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

Chapter 240 Chu Xuan's Personal Movie?
After attending the wrap party for "Lost in Thailand", Li Boda returned to "Magic Cube Special Effects" company to continue working on special effects for "Infinite Terror 2".

However, at this moment, Li Boda was somewhat, well, not entirely satisfied.

On one hand, there's his current ability; indeed, Li Boda's abilities in all aspects have been greatly improved since starring in "Infinite Terror".

However, it is still far from reaching a higher level, or the level of Chu Xuan.

However, the people around him were still lacking in experience; without Li Boda, they simply couldn't produce outstanding special effects.

Therefore, special effects for films like "Infinite Terror 2" had to be overseen by Li Boda. After Li Boda left, the production speed of special effects for "Infinite Terror 2" slowed down significantly.

Unless Li Boda personally teaches and properly trains his subordinates, they might barely be able to become competent.

The main problem is that their foundation is still too weak.

After all, these people were initially exposed to very basic things. Now, because they were signed by Li Boda to 'Rubik's Cube Effects', they have suddenly started to be exposed to this kind of top-level special effects technology. Their foundation is too weak, and they can't keep up.

Even if Li Boda devotes all his efforts to training them, their skill level will not improve in less than three to five years.

Li Boda was quite helpless about this. Most of the people under his command, or rather, the level of special effects in China, were like this, and Li Boda couldn't force them to change.

Unless Li Boda is as smart as Chu Xuan, and can directly write a special effects program, create some special effects-specific equipment, and then make it into a user-friendly generation program, then Li Boda can completely let go.

Instead of what we have now, where directing and making films takes several months, and then the rest of the time is spent working on 'Rubik's Cube special effects,' wasting a lot of time and having no free time at all.

Li Boda is practically turning into a beast of burden now.

This is not the life Li Boda wants.

So, Li Boda couldn't help but think that after the special effects for Infinite Terror 2 were completed, instead of making Infinite Terror 3, he could directly make a movie about Chu Xuan, bringing together Chu Xuan's background, identity, experiences, and so on, to make a solo movie.

Unfortunately, now seems like the wrong time to film a solo movie about Chu Xuan.

When would be a good time to shoot Chu Xuan's solo feature film?
Of course, after Chu Xuan's death, the Zhongzhou team went through all sorts of dangers, and was eventually wiped out. After that, Zheng Zha realized that the Zhongzhou team needed a wise man like Chu Xuan, and then resurrected Chu Xuan.

The best time to launch Chu Xuan's solo feature film is when the movie has reached this stage of filming.

After all, by then, the worldview had already been established, the importance of wise men had been demonstrated, and after experiencing so many hardships, Chu Xuan was resurrected. It was the most appropriate time to launch Chu Xuan's personal feature film.

However, for a film, that was the most suitable time to shoot.

However, Li Boda's motivation for entering the entertainment industry wasn't simply to make movies. He entered the industry in the first place to use his "golden touch" (a metaphor for a special ability or skill).

Therefore, for Li Boda, everything is about having a cheat code.

Everything else, whatever it may be, comes after the cheat code.

Li Boda saw the potential in the character Chu Xuan and naturally wanted to film Chu Xuan's solo movie as soon as possible so he could obtain everything Chu Xuan had.

Therefore, other things like box office revenue and profits are secondary to Li Boda.

Moreover, Chu Xuan, played by Li Boda, doesn't appear in "Infinite Terror 3," and the character won't appear in "Infinite Terror 4" or even "Infinite Terror 5."

Even if Li Boda makes one film a year, it will still take three or four years for the character Chu Xuan to appear. Then, with the addition of making Chu Xuan's solo feature film, it will take at least four or five years.

Four or five years!

Li Boda didn't have that much patience.

The main problem is that it was within reach to begin with, but for various reasons, it has been postponed for four or five years. Who could tolerate that? At least Li Boda couldn't.

Therefore, it would be better to start filming the solo feature film "Chu Xuan" next, while "Infinite Terror 3" can be handed over to others to film simultaneously!
Anyway, Li Boda doesn't have any roles in "Infinite Terror 3," so he can just give up his directorial role.

Li Boda never intended to hold onto the director's position for the "Infinite Terror" film series indefinitely.

