Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 130 It’s settled
"You should contact Shyamalan."

After reviewing the materials, Cao Zhong told Jiang Zhiqiang,

“Mr. Jiang, my suggestion is that you go there in person and try to persuade him with the script. What we need now is an opportunity. If that doesn’t work, we can discuss it further.”

“Okay, I’ll make the contact.” Jiang Zhiqiang was very efficient once he decided to cooperate.

Cao Zhong hopes that Shyamalan will direct his first film in Hollywood, and now is the best opportunity to get to know this "genius".

In 1999, at less than 30 years old, Shyamalan swept over $600 million at the global box office with "The Sixth Sense," transforming himself from an unknown nobody into a top Hollywood director and even being called the next Spielberg.

Following that, "Undying," "Signs," and "The Mysterious Tree" also achieved good results.
However, it is significantly inferior to "The Sixth Sense".

Especially after his 2006 film "Lady in the Water" was a complete flop, grossing only $20 million out of a $70 million budget, Shyamalan's reputation in Hollywood plummeted.

Hollywood is not a philanthropist; if it cannot generate profits, it will naturally be discarded like trash.

Although Shyamalan is still a top-tier director, this is precisely the time when he needs to turn his reputation around.

Cao Zhong believes that "The Split" can precisely solve this problem for the other party.

This is also the reason why Cao Zhong can command a premium.

In later generations, this film, along with Shyamalan's Unbreakable and Glass, formed what fans call the "Dark Superhero Trilogy," telling the story of a superhero on Earth who has no idea he is Superman.

It is known for its realism, adult themes, ingeniously crafted eerie atmosphere, and chilling dread.

All three films performed well.

The first two films had extremely high box office returns.

If he could agree, Cao Zhong would certainly prefer Shyamalan to direct, even if it's an independent film. With Jiang Zhiqiang and Shyamalan both making appearances, they could gain a significant advantage in terms of publicity and distribution.

Moreover, by having an Indian actor and Jiang Zhiqiang work together, it would seem more natural to include Yang Mi, an Asian, in the cast.

Cao Zhong can use them, as long as he can gain benefits.

Indians are certainly not good people, but relatively speaking, it's more reassuring for Hollywood to have them as directors than for Jiang Zhiqiang to directly appoint Chinese directors.

It's fine for Chinese directors to go to Hollywood to make movies now, but it's not the right time to start making films.

Cao Zhong understands that resistance is generally divided into three levels: mild, severe, and Indian.

For example, a problem caused by a certain certificate in a past life even sparked a crazy discussion across the entire internet.

After Cao Zhong finished talking with Jiang Zhiqiang, he continued filming and waited for news.

……

The residential area of ​​the August First Film Studio.

Li Danning is comforting her precious daughter.

"I've already spoken with Director Zhai about Cao Zhong's movie role. There's no female lead in name only; there's just one female character, and the role is only two minutes long."

Li Xiaolu, who comes from a family of actors, is very interested in Cao Zhong's acting.

Normally, she wouldn't have been able to get in touch with them, but because the director ultimately chose the August First Film Studio, Li Xiaolu was extremely excited.

Because his father worked at the August First Film Studio, by all accounts, the director was practically one of their own.

“Two minutes is fine too.” Li Xiaolu was a little disappointed at first, but then she was pleasantly surprised. “After ‘Struggle’, I’m still quite popular. I don’t mind the size of the role. As long as I can be used, I’ll be happy even if it’s just two minutes. I even played a prostitute in ‘Blood Brothers’.”

"..." Li Danning was speechless, choked by his daughter's words. He thought for a moment and said helplessly, "Then I'll make another call."

“Tell Uncle Zhai properly that I am, after all, a Golden Horse Award-winning actress.”

At this point, Li Danning became even more embarrassed.

He had naturally seen the movie "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl" before. Although his parents knew that the scenes in the movie used body doubles, he was still a little shocked after watching the movie.

My daughter is great in every way, and she's charming too. People like Li Chen and Han Geng are all smitten with her. I recently heard that there's another guy in the crew, Jia Nailiang, who keeps crowding around. He's the one who talks in a very loud and boisterous way.

Soon, the call was connected.

After finishing her call with Zhai Junjie, Li Daning looked at Li Xiaolu.

"Director Zhai said that Cao Zhong has already been cast for that role."

Li Xiaolu's expression changed. "The director was just chosen, and the roles have already been decided?"

"Only the male roles haven't been finalized yet, but it will be soon."

Li Xiaolu looked displeased.
Afterwards, she looked at the news about Cao Zhong and remained silent, lost in thought.

……

Three more days passed.

Inside a coffee shop in Hollywood.

“Knight, I know your current situation; you desperately need a good script to help you.”

"And I think this script will be very appealing to you."

Jiang Zhiqiang handed Shyamalan a cup of coffee; the freshly brewed coffee was filled with a rich aroma.

He communicated with Shyamalan in fluent English, and then handed him the script.

