A widower's entertainment

Chapter 357 [The Truman Show] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

Xie Shuhua is still somewhat dazed. Although Lin Youcheng's film scripts had been bought by American film companies before, and more than once, the fact that Lin Youcheng's "The Truman Show" film script was bought by Paramount Pictures producers for one million US dollars makes Xie Shuhua feel like she is in a dream.

Another million-dollar screenplay rights fee?!

One million! And in US dollars!
Are companies in capitalist countries really this crazy?
Xie Shuhua was truly astonished once again by such a large copyright fee.

"Yoo-sung, are script fees this high in the US?"

Lin Youcheng smiled when he heard Xie Shuhua's words, shook his head and said, "No, it's because the previous story was made into a movie and did very well at the box office. I'm not exactly an unknown new screenwriter."

Lin Youcheng was well aware that he was not some unknown screenwriter, and he was not obligated to sell his scripts to Paramount Pictures. The price of a film script depended on the screenwriter's status; otherwise, he would be ruthlessly exploited by capitalists.

Lin Youcheng actually underestimated his influence overseas. He is not only a screenwriter, but also a writer. His novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" won the Hugo Award, which made this Eastern author quite famous in the United States. Not to mention the publicity from Time Publishing Company and the reprint of other works.

It can be said that even if the author Lin Youcheng did not go to the United States to promote himself, the legend of Lin Youcheng, an Eastern author, still exists in the United States, and even adds a lot of mystery to him.

The subsequent releases of several films related to Lin Youcheng, either adaptations or original screenplays, were met with unprecedented enthusiasm and box office success, naturally elevating Lin Youcheng's status as an author and screenwriter to a higher level.

This is a key reason why producers from Paramount Pictures approached them seeking collaboration.

Capital is profit-driven, and the success of Lin Youcheng's script is obvious to all. Naturally, they wouldn't try to lower Lin Youcheng's price, not to mention that Lin Youcheng has more than one option.

"Of course, the most important thing is that The Truman Show is a good story."

In Lin Youcheng's view, the price of one million US dollars for the absolutely classic "The Truman Show" is not expensive at all. After all, the price was the same in another timeline. Not to mention that it was only the first version of "The Truman Show". The original script was a thriller story, and Lin Youcheng naturally adapted it according to the original story.

That million-dollar offer is nothing compared to the box office success of Lin Youcheng's current film, "Everyday".

This is why Paramount Pictures producer Freeman didn't hesitate much and immediately agreed to Lin Youcheng's conditions. With such a crazy script like "The Truman Show" right in front of him, Freeman had no reason to refuse it. After all, as Lin Youcheng said, he could have other options, such as giving the script to Warner Bros. or Universal Pictures.

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Shuhua couldn't help but nod in agreement. She had also read the science fiction story "The Truman Show" written by Lin Youcheng.

Absolutely insane!

Xie Shuhua was also amazed by Lin Youcheng's imagination. After reading the script Lin Youcheng wrote, she understood why Lin Youcheng said that the story was a realistic science fiction story. It was because the story had a certain degree of real-world operability and was not a story that could only happen in the science fiction world.

Xie Shuhua found the script written by Lin Youcheng utterly unbelievable.

Truman, an ordinary middle-aged man, has a stable job, a virtuous wife, and a close friend with whom he can confide everything. Unbeknownst to him, the paradise island he has lived on for thirty years is actually a giant film studio, and everyone around him, including his wife and friend, is an actor. Thirty years ago, a television production company adopted Truman as an infant and broadcast his daily life live. Now, Truman is a famous TV star, and the company has achieved great success as a result.

The story was originally a lie, all fabricated. However, when Truman unexpectedly encountered his father, who had long ago drowned, the actor playing the father, dissatisfied with being forced to die years ago, secretly infiltrated the film studio but was quickly taken away by the crew. The father's appearance deeply saddened Truman, filling him with doubt about life. The crew had no choice but to rewrite the father's storyline, allowing them to reunite. But after this chance encounter with his "drowned" father, Truman had already begun to harbor doubts about his own life.

Truman still vividly remembers his first love, Roland. Roland, an extra, sympathized with Truman's plight and offered him many words about the truth, only to be forcibly taken away by the film crew. Remembering his first love's words, Truman begins to question everything around him. He discovers the same people and cars repeatedly passing by his neighborhood every day; his wife, who works at a hospital, is a doctor with no medical skills; the places he doesn't frequent are just simple sets; and Truman even discovers film crew members hiding behind the sets…

Truman begins to feel fear and decides to escape to find his first love and freedom. However, the producer has absolute control over Truman's life, and his several escape attempts fail. When Truman finally overcomes his fear of the sea and successfully weathers the simulated raging waves, the producer, in a massive control room high in the sky, recounts the whole story to Truman. He tells Truman that he is now the world's most popular star, and that everything he has achieved is unimaginable for ordinary people. He offers Truman the option to continue his star life if he chooses to stay at the seaside, but Truman is unmoved by his words and resolutely embarks on his journey to freedom.

Xie Shuhua was truly impressed by Lin Youcheng's imagination in such an unimaginably crazy story. The whole story was not a simple science fiction story at all; it could be said that the whole story was extremely ironic.

According to Xie Shuhua, this story not only powerfully satirizes morality, human relationships, and the coldness of the world, but also reveals that the town where Truman lives is hidden with over 5000 cameras. Truman's father, mother, friends, wife, lover, friends, colleagues, classmates, and even unrelated passersby are all actors. Truman lives entirely within a giant film studio; his world is essentially a virtual space, and his entire life is exposed 24/7 to a global audience. This ordinary man, destined to be a superstar, is completely stripped of his freedom, privacy, and dignity, becoming a victim of the mass entertainment industry, all without his knowledge. It's all utterly insane!

