The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 498 Acting Career
Within half a month after the premiere of "Project A", Xu Guanwu took Hong Jingbao and other four people almost all over the United States, from Los Angeles in the east, New York in the west, Houston in the south, Sao Paulo in the north... almost every I walked all the major cities, and spent most of the time in the car on average every day.

In addition to interacting with movie fans wherever I go, I record local TV programs, receive interviews from newspapers and magazines, and so on.

Because 20th Century Fox has helped to make arrangements in advance, I received a very warm welcome everywhere I went. Personally, I felt like a superstar tour.

Although staying in the RV for a long time was boring, stuffy and tiring, but being welcomed by so many movie fans, Hong Jingbao and the other four were immediately revived.He enthusiastically interacts with the fans and takes photos, and smiles all over his face when he is interviewed. From time to time, he also poses a few kung fu poses upon request.

However, when the publicity was over and they rushed to the next publicity location by car, everyone was lying on their seats too tired to move.Seeing them getting thinner and thinner, Xu Guanwu couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

However, it is precisely because of this kind of hard-working publicity that the box office of the movie "Project A" has been rising steadily. A week later, the box office reached 500 million US dollars, and half a month later it reached 400 million US dollars.It wasn't until three weeks after its release that the box office began to drop.

In the end, the movie "Project A" has a box office revenue of 5000 million and 200 million US dollars in the United States, which has set a box office record for a Hong Kong film in the United States and a box office record for a Hong Kong film.

Once the news was announced, it immediately caused a sensation in Hollywood.People have never imagined that a movie with an investment of only 500 million US dollars can have such a fierce box office, which is completely beyond people's expectations.

The filmmakers in Hong Kong were even more excited when they heard the news, thinking that the day when Hong Kong films will enter Hollywood on a large scale is not far away.Hong Kong citizens are looking forward to it, hoping to see "Project A" released in Hong Kong as soon as possible, so that they can also feast their eyes.

In order to cooperate with the publicity work of the American summer vacation, the film "Project A" has been focusing on the production of the English version since the filming was completed, so the production of the Cantonese and Mandarin versions has been postponed.As a result, the movie has almost finished its release in the United States, but it has not yet been released in Hong Kong.

Xu Guanwu didn't expect "Plan A" to be so popular. At first, he thought it would be good to recover the cost, but the result is naturally more satisfying to him.

A movie with an investment of 500 million yuan was spent on follow-up promotion of another 500 million yuan, most of which was borne by 20th Century Fox, which is equivalent to a movie with a total investment of 1000 million yuan, in exchange for a box office of 5000 million US dollars.No matter for the production company, distribution company, or theater chain, it has already been counted as a victory.

Although the revenue of 5000 million US dollars is far inferior to that of "Jaws", "Rocky", "Star Wars", etc., it is already regarded as a dark horse movie with a small fortune.

And this movie also made many Hollywood production companies see the potential hidden in Hong Kong movies, especially the potential hidden in Hong Kong filmmakers.They can make very exciting movies at a very low price. The average investment is only 30 million US dollars, which is not enough to invest in a low-cost film in the United States, but they can bring at least 300 million at the box office when they are released in the United States. It is definitely a good deal that can make a profit without losing money.

Therefore, after the release of "Project A", many small and medium-sized Hollywood film companies went to Hong Kong to make money, and Shaw Brothers, which was already weak, and Golden Harvest, which was becoming more and more marginalized, regained the favor of American film companies.Of course, this is all for later.

"Project A" achieved good box office results in the United States and became an instant hit, which also made Cheng Long and others become stars of some sort.In addition to newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc. starting to ask them to do interviews, there are also many Hollywood film companies wanting to invite them to film, and the remuneration has already reached the level of one million dollars.

Among them, Cheng Long's salary is the highest, and a film company is willing to offer 250 million US dollars to invite him to star in an action movie.The second is Di Wei, who used one against three in the film, showing super kung fu strength, and his film salary was also called 80 US dollars.Followed by Hong Jingbao and Yuan Biao, the film salary is about 50 US dollars.

The reason why Hong Jingbao and Yuan Biao are not as high as Di Wei's asking price is because Di Wei's image is strong and powerful, and his muscles are pleasing to the eye, which caters more to the tastes of European and American audiences.Although Hong Jingbao's skills are also very good, but after all, his image is damaged by his fat body.

And Yuan Biao was robbed of the limelight by the first three. Although his kung fu was also very good, it was not well demonstrated in the film, which made people doubt his strength.In addition, Yuan Biao's appearance is really lackluster, thin and thin, and his appearance is ordinary, which really does not meet the heroic image in the minds of European and American audiences.

……

Xu Guanwu couldn't help being stunned when he got this report. He didn't expect Di Wei, who played the role of the villain, to be more popular than his elder brother Hong Jingbao, nor did he expect Cheng Long's salary to rise so high all of a sudden.

To be honest, as a newcomer who has just made a name for himself in the United States, a salary between US$50 and US$100 million is considered reasonable, no matter how high or low it is, it is very rare.

When Stallone filmed "Rocky", the box office was as high as [-] million U.S. dollars, but the salary was only in the million-dollar level. It can be seen that the salary system in the United States is strict, and it is not possible to increase it casually.
But Cheng Long suddenly jumped to 250 million. In addition to being very brilliant in the movie "Project A", it is actually related to his previous movies released in the United States.

