Actor: Thank you.

"Here, we welcome the creative team of Fast & Furious 4!"

Producer Neil acted as the host, introducing everyone at the press conference.

This person had a warm smile, revealing two rows of meticulously groomed white teeth.

It was as if nothing had happened at the previous meeting.

It's similar to, yet different from, domestic press conferences.

The process is similar: go on stage to greet others, interact, ask and answer questions, thank you and take photos.

But the foreign actors were much more enthusiastic than the domestic actors.

In fact, domestic actors were quite flamboyant in the early years, but later the authorities became more strict in their management, and everyone became more conservative.

Back in Liu Xiaoqing's era, those veteran actors of today were all quite flamboyant.

The foreigners were even more flamboyant; they didn't walk properly and just hopped and skipped onto the stage.

Zhang Yuan changed into a slightly brighter set of casual clothes instead of a suit.

Gal Gadot even danced on stage.

To be honest, Vin Diesel is not as good as the producer. Although he also looks happy, his smile just doesn't have the same naturalness as the producer's.

There's always an awkward atmosphere.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan thought to himself, "I just lowered your conditions a bit."

As for?
For him, it was a small matter, a common occurrence, something he had to do.

But for the Fang family heroes, it's hard to keep up.

Taking advantage of Zhang Yuan's demand for equal treatment with the bald man, Universal began to suppress him.

Universal Pictures had been tolerating his "unreasonable" conditions in order to make a sequel.

Now that they've found an excuse, they're getting really into putting on airs.

"grass!"

"Vin Diesel!"

"You're a washed-up actor who started as a stuntman and has lost money on several films."

"Why are you swaggering around with us at Global?"

Zhang Yuan: Well done.

Justin Lin: Let's see what he does!
What was Old Fan relying on to be so arrogant before?
There are two things: the producer is his friend.

In addition, he is the absolute male lead of the series.

It was nothing more than these two things that made him tremble.

Global Times also wanted to continue making money, which profoundly demonstrated the weakness of the bourgeoisie.

But even the weakest organization is vulnerable to the emergence of a "strongman".

Zhang Yuan is now playing the role of this "strongman".

The enemy is like a spring; the weaker you are, the stronger they become.

The reverse is also true.

Previously, he was incredibly domineering, even walking sideways like a crab.

But during the meeting, it was discovered that the actors, the company, and the director all wanted to rebel; everyone's hearts were with the other side.

He then glanced at his backstage, which was the producer.

Upon noticing that the producer also looked worried, the muscular man immediately felt guilty.

Just a moment ago I felt incredibly important, but now that I feel a bit insecure, I realize I'm not as indispensable as I thought.

After all, he had been "fired" from the Fast and Furious franchise before.

Regardless of whether you made a profit or a loss after he left, it's not like Universal is incapable of kicking you out.

At this moment, I felt a sudden increase in pressure on my shoulders.

His back was no longer straight, his eyes were no longer glaring, and even his shoulders, which had been wide open, were now hunched over.

Seeing his state, Zhang Yuan chuckled inwardly.

Many celebrities are just that "cheap".

When they knew you wanted to use him, they offered incredibly generous terms.

As soon as you indicated that you wanted to replace him, he immediately backed down.

She started smiling, saying nice things, and cooperating when things were done.

That's how people are; their faces can change so quickly.

James Cameron used this tactic back in the day.

It should be said that Cameron is not a professional in this field.

He's in the physics department at UC Berkeley; the fact that he can study this proves he's exceptionally intelligent.

Later, in order to earn money, he even drove a truck, which allowed him to come into contact with people from all walks of life and learn a lot of everyday wisdom.

Such people are generally more capable, possessing both intelligence and skill.

Therefore, Cameron is also a notorious "unethical director" in Hollywood, having done countless unethical things, and is most skilled at disciplining actors.

After taking on the directing job for "Aliens"... that was "Aliens," which was essentially the other side of the script for "Avatar."

