Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1341 Capcom, add money!

"Please, besides Jean-Claude Van Damme, please help us find a Japanese male star to play Long..."

Capcom brought a big check, and they had only one request, that the protagonist of the game (the default choice) must be a Japanese. Otherwise, they really couldn't explain to the domestic game fans.

Capcom didn't know how to make a movie, but their people had all kinds of weird obsessions. For example, the American soldier Coulee had to be played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the martial artist Ryu, who was wearing a white kimono, had to be played by a Japanese.

"Jean-Claude Van Damme is very expensive. His movies have received good reviews from critics, and his price has increased. I don't think you can get him without eight million... In fact, I have an actor here, Lundgren, who is also a karate champion. He can be bought for a lot cheaper."

“But our domestic audience only recognizes Jean Claude Sans.”

"Then you have to pay more..."

"No problem. The president told me before I came here that Ronald-san is our Capcom's benefactor. As long as you think it's right, we will do it..."

"Then I want to ask, why not use a Chinese actor to play Long? Their martial arts skills are very good, and there is no need to find a Japanese actor who can't act in action movies to train him. Anyway, the audience can't tell whether he is Chinese or Japanese..."

When Ronald heard that the other party respected him so much, he told the truth. Qiu Yunbo, who had filmed several action movies for Daydream before, looked quite suitable for the role of Long.

"Please, Ronald-san. Although, although the American audience can't tell the difference, our Japanese audience can tell at a glance that he is not Japanese..."

"What you said makes sense. Let's do it this way. Tell my colleagues if you have any recommendations for Japanese actors. As long as they are handsome and have certain physical conditions, the martial arts instructor we found in Hong Kong will definitely be able to train them to become action actors."

Ronald felt that Capcom still had some thoughts on selling copies in Japan. Since they didn't want to listen to the experts' opinions, he would just do as they said. After all, this kind of action exploitation film was all about making the fighting look good and not having any major flaws in the plot.

"Everything is up to you..." The people at Capcom were overjoyed. All the requests made by the president before were met. This trip was really perfect.

"Since you have invited Jean-Claude Van Damme, you should also invite a few stars who match him. There are twelve roles after all, and there should be two or three who can compete with him. Otherwise, Coulee will have too many roles and the plot of your movie will be unbalanced." Ronald made up his mind to shoot this live-action "Street Fighter" as a daydream project to make money from the Japanese and satisfy his own stars. Anyway, you have many requirements, so just increase the stakes according to these requirements.

"Ha, before we came here, the president said that this actor named Kenya Sawada has the temperament of Ryu..." The visitor presented the photo of the actor. This actor is the game spokesperson of Capcom, and it seems that they have already made up their mind.

"Okay, let's choose him..." Ronald took a look at his resume and found that this person had filmed an action movie in Hong Kong and was familiar with the martial arts there, so he had no worries.

"I don't know, Ronald-san, are there any other stars you think are suitable for Street Fighter? Can Tom Cruise play a role?" The visitor has achieved his highest goal, and now he is thinking, can he invite a Hollywood star to play a role? For example, Cruise-san, who is the most popular among female audiences in Japan?
"Do you know what the most important thing is when making a Hollywood movie?" Ronald laughed. You guys are really imaginative.

"What is it?"

"It's the script. I'll find you the best action movie script. I've already invited many screenwriters of the most popular action movies. Once we have a good script, we can choose the actors based on the script..."

"I'll leave everything to you..." The people from Capcom happily went to report the good news to the president.

"Hey, Rick, Richard, my business is good, right?" Ronald happily asked the two brokers to take the list and talk to the right people.

An outsider, with an investment of 40 million US dollars (which can be increased according to Ronald's request), now the whole Hollywood is excited, especially those practitioners who have experience in action exploitation films and those actors who are not very famous.

For them, outsiders gave them money to try out a new type of film. If they did well, they could improve their status. If they didn't do well, they could get high pay. Is there anything better than this? All of this was brought to them by Ronald.

……

"Richard, Richard, we are old friends. You have to recommend me. I heard that the people from that game company are in Los Angeles. I wrote the script overnight. Please give me a chance..."

