Chapter 3163: Convincing John Woo
w At the request of ‘Second Entertainment’, John Woo quickly flew directly from Los Angeles to Shanghai. There was no other way. Lin Feng personally invited him. Although he didn’t want to shoot “Infinite Horror”, he still had to come. Who asked Lin Feng to invite him? It is difficult for anyone in this world to refuse Lin Feng’s invitation. In particular, John Woo was also curious about what Lin Feng was going to use to convince him.
John Woo met Lin Feng in Shanghai. Of course, for every new guest, Lin Feng would introduce them to visit his ‘Century Light’ building.
“Mr. Lin, for your ‘miracle’, I have always had a wish to make your deeds into a biographical film. Unfortunately, I am not good at this. So, I can’t do anything and it can only be a regret.” John Woo stood on the top floor of ‘Century Light’, above the head of Lin Feng’s statue, overlooking the whole of Shanghai, and sighed.
This is both a sigh and a refusal.
Lin Feng laughed.
"Wu Dao, although you are not good at making biographical films, you are good at making action films in the style of John Woo. And I think this "Infinite Horror" is very suitable for you." Lin Feng smiled and took out the newly adapted script.
John Woo did not take it.
"Mr. Lin, it's not that I don't want to shoot. It's just that this "Infinite Horror" is really beyond my ability." John Woo did not hide the problem of his limited ability. In fact, from John Woo's point of view, there is no director in the world who can fully master "Infinite Horror". There are too many elements in this "Infinite Horror". Too many. Endless scenes, plus endless science fiction, magic. Horror, apocalypse and other elements, various elements are interspersed in it. This requires a versatile director, and John Woo is definitely not a versatile director.
He can reach this position today and become the only Chinese director with a name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, not because of his talent, but because of his self-knowledge. It is precisely because of this self-knowledge that he can succeed.
Lin Feng wants him to shoot this kind of movie that is obviously beyond his ability, he can't do it. Even if he shoots in front of him, he will eventually fail.
"Director Wu, this "Infinite Horror", each episode is 45 minutes long, and the investment is 75 million US dollars, not counting the actors' salaries. If you are willing to take the job, I will give you 100 million US dollars per episode!" Lin Feng said.
Hiss! John Woo took a breath. This investment is really too big. This is no longer an ordinary investment, but a super investment. 45 minutes is 100 million US dollars, and now a Hollywood blockbuster usually lasts about 120 minutes. That is a little more than 3 45 minutes, which means a Hollywood blockbuster with an investment of 300 million US dollars. And it is 300 million US dollars without counting the actors' salaries. This is too scary.
However,
John Woo still shook his head.
"Mr. Lin. It's not that I don't want to make a blockbuster, but I don't have enough ability!" John Woo refused helplessly.
Lin Feng smiled slightly.
"Reason?" Lin Feng said with a smile.
"Well, Mr. Lin, to be honest, I am an action movie director, and I am good at action movies, but this "Infinite Horror" also involves a lot of martial arts, which I am really not good at..." John Woo had to tell the first reason for not wanting to shoot. Lin Feng was so sincere, he had to give Lin Feng an explanation.
"Oh, this is easy. I will ask Yuan Heping to assist you in filming the martial arts scenes!" Lin Feng snapped his fingers.
Yuan Heping is the most famous action director and well-known director in Hong Kong. If he assists John Woo, there will be no problem with the martial arts scenes.
John Woo frowned.
"But there are still many famous movie scenes. If I go to shoot, it will not only be a kind of destruction, but I also don't have the confidence to completely restore it and restore the flavor of the original. I have carefully watched "Infinite Terror". To be honest, if I can't restore the flavor of the original, it will be a failure!" John Woo gave the second reason.
"This is easy!" Lin Feng smiled and snapped his fingers again, "For each scene, I will invite the director of the original scene to assist you. And, I, Lin Feng, can guarantee that I will let the original cast of all the characters in the original movie scenes that will appear in the script play them." Lin Feng promised.
This... John Woo suddenly felt a lot of pressure. Lin Feng could give him such a promise, which meant that Lin Feng was determined to shoot "Infinite Terror". However, John Woo had another reason to refuse.
"I can't guarantee that your investment will definitely recover the cost, and you may lose money." John Woo said helplessly.
This investment is too big, and the whole scene is too game-like. Can it really make money? John Woo has been thinking about this. In his opinion, the audience may not buy it. Especially since the protagonists are mainly Chinese. In the West, movies with Chinese as the main characters will not have a very good box office. It would be very good if it can make 10 or 20 million US dollars. In China, how high can the box office be? Especially, this is a 45-minute TV series, damn it, this is a TV series. That is to be broadcast on TV. You say, how much money can a TV station pay for it? John Woo has no hope for it.
