The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

"Director Shen, we at Legendary Pictures would be very willing to invest in your next film."

Two days later, Shen Qing met Thomas Tull, chairman of Hollywood Legendary Pictures, in the conference room of China Film Group. Han Sanping accompanied him. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tull directly stated his purpose.

"I appreciate your kindness, but my film doesn't actually lack funding."

"Don't rush to refuse. Why don't you listen to my terms first?" Thomas Tull said. "You decide on the script, you choose the actors, and Legendary Pictures will provide the funding. We'll give you a base salary of $10 million plus 1000% of the initial total box office revenue."

The two sides were not discussing "Taken 3".

The opening weekend box office of "Taken 2" has reached $4335 million. If nothing unexpected happens, the third installment will definitely continue to make a lot of money. This is a ripe fruit, how could it easily become a Legendary Pictures project?

Thomas Tull's terms refer to a completely new film.

Even Han Sanping, who had seen many big scenes, was taken aback. He had communicated with Thomas Tull before, but the other party had never revealed his bottom line. He did not expect such generous conditions.

A base salary of $10 million, plus 1000% of the initial total box office revenue—that's already on par with Jackie Chan, right?!

"What are the conditions?" Shen Qing asked.

Given the generous price, it's impossible for Shen Qing to just hand over any script.

"Why not take inspiration from John Woo's 'Face/Off' and have you, Director Shen, make a film that better suits Hollywood's aesthetic standards?" Thomas Tull suggested.

Taken 2 was indeed a huge success, but would it have done even better at the box office if Matt Damon had starred in it and if it had been a pure Hollywood story? Thomas Tull believes the answer is definitely yes.

Shen Qing's greatest strength is his directing ability. If he could make a pure American film like John Woo did with "Face/Off," the box office would definitely be even bigger.

But Shen Qing didn't rush to express his opinion.

Han Sanping, standing to the side, seemed a little worried for Shen Qing.

Making it in Hollywood—is this the dream of countless Chinese actors and directors? Now, a Hollywood chairman is waving a check for $10 million and offering 1000% of the box office revenue to invite this young man to Hollywood to make movies!

I doubt anyone could resist this level of temptation.

What is there to hesitate about?

Once the agreement is reached, Shen Qing's status in China will immediately rise to another level.

A base salary of $10 million plus a 1000% share of box office revenue!

When Shen Qing was filming "Taken 2", his director's salary was only converted to RMB 600 million. Adding the lead actor's salary of RMB 1200 million, he received a total of RMB 1800 million in remuneration, which was eventually converted into 36% of the film's shares.

At this moment, Shen Qing began to ponder.

How about hiring Hollywood actors to make a truly authentic Hollywood movie?

This was not difficult for Shen Qing at all.

Inception, Gravity, The Martian, Interstellar—each of these films is a pure Hollywood movie. Hiring Hollywood actors and making Hollywood stories would actually be easier for Shen Qing.

On the contrary, translating the script into Chinese will be quite difficult.

Moreover, if it were truly made into a pure Hollywood film, its global box office performance would likely be even higher; that's a fact.

But, after Shen Qing traveled through time and acquired the abilities of four great directors, was it merely to replicate these classic films from the original timeline?

What's the point of making another Hollywood version with white characters, which was originally a Hollywood version?

Even if a Chinese translation would significantly diminish the film's success, Shen Qing remained determined to produce a Chinese version.

But with a base salary of $10 million plus a 1000% share of the initial total box office revenue, he really wanted to earn it.

It's a win-win situation: you can make a lot of money, elevate your status, and continue to expand your influence in Europe and America.

Is there a way to get the CEO to accept a film without making one featuring white people?

After a moment's thought, Shen Qing said, "Under the same conditions, I can make a film about Chinese people adventuring around the world, with the story taking place no longer limited to China or Southeast Asia."

Chinese adventurers? That doesn't sound appealing at all!

Yes, Taken 2 was a huge success, but it should be considered an exception. The safest approach is still to refer to John Woo's Face/Off.

Legendary Pictures staff raved about the story, action design, and narrative pacing of the Taken series, with the only regret being that the lead actor wasn't white.

Thomas Tull was not very interested in Shen Qing's proposal.

At this point, Shen Qing added, "We can cast Jackie Chan as the male lead. Jackie Chan is extremely famous worldwide, and he also has a very strong appeal in the DVD market. Casting Jackie Chan as the lead actor would have a very high probability of being profitable."

"We can give it a try and see how the script goes."

Thomas Tull still felt that it would be safer for Shen Qing to direct a pure Hollywood story, referencing John Woo's "Face/Off," but he did not outright reject Jackie Chan.

