The Birth of the Best Director

Chapter 163 AI Science Fiction, the Ultimate Setting of Pacific Rim
……

"Last year, Upgrade's box office stopped at just over $5 million, failing to break the box office record set by John Woo, which was $5.46 million for a Chinese director, with Mission: Impossible 2."

"I was very disappointed at the time."

"However, I believe that A Yuan will break this record sooner or later!"

"However, I didn't expect this day to come so soon."

Six hours later, right after midnight, Zhao Shanshan was absolutely certain that the box office of "Real Steel" would surpass that of "Mission: Impossible 2".

From now on, Lu Zhiyuan will hold all the box office records for a single film by a Chinese director, both domestically and internationally.

Moreover, he truly deserves the title.

There was no room for complacency.

No one can say that Lu Zhiyuan relied on Universal Pictures, a major film studio, or that he got lucky and stumbled upon a sequel to a good IP.

Because he created everything single-handedly through his own abilities.

Robot Universe!
Super AI concept!

Other directors in China probably wouldn't have this vision or awareness.

"Brother Kun, does A Yuan have any ideas about the movie Pacific Rim? Give me a heads-up."

Zhao Shanshan watched the movie "Real Steel" several times.

A couple of days ago, she made a special trip back to her hometown, bringing all her relatives and friends with her. She booked a huge VIP theater for everyone to enjoy the super sci-fi blockbuster that she, as one of the producers, created.

After the movie ended, the entire audience cheered and applauded thunderously, a cheer that lasted for a long time.

At that moment, Zhao Shanshan was absolutely thrilled.

However, after watching the movie, the most frequent question from relatives and friends was, when will the sequel start filming?
How about we film some scenes in my hometown?

Putting everything else aside, even if Lu Zhiyuan wanted the Terracotta Army as a backdrop for his filming, we'd take care of everything for him!
Other people who come will definitely not receive this treatment.

But Lu Zhiyuan is different.

How many times has this happened already?
The first time was with the song "Maybe". Lu Zhiyuan wrote a lyric for Jing Tian: "Someone on the Xi'an city wall swore never to be separated."

The second time was at the Cannes awards ceremony, where he said, "See you on the Xi'an city wall."

And now, this is the third time!
The robot, 【Qin Palace Guard】, is full of Han and Tang Dynasty elements, especially the breastplate, which has a unique mark.

At first glance, it looks like the marks left after being slashed by a weapon.

Outsiders can't understand it.

However, these people from Xi'an get very excited when they see that symbol.

This is clearly the "Eight Rivers Surrounding Chang'an".

With the Qinling Mountains as its framework, eight rivers as its lifeblood, and numerous plateaus as its flesh and blood, Chang'an, the capital of the Han and Tang dynasties, was born and flourished.

All of these elements were imprinted onto the robot's armor by Lu Zhiyuan using special brushstrokes.

As the robots battled, light and shadow shifted, reflecting dazzling golden patterns that shone like divine runes.

Not only is it beautiful and cool, but it is also full of cultural heritage.

Lu Zhiyuan, you are so thoughtful and artistic.

If someone has a slightly lower level of education, they might not be able to tell the difference.

But the more it's like this, the more you want to praise it!
"The plot of Pacific Rim is very simple. It's about the character of Tian Tian... After the AI, led by Ms. T, takes control of some of the most powerful technology companies on Earth, it gradually tries to infiltrate all aspects of human life and has almost created a comprehensive surveillance of humanity."

"It is about to completely control the earth, turning humans into cattle and horses, controlled by a super network of ubiquitous cameras, facial scanning systems, recognition systems, and listening systems, controlling their entire lives."

"In this situation, the AI ​​Group can indirectly control the entire Earth simply by supporting a few puppets to become the leaders of humanity."

"On the eve of AI taking control of the Earth, Ms. T suddenly detected an abnormal crustal movement on the Pacific seabed through an underwater pressure sensor."

