I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 340 Chen Jin's Hollywood Team!

The next morning, at the martial arts school.

Chen Jin, Gong Ge'er, and Guo Fan had just arrived when they saw Sun Nuo and several foreigners chatting and gesturing.

It's clear that these foreigners are quite interested in Chinese Kung Fu; their eyes seem to be shining.

Hey, look who's here!

Sun Nuo suddenly caught sight of Chen Jin out of the corner of her eye and quickly called out to the foreigners, "Our boss, part-time director!"

"Wow!"

"chan?"

Several foreigners immediately turned their gazes toward Chen Jin.

Now Chen Jin knew who these people were.

The two directors and the cinematographer of "John Wick" were all special effects artists. Even in the original timeline, "John Wick" was their directorial debut.

For photographer Jonathan Sera, this was also his first time serving as chief photographer.

"David Leitch, Chad Starski!"

"And this is photographer Jonathan Sera!"

Sun Nuo was introducing them, while Chen Jin hugged them one by one and introduced Guo Fan and Gong Ge'er to them as well.

"Guo, I've heard of you!"

"real!"

"I pay close attention to Chinese films, and I'm a big fan of Chinese kung fu!"

Chad Stahelski is tall and slender, around forty years old, and clearly has some training experience. He was Keanu Reeves' stunt double in The Matrix, so he is very familiar with Chinese action choreographers like Yuan Heping.

It can be said that many of his insights into martial arts in movies reflect the influence of Chinese martial arts.

Now that you mention it, I know who he is!

"China's box office champion, the newly crowned director with 2 million yuan in box office revenue?"

David Leitch, with a full beard and a slightly chubby build, shrugged. He was much younger, only in his early thirties, a few years older than Guo Fan. The two were undoubtedly the same age.

He was originally the lead director of "John Wick" and was in charge of the overall project.

The two directors of this film are primarily David, after all, he has served as assistant director on several films and is much more experienced than Chad.

In fact, his directing career was also very successful, with films such as Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: The Movie being directed by him.

Chad only has this one series.

The clear division of labor between the two, along with the cinematographer, screenwriter, special effects, and Keanu Reeves' performance, led to the huge success of the John Wick series.

Now, aside from the screenwriter and lead actors, the director, cinematographer, and special effects team are all here.

"My last film was also directed by a Chinese director!"

"The King of Fighters!"

After David met Guo Fan, he spoke to Chen Jin.

Several people sat in the lounge, preparing to go to the shooting range together to practice shooting later, which was Chen Jin's suggestion.

Nothing helps you integrate into a team faster than team building activities. Compared to a dinner party for the entire crew, the collaboration among the filming crew is much closer, so getting to know each other beforehand is very beneficial for filming.

The success of "John Wick" right now depends heavily on the collective efforts of everyone present.

Chen Jin wasn't confident enough to think she could start filming smoothly just by going to the set; a harmonious filming team was essential for filming to begin normally.

Otherwise, if we are not familiar with each other, many problems will arise.

So when Sun Nuo wanted to see Chen Jin's firearms, Chen Jin came up with a great way to unite the team.

Don't be fooled by how well everyone is chatting now; it's all just a facade. The foreigners are just being polite. If they're truly convinced, they'll have to prove themselves with strength and power.

"Is 'The King of Fighters' directed by Gordon Chan?"

"This director is very popular in China right now!"

Including films like "Painted Skin" and "The Four," Gordon Chan's martial arts films have become very popular in the past two years.

Although the reviews weren't great, they sold very well.

Guo Fan has studied many directors from Hong Kong and mainland China. In fact, Gordon Chan's reputation is overrated. It's not that he hasn't made good movies, such as "King of Beggars", "Fist of Legend", and "The Bodyguard from Beijing".

It can be said that he is very good at kung fu movies, so much so that Hollywood invited him to make "The King of Fighters", and the male and female leads were both Chinese.

But the movie flopped badly and received terrible reviews, so Gordon Chan returned to Hong Kong in disgrace.

Just as the mainland film industry was booming, mainland film companies loved directors like him who had honed their skills in Hollywood. Now, mainland audiences don't care about any dark history; as soon as they hear that a Chinese director from Hollywood has returned to China to make a film, it becomes a selling point in the publicity.

Wu Yusen and Xu Ke are all like that.

News reports always feature Hollywood Chinese directors, and then they cast a few currently popular stars as the main actors. As long as the movie isn't absolutely terrible, the box office performance is pretty good.

This wasn't due to their ability, but rather because they caught a lucky break with a good time, a good audience, and favorable policies.

But they don't see it that way, and the capital also believes they are capable, so Gordon Chan currently has an amazing amount of resources.

But after "The Four Great Constables", this person disappeared.

