Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Time flies, and soon it was the end of May 2005.

Inside the study of Lin Yuan's mansion in Douglaston, Taylor Swift, GAKKI, and Charlize sat side by side with him, smiling.

Because their eyes were all on the projector directly in front of them.

The projector projected global box office data for "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Journey to the End of the World" onto a white screen, which glowed with a pale blue light.

For so many years, we've relied on paper materials to assess box office performance; this time, we've finally incorporated some high-tech elements.

But paper materials are still indispensable. Lin Yuan sat on the leather sofa, holding a box office report that had just been printed out, the paper still warm from the printer.

"The estimated total box office is $110 billion, breaking records once again." GAKKI placed a cup of heavily sweetened milk coffee on the coffee table in front of Lin Yuan: "It's a full $15 billion more than the combined total of 'The King of Spies 2' and 'The Road to Legend'."

Her voice was filled with undisguised amazement.

Everyone knows that Lin Yuan's films are bound to do well at the box office, but it's truly surprising that the combination of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Last Journey" was able to beat the combination of "The King of Spies 2" and "The Road to Legend".

"The King of Spies 2" is, after all, Lin Yuan's series of films, representing the golden brand of Lin Yuan's action scenes, which are characterized by extreme thrills and large-scale scenes.

Whether it's the towering flames and tornadoes of the Canadian wildfires, the collapse of ancient ice walls, or the nuclear submarines navigating the depths of the Arctic Ocean, the scenes are thrilling and spectacular, scenes that would be unimaginable in other action movies.

Before the release of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Last Journey" together, Taylor Swift, Charlize Theodore Roosevelt, and GAKKI all thought that if the combination of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Last Journey" could reach a box office of $10 billion, it would be a great success.

It's not that Mad Max: Fury Road wasn't exciting; in fact, the quicksand fighting arena and the super-lightning thunderstorm were just as impressive as Lord of the Spy Gear 2 in terms of scale.

Unfortunately, the Mad Max IP is significantly weaker than the King of Spies series.

Under these circumstances, the fact that they were able to achieve a significant box office comeback was truly beyond the three women's expectations.

But Lin Yuan was already confident. He said, "Do you think that the Mad Max IP is not as good as The King of Spies, so you are worried that the results will decline?"

"Don't you think so?" The three women nodded vigorously.

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Compared to 'Mad Max' or 'The King of Spies,' shouldn't the real factor that attracts audiences to the theater be me as a person?"

A single sentence shattered their illusions, and the three women suddenly realized that they were still trapped in the old narrative logic of film IPs.

The most appealing element of a normal movie is its intellectual property (IP), which consists of elements that audiences are familiar with and love.

Lin Yuan's movies, however, don't follow this logic at all; their biggest selling point has always been Lin Yuan himself!

As long as Lin Yuan stars in a film and delivers a sincere and thrilling action movie, audiences will buy into it and may even watch it multiple times.

After figuring this out, Taylor Swift said incredulously, "So... as long as your films maintain a consistent level of quality, the box office will keep breaking records?"

"Bingo!" Lin Yuan snapped his fingers.

Because when "Lin Yuan" accounts for 90% of the decisive factors in his film's box office success, other factors such as publicity and distribution, as well as favorable timing and location, become less important.

At least it's not a major issue.

As the global economy grows and inflation rises annually, people's incomes increase, so Lin Yuan's film box office will naturally rise accordingly.

(At least around 2005, the global economic environment was very good.)
This is what Taylor Swift realized: as long as Lin Yuan's films maintain a stable level of quality, the box office will continue to reach new highs.

This realization immediately energized the three of them.

This means that the company's stable performance growth also represents the expected growth of the company's stock price.

As the controllers of the company, they have a great deal of room to maneuver.

"Let's not talk about that for now, let's wait for Betty to come up with a plan. Let's get back to the movie itself," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

Charlize Theron stood up from the sofa, walked to the wine cabinet, and picked up a glass of champagne with her long, slender fingers—the perfect drink to celebrate a victory.

“Hollywood has gone mad again,” she said with a laugh. “This morning, the Los Angeles Times headline was ‘Lin Yuan has once again revolutionized the film industry! Is he never going to stop?’”

"This can't be described as a 'miracle,' it's practically a divine intervention."

"Do you know what Hollywood calls you now? 'Box Office God.' Everyone's amazed at how you did it."

