The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 126 cost $1.5 million to produce.

Shen Qing made sweeping changes to the original script of "The Great Wall," the first of which was to move the story's setting from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the third year of the Yongyuan era of the Eastern Han Dynasty (91 AD), Dou Xian and Geng Kui led their army out of Juyan Pass and decisively defeated the Northern Xiongnu Chanyu at Jinwei Mountain. The main force of the Northern Xiongnu was forced to migrate westward, embarking on a long journey to Europe. On their return journey, the Northern Expeditionary Army encountered a monster for the first time, which they killed after paying a certain price.

At first, people thought there was only one monster, until later a second, a third, and a fourth appeared. The Great Wall, which was originally used to defend against the Xiongnu, became a solid barrier against the monsters that moved south.

Monsters are afraid of sound, especially the sound of shockwaves. A huge sound with shockwaves can slow down monsters, greatly reducing their speed and strength, making it impossible for them to jump over the Great Wall, and they can be killed by the combined efforts of armored soldiers.

A massive explosion occurred during alchemy, resulting in the invention of gunpowder, which was quickly used to defend against monsters. The Great Wall defenders built many large iron barrels and prepared numerous firecrackers. Taking advantage of the monsters' fear of sound, they placed firecrackers inside the barrels to create loud noises and slow down the monsters' attacks. The Great Wall defenses barely held.

But as time went on, flying demons evolved from ordinary monsters. These flying demons could fly, and their fear of sound diminished. Each evolution of a flying demon inflicted heavy casualties on the defending forces. Flying demons could even cross the Great Wall; a single one could devour thousands of civilians in the rear, and even threaten the capital, causing immense destruction to the rear.

The Great Wall defenders had very limited means of dealing with the flying demons. They could only use the loud noise to slow down the flying demons before shooting them with giant crossbows.

But this trick is becoming less and less effective.

The flying demons have grown stronger and more numerous. It's only a matter of time before dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of them cross the Great Wall. The Great Wall defenders are in dire straits. Everyone knows that the world is on the verge of utter destruction.

The protagonist, Shen Sui, lost his family to monsters, so he was determined to join the Great Wall Guard: firstly, to avenge his family, and secondly, to kill as many monsters as possible to protect other people's families from the same calamity.

However, he was frail and sickly from childhood, and was not favored by the Great Wall garrison, so his enlistment was rejected. His body did not allow him to wear heavy armor, pick up a spear, and fight monsters in close combat, even ordinary monsters that had become slowed down by the enormous sound. He persisted and finally got the job of a Thunderclap Hand, whose only responsibility was to put firecrackers into a large iron barrel to scare away monsters.

As a result, Shen Sui got an idea while constantly throwing firecrackers into the big iron barrel: Could the combination of firecrackers and big iron barrel be transformed from something that could only make a loud noise to scare away monsters into a brand new weapon that has both deterrent and lethal power?

Now that the monster has been upgraded, let's upgrade the sound weapon too!

Since the crossbow is no longer enough to kill the flying demon, let's use gunpowder to launch projectiles!

An initial idea about cannons took shape in Shen Sui's mind.

Faced with a severe survival crisis, the commander of the Great Wall garrison sent his trusted confidant to invite a successor of the Mohist school.

The powerful crossbows currently used by the Great Wall defenders were designed by the Mohists. The commander of the defenders has a grudge against the Mohists, and as the defenses become increasingly strained, he seeks out a descendant of the Mohists to modify the giant crossbows, which are becoming less and less effective at killing flying demons. He requests that the Mohists come out of seclusion to build even larger ones.

A more accurate crossbow.

The Mohist school dispatched its young female disciple, Mo Ying, to the Great Wall to oversee the modification of the giant crossbows. Some high-ranking officers of the garrison were extremely dissatisfied that the Mohist school had only sent one young female disciple, feeling that the Mohist school was unwilling to contribute and still harboring resentment towards the general.

But in reality, Mo Ying was the most talented of all the Mohists throughout history. If Mo Ying wasn't good enough, then no one else was either. The female protagonist disguised herself as a man in the army, and the high-ranking officers all knew she was a woman; the disguise was for convenience.

