Facing Li Ziwei's question, Li Mu smiled and answered: "The plot setting of the original "Infernal Affairs" is still very brilliant. 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, and I'm very impressed."
"Actually, what this thing sells is a setting. If I make a random movie and there are a lot of dinosaurs in the real world, the audience will definitely ask what the hell is this plot? Is it too unreasonable to have dinosaurs come in for no reason? 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. For example, where did dinosaurs come from? Scientists found a piece of amber from In the film, a prehistoric mosquito was found. Before this mosquito turned into amber, it happened to suck the blood of a dinosaur, so scientists extracted the DNA of the dinosaur from its belly and then bred the dinosaur. This setting made the audience accept and It amazed the audience, so it had the foundation for success, and Hollywood then made an entire series around this setting, "Jurassic Park";"
"I probably understand..."
"Do you know "Resident Evil" was 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 called Umbrella developed a virus that can turn people into zombies. Then the virus spreads and the entire world is reduced to scorched earth. It is this core setting that makes players and audiences feel refreshed, so I believe that Hollywood will 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 that it pioneered the undercover versus undercover story mode where both black and white sides placed undercover agents in each other's camp, right?"
"Correct answer!" Li Mu snapped his fingers and said with a smile: "In the past, most of the movies with undercover elements involved the police going undercover in the gangsters' camp and trying to catch all the gangsters, 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 gangsters 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 completely opposite to A has been added. We can call it Type B plot. ;
In this way, "Infernal Affairs" has a setting that is different from previous police and gangster movies. It has become a movie with a type A plot and a type B plot. In the core setting of "Infernal Affairs", there are also There is a very exciting setting, that is: the undercover police officers and the undercover gangsters, while completing the tasks required by their original undercover identities, must also find each other. This is equivalent to Category A, In addition to the B-type plot, an AB-type plot was added, which suddenly made "Infernal Affairs" a wonderful blockbuster with A, B and AB-type plots. This is the whimsical idea of the Hong Kong screenwriter, and it is a very, very good one. An amazing initiative. Therefore, I believe that the reason why Hollywood wants to buy the rights to this movie is because of the core setting of this genius, rather than the depth, humanity and Buddhist fatalism behind it. "
Li Ziwei feels that she has been successfully brainwashed by Li Mu. This feeling is that no matter what Li Mu says, she will find it reasonable...
At this time, Li Mu stretched out and said: "The original version of "Infernal Affairs" stands at the end of Chinese culture, but its core settings are actually very close to the front end. This set of settings is more than what we can understand. , every audience with a normal IQ over the age of ten in the world should be able to understand it. Therefore, if I want to remake it, I must first refine its core settings, and the rest is to fill in the specific plot. Let it be traced back to the front end of culture to find more commonalities with other ethnic groups.”
Speaking, Li Mu added: "For example, we cannot make the characters, plot, and the tone of the entire story too dark and gloomy. The relationship between the characters must be clear, and the characters' personalities and conflicts must be clear. Good people are good people, bad people are bad people, and bad people do not have to be there. Finally, I want to be a good person;
For example, we must implement simple, crude and direct presentation techniques, with less showing off skills, less sensationalism, and less conveying personal values;
For example, we cannot put anything Buddhist into the remake, and even any religious content must be avoided as much as possible;
For example, although good people can die miserably, we cannot let bad people go unpunished... "
…
Huanya received the message from Makino's image, and they clearly conveyed Li Mu's attitude to the other party. This also meant that Huanya did not need to bargain with Li Mu anymore, because Li Mu no longer wanted it, even if it was given away for free. .
Originally, Uniasia wanted to use the copyright in hand to bargain with Li Mu, but unexpectedly, Li Mu directly rejected their request, even withdrew the previous offer and terminated the cooperation.
Only then did Universal Asia understand that they thought that the whole world wanted the overseas distribution rights of "Infernal Affairs", and Li Mu was certainly no exception, but Li Mu's interest in the film was really not as strong as they imagined.
why
Huanya is also thinking hard about this issue.
Li Mu is a master 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 every aspect. Why is Li Mu so uninterested in it? Woolen cloth
However, if Li Mu was really not interested in "Infernal Affairs", why did he spend US$3.5 million to buy the English remake rights of "Infernal Affairs" from Warner at a high price? This matter is really too contradictory, right
While Uniasia was scratching its head over this issue, Li Mu was already in his office, holding a video conference with several people in charge of DreamWorks.
Spielberg is currently filming "Flying Tigers" in Yunnan Province. He specially arranged the filming rhythm for the day and took time to participate in this video conference.
As for other DreamWorks leaders, in order to accommodate Li Mu's time, they got up at around four o'clock in the morning local time in the United States, put on their ties and suits, and sat in front of the computer.
