Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 557 is incomprehensible.
The decline of Hong Kong cinema is obvious, except that Jack Cheng, after the "Rush Hour" series, immediately took on "Shanghai Noon".

Following Jett Lee's stunning appearance in Lethal Weapon 4, Silver Lake Pictures head Joe Silver capitalized on the hype by creating the B-movie Romeo Must Die for him.
Silver Lake Pictures is a film production company affiliated with Warner Bros., so Romeo Must Die will naturally be distributed by Warner Bros.

It's hard for Aaron to judge Jett Lee, given what he did in the future that made the Chinese people quite dislike him.

Moreover, Jett Lee finally became a U.S. citizen in 1997. Originally, when filming the "Once Upon a Time in China" series, Golden Harvest had been working on his nationality so that the film could be shown in Taipei!

Jett Lee's salary for "Romeo Must Die" was $240 million, a significant increase compared to the $50 he received for "Lethal Weapon 4".
After all, before going to the United States, Jett Lee signed a contract with Win's Entertainment for six films worth only HK$72 million.

Aaron remembers that in the future, Jett Lee would always say in interviews that the chairman of Warner Bros. personally invited him to star in "Romeo Must Die," and that he deliberately ignored him for two hours.
The reason is that he was ignored during the filming of "Lethal Weapon 4"!
Of course, the Lethal Weapon series is indeed a Warner Bros. production, but the series is overseen by producer Joe Silver and his Silver Lake Pictures.
Silver Lake Pictures had their eye on Jett Lee, and Joe Silver went out of his way to invite him to star in "Romeo Must Die." After all, it was all about making money, and Americans don't care about saving face or anything like that. It was perfectly normal for Joe Silver to wait for Jett Lee for two hours.

As for the CEO of Warner Bros., of course he wouldn't pay attention to a B-movie that only cost $2500 million!
Just as Universal co-president Dawn Steele wouldn't pay attention to "Final Destination," the production of "American Pie" was handled by Twilight Studios itself.

They only care about the movie's release date. If it does well, it will attract attention, just like the previous "Scream" series. This is a series that even Aaron has been paying attention to. If it does well, all kinds of staff will get bonuses!

Last year, Twilight Pictures also produced a Universal horror film, "Bride of Chucky 4," which grossed $5000 million worldwide. The director was Ronny Yu, a director from Hong Kong.

……

In Wang Zhuxian's Kowloon Tong villa, Aaron was sitting on the sofa watching financial news on TV. Hong Kong's economy was indeed quite bad last year.

Wang Zhuxian came out after taking a shower, just as the TV began broadcasting the deal for Media Asia Films to acquire Golden Harvest Film Library!
"I never imagined that Golden Harvest, which dominated Hong Kong cinema for so many years, would end up like this?"

Wang Zhuxian looked wistful, but also proud of Media Asia Films' current success. Of course, she had to thank director Wong Jing!
Aaron chuckled. "Hong Kong cinema has killed itself. Without the Taipei market, those terrible films have no market."

"Media Asia Films' future in Hong Kong can only rely on low-budget productions; otherwise, it's guaranteed to lose money."

"Developing the mainland market is the key focus."

Wang Zhuxian nodded. "This year, Media Asia Films will be self-distributing its own films, with four to five movies scheduled for release. Aside from the big-budget manga adaptations, the rest of the films won't have high production costs."

"The company has also signed several actors from Taipei and is looking to sign actors from mainland China. We will also invest in two TV series this year!"

Aaron leaned back on the sofa. "It seems that Huanya does have some savvy business acumen. Anyway, the mainland market is the key focus for the future."

"Focus on developing talent and the market first. Even if there are some losses in the next year or two, it won't be a big deal." Aaron Anderson is the head of Hollywood's Dawn Group, so Wang Zhuxian naturally wouldn't disagree with his opinion.

"By the way, I heard that Chow Yun-fat is going to participate in the filming of a big movie in Hollywood, and he's working with two-time Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster?"

Wang Zhuxian suddenly spoke up and asked.

"Jodie Foster, yes, it's the 'Anna and the King' that 20th Century Fox is currently developing, adapted from Anna's own autobiographical novel;"

"It tells the love story of Anna, a widowed British schoolteacher, and the King of Siam in the mid-19th century!"

Aaron did know that, "Moreover, 20th Century Fox invested $90 million in Anna and the King, and Jodie Foster's salary for the film was $15 million, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood at the time."

In recent years, Jodie Foster has starred in films such as "The Conman Marcus," "Daughter of the Earth," and "Contact," all of which have been successful.
As a two-time Academy Award winner for Best Actress, "Anna and the King" was clearly developed based on Jodie Foster's fame, so her $1500 million salary is quite normal!
As for Chow Yun-fat, he had a film called "The Replacement Killer" released during last year's Lunar New Year season, which flopped. He also has another film called "The Edge of War" to be released during this year's Lunar New Year season, but both are low-budget productions.

"Anna and the King," a Hollywood A-list production, is definitely a great opportunity for Chow Yun-fat. If the film is successful, it will greatly boost his career.

"A $9000 million investment, while Universal's Rush Hour 2 only cost a little over $8000 million, and the first one only cost $3300 million!"

Wang Zhuxian was naturally surprised, as she herself had participated in "Rush Hour" and, although she didn't appear in the sequel, she had still paid attention to it.

Aaron shook his head and chuckled, "The hugely popular Tom Cruise spy thriller 'Mission: Impossible' from two years ago is getting a sequel."

"Tom Cruise has chosen John Woo to direct Mission: Impossible 2. Filming will begin this year, and the movie will be released next year!"

The budget for Mission: Impossible 2 was a staggering $1.25 million, mainly because Mission: Impossible was such a success, grossing $1.8 million in North America and $4.5 million worldwide.
Although Cruise/Wagner Productions earned $7500 million from the film's box office, video, and television sales, Paramount certainly made the lion's share.

Wang Zhuxian blinked. "Director John Woo has made successful Hollywood action films like 'Broken Arrow' and 'Face/Off,' and is now a big-name action film director in Hollywood!"

Aaron shrugged. "Who can argue with that? He's a true A-list director in Hollywood now."

"If Mission: Impossible 2 is successful again, John Woo's status in Hollywood will become even more important."

(End of this chapter)