The first to smell the smell were the screenwriters. CAA Richard and Niceta's agents also have many screenwriters under their management. When they heard the news, they all came to them to seek a regular chapter.

The most amazing one among them was Steven E. De Sousa, a Philadelphian of Jamaican descent. He wrote the first draft of the script in just one night. When other screenwriters only verbally asked for opportunities, he had already brought the bound script to request an interview with Capcom.

"Your thing is good. I'll take you to see Ronald." Richard flipped through the script. Although it was hastily written, it was surprisingly well organized.

Two martial artists, Long and Ken, try to trick the warlord Sagat into buying fake weapons, but are discovered and forced to fight the Spanish bullfighter Vega.

The drug lord and warlord Bison asked the Indian scientist Dhalsim to transform Blanca into a biochemical fighter. Although disfigured, Blanca still retained a trace of humanity.

Bison kidnapped the UN Secretary-General and demanded a huge ransom. American soldier Guli tracked him to the jungles of Central America, vowing to rescue the hostage and arrest Bison.

News reporter Chunli, whose parents were killed by Bison, is also tracking down this number one villain...

Finally, everyone gathered at Bison's base, defeated Bison, and peace returned to the world.

Eight main characters and four big bosses became several plot lines, which were surprisingly well arranged by the author. The plot did not feel chaotic at all, and the roles of each main character were roughly balanced.

De Souza is a veteran screenwriter of action exploitation films. He previously wrote Running Man and Commando starring Schwarzenegger, and revised the script of Die Hard. These films are all action films with the characteristics of B-level exploitation films. The emphasis is on the plot being generally flawless, highlighting various battle scenes, and giving each protagonist enough time to show off his kung fu...

"Hey, Richard, can we go directly to Capcom? I heard they're paying for this."

"Let me see what I can do..."

De Sousa, who was confused about the situation, immediately lost Richard's favor for him. However, the script was still handed to Ronald.

"He wants to meet people from Capcom and wants to be a director..." Richard told Ronald about De Sousa's idea.

"This guy's script writing is pretty good, but he hasn't directed any works in all these years. It shows that Hollywood still doesn't recognize his directing ability." Ronald flipped through the script and felt that it was in line with the style of this kind of exploitation film.

But most screenwriters want to be directors themselves. De Sousa submitted a resume showing that he wrote and directed his first film, which won a gold medal at a film festival in Atlanta.

The reason why he didn't get the chance to direct might be because of his incompetence, or because his Jamaican ancestry was discriminated against by Hollywood. Ronald didn't want to find out more, anyway, if you want to bypass him and meet with Capcom's people, you can't be the director.

"Let's keep the script and find someone to translate it into Japanese. Let Capcom review it. In theory, they will make the decision." Ronald said with a smile.

Soon, the script translated into Japanese was sent to Capcom's people, and then faxed back to Japan, where it was approved by Capcom's president Kenzo Tsujimoto.

"This script is very good. Ronald-san's vision is indeed extraordinary. The background of each character is explained very clearly, and the protagonist is also arranged very fully. I'm trusting you with everything."

"Okay, as long as you are satisfied. We at Daydream are different from other studios. We fully respect the wishes of the investors." Ronald replied with a smile.

"I wonder what kind of people the director can arrange. Can he find the director of Die Hard as well?"

Ronald frowned. "You don't know, the director of Die Hard was very disobedient. Fox didn't even let him direct the second sequel. But the box office of the second sequel was no less than that of the first one. It shows that for this type of movie, the key is not the director.

We daydream about many directors who are suitable for this kind of movie, for example, there is a movie called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have you seen it?"

"Ah, this movie was also shot by Daydream? It was also shown on Japanese TV... It's very dark, the fighting scenes are very exciting, and the heroine is also very beautiful."

"Although he is not credited, screenwriter Mr. Whedon was involved in a lot of the filming, and I plan to let him direct this film."