The video conference uses the Pro version of YY group video. The so-called Pro version means Professional, which is also the so-called "professional version" in the software field. However, the Pro version of group video does not require users to download the YY client separately. The Pro version of the group video Video uses an additional paid "value-added service". As long as users purchase the upgraded service, they can enjoy faster and more stable global video direct connections. For communications across oceans like this, the Pro version can achieve the greatest degree of stability. Smooth.
As soon as the screen came on, several Hollywood big shots greeted Li Mu one after another. Li Mu smiled and nodded in response. After greeting several people respectively, Li Mu went straight to the point and said: "Everyone, the reason why we want to hold this video conference is, It’s because I’m planning a film and television project recently. I think everyone should know that I have bought the English remake rights of “Infernal Affairs” from Warner Bros. Next, I am going to start preparing for this project immediately. I don’t know if DreamWorks has Not interested in cooperating with me?"
The CEO of DreamWorks immediately said: "Mr. Li, DreamWorks' willingness to cooperate with you has always been very strong, and we also have an in-depth cooperation foundation with Makino Ticketing System, so no matter what film and television project you plan to launch, Mr. Li, DreamWorks will Be 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 big bosses who need money and resources, the entire Hollywood will do the same thing, that is, keep them locked in Hold his thigh firmly.
The management of DreamWorks very much hopes to be tied to Li Mu's image of Makino, which also means that they can be deeply tied to Makino Technology and even to Li Mu, so this is a critical moment to show loyalty.
What Li Mu wanted was the "Boss, I'll mess with you from now on" attitude from DreamWorks, so he smiled with satisfaction and said, "In that case, let me talk about the cooperation model first."
Several DreamWorks bosses nodded: "Mr. Li, please speak."
Li Mu said: "First of all, I am going to tentatively set the budget of this movie at 100 million US dollars. I can give you a 50% investment discount, but your maximum share cannot exceed 25%. If you want to take 25%, you must follow Contribution is 12.5% of the actual investment. If you want 20%, then contribute 10%.”
In my previous life, the investment in "The Departed" was US$80 million, but there was a two-year difference. Remuneration and inflation also have a certain impact. In other words, if I invest US$80 million now, it will definitely be better than the US$80 million two years later. To have more purchasing power, there is no need to add an additional 20 million in costs, but in this life Li Mu has increased the budget for a big name like Tom Hanks, and also needs to increase some production funds, so the additional 20 million should be almost just right. on the horizontal line.
Leonardo and Tom Hanks reduced their salaries when they took over the filming of "Flying Tigers". It was their first time working with Li Mu, and this was also their attitude towards Li Mu, but Li Mu must remember this. Therefore, Li Mu's plan for the remake of "Infernal Affairs" was to give them both a normal salary, and at the same time give them a small percentage of the box office share, which was considered reciprocation.
At this time, several people from DreamWorks whispered a few words to each other, and then the CEO said: "Mr. Li, we will follow your instructions as to the specific proportion we take. We will invest as much as you say. As for the investment discount, we thank you. Your good intentions, but in terms of long-term cooperation, DreamWorks cannot always obtain this kind of additional benefits from you, so we hope to contribute according to the normal proportion."
When Li Mu pursues larger goals, he can naturally put interests second. In this way, in order to ensure the realization of the first goal, he is naturally willing to lower his expectations for the second goal, unlike some greedy people. Capitalists want to keep all the benefits to themselves.
Li Mu invested in the American version of "Infernal Affairs" not to make money, but to use this movie to win several Oscar awards and realize the Oscar dream on behalf of China Film and Television Company and China Capital first, so he is willing to give certain benefits to DreamWorks tilt.
But DreamWorks itself also has its own calculations. They don't want to take advantage of Li Mu and run away, but hope to be able to ride on his big ship and go further. The more this happens, the less they can take advantage. Therefore, they are also very clear They expressed their attitude and were unwilling to accept such a tilt of interests. As for the proportion, they also decided to respect Li Mu's intention, because if they took more, Li Mu might not really be willing, but if they took less, Li Mu would 80% will also feel that they are not sincere enough.
Li Mu knew their thoughts very well, nodded and said, "In this case, I won't be polite to you. DreamWorks will contribute 20% of the capital, and we will jointly produce and jointly distribute."
The CEO of DreamWorks immediately agreed: "OK! We have no objections!"
Spielberg asked Li Mu: "Mr. Li, do you have any thoughts about the director of this movie? I have seen Hong Kong's "Infernal Affairs" and it is a good movie, but to be honest, this movie may not be the same as mine. The style doesn’t quite fit.”
Li Mu nodded and said, "Steven, regarding the director, I would like to find Martin Scorsese to direct. What do you think?"
(End of chapter)