Chapter 622: *Hurricane 2*

"Three days?"

Lu Yan He looked at Chen Ziyan in disbelief. "You want me to film for three days for a total of 1.5 million dollars?"

Chen Ziyan nodded.

"What's going on?"

"*Hurricane 2*. The first film grossed 210 million in North America and 380 million globally. The second one is about to start filming, and one of the actors dropped out at the last minute because he landed the role of the second male lead in Spike Ryan's new film. They thought of you," Chen Ziyan said. "Derien Dillon, the male lead of *Hurricane* and also a producer on this film—a key figure—is also Darren's client. So, Darren convinced him to change this character into an Asian role. It doesn't affect the story whether the character is Asian or not, but by changing it, they could invite you. I've been having Darren keep an eye out for big Hollywood productions for you."

Darren is Lu Yan He's overseas agent.

Lu Yan He hesitated and asked, "But is there any point in me participating in this film?"

"Darren promised to get you listed in the main cast."

"I only have three days of filming."

"Three days of screen time doesn't mean you won't have over ten minutes of exposure in the film," Chen Ziyan said. "As long as you appear for more than ten minutes, you can be considered part of the main cast. Especially since the first film had such high box office numbers, the second one definitely won't do poorly. It will help solidify your impression as a Hollywood box office star."

Chen Ziyan didn't even mention character depth, film art, or anything of the sort to Lu Yan He, because those things simply don't exist in a film like *Hurricane*.

It is a disaster film, focusing primarily on visual effects.

Chen Ziyan wants Lu Yan He to act in it, firstly because the film's box office is guaranteed to be good. Coupled with the second *Mist* film, if Lu Yan He can achieve box office success in three consecutive Hollywood films, he will enter the first tier of casting lists for all Hollywood films. Secondly, this film can help Lu Yan He gain global recognition.

"In *The Mist*, you were mostly under special effects makeup, so people's familiarity with your actual face has been weakened," Chen Ziyan said. "But in *Hurricane 2*, this character is a very handsome elite figure, which is conducive to people becoming familiar with your face and benefits your screen image. It's not a negative character; he sacrifices himself to save the protagonist, making the memory point very distinct."

Lu Yan He understood why Chen Ziyan was so insistent that he take this film.

"Three days of filming, 500,000 dollars a day. Although there is still a gap compared to the guest appearance fees of Hollywood A-listers, it is still a landmark improvement," Chen Ziyan said. "Added to your fee for the second *Mist* film, it will be advantageous for our bargaining power when we take on Hollywood films in the future."

Lu Yan He was convinced.

"Alright." He sighed. "This month was already busy as hell, and now I suddenly have to go film another movie."

"If you squeeze your time, you can always find more. The key is whether the squeezing is worth it," Chen Ziyan said. "Three days, the fee, the image, the commercial value, global popularity—it's an all-around benefit. It's worth filming even if you don't sleep."

Lu Yan He shrugged. "Fine."

On July 1st, Derien Dillon posted two tweets.

First tweet: Rumi, despicable, deserting at the last minute, leaving us with a mess! I will never work with you again in this lifetime!

Second tweet: Welcome *Mist* son Lu Yan He to our *Hurricane 2* crew. Brother, I can't wait to meet you!

As a Hollywood A-list male star, Derien Dillon has always been known for keywords like masculine, sexy, wild, and handsome.

His global popularity and influence, aided by Hollywood's global star-making system, are at the TOP level.

Once these two tweets were posted, the whole world was watching.

*Hurricane* itself was a huge commercial success and had many fans. With Derien Dillon's statement, many people finally realized that the originally scheduled actor, Rumi Wade, was out, and that Chinese actor Lu Yan He from *The Mist* had taken over the role.

Lu Yan He, who was attending the closing ceremony of the first Jump Up International Film Critics Film Festival, suddenly felt a stir in the room, and subsequently, eyes began to fall on him one after another.

Not long after, Lu Yan He heard about Derien Dillon's actions from Linyu.

He instantly felt like his world had gone black.

But with so many people at the scene and cameras present, Lu Yan He had to maintain his composure and not let any uncontrolled facial expressions be captured.

"..."

After the closing ceremony, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi personally saw the guests off to their cars and back to their hotels. Whether they planned to continue traveling in China or return home was no longer their concern.

The travel expenses had already been fully paid out; when they wanted to return depended on their own visa status and their own arrangements.

