Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

Casey's gaze shifted from Su Yu's eyes to his hand, then back. The smile on his lips faded. He released his grip, leaned back in his chair, and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest.

"Su, we just finalized it..."

"It's not about 'Lurking' and 'John Wick'," Su Yu interrupted him, his tone calm, as if correcting a misunderstanding.

He leaned back in his chair, his posture as relaxed as if he were sitting on a sofa in his own living room, rather than in a Hollywood conference room facing Americans.

"It's another project I have on hand, an action film, 'The Man from Nowhere'."

Casey glanced at James Wan, who shook his head slightly, indicating he hadn't heard of the project. Casey's gaze returned to Su Yu's face, and she slightly raised her chin, implying, "Go on."

"For this action film project, I'd like to collaborate with Lionsgate. It's not about selling the script; Lionsgate will distribute and share the box office revenue. It's a Sino-US co-production. Lionsgate will be the studio, China Film Group will handle the domestic production, and Lionsgate will handle the international distribution. Lionsgate won't have to pay a single penny in production costs. After deducting distribution fees, Lionsgate will take three percent of the international box office revenue."

The meeting room fell silent as everyone settled their accounts. Casey leaned back in his chair, his gaze lingering on Su Yu's face for about five seconds, as if he were checking the authenticity of a banknote.

"Su, listen to me." Casey's voice was a few octaves lower and a beat slower than before. "We're not familiar with this project. Using the Lionsgate label carries risks. What if the quality is poor, what if the box office is bad..."

"Poor quality is a disgrace to me, Su Yu, not Lionsgate," Su Yu interjected, his tone calm and collected, as if correcting a primary school student's typo. "For Lionsgate, a label is just a name. It's printed on prints, on posters. Lionsgate releases so many films every year; one more or one less won't affect their ranking. But for my project, having the Lionsgate label is a completely different matter."

Su Yu continued, speaking slowly, "Lionsgate doesn't invest any money. If the box office is good, they get three percent for free. If the box office is bad, Lionsgate doesn't lose anything. Casey, you understand this better than I do."

After he finished speaking, he picked up his water glass and took another sip.

Casey whispered a few words to the legal counsel, her voice very low. Su Yu only heard the words "risk," "co-production," and "guild registration."

The legal counsel nodded, opened his laptop, and typed a long string of words on the keyboard. A document popped up on the screen. He scrolled through a few lines, then leaned close to Casey's ear and whispered something.

Wen Ziren sat silently to the side, like a statue, his gaze shifting back and forth between Su Yu and Casey, occasionally pausing on Su Yu's face.

Casey looked up, her expression slightly more relaxed than before, but her tone remained businesslike: "Sue, we need to read the script for 'The Man from Nowhere.' We can only make a decision after we've read it."

Without hesitation, Su Yu pulled a thick stack of English printed manuscripts from David's briefcase and pushed it over.

"We'll finish watching it as soon as possible," Casey said calmly.

Su Yu nodded without urging him.

.....

Su Yu suddenly spoke again, as if he had remembered something he had forgotten, his tone becoming much more casual: "Oh, right, there's one more thing. Casey, do you know Robert Downey Jr.'s agent?"

Casey was drinking water and almost choked. Downey is now a cancer in Hollywood, with a terrible reputation; he put down his water glass, his gaze shifting from suspicion to wariness, probably wondering what kind of trouble you're going to cause this time.

Su Yu's lips slowly curled up, and then he pulled out a thin script from his briefcase. This script had a blue cardstock cover and was thinner than the previous ones, with only about twenty pages.

The cover has the words "Buried Alive" printed on it, and below it is written "Buried" in English.

The atmosphere in the meeting room changed again; it wasn't tense anymore, but curious.

Casey took the blue-covered script, flipped through a couple of pages, and frowned. One page, two pages, three pages. His page-turning speed went from casual to increasingly slow. When he reached the fifth page, he stopped, his eyes fixed on a particular line of description. He looked up, the confusion in his eyes transforming into something indescribable, as if struck by something.

"Is this a one-man show?" Casey's voice was tinged with disbelief.

"There was only one actor and one coffin throughout the entire film." Su Yu placed his hands on his knees. "The male lead was buried alive in a coffin underground in the desert, with only a cell phone, a lighter, and a pen. Ninety minutes. The scene was never changed, and there was no second actor. The filming period was about ten to twenty days."

James Wan took the script from Casey, quickly flipped through a few pages, his lips moving slightly as he did so, like he was reading a silent film. He suddenly stopped when he reached a certain page, folded a corner of that page, placed the script on the table, and looked up at Su Yu.

"You want to send this notebook to Berlin?" James Wan's voice was soft, but firm.

Su Yu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the four people opposite him, noticing the expressions on their faces that seemed to say, "Is this guy out of his mind?"

"We finished filming in two weeks to meet the Berlin Film Festival deadline. I needed Lionsgate's label and distribution channels. Europe, North America, Asia—Lionsgate's distribution network could ensure this film was seen."

Casey looked at James Wan, who nodded. He then looked at the legal counsel, who picked up the script, flipped through it, and nodded as well.

He turned his gaze back to Su Yu's face. "Su, you... You come here to discuss deals worth tens of millions of dollars, with an award-contending film shot in just a month and a half in between. Just how much stuff is in your head?"

Su Yu leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table twice. "Not much, just enough."

James Wan said something that put Su Yu at ease for a while: "If this script is well-made, it can at least win an award at Berlin."

Casey took a deep breath, stood up, and extended her hand. Su Yu also stood up, and the two shook hands for the third time.

"Lionsgate will handle 'Buried' for you. The legal department has drafted the terms and sent them to you. I'll have the distribution department contact you." Casey sat back in her chair, picked up her water glass, and drank the rest in one gulp. "Sue, you discussed three things during your trip to Los Angeles. Each one is significant."

Su Yu gathered the scattered documents on the table and put them into David's briefcase. He stood up, straightened his suit collar, and looked much more composed than when he arrived.

"Casey, this is just the beginning."

Casey paused for a moment, then his smile widened slightly as he shook his head with a laugh.

......

When I stepped out of the Lions Gate building, the Los Angeles sun was still the same, giving me no chance to adjust.

Su Yu stood on the steps, squinting as he put on his sunglasses. David walked behind, constantly flipping through the documents in his briefcase as he descended the steps.

Liu Hao leaned against the car, holding a bottle of mineral water. When he saw Su Yu come out, he handed him the water. Su Yu took it, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back to gulp down two large mouthfuls.

David caught up with him and stopped in front of him, his face clearly saying, "I have something to say." Su Yu screwed the bottle cap back on, looked at him, and waited for him to speak.

"Sue, you were in the meeting room just now." David's expression shifted from hesitant to finally unable to hold back, his voice filled with a long-suppressed excitement. "We've already got 20%, why did you bring up that condition again? You're putting 'The Man from Nowhere' on the label, giving Lionsgate 3% for nothing. And that 'Buried,' you think you can finish filming it in half a month? How are you going to do it? Are you crazy?"

Su Yu opened the car door, sat in the back seat, buried himself in the seat, and fastened the seatbelt with a click.

He turned his head to look at the not-so-impressive building outside the window, "Because I need Lionsgate's label. In Europe and America, when audiences see the Lionsgate name, they'll feel that this film isn't a foreign product."

He turned to look at David, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "You told me that the thing Hollywood fears most isn't losing money, it's not knowing who you are."