Chapter 1519
Unexpected Changes
They are monitoring external developments in real time while simultaneously handling Meituan's affairs.
He understood that Hua Yi was trying to lower his guard and buy him time.
You want to delay, and so do I.
Zhang Yuan wanted to wait until he had completed about 7% of his business with Meituan before he could personally handle the cooperation matters with Legendary Pictures.
Just have your subordinates keep an eye on things and keep in constant contact with the other party's headquarters.
Progress is going relatively smoothly, and the contract for the Pacific Rim project has been negotiated into the later stages.
He always felt something was off.
Why is everything so normal this time?
Is Huayi really not going to get involved?
My conversation with Legend went very smoothly.
Information obtained from Feng Xiaogang also confirms that the other party has no intention of investing in "Pacific Rim".
He had no doubt about that.
Because most Hollywood studios don't value movies featuring mecha monster brawlers.
Otherwise, Legend wouldn't have had financing problems.
Especially now that Marvel movies are gaining momentum, with the first Avengers movie being released.
All major film and television companies have launched their own "universe" plans.
But most of them failed.
Warner's DCEU is a prime example; they squandered a winning hand.
Universal Pictures is planning a "Monster Universe," with the first film, "Dracula Untold," already in the works.
Later, they planned series such as "The New Mummy" and "Frankenstein," and ultimately wanted to have vampires, mummies, and monsters have a big melee.
Actually, back in 03, 20th Century Fox produced a monster crossover movie called "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen".
Starring Sean Connery, the film includes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo and the Nautilus from *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea*, a female vampire, Dorian Gray, the immortal man who seals his soul in an oil painting from Oscar Wilde's classic *The Picture of Dorian Gray*, the Invisible Man, and two male leads, one old and one young, from *King Solomon's Treasure* and Mark Twain's *Adventures of Tom Sawyer*, respectively.
Originally, the male lead of this film was also planned to be 007, that is, James Bond, because Sean Connery had actually played 007.
However, MGM at the time disagreed and did not grant the copyright.
This hodgepodge, once served up, didn't exactly flop, grossing a little over 200 million at the box office.
But the costs were too high, and the company still lost a fortune.
Even though there are precedents, they still won't give up.
Indeed, the only lesson humanity has learned from history is that humanity learns nothing.
Marvel's success is due to its decades of IP management, a huge fan base, and the exceptional management and planning capabilities of Marvel Studios' top executives in the early stages.
President Kevin Feige is a man of authority and has a long-term vision.
Later, this guy was marginalized by Disney, who brought in a gay black older woman, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe immediately fell into chaos.
Legendary Pictures, on the other hand, is planning a "MonsterVerse".
They have already acquired the remake rights to works such as Godzilla.
Ultimately, apart from Marvel, only the legendary "MonsterVerse" has been able to generate stable profits.
Paramount's "Transformers universe" eventually went awry.
The reason why Legendary Pictures' "MonsterVerse" is profitable is the same as the reason why outsiders are not optimistic about it.
The main character is not human!
Both Pacific Rim and Godzilla feature human protagonists, but the highlights and focus are not on humans.
This is what sets them apart from other films.
But domestic films are all about promoting people, and they'd fight for even 5 seconds of screen time.
As a result, I didn't get as many shots as the mechs and monsters?
At that time, apart from Zhang Yuan, all domestic film and television companies were not optimistic about the "Pacific Rim" project.
I think it's childish, only for kids and otaku.
There's a common misconception in China that women are the main consumers.
They simply cannot imagine how terrifying a man's spending power can be once it is unleashed.
Especially after he came to his senses and stopped spending money on women, he realized how much more financially comfortable he had.
Zhang Yuan believes that almost no one would spend tens of millions of US dollars to invest in the film "Pacific Rim".
This is also why he was certain that Legendary Pictures would cooperate with him.
Just as I had a moment to spare, I received a call from Little Dragon Girl.
"Are you busy?" the other person asked in a playful voice as soon as the call connected.
"Not bad, what's up?"
"I've finished my last project, so I'm resting at home today."
"Mom went on a trip, and Auntie is sick and on leave."
"So no one is home."
"Oh, I see... then I'm not busy!" Zhang Yuan quickly replied.
There's no one home, so what's the point of talking? Just get out of here!
"Hehe, then I'll wait for you." The other person chuckled.
He immediately took a car and drove to the villa complex where the other party lived.
"You're here?" Hehe opened the door and tossed him a pair of slippers.
"Is there really no one here?" Zhang Yuan peeked out cautiously.
"Why would I lie to you?" The other person blinked and smiled slyly.
He went inside and looked around, making sure no one was there.
Then we won't take off!
But you sent me.
I won't leave any traces in your house today, even if I'm not feeling well.
