Chapter 309 A Warm Christmas

"Hey Steven, how much did Lord of the Rings 3 cost?"

Spielberg lamented: "It's unstoppable! It has successfully exceeded 100 million in four days of release~"

"I remember that "Lord of the Rings 3" was released on Wednesday, right?" Wu Yuchen asked.

"Yes, you are quite willful!"

Generally speaking, movies will premiere on Friday to get as good a start as possible. However, "Lord of the Rings 3" chose to be released on Wednesday. It took in a first-day box office of 34.1 million US dollars on weekdays, and it exceeded 100 million in 4 days. After today's Sunday, the box office in the first 5 days must be a very good number. .

"Now the boss of New Line is making a high-profile claim that the global box office of "Lord of the Rings 3" will be the same as "Titanic"."

Wu Yuchen smiled when he heard this. Since "Titanic" created the unprecedented myth of 1.8 billion US dollars five years ago, in the past few years, there have been high-profile attempts to attack it every year, but they have all failed.

And this time "Lord of the Rings 3" is also coming with great momentum. Not only did it have a good first-time box office, far exceeding the results of "Titanic" when it was first released, but its reputation is also quite explosive, and it was already sold all over the world before it was released. Regarding the various Film Critics Association Awards, everyone has now reached a consensus. There is no suspense about this Oscar. The best picture and best director will definitely be "Lord of the Rings 3"

The box office and word-of-mouth reached a peak when it was released, and with the accumulated influence of the first two films, it's no wonder that New Line bosses are so confident.

But, no matter how strong the beginning is, it is useless without the staying power of "Titanic"!

Wu Yuchen shook his head and said: "It's difficult. "Titanic" can be watched by anyone in any country or region around the world without any barriers. But "Lord of the Rings" cannot be done. Many people are not interested in this kind of subject matter."

No matter how high "Lord of the Rings" is promoted, its universality and dissemination still cannot compare with the big ship. So don't say anything too vulgar about "Titanic" and "Avatar", truck drivers will just throw the box office results in your face, people have already understood the truth.

Spielberg also agreed with Wu Yuchen's point of view, but he said: ""The Lord of the Rings" is good enough. As for "Titanic", even Cameron himself does not have the confidence to copy it again."

Wu Yuchen smiled and asked Spielberg: "Steven, Peter Jackson is very popular now. Didn't you contact him to join DreamWorks? Maybe he will agree~"

Spielberg smiled and shook his head: "Come on, Wu, now that the "Pirate King" series has sucked up DreamWorks' funds, I simply can't afford to feed another big guy!"

This time, the continuous shooting of the second and third parts of "Pirate King" requires an investment of nearly 500 million U.S. dollars. According to the proportion, DreamWorks will provide nearly 300 million U.S. dollars.

And Peter Jackson is also a master of special effects movies. According to him, it must be a big special effects production. DreamWorks' financial resources are still too thin. It's a bit difficult to raise a "Pirate King", and now they don't dare to provoke another big guy.

But then Spielberg said: "I heard that Peter Jackson has been very close to Universal recently. Universal is interested in his special effects capabilities, and Peter is also very interested in some of Universal's monsters."

When Wu Yuchen heard this, he immediately knew what it was about. Isn't it "King Kong"? The love story of a gorilla and a blonde beauty!

Wu Yuchen asked directly: "Is it "King Kong"?"

"Wu, as expected of you, I just found out about this news~"

Universal is half of Spielberg's family, so he got the news earlier than most people.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Hahaha, among the monsters in Universal, King Kong is the most suitable for Peter Jackson to use. Has it been decided yet?"

Spielberg shook his head: "No, the two parties have not reached an agreement on treatment. Universal offered a top condition of 20+20, but Peter Jackson wants higher. The negotiations should be on hold now until " "Lord of the Rings" will probably continue after the box office is finally released."

Wu Yuchen was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Why does this situation give him an inexplicable sense of déjà vu? Isn't this exactly the same as the situation when he was negotiating "Batman" with Warner?

Wu Yuchen thought for a while and asked: "Steven, how much do you think the box office of "The Lord of the Rings 3" will reach before Universal will agree to give Peter Jackson a higher treatment?"

Spielberg pondered for a moment, and then said: "The global box office is one billion dollars. This is a threshold. Once it is achieved, then Universal will compromise."