This film critics' festival did stir up some discussion and feedback within the industry.

Especially the discussions regarding the screened films, which were reported by many professional and authoritative film media, creating no small amount of influence.

A film festival that truly discusses films.

This was the impression formed by this year's festival.

Chen Siqi also announced the global release plan for the book *Film Festival: Yuming* at the closing ceremony.

Several film critics who were relatively familiar with Lu Yan He asked him in private about *Hurricane 2*, asking why he would take such a film and if it was true.

Lu Yan He could only say: "I'm curious about what the filming set of a big-budget special effects film looks like. I haven't filmed one before, and I want to learn."

Hearing such a reason for participating, the film critics found it relatively acceptable.

Many people think that film critics promote art films and disparage commercial films, but in reality, that's not the case. Critics will curse vulgar art films without hesitation, and they praise good, awesome commercial films more fiercely than anyone else. Of course, some early (fake) critics in the country who only want to highlight their own status don't count.

Professional film critics evaluate films very seriously, combining production costs, director style, and genre, aiming their critiques with precision.

Unlike unprofessional critics who constantly spout words like "trash," "no nutritional value," "all self-indulgent," or "extremely cliché," their insults are also generic and fail to hit the mark.

What is a good film review? At the very least, it should be enlightening.

Before Lu Yan He transmigrated, the film review that left the deepest impression on him was one about *Passengers*, starring Jennifer Lawrence. The article wrote that if the film had started from the moment Jennifer Lawrence woke up, the entire film would have had a completely different temperament.

In one sentence, it pierced through Lu Yan He's conflicting feelings about the film—

It was good to watch, but felt long-winded; it was interesting, but had many boring chapters.

Simply put, the story itself was fine, but the way it was told was problematic.

Lu Yan He is very willing to communicate with those professional film critics because the latter are seriously researching. They study not only artistry but also storytelling techniques; they study not only the text but also the impact of market changes.

Therefore, upon learning that Lu Yan He took *Hurricane 2* because he wanted to understand the filming mode of big-budget special effects films, everyone understood immediately.

For a filmmaker like Lu Yan He, who has his own system of writing, directing, and acting, and who also owns a production company, it is perfectly normal for him to want to understand these technical aspects.

Lu Yan He also knew that only with such a reason would they be willing to accept it.

If Lu Yan He had been honest and said he was doing it to further increase his popularity and facilitate future fee bargaining, his image would have been greatly damaged.

People still need to put on an act; one cannot be too honest.

Not every honest attitude regarding utilitarian goals can receive praise for being "open and aboveboard."

Especially now—

Derien Dillen's "candor" had, however, caused Lu Yan He some trouble.

Rumi Wade, who had stood up *Hurricane 2*, responded to Derien, unwilling to be outdone:

"I never signed a contract to appear in it. Instead of asking why I 'fled the scene,' why don't you ask yourself why you're so stingy?"

The implication in his words was that he didn't act in it because the salary hadn't been negotiated to his satisfaction.

Before long, Rumi Wade's agent responded to the matter through the *Los Angeles Times* with a snide tone: "Rumi Wade is not a cheap actor; he deserves the compensation he is worth."

The way this was phrased made it seem as if Lu Yan He had become that "Cheap Man."

Not long after, the American magazine *Variety* released a piece of news: Following his $6.5 million plus bonus deal for the *Mist* sequel, Lu Yan He had secured another high salary: he had officially signed on to star in *Hurricane 2* at the end of the month, earning $1.5 million for just three days of filming.

This news served as a powerful rebuttal to the "Cheap Man" label placed on Lu Yan He.

However, this exorbitant salary also made many in Hollywood look askance.

Why pay such a high salary to an Asian like this?

It was one thing for Lu Yan He to get $6.5 million plus bonuses for the *Mist* sequel, as that came with the halo of being the lead in a franchise. But as an Asian actor who had nothing to do with the first *Hurricane* film, on what grounds could he take $1.5 million for just three days of work?

There was much controversy.

Derien Dillen stated bluntly on his Twitter: "Lu Yan He is one of the most popular and top-tier actors in Asia; he is worth this salary!"

Lu Yan He once again hit the domestic trending topics due to the issue of his high salary.

If Lu Yan He's high salary for starring in the *Mist* sequel had made everyone feel proud and boastful, this time, it inevitably made many people feel envious, or even jealous.