Shen wants to build cannons but lacks resources. The female protagonist, Mo Ying, carries the hopes of the world and has abundant resources to improve the giant crossbow.

The female protagonist encountered difficulties while building a giant crossbow. The flying demon had evolved to be more powerful and faster than she had imagined, and even if she built an improved crossbow, it would likely be difficult to break through the demon's defenses. Frustrated and helpless, she accidentally discovered the male protagonist Shen Sui's attempt to build cannons and realized the enormous advantages of cannons.

The cannon fires with tremendous force, startling even flying monsters and causing them to fall to the ground. Even if they don't fall, they become extremely sluggish and easier to pinpoint. The cannon is also incredibly powerful, easily killing flying monsters and delivering a devastating blow to ordinary monsters, directly suppressing attacks from large groups of ordinary monsters after firing.

The male protagonist, Shen Sui, fired his simple cannon for the first time, knocking down the flying demons and repelling a tidal wave of ordinary monster attacks. The female protagonist, Mo Ying, began to fully support the male protagonist's research and used the knowledge of the Mo family to help improve the cannon.

For example, the cannon barrel cannot be the same thickness from top to bottom, the shell and the cannon barrel must be without gaps, and how to reinforce the cannon barrel to prevent it from exploding, etc.

Furthermore, the Mohists excelled in areas such as gunpowder improvement and research on component ratios.

Let's design a few more foreign white warrior characters. After Dou Xian and Geng Kui defeated the Xiongnu in the north, the Northern Xiongnu migrated westward, and the monsters followed them westward. Monsters also appeared in foreign lands, but they were completely helpless against them. A few foreigners learned from the Xiongnu, who had recently migrated westward, that the Chinese had a method of subduing monsters by setting off firecrackers in large iron barrels. So they traveled east to learn from this, witnessing the birth of Chinese cannons and firearms.

The cannons are complete and incredibly powerful, making it no longer a problem to defend the Great Wall. However, it is unrealistic to launch a proactive attack and completely eliminate the monsters, because the cannons have a fatal flaw: they are not accurate enough!

William, a white Western warrior who came to China, loved geometry and carried geometry books with him. He volunteered to use geometry to calculate the trajectory of cannons.

William had a passion for geometry but only average talent; he provided the correct method but calculated the wrong answer himself.

Mo Ying and Shen Sui took over the geometry books and started learning geometry from scratch. Both of them were incredibly talented, and Shen Sui was always full of ingenious ideas.

The two men derived empirical formulas and created range tables by calculating the trajectory arc length and impact point of the bullets at different elevation angles. They also designed a rangefinder by using the principle of similar triangles and simple rods and angle plates to measure the distance to the monster. They made an angle-measuring firing dial using a disc and pointer so that even illiterate gunners could follow the model.

Ultimately, they succeeded in turning the artillery hit from a matter of luck into a matter of science, and their relationship continued to grow stronger in the process.

Previously, they could scare away flying demons and even knock down flying monsters, but they couldn't accurately hit the flying demons, which meant they were only halfway to success. After Mo Ying and Shen Sui mastered geometry, the cannons were finally able to frequently hit the flying demons directly, and the Great Wall Legion finally won a complete victory.

The Great Wall's role in defending against northern nomads is a collective memory etched into the cultural genes of the Chinese people. The original version of "The Great Wall" changed the Great Wall's purpose to defend against the Taotie, and during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Great Wall in the traditional sense was mostly within the territory of the Liao Dynasty! This is tantamount to constantly telling the Chinese audience that this is a completely fictional and fake story.

Therefore, Shen Qing changed the timeline to the Eastern Han Dynasty and even wrote down the specific time: the third year of Yongyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty (91 AD).

The specific starting point of the event is given: Dou Xian and Geng Kui led their army out of Juyan Pass and decisively defeated the Northern Xiongnu Chanyu at Jinwei Mountain, forcing the main force of the Northern Xiongnu to migrate westward. On their return journey, the Northern Expeditionary Army encountered the monster for the first time, and after paying a certain price, they killed it. From then on, the Great Wall was used to defend against nomads and monsters.