He immediately swept her up in his arms and tossed her onto the large sofa in the living room.
"Hehehe... What are you doing?" After he pinned her hands down, she laughed and bit his shoulder.
"You can't do anything reckless."
Despite saying that, she still raised her hand to wrap around his neck, and the two kissed for a long time before their lips parted and they looked at each other quietly.
Why are your cheeks so red?
"Because you kissed me," she replied irritably.
"No, a healthy complexion is pink, but yours is a bit red and swollen."
"It must have been from filming before." She touched her earlobe.
I just finished filming the period epic "The Assassins".
She has many "affluent diseases," which are problems that poor people don't have.
For example, jewelry can only be made of pure gold or pure silver.
Those miscellaneous metal objects can cause allergic reactions when they are applied to the skin.
You'll know whether jewelry is real or fake within five minutes of wearing it.
Most of the jewelry used by the film crew was decorative.
Many of them look nice, but the actual materials are questionable, and people are afraid of them being stolen or lost.
Actresses, in particular, wear many accessories, and those made entirely of precious metals are very expensive.
As a result, she couldn't handle it as soon as she went there; on the first day, her ears and neck became red and itchy.
I had to spend my own money to have a whole set of jewelry made to solve this problem.
Many leading actresses even spend their own money to have their clothes custom-made, just to be more comfortable or look prettier while filming.
Those without money can only endure it.
So having money is great; it can solve 99% of problems.
"That's not right." Zhang Yuan thought for a moment after hearing what she said.
"Didn't you already make the jewelry yourself?"
"Yes, it's so beautiful! I even took it home to keep as a souvenir. Do you want to see it?" She wanted to show off her possession.
Zhang Yuanxin said that he also often "collects" props from the film crew.
But this is not the point.
"You're wearing sterling silver jewelry, so why is it still turning red?"
He then carefully touched the other person's cheeks and earlobes.
"It itches." She shrank her neck and twisted like an eel.
"It was probably left over from filming."
“My character has scenes where he gets beaten up.” She paused and recalled for a moment.
He had just returned from the film set and was already looking for him; the feeling hadn't faded yet... Zhang Yuan roughly understood.
But then I thought about it again and realized that wasn't right.
"With whom did you take the photo?"
"A male actor."
"Who am I asking?"
"Brother Fa".
Zhang Yuan nodded.
Who's so ruthless!
So it was you, you old rascal.
This guy is notorious for being ruthless on set, especially towards women.
When playing a vicious character, once the ruthlessness kicks in, the subordinates don't hold back.
Gong Li also suffered, and her face was swollen.
This time, the old man is playing Cao Cao, and he won't hold back either.
A real slap could leave this delicate face swollen for days.
"What are you going to do?" Little Dragon Girl quickly reminded him when she saw him narrow his eyes.
"Filming is filming. I'm a professional, and you're a professional too. You should understand that."
"It's inevitable to get injured while working."
"I even did the jumping-off-the-building scene myself."
"My back was bruised from being pulled by the wire."
"This is all normal." "You mustn't do anything reckless."
She spoke proudly about not using a stunt double.
Zhang Yuan lowered his gaze, indicating that he was proud of her.
As for Chow Yun-fat... we'll talk about that later.
After all, I'm not the kind of person who holds grudges.
"I heard that saliva can reduce swelling, so I'll just kiss you a few times and it'll be fine." He snapped out of his daze and started kissing the other person.
"You're lying."
The two played around for a while longer, and just as Zhang Yuan was about to act as the stripper, he was stopped by the other party.
"No." The other party raised the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger.
"This is the living room, and it's my family's living room."
"What's yours and mine? Aren't they all the same?"
"No...we'll talk about it when it gets dark," she said, making excuses.
"You go first, I'll show you my cat." She flipped over and broke free from his grasp.
Zhang Yuan felt that it wasn't good for women to be good at action scenes, because they couldn't control themselves.
I led him to the backyard of the villa, where there were many wooden shacks built specifically to house stray cats.
Liu Xiaoli usually spends money to hire people to take care of her and find people to adopt her.
There are now more than twenty of them.
At first glance, several rows of bright green eyes were staring at him.
"Hey." He squatted down to look, figuring out which one was the fattest and easiest to bully, and dragged it out to pet it.
Then Sisi handed him gloves and a small shovel from behind.
"doing what?"
"Since you're already here," she said, gesturing with her lips and looking into the distance.
He walked over and found several large cat litter boxes in a shed in the corner of the yard.
Zhang Yuan: ...
Liu Xiaoli isn't here, and Auntie is on leave, so it's my turn, right?
I said, "Since you're so enthusiastic, come to my house."
"You..." Just as he was about to complain, he saw that she had also come with gloves and a shovel.