The main issue is the "Infinite Terror" series, which already has a large number of movies. Moreover, Li Boda tricked Fan Bingbing into finding Zhang Heng and having him create content expansion for the character Ming Yanwei, and write about the experiences of the Demon Squad. And Zhang Heng did exactly that.

In other words, as long as there are no major problems along the way, the "Infinite Terror" series could even become a very large film series, with twenty or thirty movies being more than enough.

Li Boda can't just be a director forever, and he can direct all these movies by himself, right?
Obviously, that's neither appropriate nor possible.

So it's good to let go when it's time to let go.

Giving up the directorship of "Infinite Terror 3" and focusing on making "Chu Xuan" his own feature film is perfectly fine.

As for the Chu Xuan solo movie that Li Boda named "Chu Xuan," although the script hasn't even been written yet, for Li Boda, getting such a script is incredibly easy.

Because when "Infinite Terror" was released, Li Boda not only gained some of Chu Xuan's abilities but also went through Chu Xuan's experiences over the past twenty years, Li Boda could easily condense Chu Xuan's experiences, extract the exciting and awesome parts, write them into a story, and then adapt them into a script.

Putting everything else aside, just in terms of the story's brilliance, Li Boda dares to guarantee that it's absolutely no worse than other movies in the "Infinite Terror" series, and the story might even be more outstanding.

Of course, although the story will be more exciting, the background of the personal feature film of the character [Chu Xuan] is set in China, and most of the characters in it are of Asian descent. They may not be really popular in foreign countries.

Therefore, if the movie "Chu Xuan" is actually made, its global box office performance is unlikely to be very good.

Unless this movie is released after the fifth installment of the "Infinite Terror" series.

So, while Li Boda was diligently working on the special effects for "Infinite Terror 2," he would write the script for the movie "Chu Xuan" whenever he got tired or wanted a change of pace. This was a way of doing things simultaneously.

And just like that, several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

In October of 12, the special effects for "Infinite Terror 2" were finally completed.

The production speed of the special effects this time was much faster than last time.

The main reason is that after Li Boda became smarter, the special effects technology also became more mature. In fact, they even purchased another batch of equipment.

Therefore, improvements in three aspects—technical level, equipment upgrades, and Li Boda, the person in charge of special effects production—have not only surpassed the previous film's special effects and reached the level of Avatar, but also significantly accelerated the production speed.

……

"Great, great! This second installment of 'Infinite Terror' is even more exciting than the last one, especially the special effects, which are even better than the first one. The production cost of 100 million US dollars is really not much." Master Han couldn't help but praise the finished product of "Infinite Terror 2" repeatedly.

The other investors nodded in agreement, agreeing with Han Sanye's view that the quality of "Infinite Terror 2" was indeed more exciting than the previous one.

"The only pity is that this movie uses only Asian actors. Actually, if 'Ju-on' had used our American version of 'Ju-on,' I think it would have been even more outstanding and the box office would have been better," the Legendary Pictures executive couldn't help but say at this point.

“I think so too.” The Lionsgate representative nodded in agreement.

In fact, it wasn't just the two of them; everyone else, including Master Han, thought what they said made perfect sense.

After all, this movie is going to be released globally. If it's the American version of "Ju-on" and it's released in North America or somewhere else, it will definitely have a greater advantage in terms of box office than the Chinese version of "Ju-on".

However, the filming of "Infinite Terror 2" was entirely decided by Li Boda. Li Boda insisted on using the Chinese version of "Ju-on", so it could only be filmed that way.

Everyone has seen the finished product of "Infinite Terror 2" and confirmed that the quality of this movie is better than the previous one, although they had some minor opinions about the choice of the movie "Ju-on".

But apart from that, everyone praises this movie highly.

Subsequently, the film was submitted to the State Film Administration for review.

However, generally speaking, horror movies—no, ghost movies—cannot be shown in China.

Strictly speaking, the movie "Infinite Terror 2" would not have been able to pass the review of the State Film Administration.

However, different situations lead to different treatment.

Other people who make ghost movies can't get approved because the policy doesn't allow it.

However, "Infinite Terror 2," a horror film, received special treatment and passed the censorship process directly.