Lin Yuan gently swirled his milk coffee cup, the brown liquid shimmering under the light: "How did you do that? It's not actually that difficult. Just make a movie, split it into two parts, sell the main feature for $78 billion, and the bonus features for $32 billion..."

Charlize rolled her eyes: "Is that even human language?"

Lin Yuan didn't continue with Versailles, but said with a smile, "Actually, I'm quite curious. The box office of 'Journey to the End of the World' seems to be higher than expected."

"Because both the audience and professionals are buying it." Taylor Swift continued the conversation:
"Viewers not only satisfied their curiosity during the movie, but were also moved by the heartwarming moments during the filming of the movie."

Lin Yuan nodded in understanding. This filming was not just a one-man show for him. Depp's selfless rescue of Amber Heard and Charlize's car driving across the canyon brought the audience a brand new movie-watching experience.

"At the same time, professionals also love it!" Taylor Swift continued.

"Because everyone wants to know how those scenes were filmed," Taylor Swift turned around from beside the projector, her blonde curls swaying gently with the movement:

"The IMAX screenings of 'Journey to the End of the World' were more packed than the regular movie. People were willing to pay an extra $20 to see how you risked your life in a thunderstorm and how that scene was filmed."

GAKKI-chan flipped through the folder in her hand: "Even more amazing are the reviews. Mad Max: Fury Road has an A+ CinemaScore, a 98% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 9.4 on IMDb."

(The highest grade in CinemaScore is A+, there is no S grade.)
"Stop, stop, stop," Charlize interrupted Gakki with a laugh, plopping down on Lin Yuan's lap. "I can recite these numbers by heart. What I really want to know is..."

She suddenly leaned closer to Lin Yuan: "How did you come up with the idea of ​​adapting Girls' Generation's debut song into post-apocalyptic rock? That idea was absolutely insane."

Lin Yuan took a sip of his milk coffee: "Because there's something about Taeyeon's voice..."

He paused for a moment: "...The power of being reborn from the ashes. When you strip away the sweet parts, what remains at the core is the pure will to survive."

"Bullshit!" Taylor Swift suddenly laughed and cursed. "You're clearly just after those girls' legs. I love the way you talk nonsense with such a straight face!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the study. "Seriously," GAKKI wiped her eyes, "The box office for *Journey to the End of the World* has already surpassed the total box office of all documentaries in history. The Motion Picture Association of America is preparing to create a new category for it—'Extreme Art Documentary'."

Charlize raised an eyebrow: "So they awarded Lin Yuan this prize, a new way to curry favor?"

Lin Yuan has already announced that he will no longer participate in any film award selections.

This left the American film industry, which wanted to curry favor with Lin Yuan, without any leverage.

I don't know which genius came up with this method:
Even if Lin Yuan doesn't participate in the judging, this competition was established because of him, so he is naturally the founding father.

In this way, Lin Yuan would naturally gain a lot of honors, even if he didn't participate in the award selection at all.

"Are you wondering who came up with this idea?" Taylor Swift asked with a smile.

“Hmm, I’d love to know which guy is so good at licking,” Lin Yuan replied.

“Director Cameron!” Taylor Swift continued, “He lost to Director Spielberg in trying to curry favor with you last time, and he’s been holding a grudge ever since. Now he’s finally found an opportunity.”

Lin Yuan sighed, "The tree may wish to remain still, but the wind will not cease. They really are using me as a flag."

"You can't escape anyway," Taylor Swift scoffed. "Everyone treats you like a goldmine, eager to squeeze as much money out of you as possible. Do you know why AMC theaters added 2000 screens for *Journey to the End of the World*? Because there's a 73% chance that every viewer who sees the full movie will buy another ticket for *Journey to the End of the World*."

Lin Yuan tapped his fingers lightly on the sofa armrest: "What surprised me most was the Chinese mainland market. 'Mad Max: Fury Road' grossed $280 million in China, 120% more than 'The King of Spies'."

The fact that it generated $2.8 million in box office revenue in mainland China in 2005 was indeed surprising to Lin Yuan.

Has domestic purchasing power reached this level?
“Because this movie…” GAKKI immediately flipped to another document, “was filmed in mainland China! Cinemas in Beijing and Shanghai had to operate 24 hours a day to meet the demand.”