Because every film he makes flops, who would want to hire him?
Capital is very pragmatic.

People like Wu Yusen and Xu Ke are actually the same.

No matter how you try to fool the audience, they can vote with their feet. The most disgusting one is Wu Yusen. Not only was the filming of "Red Cliff" problematic, but he also had a particular fondness for casting Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists as the main actors, putting them ahead of mainland artists.

Not only is there an unequal pay split, but they also make outrageous statements in Hong Kong and Taiwan, claiming that Hong Kong and Taiwan artists are better than mainland artists, and that they are best at using popular mainland stars to elevate the status of Hong Kong and Taiwan artists.

Speaking one's mind in front of the media is probably a one-of-a-kind thing in the world.

So if he doesn't die, who will?!
"It's such a shame about The King of Fighters. It's a really great IP, but it wasn't made well!"

David Leitch sighed somewhat. Besides serving as the assistant director of this film, he also played a role—Terry Berg, who was also a very popular character in "The King of Fighters".

Many players love the fighter wearing a red hat, the absolute male lead of Fatal Fury.

"I'm not saying that Gordon Chan is a bad director, but the investors made a mistake in choosing him to direct this movie!"

"You absolutely have to be a fan of the IP to make this kind of movie well!"

Chen Jin certainly couldn't badmouth his own director in front of foreigners, even though he secretly despised him.

"Just like Marvel's current CEO, Kevin Feige!"

"Marvel's success is inseparable from him; he himself is a die-hard Marvel fan..."

Chen Jin said something softly, and while the others didn't seem to notice anything, David Leitch's eyes lit up: "That's right, Chan, you're absolutely right!"

"Passion, passion is extremely important for film!"

Guo Fan, who was standing next to him, immediately agreed: "Haha, that's my understanding too!"

"Nothing is more suitable for making movies than a passion, provided you know how to make movies!"

Guo Fan can be said to have perfectly illustrated this point.

David Leitch is also such a person; he is also a Marvel fan.

Gordon Chan was able to make good films like Beggar So and Fist of Legend because he knew the backgrounds of these characters, at most just listening to the screenwriter talk about them; but if you don't spend time researching IPs like The King of Fighters and The Four, the result will be a mess.

It has to be a genuine love for the film to resonate with the audience. That's the question: what do fans and viewers really want to see in these kinds of movies?

Just like David and Chad, these two guys really love action movies, which is why John Wick was a success.

"Actually, when I was reading Chan's script, I found that the story was very similar to a news story I had seen!"

Chen Jin's script for "John Wick" was polished by a Hollywood screenwriter and translated into a qualified Hollywood-style script by Gong Ge'er; of course, the story itself also originated from Hollywood.

Therefore, any screenwriter with a story can actually write a decent Hollywood script.

"I even looked it up, and it seems to be a news story from two years ago about a similar home invasion robbery that happened in Texas!"

"A former U.S. Navy SEAL was robbed at home by several men who also killed his dog, Dasy, which was reportedly named after the initials of a teammate who died in Afghanistan!"

Chad briefly recounted the news, and Chen Jin and Guo Fan laughed.

"what happened?"

Jonathan remained silent, but he listened attentively, mainly wanting to see what kind of person this "Chinese boss" was.

Before he came, he checked Chen Jin's file. Putting aside the fact that he was a Venice Film Festival Best Actor winner, he only emerged in China last year. It is said that he is an extremely talented actor in China.

"That's right, the inspiration for the story actually came from this news!"

"However, I changed my ethnicity to Chinese and I'm also a retired special forces soldier!"

"Amazing! Right? I told you it was similar to this news!"

Chad exclaimed in surprise to David Leitch, who shook his head: "Okay, man, you win. The allure of the news is truly irresistible. Now it seems we're on the same page!"

It turns out that screenwriter Derek Kolstad accidentally saw this news, which led to the story of "John Wick 1".

Unexpectedly, this movie became a hit, which led to sequels, series, and several spin-off dramas.

So Chen Jin had shown Guo Fan this news beforehand.

This is to prevent such emergencies.

At least Guo Fan can testify.

"Unthinkable!"

"I heard that China's internet is very closed, a large local area network. I didn't expect to be able to see our local news here?"

Jonathan asked, puzzled.

"nonono~~~"

This Mr. Gong has been in the US for over a month and has a lot to say: "Our Great Firewall is actually meant to expose people to some bad things about foreign countries, but if you deliberately want to see them, you can. On the contrary, these past few days in the US, all I've seen are not good news..."

"It seems like Europe and America just like to publish our bad side!"

"It seems...that's indeed the case!"