"So, Miss T dispatched an underwater exploration robot to investigate the situation. Strangely, it discovered a peculiar spatial wormhole on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean, which contained countless monsters that wanted to break through the spatial barrier and rush into Earth."

"Those monsters, just by looking at them, are extremely ferocious. They are the kind of monsters that are full of killing intent and are extremely vicious. They may be the destroyers of civilizations in the universe."

"Even the extinction of prehistoric dinosaurs may be related to these monsters."

"After analyzing the data, Ms. T's team dispatched their AI robot army to prepare for a decisive battle within the space wormhole before those monsters entered Earth."

"However, the abilities of those monsters exceeded the expectations of Miss T and other AI artificial intelligences. As carbon-based life forms, they have actually evolved an extremely strong ability to interfere with AI intelligence."

"Those monsters naturally emit an incredibly powerful biomagnetic field, which forcibly reduces the frequency of AI chips, causing the AI ​​to only exert 1% of its original power, almost completely losing its intelligence."

"Therefore, after detailed data analysis, Ms. T's team realized that the best option to avoid being destroyed by extraterrestrial monsters was to cooperate with humanity on Earth and work together to protect the planet!"

"This is the true story background of 'Real Steel,' which is also 'Pacific Rim.'"

After Xin Yukun finished explaining the background of the story, Zhao Shanshan listened with constant nodding.

That's truly an amazing imagination.

It even connects to the truth behind the extinction of prehistoric dinosaurs.

Whether it's true or not, it certainly sounds very intimidating, making people really want to see this movie!

"The movie title 'Pacific Rim' must be short for the 'Pacific Rim Defense Plan' mentioned in the post-credits scene, right?"

Zhao Shanshan suddenly frowned, as if she had just thought of something: "If that's the case, why are the Qin Palace Guards hiding inside Muztagh Ata?"

"Under normal circumstances, wouldn't it be more reasonable to set up a base in Shanghai, Hong Kong Island, or even Guangzhou?"

Why are there so many?
Lu Zhiyuan is the director; he can hide the robot wherever he wants.

Do I need to explain this to others?
Xin Yukun knew, of course, that Lu Zhiyuan had forcibly hidden the Jaeger inside the mountain in order to photograph the world-famous painting on Muztagh Ata.

However, he couldn't explain it to Zhao Shanshan like that.

The other party definitely cannot understand Lu Zhiyuan's neurotic thought process.

So, Xin Yukun thought for a moment and said, "We Chinese believe in keeping our wealth hidden. Such a powerful mech hunter should of course be kept hidden and used only in critical moments."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shanshan was stunned for a moment: "That makes sense! This reason is absolutely flawless."

Haha!

It's so easy to fool.

What kind of logic is that?
Ah Yuan likes to hide the mecha hunters in the mountains, but that's just his weird hobby!

However, most viewers don't know where Muztagh Ata is.

It's entirely possible to make a setting like that.

Take, for example, the interior of Muztagh Ata, where there is a dormant volcano.

Through this crater, the robot can instantly reach the space wormhole at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, just like taking an elevator.

After all, the Earth is a sphere.

Theoretically speaking, the vertical distance from any point on the Earth's surface to the Earth's core is roughly the same.

This explanation makes more sense.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the movie is called "Pacific Rim," while the main Jaeger is hidden deep in the inland mountains.

"So, the main plot of the movie is about fighting monsters from outer space?"

Zhao Shanshan seemed to understand the main plot of the movie.

That means there's no plot.

It's as childish as a Japanese tokusatsu drama, just like Ultraman fighting monsters.

A super-organization discovers a monster and realizes that it is so powerful that it cannot be defeated by its own strength alone.

In order to fight the monsters, this super organization developed the Mech Hunter.

In this movie, AI is incredibly powerful, and it's almost ready to integrate all the forces on Earth.

Their only nemesis is these monsters that can suppress AI computing power.

