China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 660 Movie Schedule and a Little Oolong [Two in One]

Sun Yi came to North America this time not only to shoot "Dallas Buyers Club", but also to pay attention to the other two films of the company here.

"Lurking" and "The Invisible Guest".

Both films have been completed. Sun Yi watched the finished films and found the quality of both films to be very good.

The standard of "Lost" is still online.

In the field of horror films, it is not an exaggeration to call James Wan a master.

Sun Yi is not particularly knowledgeable about horror themes, but even if he has not eaten pork, he has seen pigs run. Let's just analyze it from the director's perspective.

Whether it is the gradual plot or the foreshadowing, the logic is self-consistent, and in the small space, the use of lenses, actor movements, lighting and scenery are all very skillful. Coupled with the fact that there are many more production costs in this era, the quality can definitely be called superior.

The film "The Invisible Guest", which he was nominally the director of but was actually basically shot independently by Xin Yukun, also gave Sun Yi a big surprise.

The classic suspense rhythm, in which the multiple lines of speculation about various clues are filmed by Xin Yukun with a sense of mutual suspicion and even horror. With the help of Star Sky's mature crew, both the film's camera shots and scene scheduling are remarkable.

"Yukun, if I had known this would happen, I would have just appointed you as the director. You can say that this film was shot independently by you. I am not worthy of the title of director and have barely shown my face many times."

After watching the final film of "The Invisible Guest", Sun Yi felt a little emotional.

If the film had not been filed at the beginning of filming, the procedures for making changes later would have been very troublesome. Sun Yi really wanted to change the director's name to Xin Yukun.

"No, no, Mr. Sun. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have this opportunity to truly experience the level of film production in Hollywood."

"To be honest, I learned a lot from this shoot, and this is an experience that can't be bought back with any amount of money."

"Besides, you are now very famous in North America. With your name, the box office will be at least 50% higher."

Hearing this, Sun Yi couldn't help but burst into laughter.

I didn't expect that Xin Yukun, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, has also learned to flatter.

Little did he know that Xin Yukun was not just flattering Sun Yi, he really thought so.

Just think about it, if it weren't for Sun Yi's support, how could a fresh graduate from Beijing Film Academy like myself be able to lead a crew on my own in such a short time, especially in Hollywood, where the film and television industry is so developed.

This is such a beautiful thing that it's like waking up from a dream with a smile on your face.

He is now full of gratitude towards Sun Yi.

"You, please don't call me Teacher Sun anymore, as if I'm that old. I remember you were two years older than me."

"Hey, Mr. Sun, the wisest one is the best teacher."

"Ha, fine, whatever you want. However, since that's the case, let's not bother two people with one thing. You should also be responsible for the subsequent release of this film and coordinate with John."

"Okay, Teacher Sun."

These two films from North American Star Sky have officially begun to be scheduled in North America. With the previous box office success of "Pacific Rim", major theaters in North America are now more familiar with North American Star Sky.

They all expressed their willingness to release their new films.

John has already set a full release plan for both films.

He told Sun Yi that both films are expected to be released in 2000 theaters and will most likely be released this year, with one planned to be released before Christmas and the other after Christmas.

After arranging these trivial matters, Sun Yi can now devote his energy to "Dallas Buyers Club".

The filming location of this movie was chosen by the Star Sky staff in a small town called Waxahachie, outside Dallas, Texas.

When it comes to Texas, many people probably think of cowboys, farms, and motorcycles.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is where the protagonist Ron lives in the original film, so there is nothing wrong with choosing it as the filming location.

Sun Yi was not quite sure why the previous film was shot in New Orleans, Louisiana.

However, it is most likely due to cost issues.

Don't think that Texas is a rural and poor place just because you hear that it's full of farms and cowboys.

On the contrary, Texas' economic strength ranks second in the United States, second only to California in the West.

Correspondingly, the Star Sky crew has to shoot a movie locally in Texas, and expenses on food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc. will inevitably increase.

Compared with other relatively poor states in the United States, it has certain inherent disadvantages in terms of cost.

After all, there are nearly a hundred people in the entire crew, and the amount of food and clothing they eat every day is not a small number.

