It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 202 Liu Xiaoli: What? You want me to introduce your son to a blind date?

The difference in pay between established and unknown directors is enormous!

In the current climate, a director who has directed a film with a publicly disclosed budget of $1000 million and a North American box office of over $5000 million typically earns a starting salary of $300 million, and may even be involved in a share of the profits later on.

Nobody wants to take a paycheck that doesn't match their worth.

"Potential stars" like James Wan and Zack Snyder are not so easy to "discover".

The first Twilight movie cost a whopping $3000 million.

To make a good film that blends youth, fantasy, and romance, it's not something that can be easily handled by just any new director.

Therefore, most of the directors selected by Lü Rui for auditions this time are those who already have representative works, but whose recent achievements are only average or even below average.

These directors don't demand high salaries, but they can guarantee a certain level of creative quality and control production costs well, avoiding budget cuts that could affect film quality. They are the best choice.

The first director I auditioned with was someone I knew.

“Hello, Lv, I’m Guy Ritchie, it’s nice to meet you.”

Looking at the middle-aged man with a full beard in front of him, Lü Rui was slightly dazed.

In his memory, the other party achieved great success in life with her debut film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," which featured ingenious narrative and unique dark humor. She later married American pop superstar Madonna, making her a true winner in life.

How did we end up having to actively audition for jobs?

"Hello, please sit down."

Lu Rui stood up to acknowledge the gesture and then arranged for his assistant to bring in a cup of coffee.

While chatting with Guy Ritchie, he quickly flipped through the man's resume.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that Guy Ritchie's career had been on a downward spiral for several years after the huge success of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in 1998 and "Snatch" in 2000.

During this period, he produced works such as "Legal Mavericks" and "The Bride and Groom," which not only won the Golden Raspberry Award, but one of them was even nominated for the worst film of the year.

He's fallen on hard times in middle age, yet a superstar wife stands by his side...

The outside world's comments about him being a "gold digger" and "having run out of talent" are undoubtedly harsh and hurtful.

Lu Rui briefly discussed the core story of "Twilight" with him, then handed him the script outline and listened attentively to his creative ideas.

Despite being at a low point in his career, Guy Ritchie's personal directorial style has not faded at all.

He excels at incorporating strong visual styles and character charisma into genre films, and his camera language carries a sharp and cool edge.

If he were to direct, it would undoubtedly enhance the mysterious and dark atmosphere and character tension of the vampire family in "Twilight".

His ability to balance action and emotional scenes, honed in previous crime films, is well-suited to the needs of a film series.

However, its shortcomings are also quite prominent.

For example, he has almost no experience in handling youth romance themes.

His past works are almost entirely composed of rough-and-tumble portraits and dark narratives. Whether he can accurately capture the delicate feelings of the young girl Bella and the restrained affection of the vampire Edward is undoubtedly questionable.

After chatting for more than ten minutes and getting a general understanding of the situation, Lü Rui stood up and extended his hand to him: "I am very happy to have had an in-depth discussion with you today. Regarding the cooperation, I will give you a reply as soon as possible after comprehensive consideration."

“Okay.” Guy Ritchie stood up and shook hands with him, his tone so calm it was almost imperceptible.

Although no immediate decision was reached, he showed neither regret nor engaged in further conversation.

In recent years, he has tasted too much failure and rejection.

His celebrity wife was very unhappy with his career decline, and the constant ridicule from the outside world had long since worn down his spirit.

He had no choice but to go out to find a job; after all, he was a man and couldn't rely on his wife to support him forever.

However, as Lü Rui watched Guy Ritchie's somewhat forlorn figure disappear through the door, a name suddenly flashed through his mind:
Sherlock Holmes!
He suddenly remembered that it was this movie that allowed Guy Ritchie to successfully turn his career around and shed the label of "having run out of ideas".

This film is adapted from Lionel Wigram's comic book of the same name, and the story is based on Sherlock Holmes, the classic detective character created by British novelist Arthur Conan Doyle.

Its investment cost was not high, but thanks to its unique narrative style, exciting detective plot and outstanding performances by the actors, it ultimately achieved huge box office and critical success.

Lu Rui kept this in mind, planning to have Peter inquire about the copyright ownership of the comic book once he finished finalizing the director's appointment for "Twilight".

