Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 208 The Project is Complete
Although the novel "Infinite Terror" involves too many film copyrights, it must be said that the infinite flow genre is a very novel concept.

The reason why directors don't touch the kind of setting that "Infinite Terror" has to be because of the production costs.

Just like the "Infinite Terror" series created by Li Boda, which involves the movies "Resident Evil 1" and "Alien 1".

The film and television rights for these two movies alone represent a significant expense. Furthermore, in order to achieve a better effect when filming "Infinite Terror," Li Boda also needed to invite actors from "Resident Evil 1" and "Alien 1" to cooperate in the filming.

Getting all these actors together won't be easy. After all, nobody knows if any of them have other commitments or are currently filming on other projects and can't make it to your movie.

Therefore, simply finding all the actors from the original series presents a certain amount of trouble.

Another issue is the movie involved in "Infinite Terror". You know, the first "Resident Evil" movie only grossed a little over 100 million US dollars. If you make a movie based on "Resident Evil", how much will the movie gross? If it doesn't exceed the box office of "Resident Evil", then won't the movie lose money?

Therefore, this type of film, while having a very novel subject matter and even some explosive elements, is still quite popular.

However, no one can guarantee that this movie will be a success or that it will not lose money!
Let's calculate the production cost of "Infinite Terror." It would have cost approximately 9000 million US dollars. Such a large investment would make it a top-tier Hollywood production.

To avoid losing money, its box office revenue needs to be at least $240 million.

Of course, the main reason is that nobody in Hollywood knows about this kind of subject matter.

Even in China, almost no one in the film and television industry knows about this kind of subject matter.

After all, the novel "Infinite Terror" has only just ended, and no one in the film and television industry is paying attention to online novels.

Therefore, the subject matter of "Infinite Terror" is both tempting and hesitant, even for people in Hollywood.

Investing too much carries great risk. You might break even or even make a profit, but you might not necessarily earn a lot.

However, after Legendary Pictures and Lionsgate, whom Han Sanye had approached, confirmed that they would each only need to invest five million US dollars in this film with an investment of approximately ninety million US dollars, they no longer hesitated.

While five million US dollars, which is roughly equivalent to over thirty million yuan, would be considered a mid-budget film investment in China, it's a relatively small investment in Hollywood.

Moreover, even if a horror film doesn't perform well at the box office in the US, the DVD sales should be decent given the novelty of the subject matter of "Infinite Terror." Therefore, the probability of losing money is very small, and there's even a high chance of making a profit from DVD sales. That's why both Legendary Pictures and Lionsgate invested in it.

After all, five million US dollars is a relatively small investment for them, and they are not opposed to taking a gamble with such a small investment.

Of course, in reality, they would have been even happier if the director of "Infinite Terror" had been from the United States. However, Li Boda was absolutely unwilling to give up on the director's selection, and he himself had directly taken half of the $90 million investment, so Legendary Pictures and Lionsgate didn't insist too much.

So, after Cube Technology, the company behind Li Boda, invested 300 million yuan in "Infinite Terror," and then news broke that Hollywood's Legendary Pictures invested 70 million yuan, Wanda Pictures, Enlight Media, Bona Film Group, and China Film Group took the remaining 200 million yuan share.

The post-production work for the movie "Love is Not Blind" is not even finished yet.

News has already been reported that Li Boda is going to make a new movie, and that it is a big-budget, Sino-foreign co-production science fiction film.

……

"Zhang Heng, is your 'Infinite Terror' really going to be made into a movie?"

Zhang Heng was typing away when his QQ kept beeping. When he opened it, he saw that someone was tagging him.

Upon seeing the question asked, Zhang Heng immediately looked smug.

"That's right, my novel 'Infinite Terror' is going to be made into a movie, and I even wrote the screenplay."

"Damn, I never thought 'Infinite Terror' would actually be made into a movie! Your novel itself has copyright issues—"

"Haha, what can I do? My novel has a novel theme, and that's why Li Boda took a liking to it."

"Tsk, Zhang Heng, your novel is going to be made into a movie, but doesn't it also have copyright issues? Before, only online readers knew about your novel, so there was no need to worry about copyright. But now that your novel is going to be made into a movie, won't people all over the country—no, I mean foreigners—know that your novel infringes on other people's copyrights? What will you do then? Won't they sue you for copyright infringement?"

