Chapter 1264 Back to the Future

Unlike other people in the 1980s and 1990s, Yin Jun did not have a good impression of Americans.

After experiencing the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 and witnessing the outrageous shameless behavior of Americans, not many young Chinese people like the United States anymore.

On the contrary, everyone thinks that their own country is the best.

Even if it is not good enough now, with everyone's efforts, it will become better and better.

This is the kind of national pride that Chinese people in the 1980s and 1990s expected.

Of course, this sense of pride is not empty, but comes from real strength - after 2015, China's network technology has basically reached the first place in the world. In terms of mobile Internet, there is no Any country that can compare with China is an important factor supporting our national pride!

Having said that, among directors in Hollywood, Yin Jun admires Spielberg very much.

Because Spielberg is smart and very sensible.

There is a saying in later generations that describes Spielberg.

"When he picks up the microphone, he is a great director, and when he puts down the microphone, he is an excellent businessman."

Spielberg is not only great at making movies, he is also first-rate at discovering new people and serving as filmmakers.

When "Transformers" first started filming, if Spielberg had not been the producer, it would not have been able to obtain so much funding and so many publicity resources. Michael Bay, who had already rushed to the street, would not have had it. Such a good opportunity to turn around.

And "Jurassic World", which started filming after 20 years, also had Spielberg as the producer, so that it could be successfully approved and finally become a global box office hit.

The producer system prevails in Hollywood. Generally, producers have much greater power than directors. They are actually one of the investors of the film. Not only do they have supreme power in the crew, but they will also participate in all subsequent profit sharing.

The films for which Spielberg served as a producer brought him at least more than two billion dollars in income, which is more than what he earned by directing his own films.

Of course, on the other hand, if Spielberg was not so talented, he would not be able to serve as both director and producer, and he would not be able to earn so much money.

Just the next day after filming "Juno", Spielberg took a young man to Disney's post-production room.

Although he is said to be a young man, he is actually not young anymore. He looks like he is in his thirties, with glasses and a wide face, which makes him look a bit mature.

Having just sat down in the coffee shop, Spielberg hadn't introduced him yet. Yin Jun, who took a few glances at the young man, actually recognized him.

"Arjun, let me introduce you to a friend." Spielberg took a sip of coffee and said to Yin Jun: "His name is Robert Zemeckis. He is a very good screenwriter. He has collaborated with me on several films. Movies. "1941" and "Intrigue" are both his works."

"I have seen these two movies, very good scripts!" Yin Jun smiled and extended his hand to Robert Zemeckis, "Nice to meet you."

"Me too, Mr. Jun! I am your fan." Robert Zemeckis reached out his hands a little excitedly, took Yin Jun's hand and said: "I have read all your novels! In this world, there are The novels you write will definitely be more exciting!"

His hands were shaking a little, and it was obvious that he was not just being polite.

Anyone who calls Yin Jun "Mr. Jun" after meeting him is basically a fan of his books, or someone who has something in common about books.

So does Robert Zemeckis.

He especially loves Yin Jun's novels.

Even the recently controversial "Bridge of Lost Dreams" has been watched over and over again by him a dozen times.

"Which one is your favorite?" Yin Jun asked with a smile.

"Forrest Gump." Robert Zemeckis thought that Yin Jun was testing him, and said without hesitation: "This novel describes society and life. I can recite any chapter in it. , from beginning to end.”

Yin Jun smiled when he heard this.

"Don't you believe it?" Robert Zemeckis was anxious, "You can test me as you like!"

"No, I believe it." Yin Jun pointed at him and then at himself, "This is an intuition. Thank you for liking it."

Perhaps it was because Yin Jun's attitude was sincere and not perfunctory; or perhaps because he remembered Yin Jun's identity, Robert Zemeckis could only hold it back.

But he didn't know that in "Forrest Gump", Yin Jun understood him better than he did.

Because this Robert Zemeckis is the super director who made "Forrest Gump" in his previous life!

Although his peak ended with "Forrest Gump", just like Coppola, as long as he makes "The Godfather", no one in the world dares to deny that he is a true master!

In the same way, Robert Zemeckis is also a great person who can make the "Forrest Gump", which is not very well written and not as good as Yin Jun's version, so artistic and flavorful. film workers.

Especially the feather at the beginning, when it is dancing in the air, seems to be grinding on people's hearts, which makes people full of emotions.

This kind of shooting method cannot be done by a master-level film director.

Therefore, when Robert Zemeckis said that he knew "Forrest Gump" by heart, Yin Jun completely believed it.

How could Robert Zemeckis have made such a good film if he hadn't understood it so deeply and constantly analyzed the meaning of the book?

It's the same thing as Frank Darabont, who made "The Shawshank Redemption."

Otherwise, do you think you can have such a good understanding of a movie just by reading the comments on Douban and Zhihu?

…

Spielberg had no intention of speaking for him, as if this person was not brought by him.

After the two of them finished speaking, Spielberg smiled and said, "Arjun, I know that your Qilin Group is developing and you must need excellent talents, so I brought Robert here for you. He wrote a very good one." You might as well read the script."

Zemeckis quickly took out a script from his bag and handed it to Yin Jun with both hands.

Yin Jun was not polite and took it over to look at.

"back to the Future".

Um?

"back to the Future"! ?

When Yin Jun saw the name and then looked at Zemeckis, he suddenly understood.

How could I have forgotten that this great director’s fame was not with “Forrest Gump” but with “Back to the Future”?

And "Back to the Future" was written by himself!

