Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 137 [Choose an actor, Home Alone? ]

Li Yishu did what she said and started writing the script for "The Sixth Sense" after returning to her room.

He wrote the Chinese version. He had no problem communicating in English, but he was not so good at writing.

He finished writing the script in just one day and one night.

However, there is only a general plot outline, and Columbia Pictures needs to find a professional screenwriter who is proficient in Chinese to modify the details including the lines.

After all, this is an English film. Li Yishu has never acted in one before and has no experience of living in the United States. Even if she has the original film as a reference, she still needs to find someone to help polish and modify it.

He can shoot according to the original film, but the actors don't know that, so the script has to be solid enough.

The next morning, Li Yishu went straight to Hisao Morishima with the script.

Columbia Pictures.

In the president's office.

Hisao Morishima looked at the script in front of him in surprise: "It was written so quickly?"

"I had a script originally, but I didn't bring it with me. I wrote the outline in a hurry, and the details still need to be re-carved. However, these are minor details, and there will be time to modify them later when filming starts."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "President Morishima, I wrote the script in Chinese, and I need you to arrange an editor who is proficient in Chinese to help translate it and check if there are any mistakes. After all, I have never lived in the United States, and the background setting of the script was changed temporarily."

"No problem, Director Li."

Hisao Morishima flipped through the script. It was all in Chinese and he couldn't understand it very well. However, he had heard Li Yishu talk about the general plot before. Since she thought there was no problem with the script, then he thought there must be no problem.

He said, "I will arrange for someone to translate the script as soon as possible and polish it. But Director Li, when can we start filming?"

"That depends on when President Morishima wants to start filming."

Li Yishu said: "The movie I'm working on will probably be finished by the end of this month, and I can postpone the post-production, so the earliest we can start filming is early February or mid-month."

"There will definitely be no problem with the timing."

Hisao Morishima asked, “What about casting?”

"There are only three main characters in this movie: the male lead, Malcolm Cole, the second male lead, Cole Hill, and the female lead, Lynn Hill."

Li Yishu said: "For the choice of male lead, I have two candidates, one is Tom Hanks and the other is Bruce Willis."

"Bruce Willis?"

Hisao Morishima frowned and said, "You want to find an action actor to perform?"

Hisao Morishima had no objection to asking Tom Hanks to play the role, as he was very good at this type of heartwarming film. But wasn't it a bit hasty to ask Bruce Willis, who played in "Die Hard", to play the male lead?
In the minds of North American audiences, Bruce Willis is an action actor!

This is like a domestic film with a warm theme, and they asked Yuzhou Dan to play the male lead. It seems awkward no matter how you look at it. You are really afraid that he will turn into Master Ye and shout "I will beat ten people" while acting.

“No one says action actors have to act in action movies.”

Li Yishu shook her head. "You may have only seen the tough guy temperament of Bruce Willis, but I saw maturity and stability in him, which fits the image and temperament of the male lead in the play. And I heard that he seems to be performing in a stage play on Broadway?"

"Yes, he did appear in a Broadway play."

"So in terms of acting, Bruce Willis shouldn't be a problem."

Li Yishu smiled and said self-deprecatingly: "I also hope to invite Tom Hanks to join my film, but this is obviously impossible, President Morishima."

If Tom Hanks joins this movie, he is confident that it can hit the global box office of $5 million.

This is because the star effect is still very obvious in this era. Often, when a popular star stars in a movie, even if it is a bad movie, there will be people going to support it and praise it. However, if this happens more often, it is very likely that he will become the second Nicolas Cage, from a movie emperor to a famous king of bad movies.

Hearing this, Hisao Morishima nodded slightly. He understood what Li Yishu was talking about. It was not a question of pay, but a question of the director.

If it were Spielberg, Tom Hanks would definitely agree.

To put it bluntly, Lee Yi-shu is not well-known in the United States. If he is not introduced deliberately, no one will pay attention to him as a director from Asia.

Even if you win the Golden Lion Award, it is of no use. A Golden Lion Award director is born every year. There are several well-known international film festivals. In other words, several directors of the same level are born every year.

Unless she wins the three European awards, Lee Yi-su can become a little famous in Hollywood, but only in art films.

Hisao Morishima asked, "Who else is suitable besides these two?"

Li Yishu said, "For now, the only two people I can think of are these two. If neither of them is satisfactory, then President Morishima can look for someone who meets the standards of these two people: mature, steady, and good acting skills."