What if it loses a lot of money halfway through the filming and doesn't shoot? John Woo doesn't want to shoot halfway and then leave helplessly. In this case, he would rather not shoot.
"Haha, Director Wu, you don't want to worry about the cost. I don't require that the cost must be recovered. As for the funding, you can rest assured. As long as you accept the filming, I will immediately give you the funds for 10 episodes, which is 1 billion US dollars! As long as you shoot, I will pay you immediately!" Lin Feng took out a checkbook and immediately wrote a check for 1 billion US dollars on it.
As long as John Woo nodded in agreement and signed the contract, this check would be the filming fund for John Woo's "Infinite Horror".
John Woo clenched his fists. He came here today to reject Lin Feng, but unexpectedly, he was persuaded by Lin Feng instead. Yes, he was persuaded. Lin Feng was so sincere, how could he not shoot? Moreover, if he really invited Yuan Heping, plus the original director of each movie, then he would have a much better grasp. He didn't believe that he would fail. Of course, he had no confidence in the final investment return.
If all were replaced by Westerners, the investment return might be better.
"Haha, Director Wu, this "Infinite Horror" is just the main story. The real name should be "The Legend of the Zhongzhou Team in Infinite Horror", which tells the story of the Zhongzhou team. If this film is well shot, I think I will definitely shoot the American team and other teams in the future. At that time, the actors will be actors from various countries." Lin Feng threw out another bait.
Hearing this, John Woo no longer had any worries. On the contrary, he felt an urge to wait.
"Mr. Lin, I am willing to shoot "Infinite Horror." John Woo said it almost word by word.
"Director Wu, then I wish us a happy cooperation!" Lin Feng laughed.
The check for $1 billion arrived in John Woo's hands. This is a trust and an expectation.
John Woo held the check tightly. No matter what, even if he didn't eat, drink or sleep for the next year or three years, he must shoot this "Infinite Horror" well.
"By the way, Mr. Lin, regarding Mr. Yuan Heping and the original directors, I think we should speed up the contact." John Woo thought for a while and reminded. This cannot be delayed. There are many people in it, and now they are all big-name directors. Think about it, how many classic movies appeared in this "Infinite Horror", such as "Resident Evil", "Alien", "Jurassic Park", "Final Destination", etc. Among them, the director of "Resident Evil" is the famous British director Paul Anderson, of course, he is also the husband of the protagonist of the "Resident Evil" series, "Biochemical Girl" Milla Jovovich. The director of "Alien" is James Cameron, this is a real Hollywood gold medal director, and it is difficult for John Woo to meet him.
There is also "Jurassic Park", Steven Spielberg, this is a gold medal director in Hollywood. The director of the "Final Destination" series is a little less famous, it is the Chinese director Huang Yiyu. But if you don't tell them in advance, how can you invite these people? Of course, there is also copyright, the most troublesome thing is copyright.
Lin Feng laughed.
"Director Wu, actually, I had already dealt with these things before deciding to invest in the filming of "Infinite Horror". Regarding these actors, the most difficult one to deal with is Huang Yiyu. I ordered someone to go to Hong Kong in person to invite him. For the others, I just need to make a phone call." Lin Feng said with a smile.
John Woo was stunned. The least famous one among them is Huang Yiyu, who is the easiest to deal with. Why did Lin Feng say that it was the easiest to deal with? This is too surprising.
"Haha, it's very simple. Because the security guard Anderson should be the director. As long as it is a British director, I have a way." Lin Feng smiled.
John Woo suddenly realized. Lin Feng has a good relationship with Prince William of the United Kingdom, and Prince William is the most popular royal member of the United Kingdom in history, surpassing his mother Princess Diana. It is indeed easy to say with Prince William. But what about James Cameron and Steven Spielberg? These are the two gold medal directors in Hollywood. How can Lin Feng deal with it?
Lin Feng laughed.
"Director Wu, these two great directors are now contracted directors of my 'Second Entertainment' American headquarters. You say, if I just make a phone call, will they not come?" Lin Feng laughed.
John Woo was completely speechless. How could he even forget this. It may be difficult for others to invite these two gold medal directors, but for Lin Feng, it is really a matter of a phone call. Who made these two gold medal directors work for Lin Feng?
What about copyright?
"Haha, copyright is simple. When developing "Infinite Horror", I signed relevant copyright agreements with major companies. At that time, I also wrote about the copyright for filming movies and TV series. Haha, those companies didn't care about this at the time, so they agreed. So, there is no problem at all!" Lin Feng said with a smile, "Director Wu, are you satisfied now?"
"Satisfied, absolutely satisfied! Mr. Lin, don't worry, if I don't shoot "Infinite Horror" that everyone is satisfied with this time, I will never be a director again!" John Woo patted his chest and said. (To be continued)m