China Entertainment Mythology 2004

Chapter 83 Inception of Dream Space
Cheng Long greeted Gong Li excitedly.

The relationship between the two is very good, and Cheng Long has always wanted to cooperate with Gong Li for many years, and in the future he will even publicly call out that he wants to cooperate with Gong Li in making movies.

There are not many actors in the entertainment industry who can make Cheng Long openly call out to cooperate in filming.

"If the two of us could do a movie together, it would be 'wow'!"

Cheng Long said carelessly.

Gong Li showed a charming smile and said, "Brother's movies are all action movies, jumping off buildings, jumping off airplanes, all kinds of dangerous moves, I'm afraid I really can't shoot them."

"It doesn't have to be an action movie. In fact, I have always liked literary and romantic movies." Cheng Long said excitedly, "I don't know how to make literary movies, but romance movies are absolutely fine. Romance films like Nickelodeon are not suitable, but if I were to play the kind of "Matrix", saving the world and helping others, and finally making her fall in love with me, it is still possible."

Gong Li couldn't help laughing suddenly, Cheng Long also reacted immediately at this moment, and made up for himself: "Of course, "The Matrix" is not an orthodox romance film, but the love in it is really touching."

"Come here, Li Mu, come here!" Cheng Long happened to see Li Mu at this time, so he stretched out his hand and called Li Mu to his side.

"This Li Mu is very powerful. I always wanted to cooperate with Li Lianhe before, but I never had the chance. After I met him, I filmed "Assassin" with Li Lianhe. Wow, the results after the release were very good! And Li Lianhe and I Satisfied with the roles."

After speaking with Gong Li, he immediately turned to look at Li Mu:

"Come on, Li Mu, tell me if I am suitable for making romance movies?"

"Of course!" Li Mu said without thinking.

Cheng Long asked again: "Then what kind of romance film do you think I am suitable for?"

Li Mudao: "Save the world, save the heroine, become a big hero, and the heroine will naturally fall in love with her."

Cheng Long and Gong Li were silent when they heard the words, and Gong Li suppressed a smile in his eyes.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Li Mu continued: "For example, a super natural disaster - a magnitude 10 earthquake, a [-]-meter-high tsunami, a super mudslide, a super high-rise fire, the collapse of the Hoover Dam, the collapse of the Golden Gate Bridge, The Statue of Liberty turned into ruins, and then Uncle Long turned into a superhero, saving lives, rescuing the trapped heroine, and finally getting love, this is the most suitable romance movie for Uncle Long in my eyes."

"Hahaha……"

Gong Li suddenly laughed, almost bursting into tears, causing the surrounding crowd to look sideways. Gong Li realized that she had lost her composure, so she hurriedly adjusted her mood, but in the end she couldn't help teasing Li Mu and said:
"Brother Cheng Long thinks the romance movie is "The Matrix", and in your eyes the romance movie that suits the big brother is "The End of the World". It seems that it is not easy for the big brother to have a relationship in the movie."

Cheng Long put his hands on Li Mu's shoulders, and said happily: "That's right, this is a romance movie suitable for Cheng Long to shoot! You really understand me."

……

In the evening, Cheng Long suddenly came to the hotel where Li Mu was staying.

""Super Body" will be released soon, how about it, what do you want to make in the next movie?"

""Inception"! Some time ago I chatted with director Nolan. I provided some ideas for his Batman series, and he also gave me some ideas for "Inception". The two of us discussed I already have a general idea in my mind about the details of how to make a movie, how to make this movie, so I just made this one.”

"Is there a role suitable for me?" Cheng Long asked directly.

He knew that Li Mu's novels were very popular in the United States, but he himself had never read Li Mu's novels, so he didn't know the specific content of "Inception".

Li Mudao: "Whether it is suitable or not depends on the situation. If I cast a Chinese actor, then Uncle Long is definitely the most suitable candidate, but this time I intend to use Western actors to play "Inception"-this script is still more suitable for the West. People come to play."

"The idea you mentioned in front of Gong Li today is the 10-magnitude earthquake, the [-]-meter tsunami, the mudslide, the fire, the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. I think it is very good, but it may be a bit difficult to shoot. , but the idea is really good, do you already have a script?"