"Let's ask them first. What about the other two?" Morishima Hisao thought about it and decided to respect Li Yishu's choice. The other party is the director. Since he recommended these two people, it means there must be a reason.

Li Yishu said: "For the child actor, I hope to find a newcomer, or a child star who has appeared in film and television works but is not very popular."

“Why not Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone?”

Hisao Morishima quickly said, "He has great acting skills and is very well-known. If he had starred in this film, I believe it would have been a hot topic from the beginning."

“That’s why I didn’t pick him.”

Li Yishu shook her head and said, "He is too famous. Even I have heard of his name in China. I have seen his film Home Alone on videotape. If he plays this role, I am afraid that there will be big problems in terms of box office reputation. This is not a family comedy, but an R-rated film."

"Home Alone" is a movie suitable for all ages, and it can be said that it is a movie that can be watched by people of all ages.

As you can tell from the name, "The Sixth Sense" is a restricted film.
Although Lee Yi-su doesn't quite understand the American rating system, it is definitely restricted to children under ten years old. After all, there are ghosts in the play - or the male protagonist himself is a ghost.

"Director Li is very thoughtful. He is indeed not suitable."

Hisao Morishima nodded in agreement. If Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone was cast in the film, some families might think it was a comedy and buy tickets, which would scare their children. Then Columbia would be in big trouble.

This did not save his career, but instead accelerated the end of his career.

"So for the child actors, they should be either newcomers or unknown child stars. It is best to choose those who are smart and have eyes that give people a sense of innocence."

"No problem. I'll have someone recruit suitable young actors and after we've shortlisted a few, we'll hand it over to Director Li for the final decision."

"Well, the same goes for the leading actress. It would be best if she's a newcomer with good acting skills. That way, she can join the crew right away."

"No problem, Director Li."

After leaving Columbia Pictures, Li Yishu returned to the hotel and asked Amy to book a plane ticket for him. He had to hurry back to the mainland to film.

"I'll go back with you, boss."

Huo Wenxi said, "Anyway, there's nothing wrong with me staying here. Sister Amy wants to stay here and set up a company."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Aren't you going to take a look around here? There aren't many opportunities to travel on government funds."

Huo Wenxi quickly shook her head: "Sister Amy said it was so scary the day before yesterday, how could I dare to go shopping?"

"Okay, then come back with me."

Li Yishu didn't say much and asked Amy to book two plane tickets. He needed to recruit a few bodyguards when he returned to China this time. He would probably have to stay in the United States for a long time. It would be difficult to find satisfactory ones directly from the mainland in a short period of time. He could only find a few from Hong Kong.

In order to save time, there were no domestic flights at noon, so Li Yishu asked Amy to help book a flight to Hong Kong, and dropped Huo Wenxi off in Hong Kong, asking her to find a security company here and hire some temporary bodyguards to protect her in the United States.

The next afternoon.

After a day of flying and traveling by car, Li Yishu finally returned to Jinan.

The crew also resumed filming.

At night, after venting her feelings, Gong Li also said breathlessly: "Will you have enough time to go to the United States to make a movie?"

"It's definitely in time, but you'll have to work overtime."

Li Yishu wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Gong Li frowned and said, "I have no problem, I'm just worried that Ye Jin won't be able to bear it."

“It’s quite troublesome.”

Li Yishu frowned, thought for a while and said, "But next we will go to Yunnan to shoot outdoor scenes, it should be faster, the weather there is not so cold, and it is closer to the climate of Southeast Asia. I checked, the average temperature there in January is between 7℃ and 24.5℃, and the highest temperature during the day can sometimes reach 33℃."

“Is Yunnan that hot?”

Gong Li was very surprised. Although she knew that the winter in Yunnan was not cold, she did not expect that the maximum daytime temperature could reach 33℃.

This is almost the summer temperature in many places.

Li Yishu shook his head and said, "We went to Xishuangbanna, which has a tropical monsoon climate. It's basically never cold all year round."

The indoor scenes have basically been shot, and the next outdoor scenes will have to be shot in Yunnan.

Although the winter in Jinan is not very cold, it is still not possible to wear short sleeves when filming. What's more, the young actor Ye Jin is only in his teens. If he catches a cold and has a fever, it will further delay the filming progress.

(End of this chapter)