Chapter 414 Liu Yifei's International Journey, Director Zhou Stumped China Film Group
"Done!"
As originally planned, the script for Maze Runner 2 was completed on the 15th day.
Zhou Qing was in a good mood and did not hesitate any longer. He immediately sent it to Director Yang.
"Director Zhou, The Hunger Games 4 and Maze Runner 2 have both been approved and are in the preparation stage."
"However, 'Maze Runner 2' is targeting this year's market, and 'The Hunger Games 4' is targeting next year's market."
"So The Maze Runner 2 will start filming earlier, and The Hunger Games 4 will start filming later."
Director Yang gave Zhou Qing a relevant report.
"I see."
Zhou Qing just responded without intervening.
Director Yang can just take care of the arrangements for these things, and Zhou Qing can rest assured.
"By the way, Director Zhou, there is another producer who wants to adapt the novel Divergent."
The two sides continued to communicate about other things, and Director Yang reported this matter to Zhou Qing again.
"Divergent" is also a popular series of novels in North America.
Of course, compared with the popularity of "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games", it is definitely not as good.
But compared to The Maze Runner, it's on par.
The original time and space was developed into a movie by Lionsgate, and the results were quite good.
It has become Lionsgate's most profitable film series after "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games".
As a reborn person, Zhou Qing would naturally not miss such a novel.
As early as when "Divergent" was just released, the adaptation rights were strongly acquired.
Ever since the movies adapted from novels such as "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" became popular, "Divergent" has also become a hot commodity.
Many producers and filmmakers have contacted us, wanting to make adaptations.
In the original time and space, the novel was made into a movie as early as 14 years ago.
But now Zhou Qing has been holding back on producing it.
There is no other reason. Zhou Qing actually kept this novel for Liu Yifei.
You know, Liu Yifei is now the International Liu!
But although this name is loud, it is actually a bit embarrassing and a bit boastful.
Although she is called "International Liu", if you say that she has any appeal in North America, you are absolutely deceiving yourself.
After all, up to now, Liu Yifei has only filmed one movie, "Interstellar".
It can only be said that it has a certain degree of popularity in North America.
There is still a long way to go before becoming a true "International Liu".
It would be fine if Zhou Qing didn’t have that ability, but now Zhou Qing is also a big shot in Hollywood.
Of course, we need to continue to arrange some Hollywood resources for Liu Yifei.
But these days, North America is generally not interested in Chinese female protagonists. If you really force a girl to be the female protagonist, the movie might just flop.
For example, "Lucy" directed by Luc Besson.
Even though Black Widow’s role was a global box office hit, what if Liu Yifei was replaced?
There is a 90% chance that it will fail.
Therefore, it is necessary to carefully consider what kind of film to arrange for Liu Yifei.
In other words, there are actually not that many films suitable for Liu Yifei.
The only thing that Zhou Qing, a reborn person, can think of, apart from the all-Asian cast and the huge hit "Crazy Rich Asians", is "Divergent".
The film is adapted from a series of novels and has its own fans, so the influence of the Asian female lead will be relatively small.
What’s more important is that the world background is suitable.
"Divergent" tells the story of a global country disappearing and people all over the world surviving together.
In this case, it makes sense to have an Asian female protagonist.
But even so, Zhou Qing didn't plan to arrange "Divergent" for Liu Yifei right away.
Instead, they planned to let Liu Yifei star in "Crazy Rich Asians" first, and then it would not be too late to star in "Divergent" after she became further famous in Hollywood.
Of course, these are things to follow.
Now, Liu Yifei still has to shoot "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" first.
"Keep this novel. I have my own plans."
After quickly putting those thoughts away, Zhou Qing spoke out his instructions to Director Yang.
"Understood, Director Zhou."
Director Yang responded and said nothing more.
After giving him some corresponding instructions, Zhou Qing ended the call and continued to get busy.
What are you busy with?
Of course it’s the script of “Operation Red Sea”.
For Zhou Qing, this book is actually much easier than "Maze Runner 2".
After all, "Operation Red Sea" has a high score of 8.2, and its quality is already very high.
There is no need for Zhou Qing to do any optimization at all, he just needs to copy it.
That would naturally save a lot of time.
Zhou Qing estimated that it could be completed in about 10 days.
Facts have proved that Zhou Qing's guess was completely correct. He only spent 5 days to complete half of the task.