"Everything is up to you." Capcom people have a very Japanese aesthetic and have a special fondness for movies that are mainly dark night scenes and indoor shots. Hearing that it was the genius Whedon who created Parfait, he quickly called back to Japan to report the good news. Ronald-san was really helpful and had a great understanding of Japanese culture.

……

De Sousa got what he wanted. He and Richard came together to visit the wealthy sponsor, the contact person from Capcom. This senior staff member would only stay in Los Angeles for one more day and would go back to report to the president.

De Sousa was very happy, which meant that after he met this financial sponsor, other screenwriters would basically have no chance to meet him again.

"Your script is very good. Capcom decided to buy it for 25 million yen, which is 250,000 US dollars..."

Sure enough, Richard did not disappoint him. Capcom directly offered a high price. At this time, most studios are short of money, and there are not many scripts that sell for over 100,000.

"I love Japanese culture... I am the best candidate to be the director of this movie..." De Sousa happily brought out the speech he had prepared, but the other party raised his hand to stop him...

"In Japan, the screenwriter is the screenwriter, the supervisor is the supervisor, you just do your job well..." The people at Capcom were a little annoyed. These Americans were too free and had no rules. Ronald-san had already arranged the candidates, so you shouldn't get involved.

After being reprimanded by the hierarchical Japanese sponsor, De Sousa had to go back home unhappy. The reason why he wrote this script was because his son introduced him to this game. He didn't expect that his dream of becoming a director would not come true. However, it was still a good thing to have a check. He bought a Super Nintendo game console for his son when he returned home.

……

Ronald was reading the script of "The Trap" with Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall. During the break, Yang Yanzi was reporting to him on the filming progress of "The Joy Luck Club". She also brought a sample film for Ronald to watch.

“The quality is very good, but isn’t the progress a little slow?”

The film shot by director Wang Ying is very particular about color and lighting, creating a different feeling from mainstream Hollywood movies. It has a faint atmosphere of "The Last Emperor", which is a good way to shoot a Chinese American story.

If the tone of the film can convey the message that this is not a story for white people, but a Chinese story, and it is also very interesting, it will be good for the box office of the film. The audience still remembers "The Last Emperor" back then, and this feeling of being close to it, edited into a trailer, will definitely awaken their memories.

"Director Wang shoots movies very slowly, and he polishes them over time. The actors come from different places, and their performance methods also need to be polished."

"Tsk..." Ronald knew that what Yang Yanzi said made sense. The actors from the mainland, the local Chinese, the Vietnamese, and the white actors, if they wanted to work together and create a unified style, wouldn't it take time and effort?
Ronald thought for a while and decided not to interfere. These actors were very cheap anyway. It took Asian actresses in Hollywood many years to get the opportunity to play the leading role in a movie like this. To be honest, most of them would be willing to act even without payment.

"Try to move Ming-Na Wen's role forward. My director wants her to play Chun-Li..."

"Okay..." After noting down Ronald's request, Yang Yanzi went back to report the good news to Wang Ying with approval.

"What character is Chun-Li?" Robert Duvall heard what Ronald said and tried his best to imitate Chun-Li's pronunciation.

"It's a movie adapted from a game. It's our latest project and it's a bit experimental..." Ronald explained. The biggest difference from ordinary action movies is the multi-line narrative and as many as twelve main characters.

The audience will first get familiar with the characters, and then look for their plots in the movie. This kind of viewing experience is not available in other movies.

"Hey, in your movie, is there any role for a white female star?" Tom Cruise also heard Ronald's explanation, and later he found an opportunity to talk to Ronald specifically.

"No, there are eight optional characters, four of which fight bosses, and Chun-Li is the only Chinese female. Haven't you played this game? I'll have someone send one to your house..." Ronald explained.

"You know, Nicole hasn't received any good movie script offers recently..."

"Hey, then let them add a role... a female Kung Fu master who works with the American soldier Gu Li to investigate the villain, how about that?" Ronald was delighted when he heard that Nicole Kidman was going to play the role.

Isn't Tom Cruise very popular in Japan? If he can't play the role, his wife will play it, which is also a gimmick.

Capcom, pay more!

(End of this chapter)