Chapter 172 Azu’s American Dream

Author: Stupid Old Leek

Chapter 172 Azu’s American Dream

Listening to the voice of the hateful oriental man behind him, James turned his head and raised his middle finger, but Stephen didn't even look back.

Wu Nianzu just sat and watched them leave without feeling any guilt at all.

Hollywood is always full of intrigues. If he really had no calculation and gave them 80 million, then he would be really stupid and rich.

In fact, Wu Nianzu certainly knew that in terms of the film, the safest choice would be to hire a white man to play the leading role, but what does that have to do with him?

He did this not just to invest in movies and make money.

80 million U.S. dollars is not a small amount of money. According to the current exchange rate, it is more than 600 million Hong Kong dollars.

If you invest this money in this wave of Internet stocks, the steady income will not be more than your movie? Why bother?

The reason why he wanted to get involved in the "Mummy" project even though he was not willing to be an investor is that he naturally thought that the male protagonist might be an opportunity for him.

As he just discussed with Stephen, the real essence of a fantasy adventure movie like "The Mummy" lies not in the protagonist group, but in the mummy and the adventure process.

Of course, there will definitely be problems with audience acceptance by then, but compared to others, this one can be considered as not specifically selecting a male protagonist.

If it were "Titanic", then Wu Nianzu really wouldn't have any idea at all.

He just wants to try to use this opportunity to broaden the way for Chinese people in Hollywood, break the ceiling for Chinese people, and expand their influence.

The spread and influence of an excellent movie are far greater than imagined. It is the best publicity for both the Chinese and himself.

In the past, Hollywood did not give Chinese people opportunities at all, so they became investors themselves and took the initiative to create such opportunities.

He must seize this kind of opportunity when he encounters it. Even if there is a lot of risk, he still wants to give it a try, otherwise he will never know the consequences.

Even if he lost money in the end, he would admit it.

Wu Nianzu is not a fool. If he plays the lead role in "The Mummy" just because he is the way he is now, the film will definitely fail, but there is still time left for him.

Now is indeed a good opportunity.

In a few months, Cheng Long's "Rush Hour" will take in a box office of 140 million in North America and 244 million globally, setting a record for the Chinese, opening up the Chinese box office ceiling and shocking Hollywood.

Many viewers in Europe and the United States will have an impression in their minds at this time. It turns out that movies starring yellow people are not bad.

By then the general environment and public opinion will be much more favorable than now. I really have to thank Brother Long for helping him open up the situation!

Now there are two points in time for Wu Nianzu.

The first is one year. Before the filming of the movie, Wu Nianzu needs to use this year to open up his reputation in Europe and the United States and expand his influence. After his reputation rises, he is 80% sure to persuade Stephen to come back to direct.

After all, as a director like Stephen who is very passionate about mummies, is a script creator, and has proven that he can make this series well in his previous life, Wu Nianzu would not want to change him unless he had to.

Even James, who just scolded him so harshly, can tolerate it if he is willing to come back and cooperate obediently. The 6 years of preparation experience are not in vain.

This is Hollywood in a foreign country, and Wu Nianzu, who invested US$80 million, also wants to increase the success rate as much as possible.

This is also the reason why Wu Nianzu proposed a verbal bet with Stephen. Wu Nianzu wanted to leave an introduction in his heart.

The second time point is that the movie will be released in two years, shooting will start next year, and it will be released the year after tomorrow at the earliest.

Two years should be enough for him to carve out a niche for himself in Europe and the United States. At that time, it will be a real test whether Wu Nianzu, a Chinese star, can support the European and American box office in A-level productions.

Of course, Wu Nianzu's desire to realize this American dream cannot be just a fantasy. The most feasible way is two ways.

First to open the European and American markets through music.

Wu Nianzu has decided that F4’s next album will be an English album, so that F4 and his name will spread throughout Europe and the United States.

This time was suitable for an English song by an idol group. Wu Nianzu turned around in his mind and aimed at the target.

It’s you, Westlife!

Westlife only debuted in 1999. At this time, they may not even have the members together yet.

There is also the Backstreet Boys. Although they have been popular for a few years, it does not prevent Wu Nianzu from searching for some of their unreleased hit songs.

In fact, idol groups have long been played in Europe and the United States. Many people should have heard of the most famous European and American idol group, which is the Beatles, who are now regarded as the greatest rock band in history.

There is no doubt that the Beatles were pure pop idols in their early days. They would wear neat hairstyles, clean shaves, and dress up very delicately. They attracted British girls and modern girls with their handsome boyish aura.

Today's F4 and later Korean Wave are no different.

But later their members got tired of this kind of life and began to seriously explore different music styles, embarking on the road to greatness.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, the trend of idol groups seemed to be starting to pick up again. Backstreets appeared in the United States, West Side appeared in Europe, and various phenomenal idol groups such as Hallyu and F4 emerged in Asia.

Wu Nianzu wants to take advantage of this rising trend of idol groups to make F4 famous all over the world.

Music is a bridge that can cross borders and races.

Nowadays, with the two English songs "Mai Ai Hee" and "sunshine in the rain" that F4 has released, they are already somewhat famous in Europe and the United States.

