Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 414: It costs a lot of money to make a blockbuster movie

After finishing the recording of "The Tonight Show", Lin Yuan and Mr. Eisen began to fully prepare for the preliminary work of the movie "The Legend of Tang Dynasty".

This blockbuster, with a $3 million investment, will be the most expensive film in film history.

A few years later, "Avatar", which swept the world and was famous for its high production cost, only cost less than 2.5 million US dollars to produce.

The production cost of "The Legend of Tang Dynasty" is as high as 3 million US dollars, which means that the film can only be a huge success, let alone a failure.

Therefore, every step needs to be handled with extreme caution.

The first problem to be solved is the selection of the director.

In the study in Douglaston Town, Mr. Eisen asked with a smile, "Who do you want to choose as the director?"

"If possible, Director Zhang Mou is actually a good candidate. It's a pity that he is not needed now." Lin Yuan replied.

Director Zhang Mou's skill in color and large-scale scene arrangement is beyond reproach. His shortcoming is his overly didactic ideas, that is, the output of values.

This shortcoming is exactly the same as that of the director who filmed "The Promise".

If Director Zhang Mou can completely listen to Lin Yuan's instructions and help him with peace of mind, then he will definitely be the best candidate.

However, Director Zhang Mou had not suffered enough setbacks at the moment. After the failure of "House of Flying Daggers", he was more eager to shoot "Curse of the Golden Flower" to prove himself, so he was not needed for the time being.

"If you can't use Director Zhang Mou, I suggest you use a Hollywood director to offset the problem of the production list being too oriental," Mr. Eisen suggested.

Lin Yuan nodded, Mr. Eisen was right.

The leading actors of this movie are almost all Chinese. If a Western director were to join the cast, it can be guaranteed that the film will be more suitable for the European and American markets without losing its original flavor.

The Last Emperor, directed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, is a good example.

As long as the right director is chosen, this combination of Chinese and Western elements can create masterpieces that are unanimously praised by both the Chinese and Western markets.

Which Hollywood director should we use?
Coen? Johnston? Nolan? Or... Ang Lee?
A list of directors he had worked with before flashed through Lin Yuan's mind.

Personally speaking, he most wanted to choose director Cohen.

This benefactor who helped Lin Yuan in his early stages gave him a lot of selfless help.

But director Coen is not good at this area. Large-scale scene arrangement and storytelling are not his strong points, so it is difficult for him to make this movie well.

The same problem exists with Director Johnston, whose abilities overlap greatly with those of Director Cohen.

As for director Ang Lee, his films are too literary and artistic, and he has never made a film that requires large-scale scene arrangement in his life, so he is also not suitable.

Then there is only one candidate left - Director Nolan.

Is he suitable?

Lin Yuan thought about it carefully and the answer was yes.

The fact that he was able to shoot "The Dark Knight" shows that he is a master who can grasp the routines of commercial films and shape characters without falling into flat narrative.

"Inception" proved his ability in visual effects and handling complex stories.

"Interstellar" and "Dunkirk" further demonstrated his talent in visual effects, especially large-scale scene scheduling.

Therefore, this is a hexagonal all-round director and also the strongest director in Lin Yuan's hands.

At this time, Director Nolan was still a semi-new director, far from achieving the successful status he would achieve in later generations.

Just give Director Nolan more opportunities, let him prove himself as soon as possible and grow up, and he can become the ace director in Lin Yuan's hands.

So, Lin Yuan made up his mind and said, "Then let's leave it to Director Nolan."

"Nolan?" Mr. Eisen hesitated. "Is he qualified?"

At this time, Director Nolan had already joined Linyuan Film Company and was mainly responsible for the "Batman" film trilogy in cooperation with Warner Bros.

He has not yet fully emerged, so Mr. Eisen would have doubts, is it really appropriate to entrust him with such a blockbuster with an investment of 4 million US dollars?

"Believe me, he is the real hidden trump card of our company. We just need to give him opportunities and let him grow up as quickly as possible." Lin Yuan said.

