The king of ghost horse comedy

78 Back to Hong Kong

The producer of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is Michael Douglas. When Xu Guanwu saw this name for the first time, he felt familiar.

But when he saw himself, he suddenly realized, "It turned out to be him!"

Michael Douglas, a well-known Hollywood film actor, has starred in films such as "Wall Street" and "King of California", and once won the Oscar for Best Actor for "Wall Street".

The most enviable and jealous thing is that this guy eats young grass and married a peerless stunner who is 24 years younger than him—Catherine Zeta Jones.

"Mr. Douglas, hello!" Xu Guanwu stretched out his hand and said with a smile.

Michael Douglas is the first time to work as a producer. His purpose is to fulfill his father's wish - to make "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" into a movie and release it on the big screen.

His father, Kirk Douglas, is also a mythical figure in Hollywood, playing the role of countless tough guys.And the most commendable thing about this person is that he has always maintained the true qualities of a tough guy in front of and behind the scenes.

While other stars were still content to be the director's puppet, Douglas had set up a production company, starred in his own movies, and developed.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my father's favorite book, and he has always hoped to put it on the big screen. But you also know that the movie market is very depressed now. I took this script and searched for people, and they all I don't want to take money out of my pocket. So, sir, you are my last chance." Michael Douglas said pitifully.

Xu Guanwu smiled slightly, "How much does this movie need to invest?"

"$300 million should be enough, because we need a lot of extras for this film, and we need to pay a lot of rental fees to the shooting location." Michael Douglas explained.

Xu Guanwu smiled, no wonder it was difficult for him to get funds.

"Leaping Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a typical social and political film of the 70s, and it basically conveys the same ideas as the scripts that Xu Guanwu had seen before.

All are accusing the injustice of the world, criticizing the greed of capitalism, and advocating the freedom and liberation of human nature.

But this kind of art film is without exception, and the box office is all very miserable.

Investing $300 million in such an art film is likely to lose everything.

In order to make money, those Hollywood film companies have all overthrown their ideas on tertiary restricted films. How can they still spend money on such Yangchun Baixue films?
"Sir, if 300 million US dollars is too much, I can reduce it a little more." Seeing that Xu Guanwu didn't answer immediately, Michael Douglas said hastily.

"No, I was wondering if 300 million dollars is enough." Xu Guanwu waved his hand and smiled.

"So, sir, are you planning to invest?" Michael Douglas said excitedly.

"Yes, I am very optimistic about this work, and I believe it will become a classic in film history." Xu Guanwu nodded.

Works that can be included in China's "Chinese Reader" must have achieved considerable ideological and artistic achievements, otherwise they would never be selected.

"Thank you sir, thank you very much." Michael Douglas looked very excited.

……

Signed a contract with Michael Douglas, agreeing that Xu Guanwu fully invested in the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and enjoyed the copyright of this film.

Michael Douglas and his father Kirk Douglas enjoy 15% of the box office net profit, of which Kirk Douglas himself gets 10% because he originally paid for the script.

Michael Douglas probably knew that the film would not be a big hit, and it was possible to cast it to fulfill his father's dream, so he did not charge the production fee, and only received 5% of the film's net profit.

After the contract was signed, Xu Guanwu paid the funds generously, and everyone was happy.

The news that Xu Guanwu invested in the filming of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was reported by the media somehow.

There was an uproar in American society.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" or "Fly Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a product of the hippie movement in the 60s in the United States. Together with "The Catcher in the Rye" and "On the Road", it is called the three masterpieces and is worshiped and respected by hippies all over the United States.

This book was later staged on Broadway, starring the famous Hollywood tough guy Kirk Douglas as McMurphy. It was screened for 63 performances in two years from 64 to 82. It can be said that it has been greatly welcomed.

But now the grand occasion is hard to come by, the hippie movement has been replaced by the yuppie movement, and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", which was regarded as a masterpiece before, has naturally lost its aura.

Kirk Douglas didn't like to see the eight major Hollywood film companies. He thought that in pursuit of profits, they used all the actors as tools to make money and manipulated them like puppets.

So after obtaining the copyright of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", although some film companies wanted to cast this movie, Kirk Douglas did not compromise.

Ten years have passed, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has gradually become a corner stock in bookstores from a bestseller.Kirk Douglas saw that its time was about to pass, so it was natural to photograph it before it was forgotten.

But before the book was a bestseller, Hollywood studios were interested in investing.Now that there is no topicality, who is willing to do this loss-making business?
Fortunately, there is no way out in the poor mountains and rivers, and there is another village with dark willows and bright flowers.

Michael Douglas really took advantage of him and wanted to put this popular work in the 60s on the big screen.

For a while, this news brought back memories deep in people's hearts.

Memories of a time of psychedelics/stimulants, carnival freedom, envious rebellion, and unleashed personalities.

That was the memory of an entire generation in America.

"The investor Stanley Xu, who became famous with the dark horse "Rocky" at the box office, invested in the new film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"."

""Rocky" pleases American audiences with the American dream, and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" evokes the collective nostalgia of a generation of Americans!"

"Why should an Oriental invest in a movie about us Americans? Are you ashamed of Hollywood?"

Newspapers reported the matter from various angles, which made "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" get a lot of attention.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" became popular before it was shot, which made Michael Douglas very happy.

As a producer, he naturally hopes that his film will be a hit, not to mention that this film is still his father's dream.

After receiving the funds, he immediately selected actors with director Milos Forman and entered into intense preparations.

As for the filming location of the movie, Michael had already chosen it, which is the place where the author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" grew up-Oregon.

Just when Michael Douglas led a team to Oregon to film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Xu Guanwu and his beautiful wife Zhao Yazhi got on the flight to Hong Kong.

(End of this chapter)