Therefore, they have no choice but to cooperate with humans.

The final plot will most likely involve hot-blooded young people piloting mechs to fight monsters for love and peace.

This plot is too simple; it's not like Lu Zhiyuan's style.

He is someone who really enjoys telling stories through visuals in movies.

"Of course it's not that simple."

"However, A Yuan hasn't told me about the specific inspiration and ideas yet."

Xin Yukun shook his head; this was definitely not Lu Zhiyuan's style.

Although Lu Zhiyuan's screenwriting skills are weak, the concepts he incorporates into the film are absolutely brilliant.

A simple tokusatsu drama would certainly not satisfy his expectations for this film.

"Real Steel" perfectly showcases Lu Zhiyuan's storytelling ability.

Although the script was written by Xin Yukun, Lu Zhiyuan actually completed most of the story himself.

"Mr. Zhao, don't push people so hard."

“Ah Yuan has been busy all year, so he needs to catch his breath, go out and date, clear his mind, and give him some creative space.”

Lu Zhiyuan is quite fragile; he spent a week lying in Kashgar while filming this movie.

Xin Yukun has always felt that making movies is all about making money. Is it really necessary to put yourself through this much trouble just to make a film?

Lu Zhiyuan could easily make at least 100 million US dollars from the movie "Real Steel." If he had that much money, he could lie down and do nothing for three to five years.

However, Lu Zhiyuan is not himself; he has high artistic aspirations.

But no matter what, he should take a six-month break, right?
Xin Yukun was just cursing Yang Mi for having an innate Ox-Horse Sacred Body, but when he turned around, he realized that Lu Zhiyuan was the real innate Ox-Horse Sacred Body.

Three movies in three years!

Which director works as hard as him?
As a result, I, the producer, haven't had much rest.

"Brother Kun, A Yuan has been in the bathroom for almost half an hour. Could he have eaten something bad? Go check on him."

It's impossible for me to get an upset stomach.

Because Lu Zhiyuan hadn't even started eating yet.

However, Zhao Shanshan was particularly worried that Lu Zhiyuan, this fragile little guy, might suddenly collapse in the toilet by accident.

"I gonna go see."

Xin Yukun was also very worried.

He put down his wine glass and hurriedly ran upstairs to check the situation.

However, just then, Lu Zhiyuan came downstairs.

"Bro, what's wrong with you?"

Xin Yukun looked up and was immediately stunned.

Then, he couldn't help but take another look.

At this moment, the person standing in front of him felt somewhat unfamiliar.

In Xin Yukun's consistent impression, Lu Zhiyuan was a haggard, sickly beauty with pale skin all day long, exuding a sense of fragility.

It was as if he would fall ill if he were blown by the wind.

Although, at this moment, Lu Zhiyuan is still the same as before, his appearance has not changed at all.

Her temperament remains the same.

He exudes an artistic flair while possessing a strangely roguish charm that makes Xin Yukun extremely jealous.

He was often filled with doubt: how could one person possess two such complex yet particularly attractive qualities to naive young girls?
However, at this moment, none of these are the important points.

The key point is that although Lu Zhiyuan's appearance had not changed at all, when he walked down towards her, Xin Yukun suddenly realized that Lu Zhiyuan seemed to have had his inner universe ignited.

He exudes a vibrant and energetic aura.

Especially those eyes, as black as ink. The moment they met his gaze, it felt like being blinded by a flash of light, causing him to involuntarily look away.

"what's the situation?"

"Not only does he have an outstanding presence, but now even his eyes are so sharp and piercing?"

This isn't the sickly beauty Lu Zhiyuan! This is absolutely a cyber warrior!

Did he just implant an AI chip into himself?

Her eyes are so bright, just like Dilraba's mechanical transformation in the movie, except for the electronic pattern around them.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. Bright eyes indicate that a person is full of energy, like a perpetual motion machine, able to continuously output spiritual power.