Before, Xu Guanwu used National Entertainment Company to screen many Hong Kong films produced by Xu's family in the United States. Although the scale of the screenings was not large, and the box office was only a few million dollars, it was very impressive after a long period of time. The United States also has certain fans.In addition, a film company had invited him to make a film before, so in short, he is in Hollywood, and he can no longer be viewed according to the standard of a pure rookie.

Although the films of Hong Jingbao, Yuan Biao and others have also been screened in the United States, to be honest, they are not as influential as Cheng Long's several films. In addition, the limelight of the two in the movie "Project A" was taken away by Cheng Long, so The remuneration can only be calculated according to the standards of newcomers.

However, because Di Wei stole the limelight with one enemy and three in the final battle, and American audiences love villains very much, and Di Wei is tall, strong, powerful and muscular, which fits the image of a tough guy in the hearts of American audiences, so instead Better than Hong Jingbao, Yuan Biao and others.

……

Although Cheng Long's film salary is already very high, at least dozens of times higher than his film salary in Hong Kong, but Xu Guanwu does not want to bring him to Hollywood in the United States immediately.In addition to Cheng Long's current reputation is a bit vain, and he lacks good movies to prove himself, there are also Hollywood film companies who have always paid little attention to Chinese people. money.Once the reputation declines, he will be kicked out of the door immediately.Li Lianjie, Cheng Long, Zhou Runfa, Wu Yusen, Yu Rentai, etc. all encountered this kind of thing.

In Hollywood, business is paramount, profit is paramount, and there is absolutely no humanity to speak of.No matter how big-name filmmakers are, they are like tools. If they are used smoothly, they will continue to use them, and if they are not used smoothly, they will be discarded directly.This is especially true for Chinese actors. In addition to consuming their original fame, Hollywood filmmakers never make career plans for them. Inviting them to film in Hollywood is just hoping to use them to open up the Asian market.

Xu Guanwu managed to cultivate Cheng Long and others to become famous, so he naturally didn't want to be taken away by the greedy Hollywood film company, and after using up their use value, he ruthlessly kicked them out of the door.

He has already made an acting career plan for Cheng Long and others. First, he will make a name for himself in the United States with the help of a few Hong Kong films, and then by the way, he will guest star or play the main role in a few Hollywood films, and gradually build up his own solid fan base. Then enter Hollywood when the momentum is at its peak, and establish the status of a first-line red star in one fell swoop with a certain blockbuster movie.

According to Xu Guanwu's plan, it will take at least three to five years to reach this level.And three to five years later, Cheng Long will only be 30 years old, which is the time when he is in the prime of life and able to fight hard. This is much better than when he was in his 90s after the [-]s and had to fight to the death on the screen.

Cheng Long, who was the most famous, was treated in such a low-key manner. As for Hong Jingbao and Yuan Biao, whose worth and talent obviously did not match, Xu Guanwu naturally treated them coldly in the same way. He was not in a hurry to let them enter the United States, but dealt with them according to Cheng Long's routine.

But for the actor Di Wei, Xu Guanwu thinks it is better for him to stay in Hollywood for development.There are many dragon and tiger martial artists in Hong Kong, and there are even more dragon and tiger martial artists like Di Wei, so one more of him is not too many, and one less of him is not much, it is not that important to Xu.

However, if you stay in the United States and make a film, earning a salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars is naturally much better than earning only tens of thousands of dollars in Hong Kong, which is naturally a great joy for Di Wei.In addition, what Hollywood values ​​is Di Wei's skill, as long as he can continue to play, it will be of value to Hollywood.And Di Wei is only in his 20s now, and he can play for at least another 20 years in the future. Even if he can no longer play at that time, the salary he has accumulated over the years is enough to allow him to spend his old age safely.

Therefore, it is beneficial for Di Wei to stay and develop in Hollywood, USA, and there is no loss to the company, so why not do it? !
……

Xu Guanwu then called Hong Jingbao and the others over, and told them his thoughts.Xu Guanwu didn't want to hide this matter from them, and also wanted to hear their opinions.After all, for a movie actor, being able to stay in Hollywood and film is a rare thing.

In addition to gaining more fame and status by filming in Hollywood, the huge income is also the most important reason, and it is difficult for ordinary people to avoid this temptation.

When Cheng Long heard that his salary had reached 250 million US dollars, he couldn't help being stunned. 250 million U.S. dollars, more than 500 million when converted into Hong Kong dollars.If you take this money back to Hong Kong, you will become a multi-millionaire.This kind of temptation was really too great, and Cheng Long fell into a sluggish state for a while.

Di Wei was also taken aback when his salary was called 80 US dollars, but he is also a soldier, and his willpower is much stronger than ordinary people, so he just grinned.

When Hong Jingbao and Yuan Biao heard that their salary was not as good as Di Wei's, both of them had unbelievable expressions on their faces, but luckily they didn't become angry, Xu Guanwu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"My plan is like this. Di Wei, do you want to stay in Hollywood and film, or go back to Hong Kong with us?" Xu Guanwu asked Di Wei.

Di Wei looked at Brother Hong Jingbao, smiled at Xu Guanwu, and said, "I listened to Mr. Xu's orders. Mr. Xu wants me to stay in Hollywood, so I will stay in Hollywood to develop. Mr. Xu wants me to go back to Hong Kong, and I have absolutely nothing to say." .”

Xu Guanwu couldn't help chuckling when he heard it, Di Wei's words were really tactful, saying that he didn't say that no one would be offended.

"Aaron, do you want to stay in the United States to develop, or go back to Hong Kong with me?" Xu Guanwu asked Cheng Long again.

(End of this chapter)