It turned out that Cheng Long came here tonight because of this matter, but Li Mu didn't expect that, he just said it casually.

"Uncle Long, if you want to cooperate with Gong Li, this movie is definitely not suitable."

"It doesn't matter if Gong Li is suitable or not. If Gong Li is not suitable, I can find Yang Ziqiong. As long as the script is good, I am not afraid that I cannot find a suitable actor."

"I just said it casually at the time, and this idea, to be honest, is actually very old-fashioned and ordinary."

Cheng Long said with a smile: "When a very old-fashioned idea comes out of your mouth, it immediately makes my blood boil. This is what I do. How about the idea of ​​"Taken"? The daughter was tied up, and the old father saved his daughter thousands of miles away. It's very ordinary and old-fashioned, but you write it, 'wow', it's amazing, it sold 2.8 million US dollars worldwide!"

"This……"

"Let's discuss and discuss to see if we have any good ideas."

"Row."

"How do you say the protagonist is set? Do you want to continue the agent setting in "Taken"?"

Li Mu thought for a moment:
"How about setting it as the captain of the helicopter rescue team? It's the kind where the protagonist leads the helicopter to rescue whenever a dangerous situation arises."

Cheng Long's eyes brightened: "Helicopter rescue? This is good, and we can arrange many exciting scenes."

Li Mudao: "As for the identity of the protagonist, I think we should use the template of a mid-life crisis. As the rescue captain, he failed to save his youngest daughter. The unexpected death of the youngest daughter broke the relationship between the protagonist and his wife. Before the story begins, his ex-wife has another Xinhuan. Then the disaster happened, the ex-wife and the eldest daughter were trapped in two cities, and the ex-wife Xinhuan was unreliable. Facing the catastrophic disaster, it is up to the protagonist to turn the tide at the critical moment.”

……

Cheng Long originally planned to stay for an hour or two before leaving, but he didn't expect that the chat lasted all night, and finally he simply slept in Li Mu's room.

"This idea is very good. If you have time to write it, the movie will definitely sell well." Cheng Long said excitedly.

"The special effects of this kind of movie come first, and it is too difficult to shoot." Li Mu was a little embarrassed.

"You can handle all the special effects in "Assassin", I believe you. By the way, what do you think is the name of this movie?"

"Or call it "The Doomsday Collapse"."

"The Doomsday Collapse is good. This movie is very suitable for me. I will use Yang Ziqiong as the heroine. As for the eldest daughter, how about Liu Yifei?"

Li Mu laughed and said, "Let Liu Yifei play the daughter again, so she won't be a professional Cheng Long's daughter? "Hurricane Rescue" played Uncle Long's daughter, "Assassin" played Uncle Long's daughter, and "Doomsday Collapse" also played Uncle Long's daughter."

"Yo, really!"

After speaking, the two laughed at the same time.

……

Even "Super Body" hasn't been released yet, and "Doomsday Collapse" is even far away. There is a high probability that Li Mu's next movie will be "Inception".

Moreover, Li Mu does not necessarily have to direct this "Doomsday Collapse" himself. He has many choices but limited time. He must focus on making his favorite movies. He can act as a producer and find other directors to shoot.

When it comes to "Inception", even knowing the huge potential of this movie, Li Mu still feels a lot of pressure.

The production cost of this film is probably going to the level of 10 billion yuan.With such a huge amount of investment, relying on the domestic film market that is far from mature, it is simply a dream to recover the cost!
So if a film wants to make money, the performance in the international market becomes especially important.

If you consider the performance in the international market, Li Mu will either use Chinese actors with international influence to act, or simply use Hollywood and Western superstars!
And if Chinese leading actors are used to act, only Cheng Long and Li Lianlian are qualified in China.

But firstly, their styles don't fit well with this movie, and secondly, their international influence is mainly concentrated in kung fu movies, so after careful consideration, Li Mu finally made up his mind to invite Hollywood Western superstars.

