Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 66 Investing in "Hero"

Mr. Eisen shook hands lightly with Director Zhang Mou, then let go and stood aside. "I'm Lin Yuan's agent. If you have anything to discuss today, just discuss it with him."

Director Zhang Mou's English is not very good, and he was stunned when he saw Mr. Eisen standing aside, highlighting the young and handsome Lin Yuan.

Zhang Ziyu quickly translated, "Mr. Aisen is here today as Lin Yuan's agent. He said Lin Yuan will be in charge of everything today."

After hearing Zhang Ziyu's words, director Zhang Mou turned his attention to Lin Yuan.

It's not that he is rude, nor that he looks down on Lin Yuan, but people of Mr. Eisen's status usually have a dominant position over artists when they act as agents.

Artists often have to obey all arrangements made by such big-name agents.

Now it seems that, completely different from what he expected, Lin Yuan is the protagonist today.

If this is the case, director Zhang Mou must adjust the object of his relationship building.

"Mr. Lin is of Chinese descent, right? Can you understand what I'm saying?" Director Zhang Mou tried to communicate in Mandarin.

"No problem, I understand, Director Zhang Mou." Lin Yuan replied with a smile.

"You are young and promising, and you are a handsome man. When I compare you to you, I feel old."

"You are in your prime, and there are more peaks waiting for you to climb." Lin Yuan's words were not a compliment, he knew that the director's peak period was far from coming.

This time he came back to China to discuss the cooperation on "Hero" not just for a movie. Lin Yuan also wanted to establish deeper connections with the domestic film and television circles through director Zhang Mou.

After all, he still has many plans for his domestic film and television career to be implemented in the future, so it is necessary for him to start getting to know more people in the domestic film and television industry now.

Both of them wanted to get closer, so the atmosphere was very harmonious.

After everyone was seated, Zhang Ziyu further introduced, "Director, aren't you interested in understanding the European and American film market? Lin Yuan is very experienced. The three films he starred in this year all achieved very good results."

"I know Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. What are the other two?"

Lin Yuan’s two films are currently popular in North America, but they have not yet been released in China. Director Zhang Mou, who is not good at English, is still lagging behind in understanding foreign information.

"'The Fast and the Furious' and 'Jurassic Park 3,' those two movies together grossed $7.6 million."

"How much did you say?" Director Zhang Mou, who was drinking tea, almost spit it out.

"7.6 million US dollars, almost 60 billion RMB." Zhang Ziyu smiled, with pride in her eyes.

"It's amazing! This result is more than seven times the domestic annual box office. The current domestic market is still a bit small. If commercial films want to grow bigger, they must go global," said director Zhang Mou with emotion.

"Lin Yuan can help you, the director, realize this wish." Zhang Ziyu continued.

"really?"

"Of course! Lin Yuan played a huge role in the success of the three films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He was even the leading actor in Jurassic Park 3."

"Heroes are truly born young." Director Zhang Mou praised sincerely.

He knew that since Zhang Ziyu said so, Lin Yuan must have played a significant role.

At first he thought Lin Yuan was just an ordinary actor, but he didn't expect that he could not only boost the box office performance of the movie, but also become the protagonist of a big-budget movie as a Chinese in such an exclusive place like Hollywood.

This is definitely not an easy task, and the value of Lin Yuan needs to be re-evaluated.

Why were these situations only briefly mentioned in the materials Zhang Ziyu prepared in advance without any detailed introduction?

Seeing Director Zhang Mou unexpectedly re-examining Lin Yuan, Zhang Ziyu smiled.

She deliberately didn't provide detailed information about Lin Yuan. Firstly, she thought Director Zhang Mou wouldn't seriously review it; his attention would undoubtedly be on Mr. Eisen. Secondly, only by pointing it out in person would she create such a contrast, leaving a deep impression on Director Zhang Mou and making it easier for Lin Yuan to plan what he wanted.

In order to help Lin Yuan as much as possible, Zhang Ziyu put all her thoughts into it and tried her best.

Thinking of the huge cake of the European and American film market, director Zhang Mou couldn't help but feel excited.

Whether for fame or profit, if he wants to become a top director, he must enter the European and American markets.

In the past few years, he made realistic films and won some international awards. He is considered a top domestic director.

Since this is what is recognized in China now, the awards given by foreigners seem to be more advanced and convincing.

Now that he was no longer so lacking in fame, it was time for him to work hard for profit. To make enough profit, he still had to enter the European and American markets.

It would be great if we could get Lin Yuan and Mr. Eisen behind him as our guide.

Director Zhang Mou then spoke up, "I'm a straightforward person and don't like beating around the bush, so I'll just say what I want to say. Ziyu told me that you're very interested in the film 'Hero' I'm planning to shoot, and would you like to collaborate more closely?"

"Yes, all-round cooperation."

"All-round?"

"I want to star in "Hero", finance the filming of this movie, and be responsible for the distribution of the movie in Europe and the United States." Lin Yuan did not beat around the bush and directly put forward his thoughts.

Director Zhang Mou felt mixed emotions about Lin Yuan's proposal.

The good news is that we have the overseas distribution partner and the filming funds. But the worry is how to arrange Lin Yuan's role?

"As the saying goes, 'food and fodder must be sent before the army moves.' I'd like to ask, how much funding can you provide for filming?" asked director Zhang Mou.

"However much share do you want to take? We'll take the rest." The studio's ample funds gave him the confidence to speak at this moment.

He knew that the historical production cost of "Hero" was 3000 million US dollars, which is comparable to "Fast and Furious" in Hollywood and can only be considered a small or medium-cost production, but it is already a top production in China.

But it is worth mentioning that the purchasing power of the same amount of production funds in China is much higher than in Hollywood.

Therefore, it is not a fantasy to produce a film in China with a production cost of 3000 million US dollars that can produce the same effect as a Hollywood film with a production cost of 6000 million US dollars.

Linyuan Studio has a cash flow of $5 million. In theory, it is not a problem for it to cover the entire production cost of "Hero", but it is a taboo to eat alone.

If one company eats up all the shares and cannot give up the profits, it will not get help from the local tyrants in the country, so Lin Yuan’s proposal is to take over the remaining shares.

After hearing Lin Yuan's reply, Director Zhang Mou nodded and said, "The total amount raised and promised to be invested is $1000 million. I'll trouble you with the remaining $2000 million."

"Okay, no problem. If the filming exceeds the budget and requires additional investment, we can also cover the full cost."

Lin Yuan’s words surprised director Zhang Mou again: he didn’t expect that this film studio had such abundant funds!
The investment was extremely straightforward, without any bargaining, and even the amount of additional investment was not a problem.

The power to control such a huge fortune is in the hands of this young man in front of him, which makes director Zhang Mou sigh in his heart: The young are really formidable!
But when he thought of Mr. Eisen behind Lin Yuan, he felt that everything made sense.

But... Lin Yuan, who has paid so much, must give him a satisfactory answer in terms of role arrangement.

But all the important roles have been discussed and decided.

How can this be good?

Director Zhang Mou started to have a headache.

(End of this chapter)