"Okay, you're always right. I believe you." Mr. Eisen continued, "Then the next step is choosing the lead actor."

"The female lead is Miss Liu Yufei. Besides that, the most important role is the villain General. I have already contacted Li Renjie.

He was very excited to be in the film and agreed immediately," said Mr. Eisen.

Lin Yuan was not surprised at the joining of this "Kung Fu Emperor".

The two developed a good personal relationship during the filming of "Hero".

With his action skills and fame in Europe and the United States, he is definitely the best candidate besides Chen Long.

The villain is the most important character in a movie, and it can even be said that he is second only to the male protagonist.

Li Renjie's screen image was famous for his heroic and handsome appearance in his early years. After middle age, the changes in his facial features made him more suitable for playing some sinister and cruel roles.

Therefore, if Li Renjie can be confirmed as the villain, the casting of this movie will be half successful.

"The remaining important roles have been given to Meng Tao, Luo Jing, Huang Bo, Zhang Ziyu and Gao Yuanyuan, and they have all been finalized." Mr. Eisen just said.

There is no need to say much about Meng Tao's martial arts skills. He is also an old acquaintance to European and American audiences.

Zhang Ziyu has the added bonus of a series of movies such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero", "Rush Hour 2", etc., and is also a familiar face to European and American audiences.

Gao Yuanyuan has starred in "Hero" and walked the Oscar red carpet with Lin Yuan. She has a certain degree of fame in Europe and the United States, and is a contracted artist of Lin Yuan Film Company. Such opportunities will definitely be reserved for their own people.

Luo Jing and Huang Bo are both complete newcomers, and they were chosen solely because they were signed to Linyuan Film Company.

In the villa in Yanjing, Luo Jing signed a 5-year contract with Contract B, while Huang Bo sold himself and signed a 10-year contract with Contract A. It was impossible for Lin Yuan not to leave such a good opportunity for them.

As for Zhu Yawen, who was only willing to accept a C visa, Lin Yuan had no choice but to not choose him since there were not so many roles available.

For Lin Yuan, the main market for the films he shoots is the European and American markets, and the new actors are not much worse than those Hong Kong and Taiwan stars.

Instead of using those expensive Hong Kong and Taiwan stars who are unknown in Europe and the United States, it is better to use artists under your own company.

Anyway, the main selling point is himself. As long as he can carry the show, it doesn't make much difference who plays the other roles in the movie.

This is the biggest difference between him and other domestic directors.

The reason why other domestic directors are willing to spend a lot of money to hire Hong Kong and Taiwan stars in a series of films such as "The Promise" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" is mainly because they are worried that when the performance in the European and American markets is not good, they can still use the box office appeal of these Hong Kong and Taiwan stars to recover some costs in the Chinese-language film market.

On the other hand, there was a shortage of domestic film and television production personnel at the time and the support of Hong Kong and Taiwan production teams was needed, so compromises had to be made in casting.

But these two issues are not problems at all for Lin Yuan. He can use newcomers with confidence without having to consider the feelings of those Hong Kong and Taiwan stars.

At this point, the entire list of main actors of "The Heroes of Tang Dynasty" has been finalized.

“How can you and I today repeat yesterday’s story?”

"Can I board your passenger ship with this old ticket?"

Just then, Lin Yuan's cell phone rang.

He picked up the phone and saw the caller ID: Chen Long.

This is such a surprise!

Although he and Chen Long would call each other to say hello during the holidays, they did not have many opportunities to meet and contact each other on a regular basis.

Both of them are very busy, with endless movies to shoot and endless things to do.

But Lin Yuan has always been grateful to Chen Long in his heart.

When he first debuted, he received a lot of help from Chen Long, whether it was being invited to Hong Kong Island to guest star in "Rush Hour 2" or receiving a large sum of money when he was the poorest.

Even when the action team was first formed, they owed it to Chen Long. Meng Tao was a stuntman who came from the Chen family troupe.

