Martin didn't sleep well all night, and by the next morning, the idea of ​​filming "Fatal Identity" was getting stronger and stronger. Although "Casino" was being filmed, he felt that if he missed "Fatal Identity" this time, he might be in trouble later.
If there is no chance, then wouldn’t those things I conceived yesterday be in vain?
After thinking about it, Martin decided to go to Universal Pictures again to see if he could win the film and television adaptation rights for "Fatal Identity".
…
Since they didn't have much time, Yu Dong and Cheng Yanqiu didn't go too far, they just walked around Los Angeles.
They were still playing in Disneyland when Yu Dong received a call from Jimmy.
“Someone’s going to make ‘Fatal Identity’.”
Jimmy said this when he came up. Yu Dong was a little surprised. He was not surprised that someone wanted to film "Fatal Identity", but he was surprised that Jimmy called him specifically to tell him about it.
When "Fatal Identity" was still being promoted, several companies expressed interest and hoped to discuss cooperation, but Jimmy never talked to them because they were all small companies.
"Jimmy, you have regressed, why do you still want to tell me such a thing?"
Jimmy smiled and said: "Isn't it because you are here? I have good news and I want to tell you."
Yu Dong heard the happiness in Jimmy's tone and asked doubtfully, "Isn't it because someone wants to film "Fatal Identity"? Why are you so happy?"
"This time it's different. It's a director I like very much."
"Who is it?" Yu Dong asked.
"Martin Scorsese, the director of "Driver" and "Goodfellas", have you seen these two movies?"
It turned out to be Martin, and Yu Dong also laughed. He had not only watched "The Big Brother" and "Goodfellas", but also watched Martin's "Casino", "Shutter Island", "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Wolf of Wall Street".
"The Departed", but these movies don't seem to be out yet.
"He came to talk to you directly?"
"No, the movie "Casino" he is filming now is produced by Universal, so he contacted me through Universal."
Yu Dong nodded, "What do you think?"
"I will definitely sell "Fatal Identity" for a good price."
“Have you never thought about investing?”
"No." Jimmy's answer was simple, "With the addition of the novel and Universal, the movie will definitely not lose money. But I don't think this movie can be a big seller. There are too many places where we need to spend money now.
There’s no need to get involved in this movie.”
Jimmy is a guy who can clearly distinguish everything. Although he likes Martin very much, he doesn't make decisions blindly.
There is a market for movies like "Fatal Identity", but they will definitely not be as big a hit as "Second World". If they invest, they should be able to make money, but it won't be huge.
"But you just said that Martin is filming "Casino", so after he picks up "Fatal Identity", he won't start it for the time being, right?"
"That's right, at least until October. Martin said that if there is a chance, he would like to meet you and talk to you about the script. What I mean is to wait until the cost of the film and television adaptation is negotiated before we talk about this matter." Jimmy said.
Yu Dong smiled and said, "Okay, just follow what you said..."
Just as he was talking, Yu Dong suddenly noticed something was going on with his wife, and said to Jimmy: "Let's not talk about it for now, something happened."
When Yu Dong was on the phone just now, Cheng Yanqiu was walking around by himself. Yu Dong never took his eyes off his wife. When he saw a foreign man talking to Cheng Yanqiu with a camera, he hurriedly hung up the phone on Jimmy.
After walking over, Yu Dong stood in front of Cheng Yanqiu, "Hello, what's the matter? I'm her husband, you can tell me if you have anything."
The man holding the camera was stunned for a moment, then showed a harmless smile, "Hello sir, don't get me wrong, I am a director. When I was taking pictures just now, I saw that your wife is very elegant, so I wanted to ask her if she has any temperament."
I have no plans to enter the entertainment industry."
Cheng Yanqiu stood behind Yu Dong, smiling and speaking in Mandarin, "Looks like a liar."
Yu Dong smiled and nodded, "It does look like it."