“I know that Jiang is a collaborator with master directors such as Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou, and I am very willing to cooperate with Jiang.”

Shyamalan smiled politely. Although he had previously worked with many of the Big Six studios, he wasn't averse to smaller companies. In fact, many people in Hollywood would go it alone, especially with B-movie thrillers. Apart from the disastrous "Lady in the Water," Shyamalan had collaborated with smaller companies on his previous films that had performed reasonably well.

It's just that this continuous slump has caused people's confidence in him to decline.

But he remains a legendary figure among B-movie directors.

Eight years later, his film "The Sixth Sense" still hangs at the top of the box office charts for thrillers.

""Split"……"

After greeting Jiang Zhiqiang, he lowered his head and began to look through the script, whispering the title of the script. Shyamalan frowned.

Forty minutes later, Shamaran raised her head, glanced at Jiang Zhiqiang, and asked in surprise,
"Is your script based on the ideas from 'Undying'?"

The further Shyamalan read, the more he felt that the protagonist of this script no longer belonged to the category of humans or horror films. There were twenty-three personalities, one of which was a beastly personality. Some of them were going in the direction of the bizarre and were quite mentally ill.

But Americans love the bizarre and they love mental illness!
In particular, the terrifying atmosphere in the early part of the script and the classic plot twist in the later part surprised Shyamalan.

He already had a picture in his mind.

He even doubted that this film could salvage his reputation.

“A truly amazing script!” Shyamalan said sincerely.

"So, are you interested?"

“Of course,” Shyamalan said. “I don’t think any thriller director would be uninterested in this kind of script. The oppressive power and terror brought about by 24 personalities makes me impatient just thinking about it.”

"In terms of cost, it's only seven million US dollars," Jiang Zhiqiang said. "You know, this is my first time independently producing a film in Hollywood, so I need to consider the cost."

Shyamalan fell silent upon hearing this.

This cost was indeed too low for him.

"Jiang, you know my director fee isn't low to begin with."

“I anticipated this,” Jiang Zhiqiang smiled. “So we need to discuss this in more detail.”

“My screenwriting and directing fees combined would exceed six million dollars on the market,” Shyamalan said. “Even if you provide the script, my directing fee would still be three million.”

Jiang Zhiqiang said, "Could I go outside to make a phone call?"

"On your own."

A moment later, Jiang Zhiqiang called Cao Zhong and explained the situation regarding Shyamalan's director's fee.

"Only three million dollars?"

Cao Zhong originally thought that Shyamalan would choose to receive future box office revenue sharing or even subsequent channel revenue sharing, but he did not expect that Shyamalan would only ask for such a low price.

When Cao Zhong chose Shyamalan, he didn't care too much about the investment.

He needs Edko Films to make a name for itself in Hollywood, but he is temporarily unable to do so, and he is willing to pay the necessary price.

However, the cost was much smaller than Cao Zhong had anticipated.

"Agree to it," Cao Zhong said. "By the way, Mr. Jiang, after the contract is signed, you won't be able to participate in the project investment anymore. Are you sure you don't want to invest?"

Jiang Zhiqiang thought about the expression on Shamaran's face when she was looking at the script.

Although he couldn't judge the quality of Western film scripts, Shyamalan's expression said it all.

"Then I'll throw!"

“This is your wisest choice.” Cao Zhong hung up the phone. “Let’s talk it over. His director’s fee will be covered by Edko Films.”

Jiang Zhiqiang: ...

Cao Zhong wanted Jiang Zhiqiang to invest; only then could he feel at ease letting Jiang Zhiqiang do things his way, spending other people's money without the producer feeling bad.

But he really feels bad when he spends his own money.

Short-term gains were not in Cao Zhong's consideration.

Once this channel is established, there will be a continuous stream of benefits in the future.

Soon, Jiang Zhiqiang and Shamaran reached an agreement on the terms of their respective interests.

"By the way, Knight, as you know, I'm planning to bring in a Chinese person to play that female role. Would you be okay with that?"

Jiang Zhiqiang smiled broadly, "That female lead, her role actually isn't that big."

Shyamalan suddenly smiled, revealing a knowing smile.

“Of course, Jiang, I understand you. You want to promote your own ethnic group, but I hope it won’t affect my filming.”

Jiang Zhiqiang responded with a smile, and the two exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word.

“Of course, we will provide you with ample training,” Jiang Zhiqiang said. “You will be able to choose all the other roles, but given the production costs, we will set a limit for you.”

“Of course.” Shyamalan wouldn’t make any further demands in this regard. Hollywood’s management system is very strict. As a producer and investor, Jiang Zhiqiang has the right to decide many things. Asking Shyamalan about the Chinese actors was already a sign of respect for him.

Soon after the details were finalized, Jiang Zhiqiang replied to Cao Zhong's email.

After seeing the email, Cao Zhong sent a message to Yang Mi.

"The Hollywood deal is done, we're ready at any time."

(End of this chapter)