"Brother Kun, why are you looking at me like that? Like I'm a pervert."

Lu Zhiyuan smiled at Xin Yukun.

For some reason, he felt particularly good today, and could even sense some of the subtle thoughts in everyone's mind.

To put it in the language of the cultivation world...

If he was just a novice in the Qi Refining Realm before, then at this moment, he felt that he should have already cultivated to the Nascent Soul Realm.

A single glance is enough to glean a wealth of information from the other person's face.

In the past, he would only feel this way when he was paying very close attention to someone. "Brother, you look especially handsome today!"

Not only did Xin Yukun feel that Lu Zhiyuan was different today, but even Reba felt the change in Lu Zhiyuan.

In the past, Lu Zhiyuan was like a bright moon hanging in the sky, shining brightly but remaining aloof.

At that moment, when Lu Zhiyuan looked over, Dilraba instantly felt as if she were being basked in the blazing sun.

It made her feel warm all over.

I want to take off my clothes.

"Brother, don't move, let me see your face."

Dilraba couldn't help but take a step forward.

She noticed that Lu Zhiyuan's skin was exceptionally smooth today.

This means that he has been resting well recently, his metabolism is vigorous, and his capillaries are full of energy.

In addition, Dilraba couldn't help but touch Lu Zhiyuan's arm.

The muscles were very tense, like a cheetah poised to pounce.

Besides, Dilraba suddenly noticed that Lu Zhiyuan's facial bones had become more three-dimensional, and the natural upward curve of his mouth made him incredibly sunny and charming.

How could it become like this?
In Dilraba's mind, Lu Zhiyuan was clearly a sicklyly handsome man with an artistic flair.

What's the situation now?
He exudes a warm and enthusiastic aura, like a gentle sun, making people want to get closer to him.

Previously, Lu Zhiyuan had a cold and aloof demeanor, which made Dilraba want to get closer to him in order to warm him up.

Now, it's completely reversed.

Lu Zhiyuan's body felt warm, making Reba want to lean closer to warm herself up.

"Brother, you've become a little sun. Your hands are so warm."

Reba squeezed Lu Zhiyuan's hand and gently stroked it; the warmth emanating from it was truly comforting.

"Cough cough!"

Dilraba is going too far. Not only did she say that Lu Zhiyuan is handsome, but she also touched Lu Zhiyuan's face, pinched his arm after touching his face, and finally even held hands with Lu Zhiyuan.

Do you think you're dead?
Dilraba's continuous ambiguous behavior greatly displeased Miss Jing Tian.

"Hey, Sister-in-law Tian Tian, ​​my brother seems like a completely different person. I'm worried that someone might be impersonating him. Let me check him out for you."

Dilraba gave an awkward smile.

I accidentally revealed my inner thoughts just now.

"is it?"

Miss Jing Tian snorted and walked over unhappily.

When she got within a meter of Lu Zhiyuan, her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, and she looked up at Lu Zhiyuan in disbelief.

what's the situation?
Our usually cold and aloof robot was surprisingly aggressive today. When it looked at me, it was like a cheetah, full of a fighting spirit.

What did he just eat?
Or perhaps, after a year of making him soup every day, although the effects were slow, a qualitative change finally occurred?

Doesn't that mean that from today onwards...?

Hey!
……

To test the effects, over 300 days and nights were spent making countless soups, resulting in an amazing combination. After the dinner party, Miss Jing Tian simply closed the door and kicked everyone out.

After everyone else had left, she dragged Lu Zhiyuan up to the second floor!
"I'm going to take a shower first. You can put on some music and then light the incense I just bought to set the mood."

Miss Jing Tian went into the bathroom and quickly took a shower.

Then, she came out to test Lu Zhiyuan's new fighting power.

It was truly an extraordinary experience!

once.

twice.

three times!

Miss Jing Tian was like a dead fish, unwilling to move.