"..." Zhang Heng was stunned when he saw the question. He hadn't thought about copyright before. In fact, he had been writing the novel for several years, and no one had asked him for copyright fees or sued him.

But now, Li Boda has adapted his novel into a movie. According to Li Boda, the movie may even be released overseas. If those people overseas see the movie and sue him for copyright infringement, won't he be in deep trouble?

Zhang Heng panicked; he was truly panicked.

Zhang Heng ignored the people who were tagging him on QQ and called Li Boda directly.

The reason Zhang Heng had Li Boda's phone number was naturally because it was convenient to contact him when he asked Li Boda to write the script.

After all, adapting Zhang Heng's novel into a screenplay presents numerous challenges: can it be filmed? Is it suitable for filming? Should it be modified? How should it be modified? Furthermore, Zhang Heng watched pirated films while writing the novel, and the pirated translations contained errors, which were also present in his novel, requiring further revisions.

Therefore, Zhang Heng's previous contact with Li Boda was relatively limited.

Now, Li Boda is not surprised when Zhang Heng calls him.

However, after the call connected, Li Boda almost laughed when he heard Zhang Heng mention the copyright issue. He then reassured Zhang Heng, "Don't worry, it's not a big problem. It's not easy for foreigners to sue for copyright in China. We can just drag it out. Even if we can't, the compensation we have won't be much. Besides, after filming the first part of 'Infinite Terror,' I'll buy the remaining film and television rights to the novel. Once I get the rights, all the problems will be solved..."

Hearing Li Boda say this, Zhang Heng felt a little relieved, but he was still quite uneasy. What if he really got sued?

However, after Li Boda repeatedly emphasized that there were no major problems, Zhang Heng was somewhat relieved. However, as he continued writing, he was often in a daze, and in the end, he simply stopped writing altogether and became an unfinished writer.

……

After news of the "Infinite Terror" project spread, many people began to contact Li Boda.

Even if Zhao Liying didn't say anything, as an artist in his own studio and family, Li Boda would naturally not deny her a chance.

Then, actresses like Fan Bingbing, Li Xiaoran, and Jia Jingwen, who were close to Li Boda, all contacted him, wanting to star in the movie "Infinite Terror".

In addition, Liu Yifei, or rather Liu Yifei's mother Liu Xiaoli, also took the initiative to contact Li Boda this time.

"Boda! Your relationship with our Sissi is beyond question. You two were good friends back when you filmed 'Chinese Paladin.' Over the years, Sissi has always considered you her best friend. You know Sissi's situation; she can hardly get any roles in domestic films and can only take on roles in the Hong Kong film industry. As Sissi's good friend..."

Liu Xiaoli and Li Boda started playing the emotional card.

Having known Li Boda for so many years, Liu Xiaoli knew a little about his personality. Although he was a womanizer, he was also a person who valued friendship.

So Liu Xiaoli directly brought up the fact that Liu Yifei was Li Boda's friend, making it difficult for Li Boda to refuse her.

"Sister Liu, I know all that you're saying, but there's no suitable role for Xixi in the movie 'Infinite Terror'."

When Liu Yifei heard Li Boda say that, she couldn't help but pout.

“Berdah—”

"Sister Liu, you must have read the novel *Infinite Terror* before you came here, right? This time, I'm filming *Infinite Terror*, which only includes content from *Resident Evil 1* and *Alien 1*. There are only three female characters: Zhan Lan, a burly female writer; Luo Li, Zheng Zha's childhood sweetheart; and Na'er, Zhang Jie's wife, a gentle housewife. Which of these three characters do you think would be suitable for Xixi?"

“I think the role of Zhan Lan is quite suitable.” Liu Xiaoli had indeed read the novel, and as soon as Li Boda asked, she immediately locked onto the target.

"Sister Liu, the character Zhan Lan, well, how should I put it, she's suspected of being a third party, and her image might have a bad influence on Qianqian," Li Boda said, seemingly concerned for Liu Yifei.

"It's okay, I don't care if my image is affected," Liu Yifei said directly.

“…How about we wait until the next installment, when we’re filming the ‘Ju-on’ movie, and have Xixi play the role of Zhao Yingkong? This character is actually more charming and likable, and she mostly has a cold expression, so she’s easier to play,” Li Boda suggested.

(End of this chapter)