But Sun Yi felt that if he wanted to show the authentic cowboy style of Texas in that era in the movie, it was necessary to set the filming location in Texas.

Although the investment in this movie is not very large and it does require careful budgeting, I won't be so fussy as to choose the shooting location.

So we decided to settle in Dallas.

As Sun Yi arrived in North America with his working group, he dealt with some trivial matters and adjusted to the time difference, so he only had one day of rest in total. On the second day, the working group, together with the staff of North American Starry Sky, set off for Texas in advance.

It was originally planned that Sun Yi would go along, but unfortunately, he suddenly realized that he still had two important things to do, so he had no choice but to stay for two more days.

One very important thing is to go see the private jet with Liu Yifei.

It can even be said that the main reason why the girl followed him to North America this time was for this purpose.

However, Liu Yifei did not admit this at all. She only said that she came here just to accompany Sun Yi because she was afraid that she would be lonely if he left.

Sun Yi said that it would, and it might be a bit cold.
As for the other thing, it was even more important, and even made Sun Yi speechless.

The filming of this movie is about to start, but the supporting actor hasn't been decided yet!

"Boss, I'm sorry. Although you told me at the beginning that I would be the one to choose the actors, I think the final decision on the casting should still be made by you."

John's flattery hit the horse's leg perfectly.

As the executive president of North American Star and the official producer of the film "Dallas Buyers Club", he actually has all the casting rights, including the leading role.

You have to know that this is Hollywood, and the identity of the producer comes first.

But John also knew that in China, the director is responsible for the production of the film, which means that everything about a film is decided by the director.

The right to select the main actors is of course the crew's top priority. How dare he interfere in their affairs?

Of course, let the great director Sun Yi make the final decision.

After Sun Yi knew the reason, he was extremely troubled for a moment.

This is a misunderstanding.

In fact, he had no other ideas. He just wanted John to find a cheap and useful actor in Hollywood.

On the one hand, he has neither the time nor the energy to take care of other things in China. On the other hand, the investment cost of the film does not allow him to find another well-known actor of the same level to act with Leo.

Since there was no need to find a famous actor, he didn't care, anyone would do, so he gave it all to John.

But I didn't expect such a misunderstanding to happen.

It's also my own fault for not paying enough attention to the progress here.

After deciding on this movie with Leo, both parties quickly determined the mode of cooperation on the film.

The entire film cost 1000 million US dollars, and almost half of it was Leo's salary.

You know, Leonardo had already become a member of Hollywood's "2000 million dollar club" a few years ago.

He earned a whopping $5000 million from the recently released Inception, including his salary and dividends. Although he said he reduced his salary for the collaboration with Sun Yi, he couldn't just work for nothing without getting paid!
This number was finally determined after his manager lowered it again and again.

They all look like they are having a tearful sale.

Film remuneration + box office dividends.

$300 million in cash and percent of the box office profits.

Little Leo, Leonardo, if you tell me this price, who would believe it?

Even when he starred in literary and artistic themes, the salary has never been so low. It can be said that this is Leo's lowest salary in the past ten years.

It was Sun Yi's directing ability and the brilliance of the characters in the script that deeply attracted him, making him feel that he had a chance to achieve his long-cherished dream: an Oscar trophy.

This made Leo nod in agreement.

In fact, it’s not that Sun Yi is short of money and has to cut people’s wages. He is not so despicable as to say that. It’s just that the subject matter of this movie cannot be invested too much, otherwise it will end up in a loss.

The total investment in this movie in its previous life was 600 million US dollars, and it finally earned 3000 million US dollars at the box office, which was considered a small profit, and it also won many awards.

Now, it is handed over to Sun Yi to run the film, and he is confident that the box office will surpass the original.

After all, Leo's popularity in Hollywood is not to be underestimated. With certain publicity strategies, it would not be a problem to increase the box office by 30% to 50%.

If there were more words, he wouldn't have much confidence in himself.

After all, the subject matter inherently limits this film, and it can't be too entertaining.

Therefore, Sun Yi set the production cost of this film at 1000 million US dollars.

This number is not low for an arty film.

Yes, Sun Yi’s purpose in making this film was not pure.

