1979 Golden Age

The temperature in Los Angeles at night is only around 10 degrees this season.

The roads that extend in all directions are like blood vessels, with cars running day and night with lights on, delivering the vitality of the city to every block. The rich areas are extravagant, the middle class lives a peaceful life, and the slums are bustling with gunfire.

No matter what era, nights in the United States are unsafe.

In front of the American-style Iai Slash, Ji Chunhua could only pretend.

Late at night, the gathering of the Oriental Company's North American team ended. Ji Chunhua and his friends stayed here for the night, Li Jianqun returned to his own residence, and Gong Xue naturally stayed in a hotel with Chen Qi.

The two met in Los Angeles, and it felt like they were having an affair at public expense.

There was a strong wind sweeping away the fallen leaves and the rain smashing the banana leaves.

Chen Qi had just arrived today, and he hadn't adjusted to the time difference yet, so he immediately paid his dues. His head was dizzy and he didn't want to move. Gong Xue washed herself, wiped him, and rested her head on his shoulder, smiling:

"You didn't see me crying with Zhuangzhuang when I left the house. Fortunately, my mom was there, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to leave because of my weakness. This kind of thing is the first step. Now that I'm out, although I miss Zhuangzhuang, I feel okay."

"Time flies! You only have two months, and half a month has already passed."

Chen Qi stroked her smooth and delicate back and asked, "How are Lao Zhang and the others?"

"They are in a state of flux. I hold talks twice a week to adjust their mindset. It's even better if you come. Take some time to chat with them. They visited a movie shoot two days ago and were stunned by the production."

"It's human nature, but once you get through it, the world will be yours."

Chen Qi paused and said, "I have a lot of things to do this time and don't have much time to take care of them. I still need you to take care of them."

"Oh~ Did I tell you to accompany me? You're going around in circles."

Gong Xue snorted and went straight to the core.

"What are you talking about? It really hurts my heart. I wish I could be with you every moment!" Chen Qi said righteously.

"Forget it! I have a lot of things to do. You do your thing and I'll do mine. You don't need to worry about it."

Some women say this to lure men into giving them bait, and once a man agrees, he will be in trouble. But the two of them have been together for many years and are as familiar with each other as a part of themselves. If Gong Xue says that she doesn't need to accompany him, then she doesn't need to accompany him.

…

Had a good sleep.

The next morning, everyone went to work.

In fact, Wong Jing came early with Shu-zhen Yau and Moon Lee, but they were just busy promoting "Happy Death Day", and they were really not familiar with Zhang Yimou.

October 31st is Halloween Eve and November 1st is All Saints' Day.

It is said that the Irish brought this custom to the United States. After various changes, it lost its religious significance and became a traditional festival mainly for celebration. Children would knock on doors to ask for candy, and people would dress up as ghosts and parade.

Later generations of Chinese people also joined in the fun, dressing up in all kinds of weird costumes.

False courage: Dress up as a ghost for Halloween!

Really brave: Dress up as a ghost during the Ghost Festival!

This also gave rise to a Halloween season, which usually starts in mid-to-late October and ends in early November. The famous "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" were both released during this season.

"Happy Death Day" is not a pure horror film, but it fits the festive atmosphere of Halloween very well.

Black Mask has a Chinese lead role, so it was difficult to promote it, so Chen Qi did it himself. Happy Death Day only needed regular promotion, as Phoebe Cates is a famous youth idol, and this film is positioned as a "groundbreaking youth thriller comedy", so it naturally has a group of audiences.

Chen Qi's job was not this, he first met a senior executive of Warner.

The foreigner came up and congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Chen! Black Mask has grossed over 60 million, breaking all records for Chinese-language films. I watched it twice, it's just amazing!"

The Americans are much more cautious than us in some ideologies. They are keen on the combination of Chinese and black people, either Chinese men and black men, or Chinese men and black women.

It cannot be said that there are no Chinese men + white women, but they are very rare.

And they think that Chinese Kung Fu and black rap music go very well together.

“…”

Chen Qi didn't comment after hearing this. This was an external company that invited Li Lianjie to film, so he only needed to review the basic principles. He said, "You don't have a complete script, so I can't make any suggestions. I can only say one thing: gang members are not good, change them to positive roles, and don't have any ugly scenes."

"Chen! We..."

Chen Qi interrupted him and said, "I am solely responsible for Jet Li's management affairs. If you can't even do this, then there is no need to talk about the rest."

"OK! OK!"

Even if the other party is not happy, he has to agree because the data is there!

The box office of "Black Mask" exceeding 60 million US dollars is enough to beat 90% of the movies of the year, and according to the questionnaire, the audience is not opposed to such a yellow-skinned superhero.

Commercial value and audience recognition are the two most important data in Hollywood.

When Li Lianjie first entered Hollywood, his first movie was Mel Gibson's "Lethal Weapon 4", in which he played a villain with only 10 minutes of screen time. After the movie was released, a questionnaire was conducted, and the audience's favorite characters were: Mel Gibson first, and Li Lianjie second.

The company immediately tailored a script for him and filmed "Romeo Must Die".

The two sides continued and entered into preliminary negotiations on film remuneration.

“It can’t be less than 2 million US dollars!”

“This is impossible!”

"Nothing is impossible. I'm not asking for too much. This is the price of a second-tier action star like you. You want to reap the benefits of Jet Li, but you're not willing to pay. How can it be so cheap?"

"Okay, okay!"

The other party looked defeated and said, "Chen! Everyone says you are a tough opponent. It turns out to be true. You know too much about the inside story of our industry."

In the mid-to-late 1980s, there were only two top-tier action stars in Hollywood: Sylvester Stallone was worth $12 million + 10% of the box office share for Rambo: First Blood; and Arnold Schwarzenegger was worth $11 million for Red Square Swat.

First-line action stars, such as Bruce Willis after his performance in "Die Hard", and Harrison Ford, can earn 8 million to 10 million.

The pay for second-tier action stars is basically 2 million, because their film budgets are small.

Warner invited Li Lian to film the movie, so the budget naturally wouldn't be too high, and 2 million was just the right amount.

"We will finish the script as soon as possible and then discuss the details."

“I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation!”

Chen Qi shook hands with the other party and thought to himself that 2 million US dollars is 15 million Hong Kong dollars. If this news gets back to Hong Kong, wouldn’t Cheng Long go crazy?

Li Lianjie himself must be going crazy!

Not to mention the Wushu Team and the Sports Committee, I'm afraid it will be another lively occasion.

He simply threw Li Lianjie out and didn't mention anything else, such as the director or action director. He also wanted to see what the effect of this Hollywood film would be.

(In the evening there is also...)