Of course, Xie Shuhua was not only moved by Truman's courage to step out of the false world and pursue the real world of freedom, but also deeply moved by Truman's constant piecing together of his first love from his memories with different people. Such feelings also touched her deeply.

What made Xie Shuhua feel even more that the story should be pondered, or explored at a deeper level, is perhaps about faith, about freedom, about whether the individual should belong to the collective... Truman strives to gain personal freedom in an environment that tries to confine him.

On the surface, the story may seem like an absurd allegory about life, but upon closer examination, Xie Shuhua found its meaning to be profound, even terrifying, giving her a chilling sense of dread, because no one knows whether such a thing might happen in the future.

Xie Shuhua looked at Lin Youcheng with a serious expression and said with great emotion, "Youcheng, the story you wrote is truly incredible!"

Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh when he heard Xie Shuhua and Freeman say the same thing. Clearly, they weren't the only ones who found it unbelievable; anyone who had read the story would surely be shocked and amazed, and perhaps even more so, moved. "We'll have to see how the movie turns out. I hope Paramount Pictures won't let this story down."

Lin Youcheng still hopes that Paramount Pictures will make a good film, "The Truman Show." Of course, if the film is poorly made and fails at the box office, it won't be blamed on Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter, since the script and story are well-known.

Of course, more importantly, he had already received the one million yuan copyright fee for the script.

If the movie is released and becomes a huge success, receiving a warm response, Lin Youcheng knows very well that at that time, the wealth brought by his script as an internationally renowned screenwriter will be even more dazzling.

…………

Clearly, Lin Youcheng has a script in collaboration with Paramount Pictures in the United States, and the copyright fee for the script is astronomical in US dollars. This news will more or less spread. Not to mention that Warner and Universal felt very sorry after hearing this news, they also thought about seizing the opportunity to continue to cooperate with Lin Youcheng and not letting other companies beat them to it.

Those in the literary circles of Beijing who heard the news were all amazed.

This is not the first time Lin Youcheng has sold a film script to a foreign film company. Now, Lin Youcheng may have earned another million US dollars in script copyright fees, or even more. Such news has truly made people in Beijing's literary and film circles worship him.

Yes, it really is worship!

At Haima Film Studio, Ma Wei pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing Wang Shuo and the others sitting inside, he couldn't help but ask, "Have you heard? Lin Youcheng has sold another movie script to a company in the United States."

"Didn't I hear that the amazing script was a collaboration with Hou Hsiao-hsien from Taiwan?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Wei waved his hand and said, "The other script he collaborated on with Hou Xiaoxian, his new script, has been sold to a company in the United States, Paramount Pictures?"

"real or fake?"

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "It's true. Zheng Xiaolong told me that the price is not low."

Sitting on the other side, Feng Kuzi said with an envious look, "It's not just not low, I heard it's another million US dollars!"

Ma Wei's expression completely changed. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Holy crap, that many? Lin Youcheng is just too awesome! A million US dollars?"

Although Ma Wei already knew that Lin Youcheng's previous novel had sold for a million dollars in film and television rights, this latest development made them incredibly envious. All the hard work of everyone at Haima Film Studio in writing scripts couldn't even come close to the money Lin Youcheng earned from selling a movie script to the United States!
The key point is that this guy is earning foreign exchange from American citizens, specifically US dollars!

Feng Kuzi nodded. He had heard this number from Zheng Xiaolong, and he was genuinely envious and jealous, eager to get to know Lin Youcheng better.

The entire room was filled with shock. Everyone knew Lin Youcheng was amazing, but now this movie script had been sold to a company in the United States. This was just too crazy.

Of course, they are all cultural figures who write articles, so why is Lin Youcheng's earnings so enviable and resented?

It's impossible to say there wasn't someone envious among them. Even Ma Wei was shocked, looking at Wang Shuo and tentatively asking, "Wang Shuo, do you think we should ask them for advice and try writing Hollywood movie scripts with them?"

"I think it's a good idea. Let's ask Director Zheng Xiaolong to act as a go-between and get his advice?"

Clearly, such outrageous royalties have made many people in the studio envious. Even those intellectuals who are not inclined to compromise their principles are all eager to learn from Lin Youcheng how to write Hollywood movie scripts.

Listening to what the others were saying, Wang Shuo had also considered this idea, but he wasn't familiar with Lin Youcheng, and he had previously invited Lin Youcheng to join the film studio, but Lin Youcheng had refused. Now, he couldn't bring himself to ask Lin Youcheng for advice.

However, he genuinely admired Lin Youcheng; he was truly a remarkable person, directly making money from foreigners!
It wasn't just Haima Film Studio that was shocked and envious; everyone in Beijing's literary and film circles who knew about it was tempted. Whether the grass is greener on the other side is another matter, but the script fees abroad are definitely higher. Before, it was just that Lin Youcheng's novels were being adapted abroad, but now it's clear that Lin Youcheng is directly writing scripts for foreign film and television companies!
This is not the first time Lin Youcheng has sold a movie script to Hollywood!

I don't know what kind of movie script it is, but how come it's so valuable!
Of course, they were also well aware that the capitalist companies in the United States were definitely not wealthy philanthropists, and that Lin Youcheng's script being bought for such a high price must be extraordinary.

Clearly, Lin Youcheng has now completely opened the door to a new world for domestic literary workers.

They didn't know just how crazy, amazing, or terrifying the story of Lin Youcheng's screenplay "The Truman Show" really was. All they knew was that Lin Youcheng, the man who kept selling screenplays to Hollywood companies, was incredibly crazy, incredibly amazing, and incredibly terrifying in their eyes!
(End of this chapter)