The story uses two completely real events—Dou Xian and Geng Kui's destruction of the Northern Xiongnu and the Northern Xiongnu's westward migration—to introduce the first appearance of the monster, thereby increasing the story's immersion and paving the way for Westerners to come to China. The westward migration of the Northern Xiongnu brought with them the monster, as well as news that China had a way to subdue it, leading several Western warriors to come to China to learn from their experience.

In Shen Qing's view, the original "The Great Wall" was just a jumble of random elements with extremely poor logic and a lot of nonsensical plot points. Shen Qing's script, on the other hand, designed an interconnected "arms race" path for the war between monsters and humans.

Monster Line:

Ordinary monsters evolve into flying monsters—the flying monsters become stronger and stronger—the number of flying monsters increases.

When a single flying demon crosses the Great Wall defense line and can easily devour hundreds or thousands of civilians, and when it is only a matter of time before tens of thousands of flying demons evolve, then the apocalyptic scene of dark clouds looming over the city will appear.

Then there's the human line:

Iron bucket + firecrackers (sound intimidation) — Simple cannon (sound + damage) — Mohist improved cannon (solves barrel explosion and airtightness) — Geometry (solves hit rate).

Each step is based on the predicament of the previous step, with a rigorous logical path that allows the audience to experience the thrill of solving the problem.

The evolution of the Flying Demons (stronger, more numerous, and less afraid of sound) directly suppressed the old methods of the defenders (the giant crossbows became ineffective), thus forcing the protagonist Shen Sui to carry out a revolution in artillery. Humans used artillery to finally defeat the monsters, thus turning this war between humans and monsters into a dynamic, life-or-death arms race.

What about the original version? The plot twist of killing the Taotie Queen by sheer luck, followed by the immediate collapse of the Taotie army, feels too abrupt and overly deus ex machina.

Another example is the character designation of Western white characters, whose main function is to provide the tool of geometry, and the rest are responsible for making jokes and being silly, similar to the partner in Jackie Chan's movie "Rush Hour".

Another major change was changing the monster's identity from Taotie to Qiongqi. Taotie's most distinctive feature is that its eyes are located under its armpits, which does not conform to the general characteristics of a living creature no matter how it is designed. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Northern Classic of the Seas Within, records Qiongqi, which belongs to the four ancient ferocious beasts: It looks like a tiger, has wings, eats people from head to toe, and the people it eats have disheveled hair. It is located north of the dog.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Western Mountains Classic, also records: "On Bang Mountain, there is a beast that looks like an ox, with hedgehog-like fur, named Qiongqi, whose sound is like a howling dog, and it eats people."

Some say it resembles a tiger, others a cow, so let's combine them: it's tiger-shaped, cow-sized, winged, and can fly. Internally, it's modeled after a saber-toothed tiger, but its exterior is covered in feathers to distinguish it from a tiger. The ordinary monster doesn't have wings, so the Great Wall defenders called it the Tiger Demon or the Wanderer. The evolved version has wings, so the Great Wall defenders called it the Flying Demon. Later, they learned that its appearance better matched the description of Qiongqi in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, so they changed its name to Qiongqi, but some soldiers still habitually call it the Flying Demon.

Shen Qing also believes that the Taotie in the original "The Great Wall" was too fast and too numerous. After leaving the Great Wall and those messy machines, the human soldiers had no ability to fight them head-on. The threat of the monsters was too high, and the possibility of human victory was too low, which would reduce the tension.

Furthermore, the monster's excessive speed and rapid reaction made it difficult for viewers to clearly see its exact appearance.

The orc army in *The Lord of the Rings* is stronger, but even slower than humans; Shen Qing wants that kind of feeling. Human heavy infantry, wielding spears and axes, can directly confront a small number of monsters on land.

