Chapter 202

"Li Xiaolu, why are you in such a rush?"

Liu Xiao and her daughter sat with Lu Kuan in a booth at the southeast corner of the water bar, while A-Fei stood in the aisle pacing back and forth to prevent anyone from getting close.

Boss Lu chuckled inwardly.

What's the matter? I'm afraid that if you heard it, you'd wake up laughing in your sleep tonight.

He turned to Liu Liu Yifei: "Little Liu, how have you felt these past twenty-plus days on set?"

"It's been great. I get to see handsome guys like Leonardo every day, it's quite nice."

Boss Lu's face darkened: "I'm talking about your professional ability! Have you been working hard?"

Liu Liu Yifei stopped joking: "Of course. Haven't you seen Grandpa Yuan teaching me a few moves whenever he has free time?"

"He even said that if there's a suitable martial arts film in the future, he'll definitely recommend me as the female lead."

Lu Kuan nodded; this was indeed an unexpected gain. He hadn't expected her progress in action scenes to be this fast, to the point that even Yuen Woo-ping gave his approval.

"Hollywood thinks Oriental faces are only fit for martial arts films; are you going to feel smug about that?"

"I let you study to learn acting, to learn the rules of the set, to learn how to find the camera, and to learn how to shape a character."

Liu Xiao smiled: "Li Xiaolu, you're right. I remind her of that often, too."

Lu Kuan watched the young girl, who had just rolled her eyes at him, and tossed out a light sentence that was, in their eyes, no different from a bombshell.

"You've been promoted; get ready to sign the contract with the crew."

Liu Liu Yifei was stunned: "Pro... promoted?"

Beside her, Liu Xiao was so ecstatic that her Wuhan dialect burst out: "This child! So dim-witted! Hurry up and thank Director Lu."

"You're the female lead now!"

The young girl still found it hard to believe.

It was as if a university counselor had told her she was stupid, criticized her for not being motivated or hardworking, said she was only fit to be last in the class, and that she had no future if she didn't work hard.

Then, before graduating high school, they told her she had been recommended for admission to Tsinghua University, no exam needed, just go.

"Then what about Zhang Zhang Ziyi?"

"Her work attitude is problematic, and she has already been fired by the crew. Don't spread this news; I'm telling you early just so you can prepare."

"In two or three days, or at most a week, the normal order of the crew will be restored."

Lu Kuan was still quite cautious; the news of Zhang Zhang Ziyi being injured and withdrawing from the crew had to wait until Harvey's side was fully prepared to release it.

Liu Xiao was almost moved to tears of joy.

Her daughter was a quasi-first-tier star in the domestic entertainment industry, yet she insisted on following Lu Kuan to Hollywood to be a stunt double and a blue-collar worker, which had made her anxious enough to stomp her feet.

She hadn't expected things to turn around so suddenly, the ugly duckling turning into a white swan, replacing that Zhang Zhang Ziyi who was so used to fawning over the powerful and trampling on the weak!

Unexpectedly, while the mother and daughter had different thoughts, sixteen-year-old Liu Liu Yifei didn't show the slightest bit of wild joy upon hearing the good news.

"Lu Kuan, I... is my acting okay?"

Boss Lu didn't hesitate at all: "Of course it isn't!"

"The main thing is you're one of our own. When the time comes, I'll pay you a salary of 20 million USD, and after the accounting is done, it all comes back to me."

Liu Xiao covered her mouth and chuckled, thinking he was joking.

Joking? Would I, Boss Lu, joke about money?

Should Tom Cruise not have to pay the price for his own greed?

You want 13% of the profits; is it not acceptable for me to do a little accounting?

Isn't that a common trick used by you Hollywood people?

Lu Kuan would discuss this issue with Liu Xiao later; for now, he needed to stabilize Liu Liu Yifei's confidence.

"Even if you were a block of wood, I could polish and cultivate you, so what are you afraid of?"

"The film's box office is carried by Leonardo; you don't need to be overly brilliant. I will appropriately modify the script to highlight your current strengths. You have only one task."

"Give me a beautiful performance!"

Boss Lu said this to relieve her pressure.

Even if the audience walked into the cinema for the male lead Leonardo, if the female lead was a piece of trash that couldn't be propped up, it would still be quite disappointing to watch.

The result of that would be a very successful opening weekend, but the film's word-of-mouth wouldn't take off, and it would drop sharply before even reaching the peak of its parabola.

It's fine to use frustration-based education when someone is full of themselves, but now she needed confidence; he had to be her power bank.

He needed to turn her accumulation of basic skills over the past two years into a tangible improvement in professional ability.

Liu Liu Yifei took a deep breath, finally managing to build up her mental fortitude.

"Then... then please guide me more. I'm not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and I'm not afraid of being scolded."

Don't pity this delicate flower?