The man didn't understand what they were talking about, but seeing them laughing, he struck a chord while the iron was hot: "Sir, actually I think not only your wife, but you also have a very good image and are very suitable for entering the entertainment industry. I just talked to Universal
The film company has signed a movie, and it needs several Asian actors. Do you know Universal Pictures? The popular "Second World" was produced by them some time ago. This time my new movie, Spielberg
He will also serve as a producer."
"What's the name of your movie?" Yu Dong asked.
"Because you haven't agreed to participate, I can't tell you the name of the movie yet. I hope you can understand."
Yu Dong nodded and smiled: "It's understandable, it's a business secret. How long will it take for us to shoot and how much will we be paid? By the way, I don't know your name yet."
"My name is De Rossi Kennedy, what's yours, sir?"
"Oh, hello, De Rossi, my name is Jack and my wife's name is Ruth."
"Hello, Jack, Rose." De Rossi said with a smile, "You don't have many roles, but you are paid a lot. The supporting male role is worth 100,000 US dollars, and the supporting female role is 80,000 US dollars."
"Wow." Yu Dong showed a surprised expression, "Can it really be so much?"
"Of course, we are a big production team with an investment of over 50 million US dollars. What do you think? Are you willing?"
Yu Dong nodded impatiently, "Of course, we agreed. When can we be paid?"
De Rossi showed a hint of pride, "As long as you sign the contract, you will be paid 80% of the salary immediately. Of course, before that, you need to go to the hospital for a physical examination. After all, we are a regular crew and actors.
You need to ensure your health and avoid some strange diseases."
"It's understandable. Which hospital do I need to go to for a physical examination? There must be a designated hospital for people like you, right?" Yu Dong said.
De Rossi was so happy. This guy was so smart. He took out a card from his pocket and said, "This hospital is not far from here. It can be reached by car in ten minutes. Just report my name when you go there."
."
Yu Dong took the card and nodded, "Okay, we'll go tomorrow."
Cheng Yanqiu also said beside him, "When we get the physical examination report, you must sign a contract with us."
De Rossi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Jack and Ruth, these two characters must belong to you. There is my phone number on the card. If you have any questions, please contact me at any time."
"Oh, by the way, De Rossi." Yu Dong suddenly said again, "I have a friend who has always wanted to be an actor, but has never had the chance. I wonder if I can sign him too?"
De Rossi looked embarrassed, "But we only need two Asian actors."
"It doesn't matter, he is American."
"Oh, in that case, you can try it."
"However, I'm afraid that if I tell him, he will think I'm lying to him. I'll give you his phone number. You can tell him."
De Rossi nodded, "Okay."
Yu Dong smiled, took out a pen and wrote a number for De Rossi.
After finishing writing, Yu Dong also said, "Director, you must remember to contact him. He is very rich, so you can pay him whatever you want, as long as you give him a chance to act."
When he heard that the other party was very rich, De Rossi became excited and said, "Okay, I'll contact him when I get back in the evening."
"Well, let's go play first and see you tomorrow."
Then Yu Dong pulled Cheng Yanqiu away and walked away. The two of them walked away holding back laughter for a long time. Cheng Yanqiu finally couldn't help it and sneered, "I think his eyes were filled with tears when he heard that the friend you introduced was very rich."
Guang, it made me laugh so hard. But would anyone really fall for his clumsy deception?"
Yu Dong smiled and touched his wife's hair, "First of all, you are not short of money. Secondly, you have no movie dreams. Thirdly, your husband is me, so of course you will not be fooled. But others may not be able to withstand the temptation.
And he didn’t make any excessive demands, he just asked us to go for a physical examination, and many people would relax their vigilance.”
"He must have colluded with the hospital."
"Indeed, the reason is very simple, but many people just can't understand it, or simply don't want to think about it. They would rather have a delicious piece of pie fall on their heads."
"The number you wrote for him was probably made up."
Yu Dong showed a strange expression and shook his head, "No, the number is real."
…
Jimmy was so busy that he suddenly received a call. The caller claimed to be De Rossi, the director contracted by Universal Pictures.
When he first received the call, Jimmy was still thinking about what Universal was going to do, and why they sent a director he had never heard of to contact him.
Later, the other party said that he could be allowed to star in a certain movie, as long as he went to a certain hospital for a physical examination.