The recently released "Rush Hour 3" grossed $1.39 million in North America alone. If the new movie stars Jackie Chan and has a good script, it certainly has a high probability of being profitable.

Although Shen Qing has gained some popularity in Europe and America, he is clearly not comparable to Jackie Chan.

"I'll call Brother Cheng Long and ask if he's interested."

Shen Qing immediately took out her phone and dialed Brother Cheng Long's number.

The call was answered shortly afterward.

"Brother Cheng Long, I'm Shen Qing, it's like this..."

As soon as Shen Qing explained the situation over the phone, Cheng Long on the other end immediately said, "I happen to have time. Let's fly to Beijing tomorrow and talk in person."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Qing spread his hands and said, "You all heard it too, Brother Cheng Long is very interested and will fly to Beijing tomorrow."

"Mr. Tours, it seems you'll be staying in the capital for a couple more days."

Shen Qing looked at Tu Er, then at Han Sanping, and stood up, saying, "President Han, I'll take my leave now."

"Director Shen, you..."

Han Sanping seemed to want to persuade him to stay. Mr. Tuer came for Shen Qing, but Shen Qing left halfway through. What was going on?

Tours didn't care.

Shen Qing has now proven his worth through "Taken 2". Hollywood is just that realistic; if you can make money, you can do whatever you want.

However, Shen Qing still offered a brief explanation: "I need to go back and write the script. We can discuss the project more effectively tomorrow if we have the script with us."

"Mr. Han, I'll be going now."

"Mr. Tours, I'll be going now."

"Write a script? Tomorrow? Well... then you can go first." Upon hearing this, Han Sanping's mind nearly short-circuited.

Shen Qing thought he could write a movie that would earn him a $1000 million base salary from Legendary Pictures plus bonuses in just one day?

"Do as you please, then see you tomorrow," Tull said.

After exchanging greetings, Shen Qing left the film studio and went straight home.

After I got home, I sat down in front of the computer and began to ponder.

In his previous life, he watched an Indian movie called "Bajrangi Bhaijaan," which received a high score of 8.4 from 49 people on Douban.

A Pakistani girl who couldn't speak was stranded in India and met a kind Indian man nicknamed "Monkey God." Monkey God initially wanted to send the girl back to Pakistan through the Pakistani embassy, ​​but the girl couldn't speak, didn't have a passport or visa, and couldn't prove she was Pakistani, so the Pakistani embassy refused her entry.

Later, the embassy was closed due to an accident.

The monkey god wanted to send the little girl back through a travel agency, but the travel agency took the money that the monkey god had prepared for his wedding and then sold the little girl to an underground brothel, making a profit from both sides. In the end, the monkey god fought against the underground brothel and rescued the little girl. So he finally decided to smuggle the little girl back to her country himself.

And so, the two people without passports embarked on a long journey home. They endured all sorts of hardships along the way, and when they finally succeeded and parted ways, the little girl, who had never spoken since birth, suddenly called out the name of the monkey god.

The film contains a lot of religious content, but Shen Qing believes that the original religious content can be completely replaced with the spirit of chivalry in Chinese culture.

As for the movie title, how about "Little Lolita's Kung Fu Uncle"?

Whether Jackie Chan's character, a kung fu uncle, is escaping into seclusion, traveling in India, or has fallen for an Indian woman, he is in India at the beginning of the story. There, he encounters a mute Pakistani girl wandering alone in India. After finally figuring out that the girl is Pakistani, Jackie Chan first tries to send her back to Pakistan through legal channels, but fails. He then entrusts the girl to an agency.

Unexpectedly, the middleman turned out to be a human trafficker and sold the little girl to an underground brothel. When Cheng Long found out, he stormed in and fought against the brothel gang, rescuing the little girl and embarking on a journey to personally escort her home.

The journey is filled with various difficulties, featuring Jackie Chan-style action scenes interspersed with heartwarming moments. Finally, after delivering the little girl to Pakistan, the girl, who had never spoken before, suddenly calls out Jackie Chan's name at their parting, moving everyone to tears.

Shen Qing wouldn't give Legendary Pictures the rights to films like "Inception" and "Interstellar," but he didn't feel bad about using "Bajrangi Bhaijaan."

Even if the film doesn't perform well at the box office, Shen Qing has already received his $1000 million base salary.

If the box office is a huge success, Shen Qing will further solidify his position.

Moreover, Shen Qing genuinely felt that changing the character from "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" to "Kung Fu Uncle" in the movie was indeed very suitable for Jackie Chan's style.

Then let's get started!

He wrote as he conceived the idea in the early stages, which was slow. By the time he went to bed at midnight, he had only written about a quarter of the content.

I continued writing the next morning, but since my thoughts had become clearer, I finally felt like I could write with divine inspiration.

