A widower's entertainment

Chapter 334 [The Widower's International Influence] (Please Subscribe)
Warner Bros. has bought the film rights to Lin Youcheng's novel "The Untouchable Lover" and will make it into a movie. In addition, Warner Bros. has also bought the screenplay written by Lin Youcheng and will make it into a movie. This has naturally shocked and intrigued people in the literary and film circles.

Previously, the film adaptation rights to "The Time Traveler's Wife" were acquired for a million-dollar royalty fee, and now another novel is going to be made into a movie in the United States. The copyright fee must be quite high, and Lin Youcheng's movie script has also aroused a lot of curiosity, because there are only rumors that it is a very special love story.

Everyone knows that Lin Youcheng, this widower author, is best known for writing love stories. The movie script he has written is a rather unique love story, which naturally makes many literary workers curious about what kind of love story caught the eye of a company in the United States, who wanted to buy it and make it into a movie.

"Shuhua, did you know that Youcheng's novel 'The Untouchable Lover' has also been bought by an American company to be made into a movie? And I heard that the movie script written by Lin Youcheng has also been bought."

Cheng Hong from the Lu Xun Academy of Literature looked at Xie Shuhua with great curiosity and asked her about the matter.

Xie Shuhua nodded. How could she not know? She was there when Warner Bros. Pictures in the US was negotiating the copyright with Lin Youcheng.

"Really? What's the story in the script?"

"How much is the copyright fee this time? Is it also one million?"

Clearly, these questions are driven by human curiosity, because everything is too astonishing for Cheng Hong and the others.

Xie Shuhua shook her head, not revealing the exact figure, and said, "I don't know the exact copyright fee, but it certainly won't be low."

"It certainly won't be low! After all, the film and television rights to 'The Time Traveler's Wife' sold for so much money."

Cheng Hong said with admiration, "He's really amazing. His novels and screenplays are being snapped up by companies in the US to be made into movies."

Xie Shuhua nodded in agreement.

It should be said that this is a consensus in the literary and film industries: Lin Youcheng is truly amazing, otherwise how could a film company from the United States have come to him wanting to adapt and film his work?

Yu Hua, standing to the side, also looked on with admiration and said, "The key is that the script was bought, which means Lin Youcheng is the screenwriter for an American film."

Even when Warner Bros. made some localized adaptations to Lin Youcheng's film scripts, they were only minor modifications to Lin Youcheng's scripts, with no major changes. Lin Youcheng, the Chinese author, remained the primary screenwriter.

Xie Shuhua nodded and said, "Yes, you don't know how brilliant his script is, with amazing imagination."

Hearing Xie Shuhua's words and seeing the deeply moved expression on Xie Shuhua's face, Cheng Hong could only imagine how wonderful Lin Youcheng's movie script must be. She couldn't help but ask, "Shuhua, tell us, what kind of story is it?"

"Yes, right now you're the only one here who knows the story of Lin Youcheng's movie script. You can't just read it by yourself and not tell us."

Xie Shuhua smiled. She could tell from Yu Hua's teasing words that she was joking about her relationship with Lin Youcheng. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You can just go to the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong and ask him directly."

"Okay, let's go together tomorrow!"

……

Before Yu Hua and the others could even go to Xinghua Hutong, other people had already gone to the courtyard house.

Zheng Xiaolong was naturally quite curious, so he went directly to Xinghua Hutong and asked Lin Youcheng. After hearing the story, he was quite shocked.

"Youcheng, your script is really something else!"

Zheng Xiaolong was truly impressed by Lin Youcheng's imagination. He was amazed that he could come up with such a novel and unique story. The idea was brilliant, and the fact that he could turn this one idea into two movie scripts, two different stories, was truly amazing.

He truly lives up to his reputation as the master of love, Lin Youcheng!
Although Zheng Xiaolong wasn't new to Lin Youcheng—his adaptation of the TV series "The Message," which differed from both the novel and film versions, had already thoroughly impressed him—he couldn't help but sigh in admiration for this national treasure after hearing Lin Youcheng's ideas for "Every Day" and "Inner Beauty."