Han Sanye also contributed a lot to this. It wasn't just because the film had investment from China Film Group, but also because this film was intended to go global and reach the world stage. So while other horror films couldn't be released, "Infinite Terror 2" was completely unaffected and didn't even require any modifications.

In fact, besides "Infinite Terror 2", there was another horror movie released in 09, "Love Comes Again".

Although "Love Comes Again" is about love, it does indeed involve ghosts.

However, just like [Infinite Terror 2], other movies couldn't pass censorship, but this one could.

The same goes for "Love Comes Again." Even though it contains elements of ghosts, it was still able to be released.

However, to be fair, while the film "Love Comes Again" was made quite well, director Yu Feihong, being a first-time director, was rather inexperienced in matters such as film promotion, post-production, and even the release date. Ultimately, the promotion was inadequate, and the film's release was postponed again due to post-production editing issues.

Furthermore, Yu Feihong was somewhat aloof and unwilling to lower himself to do promotion. In the end, the film was released, but it was a box office flop, wiping out Yu Feihong's entire fortune.

After Infinite Terror 2 passed censorship, its release date was set.

Finally, the release date for "Infinite Terror 2" was set at the same time as last year.

Last year's "Infinite Terror" was released on December 16th. Therefore, the release date for this year's "Infinite Terror 2" has also been set for December 16th.

And just after the release date of [Infinite Terror 2] was set and the news was released.

Movies originally scheduled for release in December are now starting to adjust their release dates.

Putting everything else aside, just take the movie "Lost in Thailand" for example. It was originally scheduled to be released on December 12th.

However, after learning that "Infinite Terror 2" was to be released on December 16th, they immediately adjusted the release date and changed it to December 1st.

Many films originally scheduled for release in December have adjusted their release dates, fearing that box office revenue would be affected.

Actually, it's quite normal for them to do this.

When Avatar was released, other films released at the same time all experienced some degree of impact on their box office performance.

When "Infinite Terror" was released last year, other films released in the same month also suffered significant impacts on their box office performance.

Movies that don't want to be affected will naturally adjust their release dates.

After the release date of "Infinite Terror 2" was set, the promotional work for "Infinite Terror 2" officially began.

In fact, news about "Infinite Terror 2" has been around for a while, but it's been sporadic and not very concentrated or convincing.

With two months until the film's release, it's the perfect time for a concentrated promotional campaign.

As a result, there were various interviews with reporters, interviewing directors and actors. There were also some talk shows, and even some variety shows, such as "Happy Camp".

There were even interviews with CCTV's sixth princess.

For the next two months, information about "Infinite Terror 2" was everywhere.

Li Boda, as one of the lead actors and director, also participated in some talk shows and even appeared on "Happy Camp".

However, compared to the others, Li Boda appeared much less frequently.

Aside from interviews on CCTV's "Sixth Princess" or popular variety shows like "Happy Camp," Li Boda rarely participates in other programs.

Although it's about promoting the movie "Infinite Terror 2", it doesn't necessarily have to be Li Boda. Actors like Zhao Liying, Yan Kuan, and Huang Xiaoming, with their crazy participation in variety shows and interviews, are already enough.

This way, they gained attention, and the movie also received publicity—a win-win situation.

And when [Infinite Terror 2] was scheduled for release and then began its promotional campaign.

Other people, or rather, the investors of "Infinite Terror 2", started contacting Li Boda one after another at this time.

The purpose, of course, was to fund the investment and filming of "Infinite Terror 3".

After all, it's best to make investment decisions as early as possible and sign the contract sooner so that everyone can feel at ease.

Li Boda was not surprised by this.

However, Li Boda still made his point clear to them directly.

"I don't plan to direct the movie 'Infinite Terror 3'," Li Boda said.

"What? You're not filming 'Infinite Terror 3'? What happened? What difficulties did you encounter? Why did you suddenly decide to stop filming 'Infinite Terror 3'? You know, the 'Infinite Terror' series has the potential to be a huge hit, a massive success. And this movie could even go international and reach the world." Master Han immediately became anxious.

"Don't worry, Third Master Han. I mean, I'm not directing anymore. It doesn't mean I'm not going to make 'Infinite Terror 3' anymore. I plan to hand over the directorship of 'Infinite Terror 3' to someone else," Li Boda explained.