Jimmy knew he had met a liar.
The other party also said something about Jack, Rose, and Jimmy whom he didn't know at all. He didn't say much to the other party. He sent a few words starting with "F" to the other party and then hung up the phone.
Jimmy is busy negotiating with Universal Pictures about the film and television adaptation of "Fatal Identity". Jimmy only wants the copyright fee, and Universal Pictures certainly agrees. After all, this is the easiest way.
However, there is no agreement yet on the amount of the copyright fee. Jimmy advocated for 1.8 million US dollars, but Universal Pictures was only willing to pay 1 million US dollars. The difference between the expectations of the two parties was 800,000 US dollars.
Of course, this is normal. One party asks for a high price, and the other party pays back the money. Business requires a negotiation process. If you hit it off right away, both parties will definitely regret it later.
However, neither party wants to delay it too long. Universal Pictures is afraid that if other competitors get involved, they will become passive. Jimmy wants to get the money early and start the next plan quickly.
Finally, the day before Yu Dong was to return to China, the two sides reached a consensus.
In the end, the licensing fee for the film and television adaptation of "Fatal Identity" was US$1.5 million. If Universal Pictures does not remake it within the next five years, the copyright will automatically be taken back by YU.
In addition, Universal Pictures also added an additional $300,000 in order to name Yu Dong as the screenwriter.
Since it was only in name, Yu Dong didn't have to do anything, but before leaving, he still met with Martin Scorsese and chatted with him about the script.
When Martin took out a dozen pages of A4 paper filled with words, Yu Dong was very surprised. It seemed that Martin was really prepared.
These pieces of paper are filled with Martin's ideas for the script.
Of course, Yu Dong couldn't read every page carefully. Martin explained to him: "There are only seven characters in the novel. I think it is a bit too few for a movie, so I decided to add a few characters. The temporary idea is
Add three to seven more. Of course, the background must be changed to the United States. What I want is to change it to a remote town. I plan to keep the rainy night element..."
After listening to it for about once, Yu Dong couldn't help but sigh, a famous director is a famous director, and his work is truly extraordinary. When Yu Dong writes commercial novels, he will definitely take some basic things into consideration, such as the three elements of the novel and its composition.
The four parts of the novel.
The three elements are characters, plot, and environment. The environment is divided into human environment and natural environment.
Four components: beginning, development, climax, and ending.
These are junior high school knowledge, but you have to think about it, because in general, these are the things in novels.
And what Martin gave - can't be considered a script, because it's all fragmented, but even so fragmented, Martin has divided every part of the script.
The entire movie is divided into a typical four-act format. The opening first attracts attention, and then arouses emotions. When entering the second act, the audience should have expectations...
Yu Dong has been studying script writing recently, and he benefited a lot from a casual chat with a master like Martin.
"However, I have never been able to figure out how to deal with the names and numbers in the novel. Jimmy mentioned before that they could be named after the Roman gods, but I don't think it works very well."
Yu Dong smiled and said, "Don't you want to set the background in a small town? You can be more specific. Everyone gathers in a hotel, and then they live in different rooms, with room numbers from one to ten or eleven.
, the specific number depends on how many characters you arrange. Then the order of death of the characters can be related to these numbers."
Martin stared at Yu Dong and blinked. He originally just casually mentioned the difficulties he encountered and did not ask YU to help him solve it. But what he didn't expect was that YU immediately came up with a good idea.
"YU, since you thought of these, why didn't you include them when you wrote the novel?" Martin asked doubtfully, "Didn't you consider these at the time?"
Yu Dong explained with a smile, "Because novels are different from movies, I don't need to use these to serve my theme. If these designs are used too much to arouse readers' emotions, it is likely to weaken the psychological description in the novel."
"But the script you are adapting now is different. I can feel that you want to highlight the suspense in it and give the movie a continuous sense of tension. Then these things can be added."
Yu Dong didn't say the rest. If Martin wanted to increase the suspense, he would have to discard some things, such as the discussion of family, school, and youth in the novel.
