Chapter 45: Come Work Alone with Me

"Daniel, are you kidding?"

John's expression was exaggerated and he pointed at Wu Yuan in a shocked tone: "Hey, "Juno" has exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars in North American box office, and its release in other countries around the world is about to begin.

"You're telling me now that you don't plan to continue making movies in Hollywood and want to go back to China to make a literary film?"

"Are you crazy?"

John really can't understand Wu Yuan's thoughts.

Originally, he came to him today to represent the company and offer some better conditions to Wu Yuan in order to persuade him to accept Fox Searchlight's investment in Wu Yuan's new movie.

In fact, Fox Searchlight also knows this.

If Wu Yuan is just a director who can make movies with tens of millions of dollars in box office, then Fox Searchlight can still win over Wu Yuan.

But now that "Juno" is about to exceed 100 million U.S. dollars at the North American box office, Wu Yuan, the director who single-handedly created this movie, can no longer be won over by a company that specializes in small and medium-cost film production.

Hollywood is really big when we say it is big, but it is really small when we say it is small. All the major production companies are in the same circle.

The parent company 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner and other six Hollywood majors contacted Wu Yuan privately, and Fox Searchlight is also very aware of it.

John originally thought that Wu Yuan would climb to the top of 20th Century Fox or Warner, and then like Wu Baige in Hong Kong, he would cooperate with the six major Hollywood companies and launch a charge into the world of international first-line directors.

As the person who single-handedly brought Wu Yuan to Hollywood, John is quite happy for Wu Yuan and hopes that he can shine in Hollywood.

He just didn't expect that he would hear such words from Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan's next movie is actually going to be shot in China, and it will be a literary film with an all-Chinese cast.

This is absolutely crazy.

"Daniel, what you should do now is continue to expand your influence in Hollywood. The popularity of "Juno" does not mean anything. You need at least 2-3 consecutive films to be successful in Hollywood. Wu becomes a real first-line director!”

"Look at John Woo from Hong Kong. After his "Mission: Impossible 2" became a hit, he immediately took over "Windtalkers". This is a war blockbuster with an investment of US$110 million!"

"Do you think he has ever thought about returning to Hong Kong Island to develop his career?"

John said it very euphemistically, but the meaning was very clear.

A Chinese director who has been successful in Hollywood doesn't even like the Hong Kong market and chooses to continue working hard in Hollywood. Wu Yuan actually plans to return to China to make movies. Isn't this a disease?

"Hey, John, listen to me first." Wu Yuan rubbed the root of his nose helplessly, asked John to sit down, and patiently explained to him: "I didn't say I wouldn't come to Hollywood to make movies in the future. ”

"The script of "The Embalmer" is very important to me. I plan to use this movie to compete for awards, so I must go back and make this movie well.

"NO, that's not a reason." John shook his head: "'Juno' is now on the road to winning awards, and the company plans to do its best to publicize 'Juno' for this year's Oscars."

"And even if you want to win awards, wouldn't it be better to shoot in Hollywood?"

"There are many outstanding actors in Hollywood, and there are countless actors who have won the top three awards in Europe or Oscar winners and queens."

"And I'm sure they'd be happy to take your role!"

"You don't understand!" Wu Yuan also shook his head: "I am a Chinese. Even if I am competing for awards, I should make Chinese-language films to compete for awards, not foreign-language films."

"And China also has many excellent actors. I believe they can also perform this movie well."

Wu Yuan's thoughts were not shaken by John at all. From the beginning to the end, he never planned to be a director in Hollywood for a long time and work as a tool for others.

However, Hollywood's current global influence is indeed second to none, and he does not want to completely give up the olive branch of Hollywood.

The domestic film market is currently developing at a very average level. To be precise, it has not yet begun market-oriented development, so Wu Yuan will indeed continue to work in Hollywood for a while in the next few years.

But this does not mean that he will give up his domestic work.

Wu Yuan has thought about it. At least before 2008, he will try his best to take care of both ends. He will shoot one film in Hollywood and one in China, and so on.

The films shot in Hollywood are mainly commercial films that make money.

I have to admit that commercial films are still easier to gain popularity and influence than literary and artistic films.

Whether it's Spielberg or Nolan, their real global fame relies on commercial blockbusters, not literary and artistic films.

As for Chinese-language films, he will keep making one film every two years, but for the time being, he will mainly focus on literary and artistic films for the sake of winning awards.

On the one hand, he is a Chinese director. It is really unreasonable for him to compete for awards with a foreign language film made entirely of foreigners. His teachers, Professor, Director Han of China Film and Television, and others will be disappointed.

On the other hand, the domestic film market was indeed not big 10 years ago, and this is not something he can change.

It will take at least until after 2008 for the domestic film market to support real commercial blockbusters. At that time, he will completely shift his focus back to China and make his own commercial blockbusters.

In this way, he can earn fame and fortune, and his status can be improved. Awards and box office can go hand in hand, which is extremely stable!

Wu Yuan told John all his ideas, except that he would shift his focus back to domestic and overseas after 2008.

After listening to his clear career plan, John's face was no longer so ugly, and he gradually understood Wu Yuan's ideas.

Not to mention, after calming down and thinking carefully, John also thought that Wu Yuan's idea was good.

Chinese films are still very good in the field of art films, at least the three major European film studios often see Chinese films winning awards.

Wu Yuan chose to make art films in China and commercial films in Hollywood, and it cannot be said that this choice was wrong.

Of course, Wu Yuan was willing to talk about these with John, not because of how good their relationship was, but because he had other ulterior motives.

After explaining his own story, Wu Yuan turned the conversation to John, "John, Juno is a big hit at the box office, you got a lot of bonuses, right?"

When John mentioned this, his face became happy, "Haha, thanks to you, the company gave me a bonus of 500,000 US dollars!"

For a movie with a box office of over 100 million US dollars, it is already very good to give the producer a bonus of 500,000 US dollars. At least John is still very satisfied.

However, when he heard this number, Wu Yuan's mouth curled up immediately.

"John, this is what it's like to work for someone else. We worked together to create a movie that grossed over 100 million, but you only got a bonus of $500,000. Don't you think this is too little?"

"Have you ever thought that we can work on our own?"

Putting down the teacup in his hand, Wu Yuan danced and said, "I'll write the script, and you'll produce it. With your connections in Hollywood, we can make the movie independently, and then find a distribution company to cooperate with."

"For a movie like this, we can get more than 40% of the profit, which is much more than being just a producer or director!"

John's expression froze, and he stared blankly at Wu Yuan who was drawing a blueprint, "Are you serious?"