Without his efforts and those of several Chen family martial artists, Lin Yuan would have to spend a lot of extra effort to form an action team.

So Lin Yuan picked up the phone: "Hello, Brother Chen Long."

"Hello, little brother Lin Yuan." Brother Chen Long on the phone was still as generous as ever.

"Excuse me, what can I do for you?" Lin Yuan likes to get straight to the point.

Jackie Chan is of the same character: "Then I won't beat around the bush. I heard from Ziyu that you have a new movie project in the works?"

"Yes, it was just confirmed." Lin Yuan replied.

"Then why don't you invite me? I also want to be in your movie." Chen Long asked directly.

"Because there is no suitable role for you, I can't ask you." Lin Yuan was telling the truth. After all, Chen Long only plays the protagonist, and this is not a movie with a dual protagonist structure.

"I can play a cameo role. I've always wanted to work with you again." Chen Long expressed his idea.

Cameo?

Lin Yuan immediately understood Chen Long's idea.

In the past few years, he has passed his peak and his popularity has been declining, while Lin Yuan continues to reach new heights and is at the peak of his career.

Although he cannot lower his status and play a supporting role in Lin Yuan's movie.

However, making a cameo appearance and leveraging the popularity of Lin Yuan's movies to increase one's presence is also a very cost-effective thing to do.

Lin Yuan did not feel embarrassed at all about Chen Long's request.

It would be easy if it was just a guest appearance. It would not damage Chen Long's status and could also take advantage of Chen Long's popularity. It would be a win-win situation.

In this way, Lin Yuan's movie brings together him, Jackie Chan, and Li Renjie, three of the current top action actors. For movie fans, this is definitely a classic collaboration.

So Lin Yuan said, "Of course, no problem. I'll immediately arrange a guest role for you in the script and send it to you later."

"Straightforward! That's great! I like your style of speaking and doing things." Chen Long was obviously in a good mood.

Lin Yuan continued, "I heard that you recently launched a new film called 'The Myth'. Could you give me a cameo role? I also want to be in your film, Brother Chen Long."

"what?"

Chen Long was quite surprised to hear Lin Yuan's request.

With Lin Yuan’s current popularity and the fact that every movie he makes becomes a hit, he can hardly find time to make his own movie, let alone waste time to make a cameo appearance in his movie?
He also doesn't need to ride on the popularity of Chen Long's movie. On the contrary, his guest appearance will bring a lot of attention to "The Myth", and Chen Long is the absolute beneficiary.

The only explanation for Lin Yuan's behavior is that he was returning the favor and thanking Chen Long for his help in the past.

Chen Long, realizing Lin Yuan's true intentions, was immediately moved and said over the phone, "I appreciate your kindness. I won't say much to thank you. I'll also prepare the guest role as soon as possible and send you the script later. I wish us a pleasant cooperation and may our careers flourish."

"Thank you, Brother Chenlong. See you on the set later." Lin Yuan said with a smile.

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Eisen said, "In just a few years, you've come from behind and surpassed Chen Long. Doesn't that make you feel a lot?"

Lin Yuan shook his head. "He was once a legend, but his era is slowly fading. However, I still have great respect for him. As a newcomer, my goal is to push the pinnacle of action movies to a higher level."

Mr. Eisen didn't dwell on this point. He continued, "Next, the most important thing is the preparatory work. For such a large-scale film, and one set in ancient times, the workload for preparatory work will be much greater than that of 'The King of Spy Wars'."

Lin Yuan replied, "I'm sorry to bother you."

"Don't be so polite. I'm the producer, and this is my job." Mr. Eisen said, "First, we need to train the main actors. They must join the crew as soon as possible and receive training in horsemanship, archery, and other cold weapon techniques."

Lin Yuan nodded: "Yes, this is necessary."

"The second thing is the production of costumes and props, including renting war horses for filming, and making armor, costumes, weapons, and so on. I've already compiled these requirements into orders and sent them to the corresponding domestic Chinese suppliers for procurement. Take a look at the list."