Wu Yuchen also nodded when he heard this. Now that the world has exceeded one billion US dollars, that is the existence of Fengfei Lingjiao, which indeed has great bargaining power.

Thinking of this, he thought of his own situation, and he was not in a hurry. He would wait until "Pirate King 2" was released.

"Wu, are you coming to my house for Christmas next week?" Spielberg invited Wu Yuchen.

"Steven, thank you for the invitation, but I don't want to disturb your reunion with your family~ Don't worry, I won't be alone on Christmas Eve!"

…

During this year's Christmas season, children will be a little disappointed because the magical boy they miss so much is missing. "Harry Potter", which was released every year for the past two years, did not arrive as promised because director Chris Columbus resigned as director.

To put it simply, he was a little tired of filming. Harry Potter was filmed for two consecutive years, 160 days a year, plus post-production, most of the year was spent on it. He could not imagine such a life. If it lasts for 7 consecutive years, I might as well quit.

The producers had no choice but to re-search for a director, which also delayed Harry Potter for a year. The style of "Harry Potter 3" began to change, and this is partly the reason.

The children may be disappointed, but Wu Yuchen’s Christmas Eve was very exciting. Jennifer Connelly, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Alba all came over tonight to send warmth to Wu Yuchen. They didn’t want him to be in a distant foreign country. Lonely and cold.

What a wonderful spirit of internationalism!

Moreover, each of them also prepared several suits, such as Christmas costumes and elk costumes, and even presented Wu Yuchen, the Santa Claus, with a small reindeer whip.

What a gentle, considerate and beautiful group of people!

So, on this Christmas Eve, Wu Yuchen and his Christmas little elk sang together:

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells!

How happy we are skiing, we sit on the sled.

We hitched it to the sled and ran forward

Running through the fields, we laughed and sang!

The sound of horse bells makes people so happy!

It’s so fun to ski tonight, sing the skiing song!

Hey! "

…

On January 4th, the 14th "China's Ten Outstanding Youth" award ceremony will be held.

The atmosphere backstage was not that tense, and the people waiting to receive their awards were still chatting.

"Brother Yang, I heard that you were injured? Is it true?"

"It was really dangerous when I landed. The impact was too great. The microphone directly scratched me and my face was bleeding..."

The person narrating in front of me is none other than aerospace hero Yang Liwei. In October this year, he piloted the "Shenzhou" 5 spacecraft and successfully completed China's first manned space mission, realizing the Chinese people's dream of flying into space, and was therefore awarded the glorious title of "Aerospace Hero."

The Shenzhou 5 landing event was still a very big deal. It can be said that it attracted the attention of the whole country, and many people watched the live broadcast on TV. But in fact, the live TV broadcast that everyone saw was edited. When Yang Liwei just left the warehouse, his face was covered in blood. This scene must not be broadcast. After he was cleaned up, the scene of leaving the warehouse was re-filmed and continued.

"Brother Yang, you are so awesome! Ours was a fake rocket, but you are really flying into the sky on a rocket!" A little giant praised with a thumbs up, and it turned out to be Yao Ming.

Yao Ming entered the NBA last year and joined the Houston Rockets. In just over a year, he conquered the vast number of American fans and achieved considerable international influence. Therefore, he was named an Outstanding Youth.

In the narration, a man with a good temperament was chatting with Wu Yuchen: "Director Wu, it's not easy to come back. I wonder if you can invite me to do an exclusive interview?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and refused: "Teacher Shui, let's forget about the exclusive interview. I really don't have enough time to come back this time. But Teacher Shui, you have been interviewing others. Today you won the award and let your program do it for you." Isn’t it natural to have an exclusive interview?”

The man was none other than Shui Junyi, the popular host of CCTV. He smiled and shook his head: "Me? I'd better forget it. Compared with you, I have nothing to say."

Then Wu Yuchen patted Yao Ming again: "Xiao Ming, when you lead the team to Los Angeles to play the Lakers, I will go to the scene to cheer you on!"

Yao Ming scratched his head and showed his signature embarrassing smile: "Thank you, Brother Chen, I will definitely work hard when the time comes!"

This time Wu Yuchen and Yao Ming actually came back together, because there are no direct flights from Houston to China. Yao Ming also came back from Los Angeles this time, and happened to bump into Wu Yuchen, and they became familiar with each other along the way.