If we can secure the deal in advance, whether it's to give Guy Ritchie a chance later or to keep it as a reserve project for the company, it's a sure-fire way to make money.

……

After Guy Ritchie left, several other directors came and went.

Kathryn Hardwick, who was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and David Slade, who rose to prominence last year with the dark thriller "Hard Candy"...

Everyone brought their own interpretation of Twilight, each with its own highlights and shortcomings.

Of these, Chris Weitz was the one that satisfied Lü Rui the most.

This guy directed "Twilight: New Moon" in his previous life, which grossed $7.09 million worldwide, and he had a fairly accurate grasp of the series' tone.

The only regret is that he hasn't yet produced any outstanding independent directorial achievements.

This made Lü Rui somewhat doubtful whether he could make a good film.

However, the day after their conversation, Chris Weitz suddenly called to say that he had a new job.

Been intercepted?

Lü Rui was very surprised.

After making inquiries, he learned that New Line Cinema had extended an olive branch to Chris Weitz, inviting him to direct "The Golden Compass," a film with a budget of $1.8 million.

In comparison, the $3000 million budget of "Twilight" undoubtedly seems rather "meager".

“Lv, I’m really sorry. The scale and production volume of the Golden Compass project is a rare opportunity for me. I hope we can cooperate again in the future.”

Chris Weitz sounded apologetic on the phone.

However, what he didn't know was that Lü Rui's expression on the other end of the phone was very complicated.

The Golden Compass

This is a notorious sinkhole project!

If he remembers correctly, in his previous life, New Line Cinema invested nearly $2 million, but the final global box office was less than $4 million.

After deducting costs, marketing and theater revenue sharing, the film lost everything, making it a complete flop, almost a carbon copy of "Windtalkers".

"It's okay, good luck."

Lü Rui ultimately couldn't say much, so he suppressed the urge to warn him and hung up the phone.

"Lv, what should we do next?"

Peter was a little upset that his preferred director was snatched away.

However, after thinking for a while, Lü Rui suddenly came up with a more advantageous idea.

"Go and contact Guy Ritchie and Katherine Hardwicke, and ask if they'd be willing to co-direct?"

In the previous life, the first Twilight movie was directed by Katherine Hardwicke, and it achieved remarkable success after its release.

In particular, the film's creation of a fantastical atmosphere, the presentation of beautiful visuals, and the delicate portrayal of the friendship between girls and the forbidden love between humans and vampires are all masterpieces.

These are precisely Catherine's strengths.

After all, she had worked as an art director in films such as "Mr. Destiny" and "Vanilla Sky" in her early years, and had a profound grasp of visual aesthetics.

Her debut film, "The Age of Thirteen," accurately captured the emotional entanglements of adolescence, fully demonstrating her ability to express emotions in dramas.

However, her shortcomings are equally obvious.

For example, the film is slightly inferior in its overall narrative pacing. When faced with multiple parallel storylines, it is also prone to problems such as loose logic and unclear focus, which may affect the persuasiveness of the story in the fantasy genre.

But Guy Ritchie is able to make up for this deficiency.

He excels at using tight narratives and ingenious structures to connect stories, and can organize complex clues clearly.

If the two could co-direct, with Katherine handling the visual presentation and emotional grounding, and Guy Ritchie controlling the narrative framework and pacing, they could complement each other perfectly.

In fact, Lü Rui had an even better option in mind.

Bill Condon!

In his previous life, he directed the two-part "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn," which not only fully presented the climax of the original story but also featured a smooth and natural narrative and significantly improved visual effects. Overall, the film's reputation and box office performance were consistently excellent within the series.

In contrast, the directors of the other three films in the series all had shortcomings such as stylistic inconsistencies and dragging plots.

Unfortunately, Bill Condon is currently busy filming other movies and simply cannot spare the time.

Therefore, Lu Rui could only place his hopes on Guy Ritchie and Katherine Hardwicke, hoping they would be willing to work together.

"I'll contact them right away."

Upon receiving the order, Peter immediately turned and left, intending to start by contacting the two men's agents to discuss the possibility of co-directing and the details of the collaboration.

Meanwhile, after assigning tasks, Lü Rui turned his attention to "Dying to Survive".

The scenes overseas are actually not complicated.

The core plot revolves around Liu Yifei's character acting as a matchmaker, introducing a pharmaceutical laboratory director she met during her studies abroad to her "father," Jiang Wu.

