Chapter 1398 Start the Project

Faced with Li Ziwei's question, Li Mu replied with a smile: "The plot setting of the original Infernal Affairs is still very good. Sometimes a good story sells not the plot, but the setting."

"Selling settings?" Li Ziwei was confused by Li Mu again.

Li Mu smiled and said, "The setting is sometimes more valuable than the plot."

After that, Li Mu asked her, "You should have seen Spielberg's Jurassic Park, right?"

"I've seen it, I'm impressed."

"Actually, what this thing sells is a setting. If I make a movie casually, there will be a lot of dinosaurs in the real world, and the audience will definitely ask what the hell is this routine? Isn't it too unreasonable to kill dinosaurs inexplicably? In that case, anyone can make a brainless and unfounded dinosaur movie, and the setting of "Jurassic Park" gives a set of settings that can be justified, such as where did dinosaurs come from? Scientists start from an amber , found a prehistoric mosquito. Before the mosquito turned into amber, it happened to suck the blood of dinosaurs, so scientists extracted the DNA of dinosaurs from its stomach, and then bred dinosaurs. This setting made the audience accept and It stunned the audience, so it had the foundation of success, and Hollywood then built around this setting, Jurassic Park, and made a whole series;"

"I probably understand..."

"Did you know "Resident Evil" released last year?"

"I know, I've seen it."

""Resident Evil" is a game developed by a Japanese game company. Its core setting is that a company named has developed a virus that can turn people into zombies. Then the virus spreads and the whole world turns into scorched earth. This core setting is refreshing for players and audiences, so I believe that Hollywood will also be able to develop Resident Evil into a series."

Li Ziwei thought for a moment and asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, the core setting of "Infernal Affairs" should be the first story mode in which both black and white have placed undercover in each other's camps, right?"

"That's right!" Li Mu snapped his fingers and said with a smile, "In the past, in such films with undercover elements, most of them were the police going undercover in the gangster's camp, trying to find a way to catch the gangsters in one go, but in Infernal Affairs. In the setting, the police sent an undercover agent to the gangster camp, and what is unexpected is that the gangster also sent an undercover agent to the police camp. If we call the traditional plot of the police sending an undercover agent to the gangster A Type A plot, then under normal circumstances, a Type A plot can support a movie. However, in this movie, a reversal plot that is diametrically opposite to A is added. We can call it Type B plot ;

In this way, "Infernal Affairs" has a different setting from previous police and gangster films.

It has become a movie with a type A plot and a B type plot, and in the core setting of "Infernal Affairs", there is another very exciting setting, that is: the undercover of the police and the undercover of the gangster , while completing the task of their original undercover identity requirements, they also have to find out each other, which is equivalent to adding an AB-type story to the A-type and B-type stories. "Dao" has become a wonderful blockbuster with A, B and AB plots. This is the whimsy of Hong Kong screenwriters, and it is a very, very remarkable innovation. Therefore, I believe that the reason why Hollywood wants to buy the copyright of this film , it is the core setting of this genius that is valued, not the depth, humanity and Buddhist fatalism behind it. "

Li Ziwei felt that she had been successfully brainwashed by Li Mu, and this feeling was that no matter what Li Mu said, she would think it made sense...

At this time, Li Mu stretched his back and said, "The original "Infernal Affairs" stands at the end of Chinese culture, but its core setting is actually very close to the front end. This set of settings is not only usable to understand. , every normal IQ audience over ten years old in the world should be able to understand it, so if I want to remake it, I must first extract its core settings, and the rest is to fill in the specific plot. Let it trace its origins to the front of the culture to find more commonalities with other peoples."

After speaking, Li Mu added: "For example, we can't make the characters, plot, and the tone of the whole story too dark and gloomy, the relationship between the characters should be clear, and the characters and contradictions should be clear, good people are good people, bad people are bad people, and bad people don't have to be there. In the end, I want to be a good person;

For example, we must implement simple, rude and direct presentation methods, less show off skills, less sensationalism, and less personal values;

For example, we can't put any Buddhist things into the remake, and even any religious content should be avoided as much as possible;

For example, although good people can die tragically, we can't let bad people go unpunished..."

...

Uniasia received the news from Muye Imaging, and they clearly conveyed Li Mu's attitude to the other party, which means that Uniasia does not need to bargain with Li Mu anymore, because Li Mu no longer wants it, even if it is a free gift. .

Originally, Uniasia was thinking of using the copyright in hand to bargain with Li Mu, but unexpectedly, Li Mu rejected their request directly, and even withdrew the previous offer and terminated the cooperation.

Only then did Uniasia understand that they thought that the whole world wanted the overseas distribution rights of "Infernal Affairs", and Li Mu must be no exception, but Li Mu's interest in wanting this movie was really not as strong as they thought.

why?

Uniasia is also thinking hard about this issue.

Li Mu is a god who can sell "Mr. Zombie" for over 100 million US dollars. "Infernal Affairs", a Hong Kong movie that has saved the market for many years, is much better than "Mr. Zombie" in all aspects. Why is Li Mu so uninterested in it? Woolen cloth?