"Oh, I see. I thought Infinite Terror 3 wasn't going to be made. But why did you suddenly decide not to direct this movie? If you're not directing, who are you planning to hire?" Han Sanye's heart settled down, and he asked curiously.

"Actually, I also considered that the 'Infinite Terror' IP is huge, with many more films to come, and the 'Infinite Terror' cinematic universe is still expanding. Twenty or thirty films would be a minimum. I can't be the only director; that would be exhausting. Besides, as director, I also have to do special effects—it's really impossible to be in two places at once. So I thought I'd hand over 'Infinite Terror 3' to someone else to direct, so I could have more free time to make things I want to make," Li Boda explained.

"Hmm, you're right! Indeed, the [Infinite Terror] series is quite large, so it's normal to have other directors directing it. But who do you plan to direct [Infinite Terror 3]? Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige?" Han Sanye perked up.

“…Actually, my choice was Tsui Hark. When we were filming Infinite Terror 2, he put aside his work and went straight to the Infinite Terror 2 set to work as an assistant director. He was involved from beginning to end, so he is very familiar with the filming and story of Infinite Terror 2. He is also quite good at special effects. I think it would be quite suitable to entrust Infinite Terror 3 to him,” Li Boda explained.

Hearing Li Boda say this, Han Sanye nodded in realization. Indeed, Xu Ke was quite suitable. After all, Xu Ke had previously worked as an assistant director on the set of "Infinite Terror 2". His advantages were indeed greater than those of others.

"You're handing 'Infinite Terror 3' over to Tsui Hark to film, so what about you? Are you going to take a break for a while?" Master Han asked Li Boda.

Master Han held Li Boda in extremely high regard.

After all, Li Boda was truly exceptionally capable.

Previously, even though Li Boda was a top actor, in Han Sanye's eyes, he was just so-so and not indispensable.

Li Boda started directing midway through his career, and initially he hadn't come into Han Sanye's sights. However, after Li Boda filmed "Lost in Thailand," he officially came into Han Sanye's view.

At that time, in Han Sanye's eyes, Li Boda was just a director with some ability, and not someone worth paying much attention to.

However, after Li Boda directed "Infinite Terror", Han Sanye's opinion of Li Boda completely changed.

Especially after "Infinite Terror" was released for two months and grossed $400 million, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film in the world, Li Boda officially became a treasure in Han Sanye's eyes.

In particular, Li Boda also controls advanced special effects technology.

Therefore, Master Han really values ​​Li Boda highly. Even though Li Boda is now going to hand over the director position of "Infinite Terror 3", it has not changed Master Han's opinion of him.

"I don't need to rest. After all, I'm still young, and my physical strength and energy are pretty good. I plan to take advantage of this time to shoot a movie," Li Boda said with a smile.

Master Han's eyes lit up: "Making a movie? Making a movie is great! What kind of movie are you planning to make? How much investment? China Film Group will take a share."

"Well, actually, what I'm planning to shoot this time is a solo film about the character Chu Xuan. I didn't plan to make it too big of a budget, and I didn't even plan to shoot it in 3D. It's more of a mid-budget film. As for its box office, I'm afraid it won't be very high. After all, this time, the film I'm planning to shoot is a domestic drama. Although there will be one or two foreign characters, but..." Li Boda explained.

"It's alright, it's Chu Xuan's personal film, right? No problem. How much is the investment? China Film Group is investing in it all." Master Han didn't care at all about how well the film would ultimately reach; he took full responsibility.

"..." Li Boda looked at Master Han with a half-smile.

"Haha, alright, China Film Group will just invest a portion, and this movie isn't part of the 'Infinite Terror' series, so it doesn't need that much external investment, right? We can just split the investment for 'Chu Xuan' between our two companies." Han Sanye chuckled, his skin really thick enough.

"I have no objection to that. After all, in my expectations, the investment in this movie is about 50 million RMB."

"Only 50 million? That's so little? Should we invest more?" Master Han felt that Li Boda was being a bit stingy. He had already directed a big-budget production with an investment of 100 million US dollars. Now, he was only making a movie for 50 million RMB, which was less than 10 million US dollars. It was too little.

"Third Master! That's already quite a lot!" Li Boda said, both amused and exasperated.

(End of this chapter)