Chad made a funny face, and Chen Jin said from the side, "Actually, this news is quite famous. It's not just in your country, but it's been published internationally. It's a global event, after all, it involves members of the Navy SEALs!"

"Alright alright!"

"This is not the time to discuss the news. Sun said there was a shooting event today. Is it to welcome our Chinese friends?"

David looked at Sun Nuo beside him, and Sun Nuo smiled and said, "Yes, let my countrymen see real firearms!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Killer: Dragon has tons of gunfights!"

"Chan, are you sure you want to design so many gunfight scenes instead of all kinds of martial arts combat?"

This is also what puzzled David Leitch.

"Killer: Dragon" is the American movie title of "John Wick"; the original title of "John Wick" in the United States was after the assassin John Wick.

It's very direct and brutal.

With Keanu Reeves as the lead actor, he's a living advertisement, and Americans don't seem to like making a fuss about movie titles.

They felt that adding Keanu to the name was enough.

In fact, the first John Wick movie only grossed a little over $1 million worldwide, and in North America it only made over $4000 million thanks to Keanu Reeves. Without him, the movie might not have had a sequel.

Later, after it was released on streaming platforms, the film became a global sensation thanks to word-of-mouth; with various derivative values, it earned over 2 million yuan after deducting box office revenue.

This is what made capitalists see the potential of this film, leading to various sequels to "John Wick".

Chen Jin speculated that the box office might have been better if the name hadn't been so offensive.
Although the first film had an investment of 2000 million US dollars, Chen Jin's budget this time was 1000 million US dollars to test the waters, and she would add more later if needed. Anyway, without Keanu Reeves and the director's share, 1500 million US dollars was enough to replicate the level of the 2000 million US dollars in her previous life.

Even after deducting the share of the screenwriter, producer, director, lead actor, etc., 1500 million is more than enough, which is more than enough than the 2000 million US dollars in my previous life.

After all, these people combined are worth more than $500 million, with Keanu alone taking a pay cut to appear in the film for $300 million.

Chen Jin herself claimed that the amount of money involved was 0.

Although his accounting fee definitely needs to be included, Gong Ge'er also needs to apply for some local tax benefits, etc. Foreigners filming in New York can save a lot of money, as the government does provide support.

To the outside world, it's an investment of 2000 million US dollars, but in reality, it won't cost that much.

Some movies advertise a $1 million investment, but may not have to spend a single penny on production costs; Hollywood movies, in particular, are very popular with governments around the world because they serve as a form of publicity.

With the added tax exemptions from the government, foreign accountants are sometimes more tired than actors.

Hollywood is notorious for its various accounting frauds. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" grossed $1 billion worldwide, but ultimately it was a loss because the lead actors signed profit-sharing agreements.

There's also the Lord of the Rings trilogy, whose actual box office figures have been rumored to be worth $50 billion.

Due to various profit-sharing arrangements, the final figure announced was 29 billion, with more than 20 billion in between being embezzled.

Chen Jin brought Guo Fan and Gong Ge over to oversee the flow of funds.

So Chen Jin played a gimmick with this naming.

The combination of Long Jia and Chinese kung fu stars is Hollywood's biggest selling point.

"Killer Dragon" is definitely more appealing than "John Wick"; although it may not outsell the original Keanu Reeves version, he is a Hollywood superstar, and Chen Jin, a newcomer to Hollywood for the first time, will definitely need some underhanded tactics.

Otherwise, this movie might not even be able to be shown in theaters in North America.

Chen Jin's idea will be simpler: first test the waters during the summer movie season in mainland China; if it becomes a hit, then she'll do double marketing.

A blockbuster action-packed gunfight film in China, featuring Chinese kung fu.

Foreigners will definitely be interested.

Even if it doesn't reach the North American box office of "John Wick 1", its global box office will definitely surpass it, because "John Wick 1" was not released in China.

It's simply that nobody dares to buy such low-budget films, not because of censorship.

When it's released in China, it will still be called "John Wick" (or "Killer: Dragon"), as names like "Killer: Dragon" are not popular in mainland China.

Only foreigners would exclaim: Wow, Killer Dragon, Chinese Kung Fu!
Chinese people would just chuckle, looking like they'd never seen anything like it, but gunfights are a different story.

Gunfights are of interest to Chinese audiences, and currently, influenced by Hollywood and AAA shooting games, they are much more popular than kung fu movies.

"Yes, gunfights are a must!"

"Because I'm portrayed as an assassin, and what assassin only knows how to use melee weapons?"

As Chen Jin spoke to David and Chad, the two of them immediately laughed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let me show you around our American firearms!"

Chad is a fan of Chinese kung fu, while David Leitch is a military enthusiast who also enjoys shooting!
Yes, it's a proper firearm, not his own!

(End of this chapter)