Seeing that her thoughts had cleared up, Lu Kuan also started joking.

"I'm very glad I used a digital camera to shoot this sci-fi film. If I had used a film camera and you shot a scene dozens of times, wouldn't I go bankrupt?"

"Go to hell! You miser!"

On October 23, 2003, Buena Vista Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney specifically responsible for distribution, suddenly issued a statement on its official website.

【Recently, in view of the inconsistency in creative philosophy with Lu Kuan, the director of the co-production "Alien Territory" with mainland China, as well as concerns about the film's quality and prospects, our company has decided to abandon the cooperation and also waive the 12 million USD in pre-sale fees paid in the early stages.】

At the same time, Rondo of Disney's distribution subsidiary Buena Vista also opened fire on Lu Kuan in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times":

【"The impression 'Alien Territory' gives me is similar to the other two Chinese directors' films, Chen Kaige's 'Killing Me Softly' and Wu Yusen's 'Windtalkers'. The entire film is full of the Chinese director's unfamiliarity with Hollywood and arrogance toward Hollywood audiences. They seem more accustomed to peddling their own traditional culture. Perhaps it is time for these film directors to cut off the braids on their heads and truly look at the world of Hollywood."】

If Lu Kuan hadn't anticipated the enemy's moves, this interview snippet alone would have been enough to make countless film distributors shy away.

Because the two films directed by Chinese directors he used for comparison had results that were just too damn explosive.

Chen Kaige's "Killing Me Softly" had a total investment of 30 million USD and a box office of about 150,000 Euros after two weeks of release in France.

It was pulled from theaters in Japan less than a month after its release, and what's more ironic is that this film's box office performance couldn't even compare to Jiang Wen's "Devils on the Doorstep".

And this was on the devils' own turf!

As a result, the production company MGM didn't even have the courage to release it in North American theaters and just released it on DVD, leaving them with nothing to show for it.

The other film, Wu Yusen's "Windtalkers", had a global box office of only 40 million USD, a massive loss of 80 million, and the one hurt was still MGM.

From then on, MGM developed a phobia of Asian directors, and Director Chen's first Hollywood film met its Waterloo, after which he was basically finished with Hollywood.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the news spread wildly on the internet.

It not only set off a huge storm in the North American film market but also quickly swept through and spread to the public opinion field in the mainland.

Coincidentally, the new generation of mainland screen star Zhang Zhang Ziyi also issued a statement:

Due to personal health reasons, she has amicably communicated with the "Alien Territory" crew and director Lu Kuan himself to terminate the contract and will no longer serve as the female lead.

The internet was instantly filled with abuse toward Lu Kuan and "Alien Territory".

"Can't even an actor as good as Zhang Zhang Ziyi catch your eye, Lu Kuan? Are you more arrogant than Zhang Zhang Yimou? Did you try to use your position to force yourself on her and get rejected, so now you're angry out of shame?"

"I said it long ago, Lu Kuan is indeed a figure in the mainland film industry, but the total cost of the films he's actually shot doesn't exceed 4 million USD. Now he wants to do a 75 million USD project? He might as well go dream."

"I've long been annoyed by this Dragon Knight, washing machine, and he even tricked my Sister Xixi into being a stunt double. Go die!"

"I am Zhang Zhi. I previously predicted the ending of 'Alien Territory' under my real name, and sure enough, as expected. Everyone can go to the Wenjie homepage to see my comment; it's still occupying the first place on the like list."

It's just a pity that "Jiang Jiang Yiyan", who had angrily retorted to him before, had now "successfully usurped the throne" and was beginning intensive preparations on the set.

The people from Yanda Huayi Society had learned their lesson this time and didn't rush to jump out and get their faces slapped again; indeed, their faces had been slapped too many times before, and they had psychological trauma.

Who knew if this was a trap?

On the other hand, it was also because Fan Fan Bingbing was taking on a supporting role with fewer scenes in "Alien Territory", which temporarily put an end to the discord between the two sides.

Lu Kuan didn't mind fighting all the way, but the Wang brothers were somewhat discouraged, showing signs of weakness to the enemy.

Only a few chatterboxes like Lu Tailang and Ai Ai Dajin showed some presence online, posing as noble industry opinion leaders.

At the same time, apart from partners like Dong Dong Shuangqiang, Zhou Xun, Fan Fan Bingbing, and the company's direct artists, including Ouyang Ouyang Changqing from the Hunan station, all called to inquire and offer comfort.

What Boss Lu found most unexpected was that Huang Huang Xiaoming also called; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his emotional intelligence was extremely high.

There weren't many opportunities left for these domestic entertainment artists to "offer charcoal in the snow" for Lu Kuan, and Huang Xiaoming had decisively seized this opportunity.

Reward: one "Domineering CEO" role!

