Chapter 19
Huang Bo, you son of a bitch!
After attending the Golden Rooster Awards, Lin Yu headed to Hollywood the very next day. After all, his breakthrough film was about to be released, and he needed to check how the movie was doing.
This left the reporters who wanted to interview him empty-handed once again.
Anyway, Lin Yu felt that the film was pretty much the same as the one in his previous life, maybe even better. He just didn't know if it could achieve the same miraculous box office success as the one in his previous life.
Meanwhile, top domestic directors are also preparing their new films. Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers", Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu", and Xiao Gangpao's "Cell Phone" have all been officially announced to be released during the Lunar New Year.
Lin Yu truly admires Zhang Yimou; his boundless energy is something even he admires. During this time, Zhang Yimou is not only filming a new movie but also preparing for the closing ceremony performance of the Olympics.
As for Chen Kaige, who had helped Lin Yu, it is said that the investment for his new movie has been secured, more than 300 million yuan. He found a project so easily, which made Lin Yu extremely envious. However, the preliminary preparations will take quite a long time, and if filming starts, it will be at least until next year.
On September 18, Lin Yu's "The Man from Earth" officially premiered in North American theaters.
It grossed $3800 million in its opening week.
William of Fox was so shocked he almost popped his eyes out.
"Are all Chinese directors this good at making movies these days? Or have Hollywood directors fallen behind the times?"
This wasn't just his opinion; it was the opinion of the entire Fox firm, and even the entire Hollywood system.
This movie, with an investment of less than $200,000 and a production cost of around $20,000, raked in nearly $40 million in its first week. What about those movies with investments of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars? Crap!
How much box office revenue will it need to gross by the time it leaves theaters?
How exactly was this amazing movie made?
This is a question that all the heads of Hollywood film studios are considering.
After a week of buzz, "The Man from Earth" saw its box office revenue surge to over $40 million in its second week, showing no signs of slowing down!
Curiosity is something everyone has. The more exaggerated the media reports, the more people will go to the cinema. Conversely, the more people watch the movie, the better the movie's ratings will be, and the more exaggerated the media reports will be. This is a virtuous cycle!
Of course, a movie that gets praised must have a certain level of watchability; otherwise, no matter how well it's promoted, it will only start strong but fade away. To achieve lasting success, a movie's reputation must stand out.
However, "The Man from Earth" has no shortage of positive reviews.
The most popular question in North America right now is: "How would you feel if you knew you had lived for 140 centuries?"
Just as Lin Yu was happily calculating how many US dollars he would earn each day in Hollywood, he suddenly received a call from Han Sanping.
"Kobayashi! I've seen the movie you made in Hollywood. To be honest, I really didn't expect you to achieve such great results..."
In short: Your new movie got screened!
Lin Yu couldn't help but sigh softly after hanging up the phone.
"Is she worried I won't come back? She even called me specifically, haha..."
After a month of release, "The Man from Earth" has grossed a total of $2.8 million in North America and other regions excluding China.
This brought Lin Yu, a young director from China, into the sights of major Hollywood film companies.
However, this highly anticipated director Lin ignored the offers from various film companies and only wanted to return to China.
After repeatedly declining William's kind invitation, Lin Yu finally boarded a plane back to China.
This time, Lin Yu's return to China was different from the last time. When Lin Yu returned to China last time, apart from Huang Bo, no one came to pick him up at the airport.
But this time... there's a little Ou!
"Brother Bo, Sister Xiao Ou, why did you two come together today?" Lin Yu asked as he got into the car.
"I'm sorry! She just sits around at the company all day doing nothing, so she came along to show off in front of you, her boss!" Huang Bo said with a smirk.
"What did you say, you dead neck? Don't you want to live anymore?"
Xiao Ou immediately exploded and then used the two-finger technique on Huang Bo.
"Hey! Don't pinch him, Sister Ou, we're driving!" Lin Yu said, barely able to suppress a laugh.
"Sister Ou, don't pay him any attention. He's just a blabbermouth. The company would have gone bankrupt long ago without you. We're hardly ever at the company anyway. You're the one who has to handle all the big and small things here!"
"What is she doing? Boss, you have no idea, she's gained a lot of weight. There are only about ten people in the company now, and all she does at work is drink tea and scold me. It was alright a while ago, because of the 'Lost in Thailand' thing, she could at least keep an eye on the box office and copyright issues in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But now, she's just fattening up every day."
Huang Bo completely ignored Xiao Ou, who was about to explode again, and kept recklessly flirting with death.
However, Lin Yu understood to some extent that they wanted him, the boss, to open the company for business.
Moreover, the revenue sharing for "Lost in Thailand" has been finalized. The box office revenue in Hong Kong and Taiwan totaled 20 million, plus more than 60 million from the mainland, for a total of more than 80 million in box office revenue sharing. Overjoyed, China Film Group generously allocated 3 million to Starlight Entertainment's account.
Originally, Lin Yu's 15% share (including the director's salary) would have been just over two million yuan, but unexpectedly, China Film Group gave him a whole number!
Therefore, Lin Yu's company now has more than 4.5 million yuan in working capital, which is enough for Lin Yu to make another movie.
"Brother Bo, you want to make a movie, right?" Lin Yu said directly.
Huang Bo immediately shut up, not expecting that Lin Yu had seen through his little thoughts.
"Hehe... I'm just killing time anyway! I don't get many scripts, and it's not right to keep eating at the company's cafeteria with Xiao Ou, so... hehe!"
"I knew it. Okay, I'll think about it and see," Lin Yu said with a smile.
"Hehe! That's great! Boss, if you make a movie, I'll act in anything, I'm not picky!" Huang Bo said with a beaming smile.
"Hehe, still not choosing? But speaking of which, I came back this time to prepare for my new movie. The film I made overseas is finished, and China Film Group has agreed to invest in my new film." Lin Yu thought for a moment and said:
"Hey! Boss, how much money did you make from your overseas films? I think I've heard them say your movies made overseas are pretty awesome!" Huang Bo suddenly asked with a grin, as if he had just remembered something.
"More than fifty million... US dollars!"
…Squeak…Bang…!
"Huang Bo! You son of a bitch! Your movie role is gone!"