Ultimately, the two sides reached an agreement on the price and finalized the drug supply arrangements, foreshadowing subsequent events in the story.

As for the role of the lab director, Lü Rui once again invited his old acquaintance Andy Serkis to make a cameo appearance.

It has to be said that this guy's situation is truly lamentable. Last year, he "starred" in two blockbuster films, "King Kong" and "I Am Legend".

The former grossed $5.6 million worldwide, while the latter grossed a staggering $7.44 million, both undoubtedly A-list blockbuster projects.

However, he played a "gorilla" in "King Kong" and the leader of the Night Demons in "I Am Legend," and his performance was entirely done through motion capture. His face never appeared on the big screen.

This also resulted in the actor becoming famous for his movie role, but he himself remained largely unknown to the public.

His salary has increased, that much is certain, but his status has hardly improved.

The roles that came to us were either supporting roles or motion capture roles.

In Andy's own words, "I feel like I'm nailed to the label of 'invisible protagonist'!"

During a break in filming, the two chatted casually, and Andy said with anticipation in his eyes, "My dream right now is very simple: I want to play the lead role in a movie, a lead role where my face is truly on screen."

Lu Rui could hear the resentment and longing in his tone, and patted him on the shoulder: "Andy, don't be discouraged. Believe me, you will definitely get your chance."

While comforting him, the image of Sherlock Holmes came to mind again.

The film is set in the 1890s.

At that time, Queen Victoria's reign was nearing its end, the British Empire was declining from its peak with the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of Germany and the United States brought about a crisis.

Colonial expansion fostered prosperity, but it also bred evil. The rise of monopoly capitalism and the missed opportunities of the new industrial revolution led to a mix of scientific, pseudo-scientific, and superstitious rhetoric over London.

Against this backdrop, the clash between science and theology is the core theme of Holmes' confrontation with the villains.

The Sherlock Holmes in the original works is a wise and taciturn Englishman, and Andy Serkis happened to be born in England and has also performed in many Shakespearean stage plays, so he has a very good grasp of the essence of the English character.

If he were to portray Sherlock Holmes, given his nuanced performance skills as a master of motion capture acting, he would surely be able to accurately depict the character's calm and sharp thinking and complex and profound inner world.

However, the general public's impression of Sherlock Holmes is that of an elegant and sharp gentleman.

Andy Serkis's previous screen roles were more wild or gloomy.

To break free from these stereotypes and truly embody the character, he may need to put in a lot more effort, meticulously refining everything from his mannerisms and expressions to his accent, in order to achieve the transformation...

"Senior? What are you thinking about? Uncle Jiang Wu and the others are waiting for you."

A crisp sound suddenly rang in his ears, interrupting Lü Rui's thoughts.

"okay."

He snapped out of his reverie, shook his head, temporarily putting aside his plans for "Sherlock Holmes," and quickly walked behind the monitor to signal the crew to start filming.

The scene currently being filmed is the central one where Jiang Wu and Andy Serkis discuss drug prices.

The foreign generic drugs, converted to RMB, cost no more than 2000 yuan. Although this is much cheaper than the domestic original drugs, Jiang Wu has already decided to sell the drugs at a loss, so he is still arguing and trying to lower the price...

The two actors' scenes together were full of tension, and Liu Yifei, acting as the translator, demonstrated a very good level of English.

During a break after filming a scene, Liu Yifei's assistant suddenly ran over with her phone.

"Sisi, your phone is ringing."

Liu Yifei took it and saw that, sure enough, it was her mother again.

"Mom, I'm really fine here, I'm just filming..."

She answered the phone, lowered her voice, and her tone carried a barely perceptible hint of helplessness.

Her mother's frequent phone calls lately, like checking up on her, made her want to rebel a little.

"It's okay."

Liu Xiaoli's tone softened a bit on the other end of the phone. She then inquired about the filming progress and her return date before reluctantly hanging up.

She put down her phone, stared blankly at the empty living room for a moment, then raised her hand and rubbed her forehead:

"Liu Xiaoli, Liu Xiaoli! When did you become so paranoid? You don't even trust your own daughter?"

She knew she was overthinking it, but it was her daughter's first time going abroad alone, and she felt like she had a weight on her mind.

"After she gets married, she can't possibly go to her son-in-law's house with him, can she? How can that be right?"

