Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 83 The arena is not about fighting and killing
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", the title actually roughly explains the core points of the plot.

Simply put, the pirates on the infamous pirate ship, the Black Pearl, were cursed because they touched a box of gold coins that they shouldn't have touched.

This caused the crew members to become undead spirits, suffering in constant pain.

To lift the curse, all the gold coins must be recovered and dripped with Turner family blood.

The pirates mistakenly captured Elizabeth, played by Anne Hathaway, as a descendant of the Turner family.

Will Turner, played by Lin Yuan, and Captain Jack, one to save his lover, the other to take back his Black Pearl, the two join forces to fight against pirates.

In the original script of "Pirates of the Caribbean", Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, had a very important role.

It is said that the screenwriter originally wrote this role based on the image of Hugh Jackman (the actor who plays Wolverine).

But Disney strongly objected, they wanted a funny and unconventional pirate captain.

Therefore, Disney wanted to find the king of comedy Jim Carrey to play the role.

But Jim Carrey was filming the movie "Bruce Almighty" at the time and had no schedule.

Then it was Johnny Depp's turn to play Captain Jack Sparrow.

As the soul character of "Pirates of the Caribbean", Captain Jack has a very important role.

However, in the latest version of the script, the role of blacksmith Will Turner, played by Lin Yuan, has been greatly increased, and is no longer inferior to Captain Jack.

"Changing the script like this will definitely be beneficial to me, but will Disney agree?" Lin Yuan asked.

“I’m the producer of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ My say carries a lot of weight,” Mr. Eisen replied.

Lin Yuan was a little surprised. It wasn't that Mr. Eisen was not qualified to be a film producer.

On the contrary, he can be said to be the most powerful producer in Hollywood, no doubt about it.

It's just that he hasn't been a producer for many years, and at most he just invests some money.

This time, he did his best for Lin Yuan.

“Actually, what I originally wanted to grab was the director’s position and let Director Johnston shoot the film,” Mr. Eisen continued.

Lin Yuan nodded. Director Johnston, who had worked with him on "Jurassic Park 3", was himself a visual effects professional. His appointment to shoot "Pirates of the Caribbean" was a good opportunity to make use of his strengths.

"Disney didn't agree?" The answer was obvious, but Lin Yuan still asked.

"They have already finalized the candidate, so it is inconvenient to change it."

"As a consolation, I'll give you the producer?"

Lin Yuan remembered that Mr. Eisen said that he and the Disney CEO had been friends for many years.

"No, they asked me to be the producer," Mr. Eisen replied.

"why?"

"Because they have no confidence, they are worried that the film will lose money and hope that I can bring good luck."

Lin Yuan was stunned when he heard Mr. Eisen's reply.

But he soon understood because he had a prophetic perspective and was completely sure that "Pirates of the Caribbean" would be a big hit.

But Disney doesn't know.

At first, Disney just wanted to shoot a promotional video for the theme park, and the inspiration was the pirate ship ride.

Unexpectedly, it received rave reviews and achieved explosive commercial success, thus launching an entire series of films.

The reason why Disney is worried now is that pirate-themed movies are generally considered to be box office poison by the market at this time.

Before "Pirates of the Caribbean", there were two pirate-themed movies "Waterworld" and "Cutthroat Island", both of which had extremely poor box office performance.

Among them, Carlock Pictures, which produced "Cutthroat Island", went bankrupt due to the failure of this movie.

This is the famous film and television company that filmed "Terminator" and "First Blood".

Therefore, for a long time, pirate-themed movies were taboo in the industry. "If you didn't have a strong desire to star in this movie, I wouldn't invest in it," said Mr. Eisen.

“How much money did we invest?”

Lin Yuan was also very curious. In his opinion, this movie was risk-free and the more investment, the greater the return.

What share of the cake did your own film studio get?
"As you said, we invested as much money as possible. In the end, we invested $4000 million," Mr. Eisen replied.

Lin Yuan was very satisfied with this amount.

After all, this is a movie led by Disney, and it is already ideal to get this share.

The filming investment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" was as high as 1.4 million US dollars, and the 4000 million US dollars from Linyuan Film Studio accounted for 28.5%.

Even if calculated based on the global box office of $6.54 million for Pirates of the Caribbean in the original time and space, this $4000 million investment could still earn a return of about $9000 million, not to mention that Lin Yuan wanted to challenge the performance of "The Lord of the Rings".

"So having money really means you can do whatever you want?"

Lin Yuan joked that he was sure Mr. Eisen didn't know the joke, but he just wanted to tell it as a joke.

The current situation is: the producer is one of our own, so everything is very convenient, and it is easier to modify the script than before.

"There's a price to pay for doing whatever you want," Mr. Eisen replied seriously.

"what?"

"The director of this film, Gore Verbinski, and Johnny Depp might be a little unhappy with you. You need to deal with this matter."

"Clam?"

It is true that when a person is sitting at home, the pot comes from heaven.

But Lin Yuan was not surprised by this result.

He modified the script, increased his own role, and even wanted to compete for the director position.

He benefited from all these, and it was understandable that these actions caused dissatisfaction among director Verbinski and Johnny Depp.

However, even if there is some dissatisfaction, both parties must still cooperate and work hard to make a good movie.

"Do you find it difficult? Can you handle the relationship with them well?" Mr. Eisen asked with a smile, his eyes full of testing.

"What's difficult? I can handle it."

"What do you think? Tell me."

In fact, the current situation is very clear.

The good thing at the moment is: we have revised the script, increased Lin Yuan’s role, and gained greater say.

The bad side is that it infringed the interests of the director and Depp, so they were a little dissatisfied with Lin Yuan.

"Use struggle to achieve unity, and do both things well." Lin Yuan replied with a smile, "We must work together to make the pie bigger. No one will ever betray their own interests."

Lin Yuan gave his own answer:

When faced with rude provocation, fight back firmly.

At the same time, he conquered them with his outstanding performance.

Unite them with foreseeable future benefits.

Use both kindness and force, a two-pronged approach.

It can be said that where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

The world of martial arts is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

"Well said! You are now ready to start your apprenticeship!"

Mr. Eisen responded with satisfaction to Lin Yuan's answer.

(End of this chapter)