When he was writing the script, it was initially a completely new story, with characters that had no connection to the first film.

However, Fox, seeking stability, insisted that he rejoin the female lead from the first film to continue starring and attract longtime fans.

This is a mature business practice, nothing wrong with it.

But due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, no one contacted the lead actress, Sigourney Weaver.

The production team only realized they hadn't notified the female lead after the script was already finished.

Siguni is a smart woman to go there on short notice like this.

Everything was arranged, the script was written, but they still insisted on using me... Oh.

Then I'll have to ask for an exorbitant price!
Filming began in 84, and the female lead demanded a salary of 400 million US dollars.

This price was absolutely astronomical at the time.

And like Vin Diesel, my older sister also made several "strange" requests.

For example, she doesn't want to use a gun.

He wanted to be parasitized by an alien.

After seeing these requests and the salary, Cameron responded with great kindness.

"roll!"

Then they started to play tricks.

Sigourney's agent is the same as Schwarzenegger's.

Schwarzenegger had only worked with Cameron on "The Terminator" a few years prior, so they were very familiar with each other.

Cameron took his wife on a trip and "accidentally" chatted with Schwarzenegger, mentioning that the female lead in his new film was uncooperative and that he planned to rewrite the script and remove her from the cast.

Schwarzenegger told his agent, who then immediately contacted Sigourney.

My sister panicked immediately and contacted Cameron.

The salary was reduced to 100 million, and the strange demands were no longer required.

Director: You little brat, I can't handle you!

Cameron is a powerful figure on set; he has a way of dealing with anyone who doesn't listen to him, and he can even "tame" investors.

Otherwise, if he spends all his time developing new technologies and so much money, who will foot the bill?

But this incident also shows that Hollywood big shots are just paper tigers.

When you need him, he needs you just as much.

This is a game of strategy.

Now that Zhang Yuan has the advantage of timing, location, and popular support, the bald guy naturally lost without a fight. Not only was his salary reduced from $20 million plus 2000% of the box office revenue to $1500 million plus 10% of the revenue.

He used to think of himself as the Dragon King.

The hotel still offers five-star luxury suites, but the presidential suite and spa services are no longer available.

The team was reduced to 5 people, with the production crew covering their salaries.

Most importantly, his strong clause that "we cannot lose any battle in the film" has been modified.

It has been changed to "The character will not be completely defeated and will be guaranteed to have the upper hand in more than 50% of the combat shots".

Baldy only understood what Intertronic meant today.

Zhang Yuan brought about "equal distribution of wealth," limiting the wealthiest individual and distributing the benefits to everyone, thus improving the treatment of all.

Actually, money wasn't Zhang Yuan's biggest concern. After all, Global Investment was the main part of the investment, while his own was a minor part.

The problem is this "unequal treaty".

The reason Lin Yibin later couldn't stand it and ran away was actually related to this clause.

Similar clauses should also be added for later additions such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham.

This meant that the production team had to be extremely careful during filming and editing, trying to survive within the constraints of the contracts between the superstars.

During post-production editing, I had to get help from the insurance company and a legal team to review the footage, for fear of being sued by these guys.

The infighting even escalated to a point where they were vying for the most frames of footage showing who had the stronger fighting style.

They'll complain about even one extra frame.

It's purely about vying for status and face.

Justin Lin was almost driven crazy by the ordeal, so he had no choice but to leave.

But when he's not around, the film loses its flavor, which results in Director Lin being there one minute and gone the next.

Being a worker is so painful.

What Zhang Yuan needs to ensure is that Justin Lin is always there, and that he can keep Old Fan from causing too much trouble so that they can film properly.

After all, many Hollywood big shots act out, but not many go to this extent.

But there are still some who are really good at it.

After all the conditions were revised and agreed upon, the press conference was finally held.

Zhang Yuan's mood improved considerably as a result.

But just as things were starting to look a little better, he frowned again.

Because the foreign drama queen has been dealt with for now, but there's still a drama queen in China.

