Chapter 256 267 [Piero’s Lifelong Spokesperson, Box Office Sells Well at Midnight]

The lights in the theater dimmed, a faint light began to appear on the screen, and soon the movie began to show.

Seeing the people around him gradually quiet down and look at the screen seriously, Li Yishu asked Li An who was sitting on his left, “How are your preparations going?”

Li An glanced sideways and said, “The crew is almost ready, and filming will start in about a week.”

“Did Kate lose weight successfully?”

“Yes, she succeeded in losing weight. She worked very hard. She started losing weight the day after the audition and has lost about ten pounds now. She looks just a little bit chubby and no longer looks overly plump like before.”

Li An was very satisfied with Kate Winslet’s ability to lose weight so quickly. In fact, he had already prepared to hand over the role to Fat Winslet. After all, Li Yishu said on the surface that he was fully responsible, but Li An himself was not sure.

Even though he is now the Golden Bear Award-winning director at the Berlin Film Festival, this award is not worthless in Hollywood, but it is definitely not worth tens of millions of dollars in investment.

Even Li Yishu got the opportunity to direct a 1.8 million US dollar film only after “Sword Rain” made million US dollars at the box office, not to mention that he also invested million US dollars in it. Who would dare to talk nonsense when joining the crew with money?
On the other hand, Li An has nothing except a Golden Bear Award. Maybe someone would invest in a low-cost independent film of two or three million yuan, but a film of tens of millions of dollars would definitely not be given to an art film director like him.

After all, it is actually rare for people to transform from art film directors to commercial film directors and achieve great success. The vast majority end up in failure, which is all too common in Hollywood.

“It’s fine as long as it’s suitable. Make a good movie. If this movie is successful, you can gain a firm foothold in Hollywood. Otherwise…”

Li Yishu did not tell the result, but Li An understood that if the movie failed, he would have only one way to go, and that was to return to Taiwan in disgrace.

“Oh, my god!”

“Is this a horror movie? There’s a huge explosion at the beginning, it’s too exciting.”

“…”

Suddenly there was an exclamation at the scene.

Li Yishu looked up and saw a plane explosion showing on the screen.

This shot used special effects and cost more than 100,000 US dollars. Judging from the reactions of the audience, the effect is still very good.

It turns out that movie fans love explosions these days.

It seems that the movie I’m working on with Jackie Chan this time can add some explosion scenes?

Li Yishu touched his chin. The explosion scene was actually very simple. There was a relatively mature explosion team in Hong Kong. Perhaps he could go back to Hong Kong to reshoot a few explosion scenes and then edit them in.

As the movie continued to show, the audience became visibly nervous. The invisible sense of oppression that was killing people made people so nervous that they could hardly breathe.

Monica Bellucci beside her also nervously grabbed the back of Li Yishu’s hand. Although she was the producer on the scene, it was her first time watching the finished film. The omnipresent horror of death made her inexplicably scared.

Looking at Monica, whose face was a little pale, Li Yishu leaned over and smiled, “Don’t be nervous, dear, it’s just a movie.”

“But it’s scary, isn’t it?”

Monica Bellucci turned her head to look at Li Yishu’s face, and said in fear: “Walking on the road, you can be cut in half by the glass of the advertising light box, and you can be electrocuted into charcoal while taking a shower…”

“Haha, this is just a movie, and the probability of this kind of accidental death is not even one in ten thousand.”

“But it’s really scary!”

“It’s mainly because these deaths are too realistic.”

Li Yishu smiled. He could understand Monica’s fear.

Because this movie really captures the weaknesses of human nature, and also captures the concept of a surreal plot.

What is a surreal plot?
It is the plot that is extended into reality through the movie.

For example, when watching Marvel movies, you will never feel that there are Thor, Hulk, or even immortal Superman in real life, because anyone with social experience would basically not believe it, unless they are crazy.

But surreal plots will not be like that. “Young and Dangerous” is a typical surreal plot movie. The plot in the movie does not give people a sense of exaggeration, but instead gives people a sense of real existence.