The speed and sheer number of these creatures eliminate the suspense. The real suspense isn't "the bomb exploded," but rather "the bomb is under the table." A single Qiongqi (a mythical beast) flies over the Great Wall, easily devouring hundreds or even thousands of people. The evolution of these creatures is accelerating; sooner or later, they will evolve into hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. What will happen to the world then? What will happen to the people within the Great Wall? This is the deeper logic of fear and despair, not the sheer number and speed of these incredibly fast-moving monsters that leave humans unable to react.

Shen Qing completed the script in a week and then arranged for Chen Zhixi to register it. By this time, he had made up his mind that even if Thomas Tull did not invest in this version of the script, Shen Qing would still raise funds himself to make it a reality.

One phone call later, Thomas Tull, who had just flown back to the United States a few days earlier, immediately flew back, this time bringing Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinoff with him.

The meeting was held in the conference room of Shen Qing's own Magical Film Company. Representatives from four companies, namely China Film Group, Enlight Media, Bona Film Group, and Wanda Film Group, as well as Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Yu Dong, Ye Ning, and others, were invited to attend the meeting.

Ye Ning is the general manager of Wanda Cinemas.

万达院线去年就已经是华夏第一条票房超过10亿元的院线。从今年1月1日到4月，仅仅用了4个月的时间，万达在全国的票房就突破了6亿元大关。万达越来越成为影视行业不可忽视的一股力量。

The script outlines, in both Chinese and English, were distributed, and everyone quickly skimmed through them. Shen Qing, sitting in the main seat, observed everyone's reactions and noticed that Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Yu Dong, and Ye Ning were all nodding as they read, Jeff Robinoff remained expressionless, and Thomas Tull's brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he read.

Seeing everyone put down their script outlines, Shen Qing asked, "What do you executives think?"

Bernard's Yu Dong spoke first, saying, "It's absolutely brilliant. The story begins with Dou Xian and Geng Kui leading their army out of Juyan Pass in the third year of Yongyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It's ingenious. The story of inscribing the Yanran Mountain is a well-known anecdote among Chinese people. The first encounter with Qiongqi on the way back after inscribing the Yanran Mountain is anchored by a real historical event, which greatly enhances the credibility of the story. It gives people the feeling that such a story really happened in the cracks of history."

Wang Changtian said, "The artistic conception is very magnificent, and the Chinese elements are integrated very naturally. The existence of the Mohist school makes it no longer completely unbelievable that cannons could be made in the Han Dynasty."

Ye Ning said, "The characters are very interesting. The frail and sickly Shen Sui is unable to wear heavy armor to fight monsters, so he can only do the peripheral work of the Thunderclap Hand, setting off firecrackers. As it turns out, this inconspicuous work becomes the key to turning the tide of the battle. Mo Ying begins to try to modify the giant crossbow, discovers that the flying demon has evolved, and even if the modification is successful, it will be of no use, and she will be in a desperate situation. Then she discovers Shen Sui's new path. The character growth logic is very good."

Han Sanping said, "From the explosion during alchemy to the invention of gunpowder, and then to firecrackers and firearms, the technological path is correct, but the story shortens this process. Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of China, and the film focuses on the evolution of gunpowder, which is a very good choice."

Warner Bros. President Frobinoff gave a thumbs up and said, "I have complete trust in the script written by director Shen Qing himself."

Finally, Thomas Tull offered his opinion, frowning as he said, "This has little to do with the original script anymore. Shouldn't we carefully consider the plot of the original film? Or perhaps combine the two versions?"

Zhang Yimou's original version of "The Great Wall" is the script that best reflects Thomas Tull's inner thoughts.

Shen Qing looked at Thomas Tours and said, "Mr. Tours, I won't be making your version of 'The Great Wall.' If you don't invest in my version, I'll find other investors myself."

Ye Ning from Wanda suddenly said, "If Mr. Tuer doesn't bid, Wanda is interested in taking over."

Wanda is in talks to acquire AMC Theatres, the world's second-largest cinema chain. In addition, Wanda even has plans to acquire Legendary Pictures in Tours. Whether it's acquiring an American cinema chain or a Hollywood film company, heavily investing in Sino-US co-productions is an inevitable choice for Wanda. If Legendary Pictures withdraws due to script disagreements with its owners, Wanda could step in.