That's fucking awesome!

Lin Youcheng waved his hand and said, "You don't need to say those things."

"These are my honest thoughts!"

Zheng Xiaolong was completely amazed by Lin Youcheng's imagination. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Lin Youcheng and said excitedly, "If this script were to be made into a movie, it would definitely be amazing."

What do you think if it were made into a TV series?

Clearly, Zheng Xiaolong was also impressed by this particularly novel idea and is considering turning the story into a TV series.

Lin Youcheng was certainly aware of the story's premise. It would be perfectly fine to make it into a TV series, since there was already a TV series version of "The Beauty Inside" in another timeline. Moreover, the TV series version changed the protagonist who changed identities from the male lead to the female lead. In other words, the female lead would change into a different identity for one week every month. However, the male lead was set up to have face blindness. Even if the female lead changed into a different identity, the face-blind male lead would still be able to recognize her. It was a very straightforward love story, which is "The Beauty Inside".

"It might be interesting if you could get different actors to make cameo appearances."

Although Warner Bros. acquired the film rights to "Everyday" and "The Beauty Inside," the domestic rights are still held by Lin Youcheng. This does not mean that foreign companies have directly acquired all the rights to "Everyday." Lin Youcheng is very clear about this. It's similar to the later novel "The Three-Body Problem," which will have domestic and overseas versions.

Zheng Xiaolong was well aware of the special nature of this story. If it were actually made into a TV series, it would be a very interesting plot, completely different from the currently popular melodrama "Aspiration".

The latest production by Yanjing Television Art Center, "Aspiration," is undoubtedly the hottest TV series right now. Besides some local stations still rebroadcasting the previous series, "Lurking," many other stations are now airing "Aspiration." Zheng Xiaolong's interest in Lin Youcheng's "Inner Beauty" stems from the story's novelty and uniqueness; if it were actually filmed, it would be a first in China.

As for plot-driven themes like "The Beauty Inside," there are virtually no restrictions.

Actually, the censorship of TV dramas is not that strict now. In fact, it can be said that this is the period when domestic screens are most daring in terms of nudity. The artistic atmosphere is open. Go to the cinema and watch any dubbed film. It's just like European art films. Nudity is very natural. The art world considers it normal. The enthusiasm for scale far outweighs the attachment to conservatism. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the scene of Daji and King Zhou playing in the water in the recently broadcast "Investiture of the Gods". It made people blush and their hearts race. King Zhou was wearing a pair of underwear that looked like a chastity belt, and Daji was wearing a leopard-print high-cut swimsuit. This would be considered very avant-garde in the future.

Of course, things started to change in the mid-90s, with improved censorship and stricter standards. But even so, there were still some TV series with very stimulating and daring content, like the explosive opening episode of "Don't Dance with Strangers".

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "If you could get some actors to make cameo appearances in this story, it would be quite interesting."

Clearly, Zheng Xiaolong had also thought of this. If he could find some currently popular actors to make cameo appearances in the show, the response would definitely be good.

"If our company were to produce this TV series, we wouldn't pay as much in copyright fees as the US does."

Lin Youcheng raised an eyebrow when he heard Zheng Xiaolong's words. He naturally knew this; the domestic royalty system was still in place, and even with his current status, he wouldn't receive much more.

Zheng Xiaolong was also curious about how much copyright fee Lin Youcheng had negotiated with Warner Bros. this time, so he couldn't help but ask, "Youcheng, the copyright fee you negotiated with Warner this time must be quite high, right?"

Lin Youcheng smiled, not answering the question directly, but the smile on his face already answered everything.

Looking at the smile on Lin Youcheng's face, Zheng Xiaolong understood that this number was definitely not simple, and that the film rights negotiated with Warner Bros. this time were for more than one film, so the copyright fees must be more than one million US dollars.