The "Let the Bullets Fly" production team approached Chow Yun-fat, and the conditions he offered were comparable to those of Vin Diesel.

Chow Yun-fat requested a luxury RV, a private bathroom on-site, and a luxury hotel.

And it's not just one room; their nannies all have to stay in a luxury suite by themselves.

He has his own team of eight chefs who cook for him, and they even rent a gymnasium for him to exercise by cycling.

In addition, there's a HK$4000 million salary!

Ge Youcai has less than 600 million.

Zhang Yuan's first reaction upon seeing these conditions was to call the security company and have Brother Long bring two vans full of people to Hong Kong to block Brother Fa's door.

That is, after 97, Hong Kong returned to China, and the Hong Kong triads scattered like birds and beasts.

Try offering these conditions before!
You'll find out the diameter of the peanut the next day.

It's also similar to Vin Diesel.

They need to add more scenes!
Seeing that Jay Chou had a lot of screen time, they were dissatisfied and demanded more scenes.

Fortunately, Zhang Yuan had already finished filming and fled, so he wasn't bothered by it.

But just thinking about him gives me a headache.

Jiang Wen needs him, and Master Huang can't do without him either.

Zhang Yuan had been holding back his anger and suppressing it.

I didn't even get paid for this movie, and I even got to stay in a private room.

Okay, okay, just don't give me the chance...

Do you think my money is so easy to earn?

At the press conference, it was officially announced that "Fast & Furious 5" is about to start and all the old characters will return.

They looked like they were about to make a "big splash".

Indeed, the Fast and Furious series became a world-class IP and a huge hit in China thanks to the fifth installment.

The final car chase scene, especially the one involving dragging a safe, is so spectacular that it ranks among the best in film history.

Justin Lin spoke with great confidence and ambition.

Part of his confidence came from Zhang Yuan.

It's okay, I'm here. Some people can't cause any trouble.

After the press conference, Zhang Yuan chatted with people from Universal for a long time.

We still need to discuss actor salaries and investments.

They set him a $400 million salary and promised to cooperate with the publicity.

Zhang Yuan also needs to raise his own value.

Secondly, there are previous investments.

The previous film had a total cost of over 7000 million US dollars, with him accounting for 2000 million US dollars of the investment. Based on the current box office of nearly 3 million US dollars.

After deducting the theater's share, the box office revenue alone has already netted more than 1 million yuan.

Later, there will be revenue from CD releases and other sources.

Theoretically, he should have at least a 2.5 to 3-fold return on his 2000 million.

However, the investment in "Fast & Furious 5" increased to over 100 million US dollars.

Otherwise, where would the money and car come from for Lin Yibin to cause trouble?

According to the previous investment agreement, he had to put up more than $3000 million to invest in the next project.

Zhang Yuan did the math and realized that after deducting this part, the costs, and the money and interest paid to the creditors, he didn't seem to have much left over.

Even including the salary that wasn't transferred back to China, plus this money, although the film seems to have grossed hundreds of millions, he actually didn't even have 1000 million US dollars.

They've been busy making money for others.

But there's nothing he can do. He only managed to get involved by scraping together what he could, so it's difficult to recoup his losses in a short time.

The next few films were pure profit.

Only after settling things off did he return to China.

After arriving home, I first called my agent and the artist to a meeting.

Zhang Yuan held a newspaper and looked at the latest news.

His performance in "The Message" received a lot of praise, with many saying that his acting skills had improved.

"I don't know if Huayi has submitted my application for the award yet."

He only put down the newspaper when he saw people arrive.

The purpose of bringing everyone together is to make the next steps.

Especially with the advent of the Weibo era, we need to be prepared.

Meanwhile, none of the Huayi team were focused on the star-studded, box office hit movie "The Message".

Because all eyes in the company are on this address: No. 2012 Shennan Avenue, Futian District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province.

This place also has another famous name.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange! (End of Chapter)