Three days, $1.5 million—nearly ten million RMB.

This money was just too easy to make!

An innocent man may be guilty of a crime simply because of the treasure he carries.

Both Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan understood this principle.

This was not something that could be explained away by logic.

Regarding this, Lu Yan He could only respond with silence, waiting for the heat of the matter to pass naturally.

Chen Ziyan, meanwhile, arranged for PR to publicize the charity work Lu Yan He had done over the past few years to mitigate the negative impact caused by his "high salary."

At the same time, Chen Ziyan also arranged for another trending topic: a ranking of Hollywood stars' salaries.

She wanted to make everyone realize that compared to the stars on that list, Lu Yan He actually didn't even come close to ranking.

She also arranged for reports on how Lu Yan He had accepted "friendship prices" to star in films like *Late Spring* and *Road to Glory*.

After several maneuvers, people slowly began to accept that it was perfectly normal for Lu Yan He to earn such a salary for acting in Hollywood.

She would not emphasize at this time that Lu Yan He was worth this price—

In this world, who doesn't deserve a beautiful life, a life free from worry about food and clothing?

But the reality is that so many people grind themselves to the bone, only to end up with a monthly salary of 3,500.

The more it is like this, the less one can display an attitude of "it's only natural."

This in itself is also a kind of attitude.

However, once the clamor over the salary subsided, everyone's focus returned to the film *Hurricane 2*.

A blockbuster sequel with an investment of over 100 million, and Lu Yan He had actually landed a lead role in it again. Although it didn't look like he had much screen time—only filming for three days—people had stated it clearly: Lu Yan He was a lead.

In Hollywood, whether you are a lead sometimes depends more on the weight of your character in the film and your own status, rather than counting the number of shots.

Compared to the amount of screen time, what everyone was more concerned about was why Lu Yan He's path overseas could be so smooth?

Domestic and foreign markets are two completely different worlds. As an Asian actor who hadn't spent much time in Hollywood, it was one thing to collaborate with a major horror director on his first film, but how did he suddenly hop onto the bandwagon of an A-list production for his second?

Was his momentum a bit too good?

This news of Lu Yan He's participation not only stirred up great attention domestically but also made many Hollywood film companies look askance.

After all, they had all previously sent scripts to Lu Yan He, only to be politely declined, eventually leading people to think that Lu Yan He didn't want to come to Hollywood to film at all.

At least a very small number of people knew the inside story, understanding that the reason Lu Yan He was able to get on the *Hurricane 2* list was because his agent in the U. S., who was also Derien Dillen's agent, Darren, had someone pulling strings behind the scenes.

Those who had Asian characters in their scripts were reminded by this news of Lu Yan He's existence and once again sent their scripts into Darren's hands.

Of course, since Lu Yan He's first Hollywood film was a huge box-office success and his next two films were both blockbusters with high hopes of exceeding 100 million in North American box office, Darren was in no rush to book more roles for Lu Yan He. After all, his starting point was so high that he didn't need to take on film projects that would lower his standing.

Darren also felt a sense of accomplishment for the collaboration he had facilitated.

This collaboration didn't just benefit Lu Yan He; Derien Dillen didn't do badly either.

With Lu Yan He participating in *Hurricane 2*, one could have high expectations for the film's box office in China, a major box-office warehouse.

For this reason, Darren had even specifically told Derien Dillen about Lu Yan He's box-office appeal in Asia, asking him to take good care of Lu Yan He on set, especially to ensure the director filmed him well so that Lu Yan He's performance in the movie would be good enough—

Derien Dillen's previous knowledge of Lu Yan He was limited to knowing he was the big villain in the horror film *The Mist*, though in the entirety of *The Mist*, he was the villain most liked and welcomed by the audience. Only after Derien Dillen looked at Lu Yan He's resume, saw his awards at major film festivals, and his past films' performances around the globe, did he make the final decision to offer Lu Yan He a salary of $1.5 million.

One reason was Derien's gratitude for Lu Yan He's willingness to come and save the day.

The second was that Derien knew Lu Yan He was worth this price; if it were too low, he might not be willing to come.

The current result left Derien very satisfied.

The entire outside reaction to Lu Yan He's joining was very optimistic and supportive.

For the production of a sequel film, this was the most important thing.

The majority of the audience from the first installment had to be satisfied. That was the foundation of a sequel film.