Of course, as long as Lin Youcheng doesn't reveal the exact number, no one will know its exact value.

The thought that Lin Youcheng might have earned over a million, or even two million, in copyright fees from his film company in the United States made Zheng Xiaolong feel somewhat frightened.

After all, with the current exchange rate, one million US dollars is roughly equivalent to five million. With this additional foreign exchange inflow, could Lin Youcheng have earned tens of millions just from these few story scripts?

Not one thousand, not ten thousand, but ten million?

Zheng Xiaolong felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know if it was the cold temperature in the room, but the hairs on his body stood on end. He swallowed and felt his throat was dry. He picked up the cup of hot tea on the table, took a sip, and said, "Our television art center cannot be compared with those foreign ones."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "It can't compare now, but who knows what it will be like in the future."

"It's unlikely to be that high in the future."

Clearly, Zheng Xiaolong never imagined that a script would cost millions, let alone that the production cost of a domestic TV series would later reach an astonishing 100 million. Of course, only the production company knows how much of this so-called 100 million investment is the actual production cost of the TV series and how much is just exaggerated rhetoric.

Lin Youcheng naturally wouldn't refute Zheng Xiaolong's words, since no one could say what the film and television industry would be like in the future.

Zheng Xiaolong didn't talk much about royalties because he knew that China was no match for the capitalist world abroad. He was more interested in the story Lin Youcheng was telling, so he naturally discussed with Lin Youcheng how to adapt it reasonably for a TV series.

After the conversation, Zheng Xiaolong found the story very interesting and became even more eager to turn it into a TV series.

"I think it would be more interesting to make it into a movie, and the storyline wouldn't be too complicated."

Lin Youcheng could naturally see that Zheng Xiaolong was genuinely interested. Although he could rewrite the TV series script, he didn't write a TV series version; he was aiming to write a movie script from the beginning.

Zheng Xiaolong nodded, somewhat agreeing with Lin Youcheng's words, and said, "What you said makes a lot of sense. Now I understand why Warner Bros. bought this script. They certainly don't lack movie stars. When they invite some popular actors to make cameo appearances, a lot of people will definitely pay attention."

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded.

Clearly, Zheng Xiaolong was referring to future anthology films, where popular celebrities would form groups to star in movies. The most crucial element is the script itself. The scripts for films like *Everyday* and *The Beauty Inside* are designed to feature diverse actors in cameo roles, even if their screen time is limited, they will still be quite entertaining.

This is why George, the producer at Warner Bros., agreed with what Lin Youcheng had said.

It could even be said that, to some extent, the presence of a large number of celebrities, even if their roles are small, will be excellent publicity for the film.

Zheng Xiaolong and Lin Youcheng were discussing the script when Zheng Xiaolong suddenly said, "I heard that Chen Aige's 'Atonement' has finished filming and is planning to submit it for review at next year's Cannes Film Festival."

Lin Youcheng nodded. He naturally knew about this matter. Chen Aige had been in contact with him, and he knew that Chen Aige planned to submit the film for review at next year's Cannes Film Festival. Although he had written the screenplay for "Atonement," he didn't know how Chen Aige would actually film it according to the screenplay. There would be editing later, and even if it was filmed according to the screenplay, it would depend on Chen Aige's filming techniques.

As for participating in the Cannes Film Festival, Lin Youcheng believes that winning an award depends on the film itself and whether the main competition jury members can help to award it.

Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to it, since the movie was more of Chen Aige's work, while his work was the novel "Atonement".

Of course, regardless of whether the film "Atonement" is selected for the Cannes Film Festival or wins an award, it will be a huge boost to the author and screenwriter, Lin Youcheng. After all, his previous novel adaptation, "The Devotion of Suspect X," won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

If the film "The Time Traveler's Wife," produced by a Hollywood company in the United States, is also promoted, the influence of Lin Youcheng, the widower author and screenwriter, in the international film industry will undoubtedly be even greater.

(End of this chapter)