Okay, at least I wasn't left to do it all by myself.
With over twenty cats, just feeding, drinking, and relieving themselves every day is a huge challenge.
Zhang Yuan put on a mask and asked questions as he worked.
The amount of money spent on cats in a year is at least tens or hundreds of thousands.
For her, this amount of money was just the cost of a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes.
drop by drop...
Halfway through my work, my phone rang in my pocket.
He took off his mask and answered the call.
"Hey?"
"Two of the foreigners you asked to keep an eye on have entered the country."
The airline replied to him.
"Okay, I see."
He put down his phone, a look of doubt on his face.
The Legend team didn't tell me anyone would be coming.
Hmm... Is this something else, or is there a problem?
He thought about it and decided to finish his work first, then contact the other party to sound them out.
He glanced at Sisi beside him, thinking that a few more hours wouldn't make a difference.
After cleaning up the cat litter, it took several large bags to finish.
"What are we having for dinner?" he asked after washing his hands.
"I don't want to go out. I just got home and want to rest for a while." She lazily lay down on the sofa.
"That's called takeout."
“My mom and aunt aren’t here, so I’ve already eaten takeout several times.”
“Let me see…” He turned around and opened the refrigerator.
Empty.
"So, you called me here just to take care of the cat and to have me cook, right?"
"No...hehehe." She covered her face and laughed.
No wonder he looked so smart the moment he saw me.
So they were plotting against me.
Ask your assistant to go to the market and buy some fish, shrimp, crab, or other things she likes to eat. They're easy to cook; just steam them and dip them in sauce.
They killed and prepared the meat, and it took a long time before it was served.
The big gluttonous cat hugged a pure black little gluttonous cat and sat down at the table together.
"Hey Hei, your brother will cook for you."
"How about Mom feeds you?"
Zhang Yuan: ...
Being from a lower generation means you'll suffer the consequences.
As she peeled shrimp and played with the cat, Zhang Yuan took off his heat-resistant gloves and was about to sit down when his phone rang again.
It was a call from Hong Kong.
"President Jiang, what's the matter?"
"Where are you?" Jiang Zhiqiang asked in a serious tone.
"What happened in the capital?"
"You've been in charge of the negotiations with Legendary Pictures, haven't you?"
"That's right, I personally contacted them and we are working on the contract."
“That’s not right!” Jiang Zhiqiang’s voice sounded strange.
"what happened?"
“I received a report from my subordinates that Huayi Brothers just held a press conference to announce a long-term strategic partnership with Legendary Pictures.”
Zhang Yuan: !!!
"Is it just a rumor, or..."
"It will be a public press conference, and the management team will be in attendance," Mr. Jiang replied confidently.
"I understand." Zhang Yuan calmed down.
What are you planning to do?
"I'll handle it."
"Don't act impulsively."
"I told you, I'll handle it," Zhang Yuan said, and then hung up the phone.
He walked to the table with a gloomy expression and sat down silently.
"What's wrong with you?" Little Dragon Girl felt a little flustered when she saw that he looked very unwell.
"Should I... not have called you over? I've been asking you to do this and that, but I think it's part of the fun."
She thought she was just tired and angry.
"The belly of the fish is the most tender, you eat it." She picked up her chopsticks, carefully took a piece of fish, dipped it in the sauce, and put it near his mouth.
“I did it in the first place…” He laughed in exasperation: “You know how to use someone else’s work to curry favor.”
"But no one took leaves from Guanyin's vase to offer to Guanyin."
"Okay, don't be angry."
"It's not because of you, it has nothing to do with you."
"Are you having trouble at work?" She breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly asked with concern, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
She dragged a chair over and sat down beside her.
"I have a question for you."
"If someone announces a relationship with you without your consent."
What would you do?
"What are you going to do?" Her cheeks suddenly flushed.
"If that's really the case, and we're close enough, then we should just accept it," she said, rubbing her hands together nervously.
She felt that Zhang Yuan's words had a hidden meaning, perhaps he was hinting at something to her.
“Yes, that’s true.” Zhang Yuan stroked his chin.
"So what if you don't want to admit... no, for example, there's a third party who doesn't want to admit it, and doesn't want you to admit it either?"
"What are you saying? I don't quite understand."
"Never mind." Zhang Yuan patted her head.
Try to regain your composure.
He anticipated that the other party would make a move, but the move came too quickly and too fiercely, exceeding his expectations.
Such a huge change has occurred in just a few days.
This caught him somewhat off guard.
Zhang Yuan closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
I was too optimistic about them.
It's okay, the sky won't fall.
Even if the sky is about to fall, I'll puncture it first!
He composed himself, reopened his eyes, and his expression returned to normal.
"Since things have come to this, let's eat first." (End of Chapter)