This time, in order not to affect the film's word-of-mouth, Boss Lu decided to resolve this matter in the shortest possible time, not giving public opinion a chance to ferment further.

October 25, 2003, Xiaoxitian, Beiping, China Film screening room.

Today, the true big shots were gathered.

Li Li Shoucheng, boss of Emperor Group, who had already reached a cooperation agreement with Lu Kuan for the distribution of "Alien Territory" in the mainland, Xiangjiang, and Southeast Asia, and Han Han Shanping of China Film.

Jason from the Hollywood independent film company Lionsgate and Bob Weinstein of Miramax.

This was Harvey Weinstein's younger brother.

The largest film distribution company in Korea, CJ, and the largest film distribution company in Japan, Toho.

Luc Besson of France's EuropaCorp.

Thus, representatives of film distribution companies from the world's most mainstream film markets—North America, Europe, and Asia—were gathered.

Of course, also returning to the country with Lu Kuan was the insurance company that had previously provided the completion bond.

Boss Lu first used the many zeros in his company's account to stabilize them, so the insurance company would no longer worry about large payouts.

Immediately after, they were invited to the country, to Boss Lu's home turf, to participate in this pre-sale event.

With the existing shooting funds, if a few pre-sale deals were reached on the spot today, the completion of the film's shooting would be one hundred percent guaranteed.

Previously at the pre-sale presentation in Beverly Hills, Lu Kuan had shown a fifteen-minute highlight reel; now, this version had been edited into thirty minutes due to subsequent filming.

Undoubtedly, "Alien Territory", which had shocked North American buyers, won everyone's applause after the thirty-minute feast!

All the participating distribution companies, including the representatives from Korea and Japan, unanimously proposed to negotiate the distribution contracts on the spot.

Even if they didn't reach an agreement on the details at today's pre-sale site, at the very least, they had to sign a memorandum of understanding to take back and report.

(To Resist External Aggression, One Must First Ensure Internal Stability)

Miramax and Lionsgate are both "old friends"; the cooperation has already been finalized, and today is purely an invitation to come and show support.

Both sides are independent film companies that only control about 1,000 screens each, and only by adding them together can they barely compete for showtimes with the six major film studios of the same period.

Furthermore, bringing in Lionsgate for joint distribution is also a move by the naturally cautious Lu Kuan to find an opponent for Harvey, preventing him from playing tricks later.

CJ and Toho have already been briefly introduced in the previous text.

In the 2003 global film market, Japan's volume was second, and South Korea's volume was sixth.

Referring to the price of $8 million for "Hero" sold in Japan last year and $3 million in South Korea, for this S-level major production featuring top Hollywood stars, the figures will only be higher, not lower.

Everything proceeded according to plan; while Lu Kuan was finalizing preliminary distribution intentions with representatives from Europe, Asia, and other regions in the China Film Group office, Harvey, who was waiting for instructions in the United States, teamed up with the "two-faced servant" Tom Cruise to launch a backstab.

Tom Cruise, Harvey, Leonardo, and Lionsgate boss Jon Feltheimer attended the press conference together.

The press conference invited almost all authoritative Hollywood film media, and there was a reporting team sent by Blogcn domestically to clarify the rumors that had been rampant over the past two days.

From producer Tom Cruise to lead actor Leonardo, to joint distribution representatives Harvey and Jon Feltheimer, all expressed high recognition for the film "Alien Realm" and Lu Kuan himself.

At the same time, they claimed that Disney and Eisner were bullying customers and discriminating against excellent Chinese directors.

Everyone in Hollywood watched with great astonishment as Harvey vowed on stage to open fire on Eisner and the Disney under his rule.

But very strangely, the "tyrant" they had been expecting to descend did not appear as scheduled, and no war of words broke out.

Because Eisner was busy dealing with the resignation of Disney's vice chairman, who was also the initial co-founder and grandson of Disney, Roy E. Disney, which was worded in harsh terms!

On October 27, Lu Kuan and Dong Dong Shuangqiang participated in the public bidding process for the share reform of the Xi'an Film Studio.

Relying on Wenjie and Lu Kuan's own film resources, the new advertising resources of the holding company Focus Media, and the professional capabilities demonstrated in the distribution of "Drummer" and "Thief".

Wenjie and the original Shaanxi Zhongxi Film and Television Culture Communication Co., Ltd. officially issued a joint statement, formally accepting the investment of private capital Wenjie Culture Media, and the new company will carry out operations under the name Wenjie Xi'an Film.

Industry insiders looked on, as this was another major layout in the industrial chain following Wenjie's involvement in Tourism Satellite TV.