GAKKI-chan suddenly remembered something: "Yesterday, several theater managers in mainland China called me, saying they hope to import more of your past films for re-release!"

"There's no rush for a re-release," Lin Yuan refused.

While frequent re-releases of old movies can generate substantial profits, they are ultimately counterproductive.

The increased box office revenue came at the cost of diminishing Lin Yuan's mystique and making people tired of his presence.

With his next film, "The King of Spies 3," about to begin filming, maintaining public curiosity is even more important at this time.

Taylor Swift presented another set of data: "Even more astonishing is the control of piracy. This time, the piracy rate in mainland China was only 12%, setting a new record for Hollywood movies in China."

“Wait a minute,” GAKKI frowned, “this number is wrong. The piracy rate of *King of Spies* in mainland China is…”

"Because of the screening strategy," Lin Yuan and Mei Mei said in unison.

Charlize suddenly realized: "Simultaneous release!"

“That’s right,” Taylor Swift explained excitedly, “This time we achieved a simultaneous global release, two weeks ahead of the pirates. The distributors in mainland China also cooperated in the strictest anti-piracy campaign in history.”

Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the window. The scenery in Douglastown was always serene.

“An interesting digression?” he said softly. “Mad Max: Fury Road is about a post-apocalyptic world where resources are depleted, and the money we made from that movie is enough to buy the oil reserves of a small country.”

The silence lasted for a few seconds; it was so cold~~~~~
“So…” Charlize slowly walked up behind him, “how about we make something even more expensive next time?”

When Lin Yuan turned around, he found that all three women were staring at him with a dangerous look in their eyes.

He was all too familiar with that look—it was always like that after he broke a record, as if to say, "You've already succeeded enough, can you be a little more conservative next time? It's unbearable to be on edge every time!"

Faced with the warnings from the three women, Lin Yuan could only change the subject:

"Stop." Lin Yuan gestured, then suddenly smiled. "Do you know what I want to hear most right now?"

The three women exchanged glances.

“Let’s get down to business,” he said, walking back to the sofa and picking up the box office report. “How much of that $110 billion do we get?”

Taylor Swift's lips curled into a sly smile: "After deducting all costs, commissions, and taxes..." she deliberately drew out the last syllable, "net profit of $61 billion. That's equivalent to $34 per minute."

“Since you’re so happy, let me tell you some more good news,” GAKKI continued, “Do you know what’s the craziest thing right now? Since Mad Max: Fury Road was released, the number of members in desert safari clubs worldwide has increased by 3000%.”

"3000%? Not 300%?" Taylor Swift put down the file in surprise. "Is this data reliable?"

“Absolutely reliable.” GAKKI pulled a stack of magazines from the coffee table; the cover prominently featured a group of young people in the Dubai desert riding modified dune bashing boards. “A recent Time magazine feature reports that dune bashing courses are now offered in every desert resort from Dubai to Australia.”

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow: "This sport is dangerous, but also very exciting! I remember those scenes in movies where one wrong move could cost someone their life."

If it were traveling at over 150 kilometers per hour, it would overturn and crash into a sand dune...

“That’s what makes it so appealing,” Charlize said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Ordinary people don’t see the danger, but rather the freedom of speeding through a sandstorm. Las Vegas travel agencies have even launched ‘apocalyptic experience packages’—completely educational, and they even give you the same goggles.”

GAKKI flipped to the inside pages of the magazine: "It says here that even professional sports brands are starting to develop desert cruising equipment?"

“Nike and Adidas have already gone all out for their ‘Desert Extreme Sports Series’!” GAKKI added. “Just to compete for your endorsement, how much do you think we should offer?”

Lin Yuan laughed and said, "You handle it. I believe you can squeeze every last penny out of them. So now we're not just selling movie tickets..."

“We’re still selling a lifestyle,” Charlize continued, tapping lightly on the eye-catching tagline in the magazine—“Be Your Own Max.”

Taylor Swift suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, the International Olympic Committee is considering including desert safari as a demonstration sport. Apparently, the North American team has already formed its first professional desert safari team."

"Wait a minute," Charlize suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Could it be that the next Olympics...?"

"At the 2008 Beijing Games," GAKKI-chan said with a mysterious smile, "there's a real possibility that a brand new sport will be added!"

The four men exchanged a smile and simultaneously raised their glasses… (End of Chapter)