The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 484 New Movie "1937"

Regarding the new movie, Lee Sheng-yew actually started thinking about it after confirming the filming of "Sicario".

The situation in the past year, the box office reputation and awards of "Sicario" have made him more certain of his ideas.

He should not just make movies that make money, he should make movies that can make money, have a good reputation, and preferably win awards.

You have to leave your name in the history of movies, so that you can live up to your time travel.

There is no doubt that such a movie is an absolute masterpiece. It not only has commercial value, but also has high artistic quality. It is very difficult to find.

Lee Sheng-yew thought about it for a long time and finally decided that the new movie would be the Chinese version of "1917" - "1937".

In Lee Sheng-yew's previous life, "1917" was a war movie released in 2020.

This movie tells the story of World War I. Two British soldiers passed through many obstacles and delivered important information to friendly forces on the other side, saving [-] soldiers.

Due to the special release time of this movie and the fact that there was almost no publicity for this movie in the Mainland, the box office in the Mainland was average.

However, "1917" did very well at the global box office, taking in US$[-] million.

There are many stories about ordinary soldiers traveling across the battlefield to deliver intelligence. Lee Sheng-yew didn't need to worry about making this movie, because someone would jump out and say it was plagiarism.

In fact, he will arrange for people to search for the deeds of the 1937 Battle of Songhu. He believes that he can find a brave senior who crossed the battlefield and sent important information to the friendly forces.

He made this type of movie in advance, and when Hollywood makes "1917", he will accuse Hollywood of plagiarizing his story.

Such stories are full of positive energy and will easily pass the review.

And this movie is a war movie.

Mainland audiences actually like to watch war movies. "Assembly", "The [-]", and "Changjin Lake" are all war movies.

"1917" has an average box office in the mainland. Except for the special time, there is almost no publicity. The main reason is that it is difficult for mainland audiences to empathize with it. This is a story about British soldiers.

If the story is set in the Battle of Songhu, the protagonist is a Chinese.

Lee Sing-yew believes that the movie will definitely attract a lot of audiences.

The reason why Lee Sheng Yew chose to Chinese-language "1917" was not only because the movie had a good box office, but also because it set a new record in the history of movies.

This new record was shot in one shot.

Looking at the entire movie "1917", it seems that there is no editing, only one long shot, as if two soldiers were running around all day, and the camera followed them all day long.

This is the first time in film history that a feature-length film has done this, and it is for this reason that "1917" has won many awards.

The heavyweight awards include the following year's Golden Globe Awards for Best Director, Best Feature Film, ten Oscar nominations, and three awards for Cinematography, Soundtrack, and Visual Effects.

In addition, in the British "Oscar"-Film Academy Awards, it received nine nominations and won seven of them, becoming the most profitable film at the British Academy Awards in 2021.

There is only one long shot in the entire movie, and this stunt is attractive enough.

Such attempts can easily attract the appreciation of those filmmakers who are engaged in artistic creation.

Of course, "1917" does not really have just one shot, but compared to ordinary movies, this movie does have fewer cuts, with a total of 22 editing points. The longest shot is 8 minutes long, and the other shots are at least 3 minutes.

An 8-minute long shot is long enough that a normal person can walk two miles in 8 minutes.

Because there are few edits and all are long shots, the actors are required to perform a long scene smoothly.

It is a huge test for photographers, prop masters, actors, and directors.

Lee Sheng Yew chose to localize "1917", and if the production is successful, it will indeed receive huge honors. Not to mention the Oscars, the Las Palmas International Film Festival will definitely welcome it.

But if it fails and the tiger is not an anti-dog, it will probably become a laughing stock in the film and television industry.

So choosing this movie brings both opportunities and dangers.

Lee Sheng-yew did not hesitate. He wrote the script and then handed it over to the Radio and Television Station to apply for a filming license.

……

At 10 o'clock in the morning on this day, Li Shengyao was writing the planning book for "1937" at home.

The radio and television side is still reviewing it, and there should be a reply within three or four days.

Li Shengyao plans to write a plan first.

At this time, he received a call from Toby Emmerich. This Warner executive came to Yanjing again.

In fact, this situation will become more and more common soon.

With the development of the Chinese film market, more and more senior executives of Hollywood film companies will come to the mainland in the future.

Soon after, Li Shengyao met Toby Emmerich and his secretary, a hot blonde.

Toby wore a suit and trousers with black leather shoes, looking very formal.

"Li, congratulations. "Sicario" has been very successful in beautiful countries and Europe."

"Sicario" was first released in mainland Southeast Asia, and then in Europe and the United States in mid-April. With its excellent reputation, it earned US$500 million in box office in beautiful countries, and nearly US$3000 million in Europe combined.

The male and female protagonists of this movie have almost no appeal in Europe and the United States. This result is considered very good.

Lee Sing-yew can earn tens of millions of dollars again.

He smiled and said, "It's okay, as long as I don't lose money."

He then poured Toby and the blond secretary each a cup of coffee.

"Man, what brings you to Yanjing?"

"Li, I need some help from you. Warner has some good movies this year. We believe these movies can achieve success in the Chinese market. I would like to ask you to help us promote them."

"It's a little thing."

Warner executives can be said to be ambitious this year. They will successively launch movies such as "Life As I Know It", "Cowboys Are Bad", "Cats and Dogs 2", "Jade City 2", "Inception" and so on.

These movies are not restricted-rated movies and can be released in the mainland. They hope to get a piece of the pie in the mainland.