After saying that, Mr. Eisen handed over a document.

Lin Yuan flipped through a few pages and couldn't help but be shocked.

In order to present the war scenes in the movie, a total of one thousand horses were rented for real-life shooting, which was a considerable expense.

There are large-scale cavalry battle scenes in the movie. Although they can be coordinated with post-production special effects, the more horses used in actual shooting, the better the final effect will definitely be.

During the filming of "The Lord of the Rings", 300 real horses were used, and combined with post-production special effects, a spectacular scene of 6000 cavalry charging was created.

Lin Yuan's "The Heroes of Tang Dynasty" pursues more grand war scenes. Horses will be used in grassland battles between the enemy and us, so it is not an exaggeration to use 1000 horses.

The rental cost of a horse is RMB 200 per day, which includes the rental fee of the horse, the cost of horse feed, the salary of the groom who takes care of the horse, the amortization of horse wear and tear, etc.

One thousand horses cost 90 RMB a day, and the rental period is expected to be 1800 days, which means a total cost of million RMB is immediately spent.

This does not include the cost of making the saddle and stirrups based on the Tang Dynasty era in which the movie is set.

The cost of the horses is only a small part.

In addition, there are the costs of producing thousands of sets of armor. Although they are not real armor, but movie props, in order to create a realistic effect, each set costs more than 5000 yuan. A total of 500 million yuan for sets.

There are also props such as spears, Mo Dao, Tang Dynasty horizontal swords, bows and arrows, costumes for various ancient characters, various living facilities in the street scene such as carriages, vendors, etc., Tang Dynasty furniture indoors, etc.

The total cost of these props and costumes exceeds 9000 million RMB.

Lin Yuan looked at the materials in his hand. Although the expenses were huge, he didn't feel sorry at all.

In order to achieve the best effect for the film, this part of the cost must not be saved. He has seen too many crews in later generations who saved money on costumes and props.

The final effect becomes extremely cheap and copycat.

For many laymen, they have no idea how much it costs to make costumes and props realistic and high-quality.

Because if you make a set of ancient clothing according to modern design, the cost is actually not that high.

But the high-end cotton material and brand-new style will distract you at first sight.

But when you actually use linen to make clothes for ancient civilians, and make them look old, faded, worn out in parts, and patched, the cost is several times higher than making a new piece of clothing, or even more than ten times.

When filming costume-themed TV dramas in later generations, people would rather film the world of princes and nobles than the streets of the city, because the costumes and props are too difficult to handle.

Lin Yuan spared no expense in order to achieve the best in every detail.

For him, the money was well spent.

First of all, his movies will completely conquer the audience with their texture. We are not fools and can tell at a glance whether a movie is made with care or not.

Secondly, every penny spent on purchasing these costumes and props will stimulate domestic economic growth. The benefits brought to the domestic market will also strengthen the company's ties with the domestic market. Only those who can bring everyone profit will be truly welcomed.

Finally, as for the costumes and props, after the filming of the movie is completed, he can choose to transfer them directly to Fanyu Film and Television City and recover part of the cost.

After these props are repurchased by Fanyu Film and Television City, they can be provided to future film crews that need them for filming.

After all, how could most crews have such a luxurious budget to produce such costumes and props?

But if they could rent it and use it at Fanyu Film and Television City, they would definitely be ecstatic.

In this way, Fanyu Film and Television City will be in an increasingly advantageous position in the competition with Hengdian Film and Television City.

"No problem, these budgets are all reasonable. You can make the decision." Lin Yuan said with a smile after reading the list in his hand.

"In this case, the filming will start in late January 2004, which will allow it to catch the summer season in July next year," said Mr. Eisen.

"Ok."

"You still have more than half a month of free time. What are you going to do?" asked Mr. Eisen.

"Buy me a plane ticket to Yanjing. Before the movie's launch conference, I'm going to give someone some experience packs, otherwise her popularity will be too low." Lin Yuan said.

(End of this chapter)