This 1985 North American box office champion has grossed 210 million in North America and is a super classic. Yin Jun has even registered it with the Screenwriters Guild!

Now that the real master is here, what should we do?

Looking through the script calmly, Yin Jun asked without raising his head, "How long did it take to write this script?"

"I started to conceive the idea five years ago and started writing it three years ago. I stopped for a while when I didn't have enough inspiration, and it was completely completed last year." Zemeckis said, "I found several film companies, and they all felt this way. The subject matter should not be suitable for the commercial market..."

Spielberg sighed helplessly.

This honest boy.

You won’t be able to speak when you see your idol.

You said that your script was rejected by many companies. Doesn't this mean that the script has been evaluated by many professionals and is considered to be of insufficient quality?

This will reduce impression points.

However, Spielberg himself also watched "Back to the Future", and he thought it was quite interesting. Even if it doesn't make much money, it certainly won't lose money.

Originally, he was planning to let Universal make the film, and he would serve as the producer, participating in investment and scheduling.

But then I think about it, Universal has not done much in the past two years, and I am afraid it will not be that easy, unless it is directed by itself.

But he now has a movie that he is conceiving, and he will definitely not give up his plan to direct this script.

So he simply came to Yin Jun to give it a try.

Just as Spielberg said, Yin Jun's company is flexing its muscles in Hollywood and must need capable directors.

And those veteran directors have long been monopolized by the other Hollywood giants.

Although there is no requirement to film in which company, if they want to film Yin Jun's movie, they may be excluded by other companies.

Otherwise, United Artists Film Company and Disney would not be so active in discovering new talents.

Bruckheimer is one, James Cameron is one, and that director from Hong Kong is also one.

If it weren't for them, I'm afraid the Qilin Group would be very sad in Hollywood.

Only a super director like Spielberg wouldn't care, because only Universal Pictures begs for his share, not him.

There is another reason. Spielberg feels that Yin Jun is a discerning person. Yin Jun will not miss such an interesting script, nor will he let it go.

Just as Spielberg thought, Yin Jun didn't say anything next, but slowly turned over the story of this script, which was not too thick.

The two of them thought that Yin Jun was reading carefully, but they didn't know that Yin Jun was weighing the gains and losses in his heart.

It's not that Yin Jun wants the right to sign the script. Since Zemeckis has already produced the script, Yin Jun doesn't need to argue or even file a lawsuit with him.

The most critical point is that Zemeckis is just a newcomer now. Even if he is given a small director's salary and the copyright of "Back to the Future" is collected, it will not cost much - this is the tyranny of Hollywood giants.

If you want to learn something like online novels, if you insist on retaining the copyright, others will ignore you.

After a moment, Yin Jun raised his head and asked, "Mr. Zemeckis, do you want to sell the script or something?"

Zemeckis looked at Spielberg. After the latter nodded, he said, "The script doesn't matter. I want to be a director. Please give me a chance!"

"Have you ever been a director before?" Yin Jun asked.

"I haven't, but I have been the executive director of several movies, and I have also studied on the set of several of Stephen's movies." Zemeckis said quickly: "I believe I can do it well, because I wrote the script. Yes, I know how to express it best! Please give me a chance!"

Spielberg said next to him, "Yes, Arjun, Robert is very talented, give him a chance!"

Yin Jun smiled, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "Robert, what budget do you want?"

Zemeckis was suddenly overjoyed and said excitedly: "15 million US dollars is enough."

"I'll give you a budget of 20 million US dollars." Yin Jun pondered for a moment, "but there are two conditions."

"Say it! I agree to anything!" Zemeckis said without thinking.

"First, the copyright of "Back to the Future" belongs to United Artists Film Company. In return, I will give you 1 million in remuneration for the screenwriter and director. Is that no problem?"

"no problem!"

Zemeckis nodded.

All he wanted to do was direct a movie, a movie with a script he wrote himself. Of course, he couldn't expect to still retain the copyright. How big of a celebrity screenwriter would he have to receive?

"Second, Stephen..."

Yin Jun looked at Spielberg, "I hope you will be the producer of this movie, and you will have 3% of the North American box office share."

"I knew you would take your idea to me." Spielberg laughed, "Okay, since I brought the person, I will be responsible for checking it!"

When negotiating with a director of Spielberg's level, you don't have to say how much money I will give. They don't care about money, they definitely want a share of the box office.

Spielberg must have considered this issue before coming.

He was still very satisfied with the conditions given by Yin Jun.

5% of the North American box office, if it can reach 100 million, he can get 5 million US dollars.

Based on Spielberg's knowledge of the film and Yin Jun's investment of 20 million US dollars, it should not be difficult to achieve a box office of 100 million.

The most important thing is that the producer is himself.

The producer has great control over the final editing. As long as it is left to him to do the final editing, will the effect be worse?

He believed that it was precisely because of this that Yin Jun decided to be the producer himself.

There are too many directors in Hollywood who are very good at filming, but they fall behind in editing.

For example, "Heaven's Gate", which caused United Artists Films to collapse and be acquired, didn't it have a big problem with editing?

Spielberg knows how to cater to the audience best, so in his hands, you will not see anything happen that sacrifices the watchability of the movie for the sake of art.

"In that case, I wish us a happy cooperation!" Yin Jun raised the milk tea cup in his hand.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity!" Zemeckis raised the coffee cup, so excited that he didn't even notice the coffee dripping out.

"I hope we can win together!" This is what Spielberg said as a businessman.

The three cups clinked together, and laughter echoed around them.