"The Mermaid, directed by Stephen Chow, became the second best-selling film during the Lunar New Year holiday, with a total box office of 27.42 billion yuan."
"The box office success of Journey to the West: The Three Strikes of the White Bone Demon is as good as that of its predecessor, with a box office of 8.98 million yuan, which is a gratifying result."
"'God of Gamblers 3' continues to write box office legends, 'God of Gamblers' and 'Casino Tycoon' together rake in 8.4 million yuan in box office revenue."
"The Mermaid" has announced that its screening will be postponed to June 6, and the total box office is expected to exceed 8 billion!"
On March 3, the three blockbusters of "The Battle of Three Heroes" handed in their report cards one after another.
I have to say, it’s generally very eye-catching.
"Journey to the West: The Three Strikes of the White Bone Demon" and "The Man from Macau 3" have both achieved box office revenues of over 8 million yuan.
It's definitely a big hit, the kind that makes the producers a ton of money.
Even if it didn't exceed 10 billion, it would still be a good result that only a few films can achieve throughout the year.
However, due to the weakening of "Dying to Survive", these two films, which had broken the 10 billion box office in their original time and space, both stopped at 9 million.
As for Stephen Chow's "The Mermaid", it is even more dazzling and stands out from the crowd.
The total box office reached 27 billion, nearly 30 billion!
Although "Monster Hunt" made 24 billion yuan and "Dying to Survive" made 32 billion yuan, "The Mermaid"'s 27 billion yuan is also very impressive.
It is also a box office so high that it is unimaginable.
I can only say that Stephen Chow is worthy of being Stephen Chow, and his strength is truly second to none in the entire Chinese entertainment industry.
It is entirely possible to confront Zhou Qing head-on.
Although the box office of "The Mermaid" is 5 million less than that of "Dying to Survive", considering the size of less than 30 billion, the difference is actually not that big.
This kind of strength is already terrifying.
In particular, "The Mermaid" has successfully obtained the extension key and obtained the extension permission.
The key point is not to postpone it for one month, but for three months!
This is a bit exaggerated.
With such a long delay, could the total box office of "The Mermaid" really exceed 40 billion?
Isn’t it a foregone conclusion that it will surpass Director Zhou’s “Dying to Survive”?
Careless!
Director Zhou was careless!
Because Director Zhou's "Dying to Survive" has not been postponed. Otherwise, the box office of "Dying to Survive" would definitely be more than 32 billion.
Furthermore, once the release of "Dying to Survive" is postponed, it is unlikely that "The Mermaid" will be granted an extension.
There is not even a glimmer of hope of surpassing "Dying to Survive".
But who would have thought that Director Zhou did not apply for an extension, which gave "The Mermaid" this opportunity.
It gave "The Mermaid" a chance to surpass itself.
The circle became lively again.
Some people felt sorry for Zhou Qing, some were waiting to see Zhou Qing's excitement, and some were anxious for Zhou Qing.
Only Zhou Qing was as steady as an old dog and had no worries at all.
Without him, there is no way that "The Mermaid" can surpass his "Dying to Survive".
You should know that the total box office of "The Mermaid" mentioned by Zhou Qing before, 33.91 billion, is actually the total box office after being postponed for 3 months!
So what is the effect of postponing the release of "The Mermaid" for three months?
Just like "Dying to Survive", it's not very good.
In the original time and space, the total box office of "The Mermaid" in the first month was as high as 32.9 billion!
As a result, the payment was delayed for three months and only increased by 100 million yuan.
So this extension is really not necessary.
Especially now, the total box office of "The Mermaid" in the first month has been reduced to 27 billion by "Dying to Survive".
Even if we add another 28 million, it would only be billion.
It is absolutely impossible for the box office to exceed 40 billion as the media is promoting.
So what does Zhou Qing have to worry about?
Not only is he not worried, after seeing the box office of "The Mermaid", Zhou Qing is 100% sure that "The Mermaid" cannot beat "Dying to Survive".
I feel even more at ease.
I began to devote myself to the script writing of "Operation Red Sea" with full enthusiasm and motivation.
"It's finally done!"
After working for another 4 days, Zhou Qing couldn't help but smile.
The script of "Operation Red Sea" is finally out.
