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Two days later, Jackie Chan personally accompanied Tang Jinshan to Hollywood to meet Robert Shea, the president of New Line Cinema.

With Cheng Long's introduction, the meeting between the two parties was very pleasant.

I learned that Tang Jinshan wanted to find New Line Cinema to distribute his film, which was directed by Li An.

The production cost of US$1500 million is already a very high production cost for East Asia.

The quality should be good.

Moreover, Jet Li previously played a villain in "Lethal Weapon 4," where his outstanding performance earned him a reputation in Hollywood.

Many Hollywood companies now want to cast him in movies.

Unexpectedly, he went back to China to act in martial arts films.

Robert Shea immediately said he would be happy to release Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon without even seeing the finished film!

However, this was clearly not what Tang Jinshan expected.

He wanted a large-scale release, not just a quick, superficial effort.

However, since this is our first meeting, we need to discuss some things gradually.

He still has a trump card.

"Mr. Tang, you can discuss the rest yourself. I'll head back now."

Cheng Long did not stay there for long.

He's also busy filming "Glass Bottle," which he plans to release before the Spring Festival.

"Okay, thanks, Brother Long. I'll treat you to dinner and a massage when we get back."

Tang Jinshan laughed.

"Be careful around here, the security isn't great."

Jackie Chan deeply understands this point.

"Don't worry, I have bodyguards with me."

Tang Jinshan knew the situation in America better than he did.

"I forgot, you grew up here, haha! Take care, and keep going!"

Cheng Long laughed.

"Have a safe journey, Brother Long!"

……

In the following days, Tang Jinshan contacted Robert Shea again.

"Mr. Shay, what I want is a wide release, not just a few hundred small theaters."

"Tang, you know that kung fu movies from your country don't have a large audience to begin with, and we also have other projects to take care of."

If it weren't for director Li An's reputation and Jackie Chan's connections, Robert Shea might not have been willing to release the sequel to Rush Hour if he hadn't wanted Jackie Chan to direct it.

Their company has a ton of projects right now.

"I heard you're planning to film The Lord of the Rings?"

Tang Jinshan came prepared!

When he thought of New Line Cinema, he thought of this epic masterpiece.

Like many classic films and television series, the birth of this major IP was fraught with difficulties.

Initially, Peter Jackson wanted to make this IP into a film and approached Harvey Weinstein, with whom he had collaborated many times.

He even made many preparations in advance, and set up many scenes in his hometown of New Zealand.

Absolutely pure love.

The film and television adaptation rights to The Lord of the Rings originally belonged to the famous producer Saul Zahnz.

Coincidentally, he had a falling out with Fox when he was filming "The English Patient".

Fox withdrew its funding, and it was Weinstein who provided the financial support to complete the filming.

Given this relationship, he easily bought the copyright.

Initially, Peter Jackson planned to make three films.

One The Hobbit, two Lord of the Rings.

However, the film and television distribution rights for "The Hobbit" were held by United Artists, which was then acquired by MGM. MGM, due to its own problems, was unable to sell any assets...

So Weinstein decided not to make "The Hobbit" and to make "The Lord of the Rings" directly.

This is why the Hobbit story came first, but the movie was made later.

This is also why MGM co-invested in the later Hobbit trilogy.

It can be said that they reaped the benefits without lifting a finger and got a great deal.

However, as the project progressed, Weinstein realized that too much funding was needed, so he turned to the parent company, Disney.

Disney, of course, rejected the offer without even considering it.

The Lord of the Rings is notoriously difficult to adapt, and to date, there is no film or television adaptation that can be considered satisfactory.

The investment is too high and the risk is too great; only a fool would invest in that!

So, Disney, that fool, later regretted it so much that it invested heavily in its own project, transforming the pirate ship attraction in its theme parks into the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

That's how he successfully turned things around and even became Hollywood's top mogul.

Weinstein had no choice but to cut the budget and only make one film.

Peter Jackson had no choice but to compromise, but he demanded that the film be at least four hours long.

How are four-hour movies screened? How are screenings arranged?

Weinstein, of course, could not agree.

After the falling out, Weinstein issued an ultimatum to Peter Jackson, demanding that he find a new investor within three weeks or Quentin would take over the project.

Peter Jackson worked for Universal and DreamWorks before moving on to Fox.

Fox already had a conflict with Saul Zanz, and the shadow of the big ship hadn't passed yet!

They didn't want to be tormented by the truck driver and then by some unknown New Zealand director.

Sony and other companies also rejected this high-risk project.

Ultimately, Peter Jackson found New Line Cinema to take over.

Robert Shea, president of New Line Cinema, is a gambler, and he won the bet on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

This time, he even made the decision to direct the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It was decided back in October.

However, Hollywood is all about getting something for nothing; they're very adept at financial maneuvering.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy had a total budget of $1.3 million, but Robert Shea didn't have that much money on hand and had to seek funding from various sources.

Tang Jinshan even knew that the budget later increased to 2.7 million yuan, which was only achieved through pre-sales to global distribution companies.

"That's right, we're ready to unveil the One Ring!"

Robert Shea was not surprised.

This matter had already caused quite a stir in Hollywood, and New Line Cinema was the last to take over.

"I grew up in America and I love watching Lord of the Rings. I believe many people are looking forward to it being made into a movie."

Tang Jinshan expressed great interest.

"Tang, The Lord of the Rings will be our company's next major project, and I also need to raise funds, so I really can't help you any more."

Robert Shea rejected Don Jinshan's outrageous demands.

"We both have needs, perhaps we could cooperate?"

Tang Jinshan smiled broadly.

"cooperate?"

Robert Shea was puzzled.

"If you can help me arrange for 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' to be shown in at least two thousand theaters, I can take care of the investment!"

Tang Jinshan made a solemn vow.

This is his trump card!

"Two thousand cinemas? How is that possible? No, no... You just said you could help me solve my financing problem?"

Robert Shea snapped out of his daze and was completely dumbfounded.

"That's right, these are my terms of exchange: I'll cover whatever investment you're short, even the full amount!"

Tang Jinshan was full of confidence.

Do you know what the budget was for filming The Lord of the Rings?

Robert Shay, on the other hand, wasn't as excited.

You ignorant brat, this is Hollywood!

They spent US dollars!

"Wasn't it supposed to be $1.3 million? That's less than Titanic."

Tang Jinshan said nonchalantly.

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