She turned around, her body limp as a lump of mud, and lay in Lu Zhiyuan's arms.

She looked left and right, and even went up to pinch Lu Zhiyuan's face.

He is indeed my man.

It wasn't someone wearing a human skin mask and impersonating someone else.

But for some reason, Lu Zhiyuan today was like a completely different person, his fighting power had increased several times over!
Suddenly remembering something, Miss Jing Tian glared at Lu Zhiyuan and sat up straight: "A Yuan, tell me honestly, did you secretly take medicine tonight?"

Seeing Lu Zhiyuan's puzzled and bewildered expression, Miss Jingtian thought he was acting, and her tone immediately softened.

She said softly, "Don't take medicine next time. I'm satisfied even if it's just once a day. If you keep doing this, I'll have to go on the show tomorrow with my injury."

Lu Zhiyuan didn't explain anything. He gently ruffled Jing Tian's hair, held her in his arms, and prepared to go to sleep.

This S-level talent is truly impressive.

In the past, after finishing a dungeon, all he wanted to do was go to sleep immediately.

But today, for some reason, I can't sleep at all.

Could it be that I really only need to sleep 4 hours a day?
It's 11 p.m. now. If I only get 4 hours of sleep, am I supposed to get up at 3 a.m. tomorrow to work?
……

As it turns out, Lu Zhiyuan was overthinking things.

At 3 a.m., he was fast asleep.

However, he woke up at 5 a.m.

At this time, it was still dark outside, but he couldn't fall asleep.

Lying in bed, his eyes were wide open, bigger than lanterns.

Miss Jing Tian, ​​who was sitting next to him, was fast asleep and showed no sign of getting up to make him soup.

"Six hours of sleep made me feel energetic and in top form."

"It is indeed a talent that seems to cheat."

Lying in a warm bed in winter, embracing the beautiful and fragrant Jing Tian, ​​is a very enjoyable thing for Lu Zhiyuan.

But now, someone has taken that enjoyment away from him.

I couldn't fall asleep at 5 a.m.

Lying in bed, I felt even more uncomfortable, as if I were committing a crime.

This is a sign of the awakening of the sacred bodies of cattle and horses!
"Since I can't sleep anyway, I'll brainstorm some ideas for the movie Pacific Rim."

In fact, Lu Zhiyuan had been thinking for a long time about how to adapt "Pacific Rim," but he just couldn't come up with a really good idea.

If the film were made exactly like the original, the box office performance probably wouldn't be too bad.

Because he was confident he could film a better version of the original. Plus, Dilraba and Hanikezi are already considered quite popular stars.

It has a very strong appeal among teenagers.

Even if it relies on celebrity endorsements, the box office will not be less than 4 million US dollars, and it is absolutely impossible for it to lose money.

However, Lu Zhiyuan was already somewhat dissatisfied with the mere $4 million.

Of course, he doesn't expect every movie to be as big a hit as "Real Steel".

Such miracles are rare and precious.

After all, even a genius like Nolan, after making "Inception," saw his subsequent films, such as "Interstellar" and "Dunkirk," experience a steady decline in box office revenue.

Nolan's box office peak was still the Batman series.

Two out of the three films grossed over $10 billion.

Even 20 years later, he still did not break his own peak record.

"First, we need to determine whether Pacific Rim is a mindless action movie or a hardcore sci-fi blockbuster?"

If Lu Zhiyuan wanted to make a mindless action movie, he wouldn't need to worry about anything; he could just copy the original work.

Then, with his unique visual talent, he created an ultimate audiovisual masterpiece.

If the box office surpasses that of the original, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

However, his pride as a renowned art-house film director made it impossible for him to accept making mindless, feel-good movies.

After all, Real Steel balances commercial appeal with artistic merit and is also full of childlike fun.

Having just finished a groundbreaking film, if he were to turn around and make a mindless action movie, even if the box office is decent, the media would definitely criticize him harshly and bombard him with criticism.