This choice is not right or wrong, and Martin is also responsible for his own work.
And what Yu Dong just mentioned is actually the design in the original "Fatal Identity" movie.
But Martin didn't know this. He couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Yu Dong: "YU, it makes sense that every novel you write is a best-seller."
Then he said with excitement: "What do you think about the way each character dies? My idea is..."
For the next half day, Martin and Yu Dong discussed the script in great detail.
Later, when Yu Dong sent Martin off, Martin held Yu Dong's hand and sighed, "Actually, the screenwriting should be left to you."
Yu Dong smiled and said, "I can only make some trivial suggestions. I mainly rely on you, Mr. Scorsese."
"Chinese people are indeed very humble." Martin smiled and waved goodbye to Yu Dong.
He was in a good mood, at least the wait these days had not been in vain.
After seeing Martin off, Jiang Jie said at the side, "The 300,000 spent this time around the world is really worth it."
Isn't it worth it? Originally, Universal Pictures only wanted to let Yu Dong have a name. Thinking of Yu Dong's hard work and hard work, Jiang Jie watched the whole process and saw a complete script slowly coming out.
Yu Dong himself didn’t feel much. Even if Universal Pictures didn’t give him screenwriting fees, he would try his best to help when Martin came over. And if it was worth it, Yu Dong’s meeting with Martin this time was worth it, because he really never
I learned a lot from Martin.
In addition to novels, he will definitely write some scripts in the future. The last time he collaborated with Bi Feiyu on "Shake, Shake", it was just a practice. Later, he will have to start some serious plans.
He wanted to reproduce some excellent movies, but he couldn't write a novel for each movie. It was most efficient to write the script directly.
Yu Dong looked at Jiang Jie again, "How have you been these past few days? I followed Jimmy around for a while. What do you think?"
In the past few days, Yu Dong and Cheng Yanqiu were having fun, but Jiang Jie was not idle. He spent most of the time learning from Jimmy.
Jiang Jie said with a smile, "Mr. Ji is very busy. I feel like he uses all his time separately. But it is precisely because he is so busy that I can learn from him. At the same time, I also realize my own shortcomings. I will definitely do it in the future."
…”
Yu Dong waved his hand, "No need to say any clichés. I'm just asking casually. It's up to you to learn more or less. I think you should understand this."
"I understand." Jiang Jie nodded, "That's why I don't dare to slack off for a moment.
"Well, I've worked hard for you during this period. Let's take two days off after returning to China. By the way, is there any news in the United States recently?"
Jiang Jie began to report: "The entertainment industry is basically all about the Academy Awards. ABC made a special episode in which you, Mr. Yu, were mentioned and a scene was given. In addition, many news
While reporting on "Second World" winning six awards and beating "Forrest Gump", Madonna's filming of a bullfighting music video was protested by environmentalists, Winona's new movie "Resident Evil" will be released in the summer, and her ex-boyfriend John
Nee Depp will also have a new movie coming out in April..."
"Wait, what's hers?"
"Ex-boyfriend."
"Winona was in a relationship with Johnny? And then they broke up?"
Jiang Jie nodded, "According to the information I collected, Winona and Johnny were engaged before and broke up the year before last. Winona's current boyfriend is the lead singer of Soul Refuge..."
Yu Dong didn't want to listen to these gossips, but he finally understood what he said before that stopped Winona from continuing the conversation. It turned out that he and Depp still had such a past.
"Next time, don't collect gossip about these celebrities... Even if you collect it, don't report it to me."
Jiang Jie nodded, "I will pay attention to filtering information later."
…
After Yu Dong and the others returned to Golden Arts, they learned that the Academy Awards had been a hot topic in China during this period. A lot of news was reporting that "The Second World" swept the Oscars and won six awards.
Domestic readers don’t understand the Oscars either, and they just believe whatever the news says.
The news also said that Yu Dong also won an award.
This is actually true, and he did go on stage to receive the award with others. However, the specific circumstances were not reported in the news.
This is the same for domestic and foreign media. They only report news that is beneficial to them.