Lee Sheng-yew has a navy, a glamorous video, and a theater network, which is perfect for publicity.Hearing this, Toby clapped his hands happily, "Li, our cooperation is great. Others complained about me before, thinking that I shouldn't be too close to you. Now everyone has seen that the Chinese market is good enough, and Hollywood can't." Leave this place out.”

Toby still felt amazing when he thought about what Li Shengyao said before.

Before the filming of "Rescue 23" started, Lee Sheng-yew said that the Chinese market would grow rapidly. Although Toby believed this at the time, he did not expect it to be so fast.

Based on the growth rate of the Chinese film market this year, within one or two years at the latest, the Chinese film market will surpass the island nation and become the second largest film market in the world.

Li Shengyao smiled and said, "There will be more surprising results in the future."

Toby chimed in, and he went on to say something about Hollywood.

For example, Michael Jackson's documentary made a lot of money last year, and this year many film companies are eyeing it again, hoping to make a killing.

In addition, production of Nolan's new film "Inception" has been completed, and the movie theater executives held viewing sessions, and the response was very good.

In addition, Paramount has made peace with Tom Cruise, and they will produce "Mission: Impossible 4" together.

Li Shengyao chatted with Toby. He felt that Toby had other things besides asking Fenghua to help with publicity.

Ten minutes later, Toby revealed his other purpose.

"Lee, regarding The Hangover, do you want to develop a sequel?"

"I have this idea, but I'm not ready yet. Let's see when I have more free time."

The first part of "The Hangover" grossed more than 4 million US dollars worldwide. It would be unreasonable for a movie like this not to make a sequel.

Lee Sing-yew has already written the scripts for the two movies "The Hangover 23".

But he never took it out before.

He himself did not want to go to the beautiful country to shoot the sequel. He was worried that the Hollywood company would ask for more share, so he did not take it.

Now that he relies on the mainland market and has enough confidence to negotiate with Hollywood companies, it is naturally time to shoot a sequel.

However, Toby's attitude is obviously because he wants Lee Sheng-yew to cooperate with Warner Bros.

He cannot show his bottom line, he should be the one manipulating emotions.

Toby did not doubt what Li Shengyao said, "Lee, if you want to start "The Hangover 2", you can cooperate with Warner. We already have a basis for cooperation, and the next cooperation will be smoother. This is a friendship that other companies do not have."

Li Shengyao smiled, took a sip of tea, and said, "I will consider it."

"Li, we can maintain the previous cooperation model, which is still [-]/[-], with you accounting for [-]% and Warner accounting for [-]%. We will solve the problems in the beautiful country. You only need to sit and count the money."

Warner's resources in Hollywood should be second only to Disney, which is very good.

Lee Sheng-yew's heart belongs to Warner Bros., but he doesn't plan to say it now.

What is easy to obtain cannot show its value. He plans to talk about it in a few days.

"Toby, I will give you an answer within a week at the latest."

When Toby heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the coffee cup and drank it in one gulp. At this time, he felt much more relaxed.

"Li, Brother Tom knew I was coming to Yanjing and asked me to pass on a few words to you."

''you say. "

"Tom Cruise and Paramount have reached a cooperation agreement, and "Mission: Impossible 4" is about to be produced. Cruise watched "Sicario" and said it was very cool and the movie was very interesting. He looks forward to cooperating with you."

Toby finished his words with a complicated look on his face, "He hopes you can seriously consider creating a blockbuster movie worth [-] to [-] billion US dollars together."

The "Mission: Impossible" project is loved by everyone who has watched it. Even if "Mission: Impossible 3" suffered a slight loss that year, this series still has extremely high value.

Warners doesn't have a franchise like this.

If possible, Toby would like to invite Lee Sung-yew to direct in the beautiful country.

After all, a movie like this can indeed hit the global box office of US$[-] billion.

No matter what director he is, he probably won't refuse such box office results.

Toby continued: "Tom Cruise also said that he will cherish the opportunity to work with you, whether it is filming or editing, he will seriously consider your opinions."

Unless the director of Tom Cruise's movie is Spielberg, he can't control him. It's all up to Cruise to decide how to shoot and edit the movie.

He is very confident and arrogant. He said that he is willing to seriously consider Li Shengyao's opinions and ideas, which is already a relatively mild attitude.

However, Li Shengyao naturally would not believe it. He knew very well that a proud man like Tom had such good results in the past that he had formed a set of concepts on success and could not accommodate others.

Besides, even if Tom is willing to give up the editing rights, he is willing to follow Director Li's command.

Even Lee Sheng Yew would not travel far across the ocean to make a popcorn movie.

Really boring.

Now he wants to make interesting movies and become a puppet, which is not what he wants.

"Toby, if you meet Tom Cruise, just tell him that it's a pity that I can't cooperate with him. I have decided on a new movie and I will not leave the mainland."

When Toby heard this, he gloated and nodded, "Li, I will convey your meaning completely."

Li Shengyao smiled and then went on to talk about some things in Hollywood and the mainland film industry.

Regarding the production of the sequel to "The Hangover", he basically intends to cooperate with Warner.

I'll get a reply from Toby in a few days.

At that time, some people will be arranged to go to the beautiful country to form a crew, and he will concentrate on preparing "1937".

To achieve the effect of a fake one-shot, this film requires a lot of preparation and effort. Before the filming of "1917" started, the actors rehearsed and walked for six months.

Li Shengyao also has high requirements here.

(End of this chapter)