director of the millennium

Chapter 829 Linda Emery

"So, we don't need to finance Bruce Lee this time?"

In the general manager's office of Guangying Times, Li Xiaoping was making a long-distance call.

The person who communicated with her on the phone was naturally Wu Yuan who was far away in Los Angeles.

"Well, we don't need to spend money." Wu Yuan said with an obvious smile on the phone: "As soon as Hollywood heard that I was going to make a new movie, a biopic, they came to my door waving money."

"They haven't even read the script yet, but they are patting their chests and guaranteeing that they can cover all the production costs."

"And they are willing to give me 10% of the box office share."

"That is to say, Director Wu, you don't have to spend a penny, and you can still get 10% of the box office after the movie is released?" Li Xiaoping asked in surprise.

Although the number 10% seems small, it is already a terrifying number.

Because Wu Yuan does not need to bear any production costs.

In other words, he has no risk. Even if the movie only has a box office of 100 million in the end, he can still take 10 of the box office without any burden, and then make the producer lose all the money.

Of course, no one wants to see this situation.

"Yes, this is the condition given by Disney. I can't help but be tempted." Wu Yuan said with emotion: "Disney has not made any outstanding live-action movies in recent years, and has made no achievements in awards. Now they are really anxious."

"They wanted to make a live-action movie of Mulan before, and approached Sissi to play the lead role. But after much discussion, she was not willing to back down at all. The director they found and the script they wrote were very different from the original plot, so they didn't agree in the end."

"Now that Sissi is pregnant, it's even more impossible to make this movie in the short term."

"I heard that they finally found a Chinese-American actress from Hollywood to play the role. Her name is Wang Keying. She has starred in Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV series. She is considered a Disney family member."

"But she is of Chinese-American descent, and her looks are more European and American. Even if she dyes her hair black, it will definitely be out of place."

"Apart from this movie, Disney has made no achievements in art films in recent years and has not won an Oscar for many years."

"No wonder they are so generous." Li Xiaoping suddenly realized, "If we can label your new film as a Disney production, let alone 10% of the box office, even 20% is something Disney can do if they grit their teeth."

"After all, this is an art film, and the cost itself is not that high. Disney is rich and can afford the loss. As long as it can win awards, it will be worth it."

From the perspective of company operations, Li Xiaoping strongly agrees with Disney's decisiveness.

For one of the world's top film production companies like Disney, a movie with an investment of tens of millions of dollars is not a lot of money for them.

Disney's annual revenue from movies alone is several billion dollars, and many of its investments have resulted in losses.

Disney has never lacked money, what it lacks is good scripts.

For Disney, spending tens of millions of dollars to win an Oscar for Best Picture is definitely worth it.

Not to mention that Wu Yuan’s films actually have a very low chance of losing money. Even if they are art films, they can basically break even.

As long as Disney can get this movie and become the producer, even if it gives Wu Yuan 10% of the box office revenue, it won’t be a big deal. At most, it will earn a little less or suffer a small loss of or million US dollars.

Even Light and Shadow Era can afford to lose this amount of money, let alone Disney! If Light and Shadow Era can spend 10 or 20 million US dollars to get an Oscar for Best Picture, Li Xiaoping will do it without hesitation!
Unfortunately, Light and Shadow Times is not an American film company. If a movie is produced by Light and Shadow Times, it will not be able to be shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Oscars and can only compete for the International Best Picture Award.

This is also the reason why Wu Yuan was attracted to cooperate with Disney.

Disney also promised to do its best to help Wu Yuan's new film win the Oscar for Best Picture, which in layman's terms means it will spend a lot of money on public relations for the judges.

Originally, Wu Yuan was actually a little hesitant about whether "Bruce Lee" should participate in the three major European awards or the Oscars.

At first, his idea was to use this movie to win an Oscar, after all, Bruce Lee himself is a legendary Chinese movie star in Hollywood.

But there were many twists and turns in the process, and Wu Yuan even sold his company in Hollywood. He even gave up the idea of ​​winning an Oscar.

But this time, Disney's promise made him feel he could give it a try.

The Oscars and the like are secondary. What's most important is a sucker who is willing to bear all the production costs, bear the public relations expenses for winning awards, and also give 10% of the box office share. It's really rare!
"I have basically agreed to Disney's terms." Wu Yuan said easily, "From now on, the promotion of this film will be left to Disney."

"We don't need to worry about the follow-up matters."

“I think it’s good to spend other people’s money and make my own movie.”

This movie was not originally intended to be a commercial box office hit, and Wu Yuan did not expect it to make much at the box office. A conservative estimate is that it could make 30 to 40 million US dollars in North America, and 400 to 500 million RMB in mainland China.

The estimated cost of shooting this film is about 30 to 40 million U.S. dollars. After all, it is shot in the United States, and the cost is in line with Hollywood.

With all this calculation, the best this movie can do is break even or make a small profit of 1 million RMB.

If he just took 10% of the box office share, he would actually earn about the same.

However, Guangying Times does not need to use the money on the books, which is a very comfortable situation.

"But after Disney learned that the biographical film I was going to make was about Bruce Lee, they made a request."

On the phone, Wu Yuan added: "Disney hopes to have Emma Stone play the leading female role, that is, Bruce Lee's wife Linda Emery."

“But I was originally thinking of approaching Gwyneth Paltrow for the role.”

"I think her temperament is more in line with Linda Emery, and her image is more gentle, and she is a typical blonde wife beauty."

Let’s not talk about anything else, just look at Gwyneth Paltrow’s role as Pepper Potts. Who wouldn’t say that she looks like a real wife?

Moreover, she is an Oscar-winning actress, and her acting skills are not much worse than Emma Stone.

However, if Disney becomes the financial sponsor, Wu Yuan will still have to consider their requirements.

After all, although Linda Emery is the heroine, in a biographical film about a male figure, this heroine is not that important.

Li Xiaoping could not give any suggestions for Wu Yuan's complaints. After all, she never participated in the company's film casting and was only responsible for overall planning.

"Then it depends on what you, Director Wu, choose." She even wanted to tease Wu Yuan on the phone, "It depends on whether you want Disney to be a sucker or you want a heroine that satisfies you."

(End of this chapter)