This is not what Lu Zhiyuan wanted to see.

……

I sat there from 5 a.m. until 8 a.m., even until Miss Jing Tian's alarm clock went off.

For three whole hours, Lu Zhiyuan's mind remained blank.

The creation of a script starts with an idea, evolves into a unit of story, expands from a point to a line, and then from a line to a surface, eventually becoming the entire real world.

This is Lu Zhiyuan's concept for the entire film.

That's always been his practice.

However, now he's stuck!
"what?"

Just then, Lu Zhiyuan noticed a professional book about robot learning that he had placed next to his computer desk.

A line of text above, at that moment, struck Lu Zhiyuan's brain like a collision of planets.

"By using algorithms, data is projected into a higher-dimensional space to improve model performance... This is called dimensionality enhancement!"

"Dimension promotion?"

"Exactly. I can't come up with anything fancy on Earth, but I can elevate the story's dimension!"

If the plot of Pacific Rim were limited to Earth, Lu Zhiyuan would not have been able to create a particularly grand story background.

Because destroying the Earth and destroying humanity has become the ultimate topic.

However, what if he shifted the background to outer space?

All the stories will be turned upside down and become epic!

Magnificent, breathtaking, and astounding!

"If you can't solve a problem in a lower dimension, then increase the dimension. All problems will then be solved."

Lu Zhiyuan realized this and suddenly found himself writing with divine inspiration.

"As a hardcore mecha movie, Pacific Rim is sure to attract a huge young male audience in terms of its audiovisual effects. However, the plot is too weak."

"If at this point, we could add a higher-dimensional storyline... such as some hard science fiction elements from Interstellar."

"For example, higher-dimensional beings, spacetime wormholes. Also, a slight twist on Einstein's theory of relativity."

"The monsters in Pacific Rim might be because higher-dimensional beings discovered the future war potential of humanity on Earth, so they used wormholes to target Earthlings who were still in a planetary civilization and released monsters, wanting to eliminate the threat to their own civilization 1 years ahead of schedule."

"This plot can be considered an early prediction of the Dark Forest Theory."

"Humans, by hunting down the first monster to enter Earth, generated a tremendous causal force that caused the wormhole to close temporarily."

"Humanity obtained the genetic data of the first monster and began to use the monster as raw material to study life science and technology. In a short period of time, human science and technology in related fields made groundbreaking progress."

"However, the existence of wormholes makes Earth's gravity abnormal, and the atmosphere is constantly being weakened. In 200 years, Earth may become like Mars, with virtually no atmosphere."

"Without the protection of an atmosphere, all life on Earth will eventually perish."

"With current human science and technology, it is impossible to reverse all of this."

"The ultimate fate awaiting humanity is complete extinction in 200 years!"

"Just at the moment when humanity was most desperate, the AI ​​Group's top management received some information that was transmitted in reverse through a wormhole by a mysterious force."

"Among these pieces of information, there is a crucial piece of information that tells Earth that on the other side of the wormhole, there are three planets suitable for human habitation."

it is good!
The story's ultimate core conflict emerges at this moment.

Higher-dimensional beings want to destroy humanity.

With the help of a mysterious force, humanity does the opposite of what was expected. Instead of destroying the wormhole, they decide to venture into it, undertake interstellar travel, and search for another Earth suitable for human habitation.

This story is so epic!

In conjunction with the battle between the Jaeger Hunters and the Apostle Monsters, and humanity's research into super life science technology using the corpses left behind by the extraterrestrial monsters.

This involves a lot of technical content; it's too technical to be fabricated.

Some of the related research could be enough to write several highly specialized physics papers.

That's too hardcore.

Lu Zhiyuan had absolutely no knowledge in this area.

He needs to have a chat with Gao Yuanyuan's older brother and ask him to introduce him to some professors at Tsinghua University to help him fill in the gaps in his professional knowledge.

(End of this chapter)