Foreign media are bragging about "The Second World" because Universal Pictures paid publicity fees, while domestic media simply know that such reports are what domestic readers love to watch.
The Academy Awards are given every year, so why are they so popular among domestic audiences this year? Isn't it because of "The Second World" and because of Yu Dong?
So it is definitely right to direct the news to Yu Dong.
After Yu Dong returned to school, he first went to the dormitory to put down his things, and then went to the new house to see the progress of the decoration. The floor had been transported and the masters were ready to install it. Once the place was installed, there were not many processes left.
If everything goes well, they can move in in two months.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After seeing the decoration, Yu Dong came out of the new house, and Yu Hua just came out of the house, and was about to light a cigarette when he saw Yu Dong.
"You're back?"
Before Dong Dong could answer, Yu Hua shouted again, "Feiyu, Yu Dong is back."
In just ten seconds, Bi Feiyu ran out of the house, "Hey, you are really back. Where is your little golden man?"
"What little golden man?" Yu Dong rolled his eyes.
"The news said that you won an Academy Award. Didn't the winner have a statuette?"
"No, it's just that the movie won an award, I personally didn't win."
Bi Feiyu smiled and said, "I see, we were all saying before that you didn't win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but you won an Oscar first. It seems you still have to work hard."
Yu Dong said disdainfully, "It's just Oscar, will I see it?"
Bi Feiyu poked Yu Hua with his hand, "You're right. This guy went crazy after attending the award ceremony."
Only then did Yu Hua light up his cigarette and said with a smile, "This is the bad habit of capitalism. Now that he is back, we must correct him in time."
"How to bring order out of chaos?" Bi Feiyu asked.
"Invite him to a meal and let him bleed. The blood contaminated by capitalism must be drained from his body, so that he can change his ways and start a new life."
"I think it will work." Bi Feiyu nodded.
Yu Dong was amused by the two of them, "It's easy to talk about eating, but Yu Hua, have you written too much about selling blood recently? Everything can be related to bloodletting. By the way, Yu Liang asked you to go on TV, how about it?"
"
"It's not released yet, "Alive" has just started selling."
"Have you started selling "Alive"? How is the situation?"
Yu Hua shook his head, "General."
Then he may feel that the word "average" is not appropriate, and adds: "Not ideal."
Bi Feiyu on the side felt that "not very ideal" was not very appropriate, so he added for Yu Hua: "It is very unsatisfactory. Yesterday we went to the bookstore to buy books... He insisted on dragging me to buy books, so I followed him, and we
The two of us stood in the bookstore for a long time, and one copy of "To Live" was sold. When Yu Hua came back in the evening, he couldn't even eat."
"Don't talk nonsense. I can't eat anything. I ate three bowls of rice last night!"
Yu Dong smiled and comforted, "Actually, it's not bad. Think about it, if a bookstore sells one book in half a day, it will sell two books that day. A thousand bookstores will sell two thousand books in a day. It's a real bestseller."
Novels, in this market now, who else can sell them better than you?"
Yu Hua looked at Yu Dong, "It seems that I have to bleed you properly tonight, otherwise you will be broken to the bone soon."
Yu Dong smiled and waved his hand, "Haha, no kidding, I will take you to have hot pot tonight. In addition, Yu Hua, let me tell you some good news. "To Live" will be published in France. We have already contacted the local publishing house.
It’s settled.”
"Really?" Yu Hua couldn't believe it.
"You should know. Didn't you sign a carte blanche contract with Jimmy before, asking him to negotiate and sign the contract with the French publishing house on your behalf?"
Yu Hua thought for a while and said, "There seems to be such a contract, but there were more than one signed at that time, and there were many commission contracts. I thought it was just to prepare for the future, but how could I have imagined it so soon? He had already found someone to translate it?
"
"Of course, you think Jimmy is just doing the job. Well, I've told you this, you don't have to worry about domestic sales..."
"I'm not worried."
Yu Dong curled his lips and said, "Okay, you don't have to worry about it, I do. Just write your new book well, I'm still waiting to read it. Don't forget to go have hot pot tonight."
Chapter completed!