However, if Li Muzhen is not interested in "Infernal Affairs", why did he spend $3.5 million to buy the English remake rights of "Infernal Affairs" from Warner Bros. This thing is really contradictory, isn't it?

When Uniasia was scratching his head on this issue, Li Mu had already held a video conference with several heads of DreamWorks in his office.

Spielberg was filming "Flying Tigers" in Yun Province, and he deliberately arranged the filming rhythm for the day and took time out to participate in this video conference.

As for the other DreamWorks executives, in order to accommodate Li Mu's time, he got up at 4:00 a.m. local time in the United States, put on his tie, put on his suit, and sat in front of the computer.

The video conference uses the Pro version of YY Group Video. The so-called Pro version means that it is the so-called "Pro version" in the software field. However, the Pro version of the group video does not require users to download the YY client. The Pro version of the group video It adopts an extra paid "value-added service". As long as the user purchases the upgrade service, they can enjoy faster and more stable global video direct connection. For communication across the ocean like this, the Pro version can achieve maximum stability and smoothness .

As soon as the screen went through, several Hollywood bigwigs greeted Li Mu one after another, and Li Mu responded with a smile and nodded. After greeting a few people, Li Mu went straight to the point and said, "Everyone, the reason for this video conference is to be held. It's because I'm planning a film and television project recently. Everyone should know that I have bought the English remake copyright of "Infernal Affairs" from Warner Bros. Next, I'm going to start preparing for this project immediately. I don't know if DreamWorks has it. Not interested in working with me?"

The CEO of DreamWorks immediately said: "Mr. Li, DreamWorks and you have always been very willing to cooperate, and we also have the in-depth cooperation foundation of the Makino ticketing system, so no matter what film and television projects you plan to start, Mr. Li, DreamWorks will Willing to be involved to some extent.”

For the management of DreamWorks, they have long regarded Li Mu as the next key to DreamWorks' take-off. For such bigwigs who want money and money, and resources and resources, the whole Hollywood will do the same thing, that is, jail time. Hold on to his thigh.

The management of DreamWorks very much hopes to be tied to Li Mu's Makino image, which also means that they can be deeply tied to Muye Technology and even Li Mu, so this is the critical moment to show loyalty.

What Li Mu wanted was DreamWorks' attitude of "I will mess with you in the future", so he smiled with satisfaction and said, "Since this is the case, let me talk about the cooperation model first."

Several DreamWorks bosses nodded: "Mr. Li, please speak."

Li Mudao: "First of all, I am going to tentatively set the budget for this film at 100 million US dollars. I can give you a 50% discount on the investment, but your maximum share cannot exceed 25%. If you want to account for 25%, you must follow the 12.5% ​​of the actual investment, if you want 20%, then 10%.”

The investment in "The Departed" in my previous life was 80 million US dollars, but there was a difference of two years before and after, and the salary and inflation also had a certain impact. That is to say, if I invested 80 million now, it would definitely be better than the 80 million two years later. To have more purchasing power, there is no need to add an additional cost of 20 million, but in this life, Li Mu has increased the budget of a big name like Tom Hanks, and also increased some production costs, so the increase of 20 million should be almost just right. horizontal line.

Leonardo and Tom Hanks cut their pay when they took on the "Flying Tigers". It was the first time they worked with Li Mu, and it was also an attitude they gave to Li Mu, but Li Mu must remember this. Love, so for the remake of "Infernal Affairs", Li Mu's plan is to give the two of them the normal price, and at the same time give them a small percentage of the box office, which is considered a return.

At this time, several people from DreamWorks whispered to each other, and then the CEO said: "Mr. Li, we will follow your instructions. As for the investment discount, we thank you. Your good intentions, but in terms of long-term cooperation, DreamWorks cannot always get this additional benefit from you, so we hope to contribute in a normal proportion."

When Li Mu pursues bigger goals, he can naturally put his interests second. In this way, in order to ensure the realization of the first goal, he is naturally willing to lower the expectations of the second goal, unlike some greedy people. The capitalists want to monopolize whatever benefits they have.

In the US version of "Infernal Affairs", Li Mu did not want to make money, but to use this film to go to the Oscars to win several awards, and to represent Huaxia Film and Television Company and Huaxia Capital to realize the Oscar dream first, so he is willing to give DreamWorks certain benefits tilt.

But DreamWorks also has its own scruples. They don't want to take advantage of Li Mu and run away, but they hope to get on his big boat and go farther. The more they do, the less they can take advantage of it. As for the proportion, they also decided to respect Li Mu's intention, because if they take more, Li Mu may not really be willing, but if they take less, Li Mu Eighty percent will also feel that their sincerity is not enough.

Li Mu was also very clear about their thoughts. He nodded and said, "If that's the case, then I won't be too polite to you. DreamWorks will invest 20% of the money, and we will jointly produce and publish it."

The CEO of DreamWorks immediately made the decision: "OK! We have no opinion!"

Spielberg asked Li Mu: "Mr. Li, do you have any ideas about the director of this play? I have seen "Infernal Affairs" in Hong Kong, and it is a good movie, but to be honest, this movie may be with me. The style doesn't quite fit."

Li Mu nodded and said, "Steven, about the director, I want to find Martin Scorsese to direct, what do you think?"

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