Next, Wu Nianzu plans to release a high-quality English special album. Even if their F4s are all yellow-skinned, he will make those European and American boys and girls scream for them!

The second is film and television works.

For example, Wu Nianzu's "The Matrix" filmed in the United States this time will definitely leave an impression on European and American audiences after it is released.

But there are not enough roles of this magnitude. There must be a role that is enough to show oneself, even if it is a villain.

Wu Nianzu plans to establish a strong, skilled and somewhat tough-guy persona in Hollywood.

There are several series of movies that are actually on his preparation list, such as the "Taken" series. This is definitely an action movie that can make the protagonist famous.

But there is one thing that is out of time. The box office success of a movie is closely related to the current environment and the tide of the times.

"Taken" can still make money now, but it won't be a big hit because the only big thing in this era has not happened yet, which is 911.

Before 9/11, the entire world was still in the aftermath of the Cold War, and ideological divisions and oppositions were the basis for public value judgments.

It wasn't until the Twin Towers fell that the American people discovered that the bipolar world of black and white in the past had disappeared. The enemy was no longer the red across the ocean, but might be your colleagues and friends right next to you. The whole world has entered a difficult situation between ourselves and the enemy.

In the age of terrorism, everyone is confused.

Therefore, after the 911 incident, the entire trend of Hollywood changed along with the values ​​of the American people, and the design of action movies and golden characters was reshuffled.

The strong-willed, middle-aged white men who believe in traditional values ​​and fight against clear evil, as portrayed by Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Tom Hanks in the past, are no longer attractive.

Replaced by Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, Matt Damon's Bourne, Liam Neeson's Daddy, and Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer.

The American-style personal hero after 9/11 does not believe in the enemy, the organization, his companions, or even himself. Only the gun in his hand is the most reliable.

Therefore, series such as "The Rescue" and "John Wick" that became popular in later generations are actually out of date in today's era, and they cannot exert their maximum power at all.

Wu Nianzu wants to keep these series of movies that are bound to be successful after 9/11. Even if his "Mummy" fails at the box office, he can rely on these movies to turn around in a few years.

Thinking of this, Wu Nianzu shook his head. In fact, there is a film that is most suitable for Chinese people to enter Hollywood, the purely Chinese style "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

This movie, which cost only 15 million U.S. dollars, has high influence and box office, with 128 million in North America and 213 million worldwide. It also won four awards including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It can definitely help Wu Nianzu in Hollywood.

Stand upright.

But there is one thing. The male protagonist Li Mubai in this drama is somewhat different from the persona he wants to establish in Hollywood.

Li Mubai, on the other hand, plays the role of a gentle and elegant hero who must abide by the ethics. This is somewhat inconsistent with the character style he wants.

On the other hand, he really didn't want to act in a braid scene himself, and he felt awkward when he thought about it. As soon as this movie was aired, it further deepened the impression that all people in China have braids.

But putting aside these personal preference issues, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is undoubtedly the most suitable.

Wu Nianzu carefully recalled the information of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

In 1996, Li An had already bought the film and television adaptation rights of the original work. At first, he actually planned to cast Jet Li to play Li Mubai, but in 1999, Jet Li and his wife Li Zhi wanted to complete their 10-year agreement to get married, so he turned down the drama.

.

Then the male lead found Fa Ge, and Li An said that he changed the script drastically because Jet Li's characteristics were obviously different from Fa Ge's.

If Jet Li had starred, there would have been more action scenes and it would have been better to watch. However, Li Mu Bai in Fa Ge actually cut down on many of the action scenes and turned them into literary dramas.

If you follow this statement, you can actually try Jet Li's version.

Moreover, producer Jiang Zhiqiang said in an interview that the preparation for the filming of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" went through ups and downs. It was extremely difficult to raise funds at the beginning, and it took nearly a year to get the funds invested by Sony Colombia.

Calculating the time, Sony Columbia has not even started investing in this project yet. If this big water pipe of ours passes by, they will bow to it without saying anything, so they have to wait and see!

In short, regardless of whether I act or not, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is an investment project. With the box office share plus other discs and various copyright income, the profit margin of more than 10 times is worthy of investment.

Wu Nianzu took out his cell phone and looked at the phone number of producer Jiang Zhiqiang, which he had received from Zhang Jiazhen at the party yesterday.

Speaking of Zhang Jiazhen and Jiang Zhiqiang, first Zhang Jiazhen bet on Wu Baige and became famous for several years. Then Jiang Zhiqiang came from behind and successively won "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero", etc., relying on this wave of martial arts style, he became

Asia's number one producer.

In the end, both of them still set their sights on the mainland to make money!

"Hello, Mr. Jiang, I am Wu Nianzu. It's a pity that I didn't see you at director Wu Baige's party last night..." Wu Nianzu came up and naturally started with some polite greetings.

After they became a little warmer, Wu Nianzu asked: "I wonder what Director Li An is busy with now. You didn't see him last night?"

"Wu Sheng, Li An is filming a movie about the Civil War for Universal called "Ride with the Devil". It is estimated that he will not return to Hollywood for a few months."

After hearing this, Wu Nianzu had some impressions of the play in his mind, not because of Li An, but because of Xiao Lizi.
To be continued...