Noon.

Shen Qing has already written 1.5 words, and with about 2000 more words, he will be able to declare the work complete.

Just then, Brother Cheng Long called.

"Director Shen Qing, I've arrived at China Film Group and met with Mr. Tour from Legendary Pictures. When are you coming over?"

"Brother Cheng Long, my script is almost finished with just 2000 words left. Please wait for me for two hours, and I will definitely arrive with the script in two hours."

China Film Group, conference room.

After hanging up the phone, Cheng Long looked at Han Sanping blankly.

"President Han, Shen Qing said his script is still 2000 words short. What script?"

Han Sanping briefly recounted what happened yesterday, and Cheng Long was speechless after listening.

……

An hour later, Shen Qing finally finished writing the script. He printed two copies using the printer at home and then took the script with him when he went out.

Half an hour later, Shen Qing's car drove into the China Film Group compound.

After parking the car, Shen Qing went straight to the China Film Conference Room.

"Brother Cheng Long, President Han, Mr. Tuer."

"Director Shen, please have a seat."

Shen Qing handed the two scripts to Han Sanping and Cheng Long respectively, and then apologized to Tuer, saying, "After they finish reading the scripts, I will dictate the plot to Mr. Tuer. It's definitely too late to translate the scripts into English."

As Cheng Long and Han Sanping touched the script, which was still warm from printing, the same thought arose in their minds.

"How good can this script really be?"

"I only just had that idea yesterday afternoon, and the script is already written this afternoon? Can this really be a high-quality script?!"

"Was this script even tailor-made for Jackie Chan/me?"

Cheng Long slowly turned to the first page.

The story employs a dual narrative structure.

One storyline follows the protagonist, Arlong, in India, while the other follows a five-year-old girl in Pakistan.

The story about the Pakistani girl tells of a five-year-old girl who couldn't speak or make any sound. One day, she fell off a cliff and was caught by a tree. It was a stroke of luck, but because she couldn't make a sound, she couldn't call for help. The whole village searched for her for several days before finally finding her.

The mother decided to take her little girl to a temple in India to pray for blessings. It was said that the temple was the most efficacious, and that even a mute person could speak after praying there.

On the return trip, while her mother was asleep, the little girl got off the train without permission to save a small animal. By the time the train started moving, it was too late for her to get back on.

Perhaps it was a matter of affinity, but the five-year-old girl, who was wandering alone in India, chose to follow the male protagonist, Ah Long. Ah Long bought her water and food, and the little girl trusted and relied on this strange uncle immensely.

"It's a heartwarming story, but audiences only watch me fight. Will this story have a market? I really would like to make one."

Cheng Long continued reading while thinking.

Soon we see the male protagonist, Ah Long, even handing over his entire savings to the travel agency in order to send the little girl back to Pakistan, but then he realizes something is wrong.

When he returned, he witnessed a scene that enraged him: the intermediary who had taken a large sum of money from him had sold a five-year-old girl to an underground brothel.

Cheng Long even clenched his fists.

When Jackie Chan saw the male protagonist single-handedly battling through an underground brothel, he felt incredibly satisfied.

Finally, the male protagonist embarks on the journey to personally escort the little girl back to Pakistan, encountering various difficulties along the way. The story returns to the action comedy genre that Jackie Chan is very familiar with.

The protagonist's heroic act was broadcast on television. When he returned the little girl to her mother, the surrounding area was filled with people from both countries, and countless people witnessed this moment.

The male protagonist, having successfully completed his mission, turned and left. In front of countless people from both countries and on live television, the little girl, gripping her throat, watched the departing man behind the safety net and shouted with all her might. She had never succeeded before, but this time she gave it her all.

"Uncle... Uncle!"

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, a miracle truly occurred: the little girl actually made a sound.

The protagonist, Ah Long, turned around and looked at the little girl who was calling his name with all her might. All the hardships and sacrifices along the way became incredibly worthwhile.

Jackie Chan put down the script, his emotions remaining unsettled for a long time.

"I want to act in this script!"

He stood up and walked to Shen Qing's side, extending his hand. Shen Qing also extended her hand, and their hands clasped together. "Thank you," he said. "This script is really perfect for me. It's the script I've always wanted to act in."

At this moment, Han Sanping also put down the script and said, "Of course it's suitable for Big Brother to play the role. Shen Qing wrote the script based on Big Brother's image from the very beginning."

After saying this, Han Sanping looked at Shen Qing again, and the more he looked at him, the more he felt that this person was extraordinary.

I had this idea just yesterday, so I went back and wrote the script overnight. As a result, I wrote a script of this caliber in just one day?

Or was it custom-made?

Is this Shen Qing's true strength?