This is also why, among so many gangster movies in Hong Kong, only Young and Dangerous was criticized as a corrupting influence on a generation, because the director adopted a surreal plot shooting technique, which almost realistically restored the feeling of Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s with its numerous gangs.

Moreover, this movie over-exaggerates the hero, Chen Haonan. In the first movie, Chen Haonan had a great time. He dated beautiful girls, and plotted to kill the leader, Liang Kun. He successfully took the top position, and hundreds of his younger brothers shouted “Brother Haonan”.

It was also because the negative social impact brought about by the first film was so great that the main creative team was severely criticized, resulting in the subsequent series of films, where someone from the male lead group always had to die, either a brother or a girlfriend. Anyway, it tells everyone a truth: there is no good ending for being involved in gangs.

The movie “Final Destination” may seem like a horror thriller, but it is actually an alternative surreal movie. The various accidental deaths caused by the god of death in the plot are mostly real and possible in reality.

The probability of the glass of an advertising light box slipping and splitting a person in half may not be even one in a hundred thousand, but can we guarantee that it will never happen?
Even if people were not split in half, they were definitely killed.

There are even more cases of people being electrocuted to death due to improper use of electricity.

Speaking of the movie “Young and Dangerous”, Lee Yi-su knows that this movie series is very profitable, but it seems that it has not been filmed yet. Should she get a chance to take advantage of it?

He thought about it for a while, and finally shook his head. It would be a shame to make this money, so he decided to forget it.

And if necessary, Lee Yi-su thinks it would be better not to let the movie be made.

Because Li Yishu has really seen people who became gang members after watching this movie.

Although it cannot be said that this was entirely caused by the movie, the students were mentally retarded to begin with and liked to form groups of three or four as brothers. After watching this movie, they all started talking about the code of conduct in the underworld, and their final outcomes were not very good.

Isn’t there an old saying: Don’t read Water Margin when you are young, and don’t read Romance of the Three Kingdoms when you are old?

The reason why the Water Margin is so popular is that the older generation did not want young people to read it because there were too many plots about the Liangshan heroes being loyal to each other, as it would be easy for them to gather in groups and cause trouble.

“Young and Dangerous” can be regarded as a copy of Water Margin, and because of the film, it is even more deceptive.

The hour and a half movie went by quickly.

The film can be said to be full of interesting moments.

Anyway, all kinds of film critics and reporters have been giving positive reviews, which is nothing more than the role of red envelopes. But when Li Yishu saw these people leaving, one by one, away from the light boxes and the crowd, she knew that they were obsessed with it.

Around 3am.

Inside a mansion in Beverly Hills.

While Li Yishu was fighting on the front line, switching balls with his left and right hands, he received a call from David, the general manager of Golden Lion Pictures. “Boss, we got a total of $48 for the first show in the early morning. We succeeded!”

David on the other end of the phone was very excited.

April 4st was only a Friday, and the early morning show earned $1, which means today’s box office will definitely not be less than $48 million.

The box office on the first day on Friday was 400 million US dollars, and on the following Saturday and Sunday, I can’t say it will be much, but it can at least triple, which is 1200 million US dollars.

Compared to “Final Destination”, which had a total investment of only 200 million US dollars, it was definitely a huge profit.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll talk about it when I get back to the company tomorrow.”

Li Yishu hung up the phone and continued with the final 100-meter sprint.

As Monica raised her chin and made a high-pitched sound, Li Yishu couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, and then lay down exhausted.

It seems that I have played too much with Li Jiaxin these days. I have to take good care of myself when I return to the crew this time.

Monica Bellucci took a short break, thinking of the phone call just now, and asked curiously: “Dear, did you just report the box office of the first show in the early morning? How much was the total?”

“$48 million!”

Li Yishu wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up, picked up the water bottle beside him, took a few gulps and said, “If nothing unexpected happens, today’s box office will be at least 400 million US dollars.”

There are only more than 1000 screens for tonight’s midnight show, and it’s midnight on Friday. The first show can have a box office of nearly 50 US dollars, which is actually quite good.

“So we succeeded?”

Monica Bellucci’s eyes lit up. “Final Destination” was her first film as a producer. If it was a box office success, it would mean that she had successfully transformed from an actor to a producer.

