Chapter 548 Sino-US Co-production
In Beijing, China, Guo Fan and Liu Ji had just come out from watching "The Mystery of the Spell 3" and they were still discussing the movie.
But the discussion had nothing to do with the movie, but the people involved in the project.
Guo Fan said: "I studied in this crew at the beginning. There are many people from Hong Kong Island in the crew, and they were brought over by Director Tsui Hark."
"It seems that Director Tsui Hark has great ambitions. I heard that Director Tsui Hark accepted a film from Universal Pictures. It was this series of films that laid the foundation for him to have the opportunity to direct a Hollywood film." Liu Ji said.
After "Wind Whisperer", John Woo returned to Hong Kong in despair. On the contrary, Tsui Hark directed the second and third installments of "The Mystery of the Spell", all of which achieved good success and also got a ticket to Hollywood.
For Mr. Xu, this is an opportunity. For Hong Kong filmmakers, especially those working behind the scenes, it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Hong Kong filmmakers have been developing in Hollywood for more than ten years, and they have indeed brought many unique Hong Kong things to Hollywood.
But nowadays, the popular Hong Kong style is gradually losing its power in Hollywood. So-called kung fu movies are no longer popular in Hollywood, and audiences are tired of flashy fighting action.
A route pioneered by Tsui Hark is that the Hong Kong behind-the-scenes staff who followed him fully learned the popular industrial production model of Hollywood and became part of the thousands of behind-the-scenes staff in Hollywood.
But this learning comes at a price, that is, leaving Hollywood, they will not be able to play what they learned.
So if Tsui Hark wants to stay in Hollywood, he will naturally not let go of such an opportunity. He brought his behind-the-scenes crew with him, and most stayed with him in Hollywood.
It’s just that Tsui Hark, like John Woo, cannot afford the price of failure.
As a Chinese director, the situation he faces when he fails is much higher than that of other Hollywood directors.
What Guo Fan and Liu Ji were talking about was Tsui Hark's prospects in Hollywood, and Liu Ji was very pessimistic.
"I don't think Director Tsui Hark can gain a foothold in Hollywood." Liu Ji said: "The success of the "Mystery of the Spell" series depends on luck.
Most importantly, the film was produced by director Gilbert Jr.
Director Tsui Hark left director Gilbert Jr., and I don’t think he can survive in the fiercely competitive Hollywood. "
Guo Fan said: "You mean, he will eventually have to return to Hong Kong Island?"
"Return to Hong Kong Island?" Liu Ji said disdainfully: "Will he be buried with Hong Kong films? I think it is better to go north."
Liu Ji has always felt that the current situation in the Chinese film market, which is dominated by Hong Kong Islanders, is quite bad. The main reason is that the Hong Kong Islanders are too arrogant and look down on mainlanders.
You can't make it in Hong Kong Island, why don't you look down on mainland filmmakers when you go north to develop? It's just baffling.
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Liu Ji asked Guo Fan: "By the way, what are you planning to do for our company's next project?
I see they are all filming costume movies, how about you come too? "
Guo Fan touched his newly grown beard and thought: "Forget it, the field of costume blockbusters is not suitable for me. I want to make a war movie next."
"War movie? Will the investment be huge?" Liu Ji asked.
"You have to invest heavily, and you can also practice your skills." Guo Fan said firmly.
If you can’t make a science fiction film for the time being, then make a subject that interests you. Guo Fan still remembers what little Gilbert said: You must shoot subjects that interest you to be motivated.
Guo Fan thinks it makes sense. Apart from science fiction films, he is most interested in war themes, so he plans to make war films.
"Okay, I support you. Let's have a drink with Lao Wang later and settle the investment." Liu Ji said.
"Okay, we big men from Lu Province are not afraid of drinking. Let's go and deal with Lao Wang now."
"Walk!"
"Let's go!" The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder and went to find the coal boss Lao Wang, who was also their investor.
The crew of "Spellbound 3" came to China for promotion and received a warm welcome from fans. Everywhere he went, it almost sparked carnival among movie fans.
Because of the participation of the Hong Kong Island production team, the media even gave it the title of a Sino-US co-production, making it a model.
It is also because of the perfect performance of the "Mystery of the Spell" series that the trilogy has grossed a total of 1.6 billion US dollars at the box office, making many Chinese film companies start to covet this piece of cake.
No, Huayi Brothers, known as the number one entertainment company in the mainland, approached Cheng Long, who was doing publicity, and discussed with him to see if they could contact Little Gilbert so that they could make a real Sino-US co-production.
Huayi CEO Wang Zhongjun made it very clear: "We can invite Lian Jie, Bingbing and Shu Chang to participate, and find a few foreign stars."
Cheng Long has been in Hollywood and knows that this matter is not as simple as it sounds.
He declined politely: "Mr. Wang, if you want to do this well, you have to have a good idea. For our project "The Mystery of the Spell", the entire story was personally controlled by Director Gilbert Jr."
He knows how to integrate Chinese culture and the core of Hollywood blockbusters to control the overall quality of the film.
Movies tell stories, but doing so is not easy. "
Although Cheng Long poured cold water on Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhongjun did not give up.
In fact, Huayi Brothers invested in Star Chi-Chow's "Kung Fu" last year. This film was also led by Columbia Pictures Asia Branch and was responsible for overseas distribution.
The film has achieved good results, with a box office of 173 million RMB in the mainland, HK$61 million in Hong Kong Island, and a global box office of US$105 million.
Not only that, the film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won multiple international awards, although none of them were very important.
If it weren't for the "Mystery of the Spell" series, "Kung Fu" could almost become a model for co-productions.
Although the "Mystery of the Spell" series is called a co-production by the media, in fact, there is no participation from a Chinese producer, which makes it seem unworthy of the name.
So seeing how profitable this series is and how much profit they have made from "Kung Fu", Huayi Brothers' ambitions are very, very big.
So, the two brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei discussed it and simply sent a person to Los Angeles to contact Melon Studio to see if Gilbert Jr. was interested in Sino-US co-production.
By the time this man arrived in Los Angeles, little Gilbert was already in Australia.
Anna, who stayed at the Cantaloupe Studio, knew that her boss was always interested in novel projects. After carefully understanding the situation, she called Little Gilbert in Australia and sent an email with a detailed explanation.
"Huayi Brothers? Are you looking for me to make a China-U.S. co-production?" A question mark appeared on Little Gilbert's head: "Isn't this kind of thing usually done by China Film Group?"
Anna explained on the phone: "If the intention to cooperate is reached, China Film will also participate. It is just an idea at the moment, and I think it has good prospects."
If Gilbert Jr. is willing to endorse it, this project does have prospects for profitability.
Little Gilbert seems to remember a movie called "The King of Kung Fu", in which Cheng Long and Lian Jie Li participated, as well as a large number of Chinese actors such as the fairy sister.
It's a pity that the story of that movie was too bad, Chinese audiences didn't like it, and foreign audiences couldn't understand it, so Gorgeous failed.
Little Gilbert still remembers that fans of Fairy Sister loved this film, as it was the representative work of Fairy Sister, an international movie star.
But then "Mulan" came out, and the status of "Kung Fu King" was replaced.
(End of chapter)