There is nothing much to say next. Naturally, I will go to China Film Group Corporation in person and have a good chat with La Peikang about the censorship issue of "Operation Red Sea".
This is definitely not a simple question.
If it weren't for the support from the Navy, the possibility of this bill being passed would not be very high.
But Zhou Qing couldn't have this opportunity, so in the end he had to ask La Peikang for help.
"Director Zhou."
After making the decision and before leaving, Wuershan knocked on Zhou Qing's office door.
"Director Wu Ershan, please sit down."
Zhou Qing temporarily received Wu Ershan and had some communication with him.
"Director Zhou, there are a lot of special effects shots in Mojin: The Last Dragon, which means we had to do a lot of visual pre-production work during the preparation period."
"In addition, many scenes in Mojin: The Lost Legend also need to be built, which is a lot of work."
"The production director and I have carefully evaluated the process and the preparatory work will take about seven months."
Wu Ershan came to report his work to Zhou Qing. After a brief greeting, the two sides got down to business.
“Just go ahead and do it.”
Although 7 months was a long time, it was not beyond Zhou Qing's expectations, so he nodded to Wu Ershan.
For visual effects blockbusters like "Mojin: The Last Dragon", the preparation period is indeed always very long.
When Zhou Qing was filming "Life of Pi" it also took him half a year to prepare.
That was when Zhou Qing, as a reborn person, had the advantage of foresight and saved a lot of time.
So Zhou Qing was not surprised that it took 7 months to make "The Ghouls".
"I understand, Director Zhou."
After some more communication, Wuershan left in a hurry and started to get busy.
Zhou Qing also did not delay any further and went straight to China Film Corporation and to La Peikang's office.
"Director Zhou, please take a seat. Xiao Chen, make some tea!"
La Peikang was very enthusiastic about Zhou Qing's arrival.
He also took out the tea that he brewed only when entertaining guests and let Zhou Qing taste it.
Whenever he caught Zhou Qing, he would start greeting him with warm regards, as if Zhou Qing was his relative or junior.
La Peikang's secretary Xiao Chen couldn't help but be shocked by what he saw.
It's been a long time since I saw Mr. La treat others like this.
However, when he thought about the fact that the visitor was Zhou Qing, Secretary Xiao Chen felt relieved.
The movie "Dying to Survive" really made La Dong the star of the show.
If you think about it, President Han relied on Director Zhou to achieve great success in China Film Group, so it is not surprising that President La would have such an attitude.
"Does Director Zhou have any plans for a new film this year?"
The two sides exchanged greetings in a good atmosphere for a while, and then La Peikang stared at Zhou Qing impatiently and asked.
There was a gleam in his eyes, he saw Zhou Qing's briefcase.
I'm afraid what's in there isn't a script?
"To be honest, Mr. La, I do have some ideas, but this film is a bit sensitive, so I would like to ask you to help me with some advice."
Zhou Qing smiled and stated his purpose.
This immediately aroused the curiosity of La Peikang, who was sitting opposite him.
A little sensitive?
So this is the reason why Director Zhou came here in person?
La Peikang really wanted to see how sensitive Director Zhou’s new film was.
At the same time, he secretly made a decision in his heart that no matter how sensitive Director Zhou's film was, he would do his best to help it pass the review.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Director Zhou to ask for his own help.
"Director Zhou, you're welcome. Why don't you tell me what kind of movie it is?"
La Peikang suppressed his curiosity and looked at Zhou Qing seriously.
"La Dong should know about the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Yemen last year, right?"
Zhou Qing began to tell the story, and gave La Peikang a brief introduction regardless of whether he had heard it before.
This made La Peikang's expression immediately become serious: "Director Zhou, are you planning to rewrite the story of the evacuation?"
No wonder!
La Peikang finally came to his senses.
No wonder Director Zhou said it was sensitive. No wonder he came to find me in person. This was indeed a bit too sensitive.
It's not just slightly sensitive; it's extremely sensitive.
It was so sensitive that even La Peikang frowned subconsciously.
If it was just a general sensitivity, La Peikang, after all, is the chairman of China Film Group, so it wouldn't matter much if he just moved around.
But even La Peikang was probably powerless to deal with this level of sensitivity.
As for those old men who review films at the Film Bureau, nine times out of ten they will not approve it.
Even if La Peikang stepped in, it would be useless. (End of this chapter)