At the same time, Ye Ning's words also awakened everyone present.

Han Sanping said, "China Film Group will figure out how much money is needed."

Yu Dongdao said, "Count Bernard in."

Wang Changtian said, "If we all chip in, money is not a problem."

Han Sanping said, "There are so many people who want to act in Shen Qing's plays but don't have the connections. If you give these people a chance, you can make up for any amount of money they need."

Tuer was sweating profusely. He said, "I agree that everything in the script should be done according to Shen's wishes. He has never lost."

Legendary Pictures has made a lot of money investing in Shen Qing's films. If they don't use Shen Qing's script this time, Shen Qing will immediately start her own independent films. Will Legendary Pictures still make a version with the original script? If they do, can it compete with Shen Qing's version? If things fall apart this time, can they continue to work with Shen Qing in the future?

Warner Bros. President Frobinoff then added, "We should leave the script to Director Shen Qing."

"Alright, let's settle on the script for now. Next, let's discuss the specific investment ratios," Shen Qing said.

The morning meeting wasn't finished, so everyone ate boxed lunches together and continued discussing until evening, when a basic consensus was finally reached at the very last minute.

1. The male lead, Shen Sui, is played by Shen Qing.

Second, the director is Shen Qing.

Third, Shen Qing has the final say in artistic matters, including the right to approve the script and the final editing.

IV. Shen Qing's screenwriting fee + lead actor's fee + director's fee, including a base salary of $30 million + 3000% of the initial global box office revenue.

Profit sharing + 30% of DVD revenue + 15% of TV/online revenue. (The Greater China box office profit sharing is 30% of the portion of the box office revenue belonging to the film company).

V. Greater China copyright (excluding Shen Qing's share of the profits), valued at US$2000 million.

VI. Shen Qing's Magical Film and Television Company invested $4 million, acquiring 20% ​​of the copyright in Greater China, plus Shen Qing's screenwriting...

Shen Qing's side receives about 50% of the Greater China copyright, including 30% of the director's and lead actor's fees.

7. China Film Group, Wanda Group, Enlight Media, and Berna each contributed US$4 million, each holding 20% ​​of the Greater China copyright (after deducting Shen Qing's share of the profits).

8. The overall production cost of the film is US$150 million. After deducting the US$20 million invested by the Greater China region, the remaining cost is US$130 million. Legendary Pictures invested US$65 million, accounting for 50% of the global rights (excluding Greater China); Warner Bros. invested US$32.5 million, accounting for 25% of the global rights (excluding Greater China); and Wanda invested US$32.5 million, accounting for 25% of the global rights (excluding Greater China). Marketing expenses are estimated at US$80 million, with each party contributing proportionally.

9. Magic Pictures is the production company for the film *The Great Wall*, with a production budget of US$150 million. If Magic Pictures completes the production within the budget of US$140 million, the saved US$10 million will be Magic Pictures' reasonable profit. If the film exceeds its budget, the excess will be deducted from Magic Pictures' revenue first. For any portion of the actual production budget below US$140 million, Magic Pictures will receive a 10% commission.

Article 9 is to prevent films from constantly exceeding their budgets. The money saved belongs to the production company, which will naturally try to control expenses, since anything exceeding $140 million is essentially the production company's money. Anything below $140 million does not entirely belong to the production company; this is to prevent the production company from withholding money where it should be spent.

沈青方面的总收益大概如下：1000万美元的合理利润+3000万美元的底薪+30%的全球先期总票房分红+30%的全球DVD碟片收入分红+15%的全球电视/网络版权分红+大中华区版权的两成（算上沈青公司在大中华区的各种分红后，约占大中华区总收益的五成）。

Three days later, all parties formally signed the contract.

The news spread quickly within the industry.

Director Shen Qing, who directed a film that grossed $15.83 billion at the box office, is preparing a new Sino-US co-production blockbuster with an even higher production cost of $1.5 million.

It is said that the female lead's character is exceptionally well-developed.

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