As for who to invite, Li Mu has already drawn up a few candidates in his mind—Xiao Lizi, Tom Hanks, and Batman actor Christian Bale.However, Li Mu felt that these people might not be easily moved by him.

In his previous life, Xiao Li was willing to act in "Inception" because the director was Nolan. Today, the director has been replaced by Li Mu. Compared with Nolan in "Knight", it is still not enough.

Christian Bale is about to start filming "The Dark Knight", and I am afraid that he has neither the will nor the schedule to film "Inception".

As for Tom Hanks, Li Mu was also completely unsure of making a move.

That's why Li Mu meant to send out invitations to several people first and test it out first. If suitable actors can be hired, then the "Inception" project will start. If there are really no suitable actors to be hired, then continue to wait.

Maybe after I make a few more blockbuster films, I can hire actors who can't be hired now in the future.

It is a pity that "Inception" cannot use Chinese protagonists.

But in the future, when Li Mu's influence in the European and American film markets will become greater and greater, and his reputation will become higher and higher, then one day Li Mu will be able to make the European and American filmmakers even with new actors and actors who are not familiar with European and American audiences. The audience walked into the theater only because the director was Li Mu, and then Li Mu would have much more freedom in choosing people for making movies.

Fortunately, there are many characters in "Inception". Although the leading role cannot be Chinese, the supporting role is completely fine.

For example, the role of "Dream Builder" can be played by Liu Yifei.

Originally, this role was played by Ellen Page, a very nice little girl, but before Li Mu crossed over, her name was changed to Elliott Page, and her gender became a young man.

"Inception" is a movie with two heroines, and the role of Dream Builder is very easy to shine, and because there is another heroine to share the pressure, the requirements for this role are not too much for the actor.So on the whole, it is a good choice to let Liu Yifei play the role.

It can be regarded as a meeting gift for Liu Yifei, after all, he has already rejected the invitation of Huayi and William Morris in order to join Huashang.

In addition, this time Li Mu also plans to arrange a role for himself, that is, the role of "Outpost" played by Joseph Gordon in his previous life. Li Mu thinks that this role can be played by himself.

Although due to various considerations, the male protagonist of "Inception" should be a Westerner, but Li Mu is a Chinese director after all. Li Mu's "Inception" is not Nolan's "Inception" after all, Li Mu's "Inception" Inception" must have more genes of Chinese movies.

So Li Mu also wanted to arrange a role for Hong Jinbao, that is, the fat man named Joseph played by Dilipurao in his previous life.

……

On May 5th, the 27th Cannes Film Festival officially closed. Li Mu, Li Lianhua and other "Super Body" related creators returned to China by plane.

After returning to Beijing, I rested for two days, and then officially started the large-scale publicity work before the release of "Super Body".

"Super Body" has been officially scheduled for June 6. It is worth mentioning that this schedule is ten days later than the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and 22 days earlier than the release of "Transformers".

As the film approaches its release, a large-scale publicity effort begins immediately.

There are many means of publicity for movies, but the essence of each means of publicity is to spend money.

It costs money to affix your own movie posters on subway entrances, large shopping malls, national theaters, airports, and bus stations as much as possible.

It costs money to invite print media, TV, Internet and other platforms to report vigorously.

It costs money to send money to media reporters for the development conference, and it costs money to give red envelopes to editors of portal websites such as Sina, Sohu, Tencent, and Netease.

It costs money to find online promoters, it costs money to find moderators in major communities to help promote it, it costs money to buy headlines on news websites, to buy pages for major daily newspapers, and so on.

If Li Mu participates in a TV interview, the content of the interview will be pushed to all potential movie viewers as much as possible in the follow-up, which will also cost money.

Your movie spends a lot of money on publicity and distribution, your movie has a high degree of social discussion, your movie business will have a good reputation, and your movie will have a high ranking after it is released, and a high ranking is a good box office result. Base.

But the good news is that the promotional funds of "Super Body" are very sufficient, and the promotional style can be called "indiscriminate bombing". After nearly a month of large-scale "indiscriminate bombing" of publicity, Li Mu's latest movie Body" finally ushered in its premiere on June 6.

(End of this chapter)