000 million US dollars. 】

[Li Mu Chenglong praised Liu Yifei for being able to endure hardships in filming, two big productions, 2 million US dollars in investment, Liu Yifei deserved it! 】

【How much does Li Mu love Liu Yifei?The total investment of the two plays is 14 billion RMB, and the 21-year-old Liu Yifei has obtained top-level resources that other actors can't match in their lifetime. 】

【Shocking!The goddess Liu Yifei revealed that she had secretly kissed Li Mu at the premiere of "Super Body", or to force Li Mu to make a clear statement. 】

[Where there is a will, there is a way!A poor boy who graduated from college fell in love with a big star watching TV and vowed to catch him. A few months later, the movie "Taken" came out! 】

All the doubting voices before suddenly disappeared.What else can I do?You just questioned whether Liu Yifei's performance in "Inception" with an investment of 1.2 million US dollars was ruined, but he turned around and came out with an investment of 8000 million US dollars "The End of the World", the heroine is still Liu Yifei!

Continue to question?God knows if Li Mu will release another top-notch production one day!
On the contrary, Liu Yifei's fans were completely elated.

Another big production is coming, and it is still partnered with Cheng Long and Michelle Yeoh. In this way, Liu Yifei's investment in the next two films will add up to 2 million US dollars!
Stealing a kiss with Director Li Mu?

"If I had half the power of a goddess back then, would I have regretted it for so many years?"

"The goddess is so good!"

"Dare to love, dare to hate, go for it if you like it, Liu Yifei's true temperament!"

"Damn it! So director Li Mu is also the goddess I like watching TV? How is this different from us?"

"The only difference is that we can at most take the time to watch the TV show performed by the goddess twice. Li Mu turned around and listed "feasible plans to marry the goddess Liu Yifei"!"

"Not only did they make plans, but they actually implemented them!"

"Not only did they implement it, they also succeeded!"

"Fuck, it turns out that Li Mu is really against the sky!"

"What is top-level star chasing? If you like a celebrity, go to the scene and ask for an autograph or a group photo. That's called star chasing? Shit! That's the initial stage of star chasing, and the advanced stage of star chasing is to chase after the star!"

……

When the whole people were discussing "Mu Feilian", the top Hollywood superstar Will Smith asked someone to find Li Mu, hoping that Li Mu could direct a movie called "Kung Fu Dream".

The protagonist of the movie is Will Smith's son Jaden Smith, who was born in 1998 and just turned ten years old this year.I heard that he likes Chinese Kung Fu very much, and Will Smith wanted to support his son, so he planned to make this movie.

And Will Smith initially offered Li Mu $500 million as the director's remuneration, of course Li Mu would not agree. Too little money is one aspect, and lack of time is another aspect.

Li Mu himself can't make so many good movies. How can he have the energy to help you for more than half a year for this 500 million US dollars?

If the movie "The Avengers" invites Li Mu to direct Li Mu, maybe he will still consider that "Kung Fu Dream" is more or less meaningless.

When Will Smith found Li Mu for the second time, he had already raised the director's salary to 1000 million US dollars.

He invested in "Kung Fu Dream" himself, and the bulk of it was funded by Columbia Corporation.

When Columbia Company heard that Will Smith wanted to invite Li Mu to direct, they immediately said that as long as he can hire Li Mu, the investment of the film will immediately increase from 4000 million US dollars to 7000 million US dollars.

Columbia is the Hollywood company that invested in "The King of Kung Fu". This company is really familiar with Li Mu.

After all, his family invested nearly 7000 million U.S. dollars, and "The King of Kung Fu" joined by Cheng Long and Li Lian, only took tens of millions of U.S. dollars at the global box office.Looking at director Li Mu, "Super Body" with an investment of more than 2000 million US dollars has a global box office of 3.6 million US dollars!
If "Kung Fu Dream" does not invite Li Mu, the investment of 4000 million US dollars is extremely risky.

If "Kung Fu Dream" can invite Li Mu, then there is a high probability that the investment of 7000 million US dollars will be profitable!
That is to say, although inviting Li Mu is very expensive, the production crew can actually get more money!

This is Columbia's recognition of Li Mu's strength.

Columbia is willing to increase investment, and Will Smith is naturally willing to increase Li Mu's director's salary.But 1000 million US dollars is still impossible to impress Li Mu.

Li Mu wanted to reject the other party directly and completely, but his assistant Chen Zhixi said that it would be better to ask for a price that the other party could not agree to.

Li Mu nodded in agreement, so he asked Will Smith for a director's salary of 1500 million US dollars, plus a request for 15% of the global box office dividend.

To say that this is not the highest asking price of a Hollywood director, remember that director Nolan's director's salary is as high as 2000 million US dollars plus 20% of the global box office dividend.

But this must have been an offer that the other party could not accept.

Sure enough, a few days later, news came from Will Smith that they could only pay a maximum of 1500 million US dollars in salary, plus 10% of the global box office dividend.

Of course, Li Mu rejected the other party again.

……

At the same time, Li Mu found Han Sanping with the budget sheet of "Gravity". It is worth mentioning that on this investment budget sheet with a total cost of 1 million U.S. dollars, Li Mu offered himself 1000 million U.S. dollars. Director's remuneration, but also an additional 10% of the global box office dividends.

These are included in the cost of the movie. Even if the movie loses in the end, Li Mu still has to take the money.

In addition, Li Mu's Huashang Media will also invest 4000 million US dollars, accounting for 40% of the film's revenue rights.Disney and Columbia, among the six major Hollywood companies, will each take 10% of the investment share. This is a preliminary plan that was made when everyone met in France. Two of the four Hollywood companies will invest in one of Li Mu's films.

As for the remaining 40% of the investment share, it will be divided among several domestic film and television companies.

While several companies were sitting in the conference room of China Film Group discussing the investment allocation plan, several domestic companies looked at Li Mu's director's salary of up to 1000 million U.S. dollars and an additional 10% global box office dividend. Almost everyone Their expressions became extremely exciting, and some companies even had the urge to withdraw directly from the investment.

$1000 million paycheck?
How can any domestic director dare to ask such a price?No!not a single one!

Now Li Mu not only wants it, but also demands 10% of the global box office dividend!

Attention, it is the global box office dividend!It's not a movie profit share!
That is to say, if the film compensates him, Li Mu can secure tens of millions of dollars!

How could anyone do this? !
Isn't this treating people as fools?
The few who supported Li Mu were not very good at speaking directly.

As a result, the vice president of the Columbia company is even more exaggerated than several domestic companies!

"What's the matter with the director's salary?"

Several companies in the country were very happy to see someone finally stand up, but they didn't expect what he said next to surprise everyone.

"Why is the director's salary only 1000 million US dollars? "Kung Fu Dream" offered Director Li a director's salary of 1500 million US dollars, plus 10% of the global box office dividend. Director Li did not agree!"

When the vice president of Columbia said these words, the other companies in the conference room were all dumbfounded, but Li Mu was somewhat embarrassed.

(End of this chapter)