“Well, it worked.”

Lee Yi-su said with a smile: “I estimate the box office for the first three days will be at least 1200 million US dollars, and it may be even more.”

The film has been marketing itself during this period, using gimmicks such as “true adaptation, mysterious death, and surviving several disasters” to attract fans.

In fact, this effect was indeed very successful, otherwise the box office would not have reached a good result of 48 US dollars at midnight on Friday.

You have to know that this is not the era of future expansion of cinema chains and increase of screens.

Achieving this result in the midnight show is equivalent to a big hit for a low-budget film.

“call!”

Monica Bellucci breathed a sigh of relief: “It’s OK as long as it succeeds. I was really worried that my first film as a producer would fail.”

“Haha, how could it fail? This is a script I wrote myself. I can’t say how much money it will make, but it will definitely not lose money.”

Li Yishu smiled. Although he didn’t know the exact box office of the first “Final Destination”, the global box office should have exceeded 1 million US dollars, because in the United States only movies that exceed million US dollars will have sequels, of course, ultra-low-cost films are not ruled out.

“Honey, you’re the best.”

Looking at the confident Li Yishu, Monica Bellucci suddenly remembered something: “Oh, dear, there is something I forgot to tell you.”

“what’s up?”

“Do you remember the owner of the Milanese handicraft shop who made that suit for you?”

“Piero handmade suit?”

Li Yishu was surprised and asked, “Why did you mention him so casually?”

“It’s all because of that suit that won three European gold medals.”

Monica Bellucci smiled and said, “Ever since you won many awards wearing suits made by Piero himself, some investors have noticed him. However, Piero insisted on making them by hand and looked down on these investors who didn’t understand art.”

“Until recently, Time magazine cut your three award-winning photos together. More and more investors came to Piero to seek cooperation. Not only investors, but also more than a dozen Italian luxury brands such as Prada, Gucci, and Fendi came to him, hoping to work with Piero to turn his brand into a luxury brand.”

Li Yishu raised her eyebrows: “Is it that easy to create a luxury brand?”

Although he didn’t understand luxury goods, he knew that if a luxury product was to be sold at a high price, it didn’t matter whether the design was good or not. What was important was the ability to tell a story and have so-called background. Only in this way could a “tape” be sold for a few thousand yuan and a colorful snakeskin bag for tens of thousands of yuan.

How does the saying go: Don’t ask for the best, but ask for the most expensive!
“I don’t know if it’s simple or not, but the name Piero is already qualified to be a top luxury brand.”

Monica Bellucci said: “You wore the same suit for the three times you won the award. Maybe it’s just an ordinary suit in your eyes, but in the eyes of others, it’s a symbol of good luck! And with a dedicated “spokesperson” like you, it shouldn’t be that difficult to turn Piero into a top luxury brand.”

“I’m not his spokesperson!”

Li Yishu smiled and said, “But if Piero is willing to give me a large sum of money, I would be willing to be his agent.”

He didn’t think too much about it, he just thought that the suit was given to him for free, and the style and quality were great. He couldn’t wear it normally, so he could only wear it during the film festival awards ceremony.

In the past three years, Li Yishu has worn that dress so many times that he can count on both hands. Besides, he is not one of those female stars who wears a new outfit every day, so he naturally would not be so extravagant as to change it after wearing it once.

“Piero actually came to you for endorsement.”

Monica Bellucci said with a smile: “But it’s not money, it’s shares.”

“Give me shares?!”

“Yes, he is prepared to give you 5% of the shares and make you the lifelong spokesperson for his Piero brand.”

Hearing this, Li Yishu thought for a while and asked, “Do you think Piero can succeed?”

Monica is Italian and used to work as a model, so she is at the forefront of fashion. Plus, she studied law in college, so she has some experience.

Monica Bellucci thought for a moment and said, “Armani has only been established for less than 20 years, and now it has become a famous Italian luxury brand with a certain influence around the world.”

“If Piero wanted to turn the brand into a top luxury brand alone, it would definitely be difficult. But with your participation and finding an experienced luxury company to cooperate with, the chances of success are still very high.”

(End of this chapter)