In addition to helping Leo realize his dream, he also has his own little plans.

He just wanted to use this film to test the Oscar's attitude towards him as a Chinese director, but he can't do it in a losing business.

Excluding Leo's salary, the actual production cost of the film was only 700 million US dollars.

This number is definitely much more than the original. Sun Yi also has the cost advantage of Starry Sky, but after all, it is not enough to find another male supporting actor of the same level or even lower than Leo.

Actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, and even Joseph Gordon-Levitt are more suitable for supporting roles.

People like them, if they star in a movie, their salary must be over one million dollars.

If they were hired, the overall production ratio of the film would be unbalanced. Sun Yi strictly controls the actors' salaries within 30% of the film's production costs for each project, and even Star Sky's own actors and Liu Yifei are no exceptions.

So, this time, he completely gave up the idea of ​​finding another well-known actor for the supporting male role, and focused on letting Leonardo DiCaprio take the lead, and left the rest of the casting task entirely to John.

But he didn't expect that this guy, just because he wanted to flatter him, actually threw it back to him.

To the extent that, the film was about to start shooting, but the male supporting actor had not yet been decided.

This gave Sun Yi a huge headache.

This is the lesson learned from setting up film crews in both China and North America.

Counting the time, since the temporary plan of "New World" was set in May, Sun Yi and Liu Yifei filmed "Only You". As soon as "Only You" was finished, they came to North America without stopping to start filming "Dallas Buyers Club".

If the filming of "Dallas" is completed before the end of the year, Sun Yi will have shot three movies in a row in a little over half a year.

This efficiency is hard to believe.

You know, the shooting of a movie is a complicated process.

Generally speaking, a successful film director is considered relatively productive if he can produce one film a year.

Sun Yi has made three films in the past six months. People who don’t know much about it would think it’s the 1980s or 1990s in Hong Kong, when a film could be released every month.

Now, something has gone wrong.

Fortunately, it’s not a big problem.

However, this incident also taught Sun Yi a lesson, and he will not play like this again in the future.

"You didn't do any casting work at all, did you?"

"No, no, I have already conducted two rounds of preliminary selections. Based on the characters in the script, I have shortlisted about 10 people. I am just waiting for you, Boss, to make the final decision."

John saw Sun Yi's brows gradually frowning, and thought to himself that something was not good. It seemed that he had done something that made his boss dislike him. He immediately reacted and added a sentence.

After hearing this, Sun Yi felt a little relieved.

He was really afraid that John was doing nothing and just waiting for him. If that was the case, a huge amount of time would be wasted.

Fortunately, it’s just the final confirmation of the candidate, which will only take a day or two.

However, the shooting plan has to be adjusted.

After all, the male supporting role is also an AIDS patient and also needs to lose weight. The crew has to give him at least 5-10 days before they can start filming.

Sun Yi rubbed his eyebrows in frustration, feeling a little emotional.

It is not a good thing that this subordinate is too "loyal". He has completely lost his initiative.

However, as the boss, he still has to clean up his subordinates' mess.

He had already made up his mind. For this male supporting role, he would not consider his acting skills but his appearance and figure. He would not choose any fat, strong, or sturdy one.
"Okay, let's quickly notify them to come for the audition."

"Don't worry, Boss. When you came, I notified them all to be on standby. They will be in place tomorrow."

"Okay, arrange it quickly."

"receive."

After deciding on the ten candidates for the supporting actor role to be auditioned tomorrow, Sun Yi finally has some free time.

However, he didn't have much time to rest. Liu Yifei, dressed exquisitely for going out, looked here and there in Sun Yi's office without stopping, wandering around like a curious baby.

Without saying anything, he just floated in front of Sun Yi, showing his presence.

"What's up?"

"No~"

Liu Yifei put her hands behind her back, her beautiful eyes full of innocence.

"Then what are you doing?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Can't you just sit there for a while?"

"Is it okay if I don't like sitting?"

"Okay, of course." Sun Yi nodded helplessly. Suddenly he thought of something, raised his eyebrows, and asked tentatively: "How about we go and look for a plane?"

"Okay!"

really
(End of this chapter)