At this moment, the staff came over to remind: "Teachers, it's almost your turn, please prepare!"

Everyone stopped talking and straightened their clothes. Standing in the front row was Yang Liwei in military uniform. Following him were Wu Yuchen, then Yao Ming, Shui Junyi...

There is not much to say about the whole awarding process. They just go out one by one, shake hands with the leaders, accept commendations and applause. The process is more serious and not as sensational as moving China.

Speaking of touching China, Wu Yuchen was also selected this time. The program team called him, but Wu Yuchen directly said that he would not be back on February 20th.

There's no other way. He's going to Hollywood to work on the post-production of "Pirate King 2" after coming back for the Chinese New Year. He really doesn't want to go back and forth again, otherwise he's really afraid of delaying the release of the movie.

In my previous life, Cheng Long was chosen for this year’s edition of the People Who Moved China. As for how Cheng Long moved China and promoted the influence of China and China in the world. Wu Yuchen's international influence last year was even greater than that of Cheng Long, so he must be chosen over Cheng Long.

But now Wu Yuchen said he couldn't come, which made the program team hesitate again.

Wu Yuchen didn't take it too seriously. To be honest, compared to an official event like China's Ten Outstanding Youths, Touching China was more like a show organized by a program organization, and sometimes the characters selected were controversial.

Now that he is considered successful, it doesn't mean that much to go to Touch China to show his face.

…

Feng Xiaogang is in a good mood recently.

Since Wu Yuchen gave him some advice, he honestly followed Wu Yuchen's advice to modify the script. When he sent it to the big scissors, he also specifically mentioned that he had consulted Wu and modified it according to Wu's advice. A few days later, "A World Without Thieves" was approved.

Then he also began various preparatory work for the crew. In order to shoot the special train scenes, they had to contact the relevant departments to get an old-fashioned carriage for them to modify and shoot.

As for the actors, the heroine Li Xiaoran was the first to be decided, and no one could move her. Ge You is his old partner, so he must have it. Uncle Li was tailor-made for him.

The most difficult thing is the male lead. According to the Wang brothers' discussion with him, the best target is Liu Dehua, who has appeal and is suitable in terms of image and acting skills. They also went to invite sincerely, but Andy Lau had been filming with Zhang Yimou in the crew of "House of Flying Daggers" for a while. It was not until a few days ago when "House of Flying Daggers" was finished that Andy Lau began to contact and negotiate with "A World Without Thieves".

The two sides talked very well and progressed very quickly. In just two days, Andy Lau was basically determined to play this role. Now they just need to discuss the details of the salary and contract.

After getting the male lead, "A World Without Thieves" was basically smooth, so Feng Xiaogang was naturally happy and felt that he could have a good New Year!

However, at this moment, his cell phone rang. When he saw that it was Wang Zhonglei, he quickly picked up the phone: "Hello, Mr. Wang, what's the matter?"

"Director Feng, something bad has happened to Liu Dehua!"

Feng Xiaogang frowned and his voice became louder: "What's going on? Didn't we talk well before?"

"Hi! He said he wanted to try Director Wu's new play. We... Oh!"

"What? Director Wu's new play?" Feng Xiaogang was surprised.

"Oh, you don't know yet? Wu Yuchen just announced that he would cast for the new play. The male lead must be a middle-aged man around 40 years old. Liu Dehua went for this role!"

Feng Xiaogang opened his mouth when he heard this. He was about to decide on the male lead, but Wu Yuchen took him away with an audition opportunity?

After hanging up the phone, Feng Xiaogang sighed deeply, feeling a sense of frustration. Originally, he felt that he had achieved success in the past few years and was considered a well-known figure in the Chinese director circle. But now compared with Wu Yuchen...

A cold wind blew, Feng Xiaogang shivered, his head immediately sobered up, and he slapped himself in the face.

Feng Xiaogang, Feng Xiaogang, wake up!

That's Master Chen! Oscar-winning director, managing a $500 million project, what the hell can you compare with him?

Feng Xiaogang immediately adjusted his mentality, and could only say in his heart that he was unlucky. At the same time, he was also secretly thinking in his heart, you Liu Dehua can still be arrogant in front of me, but you are nothing in front of Master Chen, so you should fail the audition as soon as possible!