The Wenjie homepage on Blogcn released a related interview video, and Boss Lu made a statement:

【The establishment of Wenjie Xi'an Film will further promote the structural adjustment of the Chinese film industry, marking the entry of state-owned capital and private capital into deep-level cooperation in the domestic film distribution industry, combining the distribution resource advantages of state-owned companies with the flexible mechanisms of private companies, fully embodying resource complementarity!】

Mr. Chiang Kai-shek once said that to resist foreign aggression, one must first ensure internal stability, and Boss Lu gladly followed suit.

Having resolved the domestic disturbances, the atmosphere in the public opinion media immediately took on a new look, and netizens went back to slapping faces and digging up old dirt as they should.

It's just that this time the "dirt" was truly too new, so new that many haters hadn't even reacted to post before the situation reversed instantly!

On October 31, 2003, "Thief" was officially pulled from theaters.

The next day, Lu Kuan, who had restarted filming in Vancouver, was reviewing the box office data sent from the country.

The mainland box office of "Thief" finally settled at 71.23 million, taking the 2003 domestic box office championship.

Although it was temporary, perhaps no director or film company dared to say they could break this box office record yet.

This figure, placed in the later year of 2003, was more than the 16 million of the New Year's slot champion "Cell Phone".

But obviously, "Cell Phone" in this life had gone through various twists and turns, and being able to be released normally during the New Year's slot could already be considered a blessing.

The $7.5 million buyout for North America and Europe added another $2 million, which was used to pay for the full copyright of the big hit "Fahrenheit 9/11" for next year.

Next was the $25 million buyout of the Taiwan and Southeast Asia copyrights to Peter Chan;

There was also the $40 million minimum guarantee distribution reached with Emperor Group for the Hong Kong and Japan-Korea regions, with the excess box office portion shared proportionally.

Calculated in RMB, the Hong Kong box office was 35 million, and the South Korean box office was 22 million.

What surprised Li Li Shoucheng the most was that the Japan box office surprisingly broke 40 million!

Actually, in Lu Kuan's eyes, this was nothing to be surprised about.

Besides the fact that the origin of the film's core was in Japan, it also had to do with the main audience of the Japanese film market.

The Japanese film and television market is different from many countries; the film audience is mainly women aged 30 to 60.

Most Japanese women do not work after marriage and are full-time housewives; once their children go to school, these full-time housewives have more spare time.

On general weekday afternoons, one would often see groups of housewives in tennis courts, cafes, and other places, and watching movies is also an important entertainment activity for them.

The total cost of "Thief" was 12 million, of which China Film Group invested 4 million, and the income from product placement and trailer advertisements totaled 5 million.

Counting the copyright fees, box office shares, and advertising revenue from all over the world, after deducting production costs and advertising expenses.

The final profit actually obtained by Wenjie was about 72 million.

The sale of copyrights at film festivals still accounted for the absolute share of profit.

For such a film with a balance of artistic and commercial attributes, one can only say that one must still follow the path of winning awards overseas plus high-cost domestic marketing.

Boss Lu, of course, still felt that such a number was too shabby, but the next pure commercial top-tier production, "Alien Realm," would give him great satisfaction in terms of profit.

But except for minor awards like Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, etc., he should not expect to win any major film awards.

The 72 million figure for "Thief" was not a very high increase compared to the 53 million for "Drummer".

This was mainly because one-third of the share was given to China Film Group, and they could still earn a sum of mainland distribution fees.

On November 1, the Little Singles' Day, Lu Kuan was directing the first scene after the cast change on set.

After filming only a few takes, assistant director Justin Lin came over to tell him that Tom Cruise was waiting for him in the lounge on set.

Boss Lu didn't think much of it, and when he saw Tom Cruise an hour later, there was still not a trace of anger or impatience on the latter's face.

This reminded him of an interview with Li Lianjie in the later years.

Back then, after he finished filming "Kiss of the Dragon," he went to the six major studios with producer Luc Besson to discuss copyrights, only to be deliberately left waiting for an hour by a Paramount manager.

Two years later, Li Lianjie's name in Hollywood had become well-known, and when that manager came to visit again seeking cooperation, he was left waiting by Li Lianjie for two hours.

Li Lianjie asked him if he was angry?

The manager said with a full smile that he would be willing to wait another ten hours.

One can only say that swallowing insults is an essential quality for anyone who wants to accomplish great things.

"Tom, I'm really sorry, just now one scene was too difficult for our new lead actress, and we NG'd more than ten times, which delayed the time."

Lu Kuan decisively threw the blame onto Liu Liu Yifei first, but Tom Cruise didn't care about these things at all.

"It doesn't matter, work comes first. I came today also to explain to you, at that time Harvey came to me..."

He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"Tom, let the past be the past. At least we are partners now, right?"

"Of course, everything is going well, Lu. If you need anything, please contact me at any time."

A brief meeting, tacit conversations, and a perfect ending.

It was just like a middle-aged couple who had no feelings but still had to continue living together; this is the world of adults wearing masks.

(End of this chapter)