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she found an answer: "I could find an excuse to take care of my grandson..."

As she was thinking, it suddenly dawned on her.

Perhaps it's not that her daughter can't live without her, but that she's long been unable to live without her daughter...

"Boom boom boom!"

A knocking sound suddenly rang out at that moment.

Liu Xiaoli had just returned to her home in Harbin. She planned to clean up and stay for a few days before going to Wuhan for a while and then returning to the capital.

The person knocking at this hour is obviously her good neighbor...

Upon opening the door, it was indeed Lu's mother, carrying a vegetable basket.

"Xiaoli, haven't you eaten yet? We made some pork ribs at home, let's go eat some together."

"No need, it's too much trouble for you..." Liu Xiaoli subconsciously wanted to refuse.

"What's the trouble!" Mother Lü said, pulling her home without another word. "It's just a matter of adding an extra pair of chopsticks."

The hospitality of Northeasterners is something you simply cannot refuse.

Liu Xiaoli had no choice but to follow.

At the dinner table, while serving her food, Lu's mother couldn't help but ask about her son: "Xiaoli, how's Xiaorui doing lately? My husband and I aren't around to see him all year round, so we don't know as much about things as you do."

Liu Xiaoli was about to address him as "Director Lü" when she felt it was too formal at home, so she quickly changed her address: "Xiao Rui is doing well. He's filming a movie in the United States right now, and Qianqian is with him too."

"Sigh, that brat, he's gone abroad again, and he doesn't even bother to call back."

Although Lu's mother complained, there was little worry in her eyes.

Sons and daughters are different.

A daughter loves home and is a sweet and caring daughter.

My son rarely contacts me except during holidays.

Occasionally, a sudden phone call, especially one in the middle of the night, can actually terrify the family, who are always afraid that something has happened.

"Xiao Rui is such an independent kid. He's built such a great career at such a young age," Liu Xiaoli praised sincerely.

But to everyone's surprise, Mrs. Lü sighed heavily: "What good is a great career if he doesn't even have a girlfriend! His father and I are so worried we're losing our hair."

Liu Xiaoli's eyelids twitched, and she quickly tried to smooth things over: "Maybe he wants to focus on his career first, he's still young..."

"Young?" Mother Lü's eyes widened. "She's already 24 this year, 26 by the traditional Chinese age reckoning! She'll be 27 after the New Year... almost 30!"

"???"

Liu Xiaoli was a little confused. Could age be calculated like that?
Before she could react, Lu's mother grabbed her hand again, her face full of earnestness: "Xiaoli, you're practically an insider in the capital."

We don't understand these things. If you meet a suitable girl, please help Xiao Rui find some opportunities to meet. Let him try meeting a few.

"Uh, okay..."

Liu Xiaoli was both amused and exasperated, and could only reluctantly agree.

Looking at her mother-in-law's expectant eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say, "Your son might be 'cultivating feelings' with my daughter abroad."

But what she didn't know was that the two of them hadn't actually crossed any lines.

The main problem is that Lü Rui is too busy!

He spends his days on set overseeing filming, personally checking everything from camera angles to actors' lines.

After get off work in the evening, I still have to deal with emails from Ruixing Film Industry, communicate with Peter about work, and check the flow of project funds, often working until late at night.

With him working non-stop like this, Liu Yifei didn't even have a chance to talk to him or chat with him.

Aside from a brief, slightly intimate interaction by the pool on their first night in Los Angeles, the two didn't have a single moment to be alone together for the next few days.

Either the crew was gathered around discussing the scenes, or assistants, bodyguards, and other staff members were nearby, so the two always maintained the distance of "director and actor".

It wasn't until late April, when all the filming in Hollywood was finished and the crew started packing up their equipment and preparing to return home, that the two finally had some free time.

"I'm going to see a movie, do you want to come with me?"

On the evening before he was to return to China, Lü Rui came across information about a newly released animated film and wanted to take the opportunity to go to the cinema to investigate the market response.

Seeing Liu Yifei sitting on the living room sofa surfing the internet on her laptop, looking rather bored, he casually asked her a question.

What movie are you going to watch?

Liu Yifei, who had been listless, suddenly brightened up and immediately turned to look at them.

"Animated film."

"Yes, yes, I want it!"

Liu Yifei nodded hurriedly, afraid that he would change his mind and not take her along...

……

ps: Asking for monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)