Hearing this, Li Mu's eyes were already red.
Not only him, but Liu Shixiong, who was sitting next to him, also had tears in his eyes. Anne Hathaway did not say a word, but her face was already full of tears.
No one had expected that a casual story from Spielberg would move everyone at the table to such an extent.
Anne Hathaway's big eyes were full of tears. She choked and asked Spielberg, "Director Spielberg, the lonely old lady in the last scene is the American nurse in Flying Tigers, right?"
Spielberg nodded gently. "That's right."
Li Mu took a deep breath and raised his head. It took him a long time to hold back his tears. Finally, he held back his tears and asked Spielberg solemnly, "Steven, how long will it take to make this movie?"
Spielberg said, "Putting aside the cast, based on the cost of manpower, resources, and prices in China, I believe that the production cost of the movie should not exceed 50 million US dollars. It is very likely that 35 million US dollars will do a good job. However, there is a lot of room for fluctuation in the cost of actors. It mainly depends on the casting."
Li Mu said without hesitation, "The first male lead must be Tom Hanks, and the third male lead must be Leonardo DiCaprio. I hope Anne can play the role of the nurse in Flying Tigers, and some good Hollywood supporting actors."
As soon as Li Mu's voice fell, Anne Hathaway, who had been crying sadly, hurriedly waved her hand and said in a panic, "Mr. Lee, this role is too heavy. I can't handle it …"
Li Mu looked at her and asked, "Why can't you handle it? You definitely can't handle the old female nurse, so you have to leave it to the makeup artist. But no one is more suitable than you for the young female nurse! "
Anne Hathaway subconsciously blurted out, "Mr. Lee, I … I'm afraid that I can't play such a role well and bring shame to the whole movie …"
"That won't happen." Li Mu said confidently, "Annie, I believe in my judgment. This movie, this role, in my opinion, is tailor-made for you!"
Spielberg couldn't help but nod and say, "Annie, Mr. Lee is right. This role belongs to you!"
Anne Hathaway looked at Spielberg and then at Li Mu. Seeing the determination and encouragement in their eyes, she couldn't help but nod with tears in her eyes. She clenched her fists and said, "Then I'll do my best to play this role …"
"This is the attitude I want!" Li Mu nodded slightly, then asked Spielberg, "Steven, what's the budget for a cast like this?"
After a brief hesitation, Spielberg said, "According to Hollywood's price, the actual remuneration of the two actors should be around USD 35,000,000. Annie's remuneration is slightly lower, but it's at least around USD 40,000,000."
Li Mu nodded. USD 40,000,000 was expensive, but it wasn't that he couldn't afford it. It mainly depended on whether the story was good or not.
Li Mu personally approved of Spielberg's idea for the script. In his opinion, whether it was in terms of historical gravity or war scenes, the script could definitely be counted as one of the bigger themes in war movies. The story elements spanned across the Eastern and Western hemispheres, the two races, Hua Xia and America, different cultures, different histories, and different values. In the end, they joined hands to fight against the fascists for freedom and liberation. Such a story was very rare in history.
Most of the World War II movies in the Western world were adapted around the story of the entire European battlefield of World War II. Although Americans helped Britain and France to fight against Germany, in the final analysis, it was white people helping white people. The United States and Britain were of the same origin hundreds of years ago. From this point of view, the story of the Flying Tigers was more magnificent and soul-stirring than the story of Americans landing in Europe.
Moreover, the theme of this movie was very respectful of history. No matter how high Japan's international status was, how high its recognition was, and how thoroughly it was westernized, people all over the world should remember this period of history, remember the sacrifices made by the people of Hua Xia for the world, and also remember the harm done by Japan to the people of Hua Xia and the people of the world!
For this story, in order to let Westerners understand the courage and unyielding spirit of the people of Hua Xia, he was also willing to spend this money!
So, Li Mu waved his hand and said without hesitation, "Steven, money is never a problem. This movie will be launched immediately. Help me make an appointment with them. If possible, I hope to start preparing as soon as possible. As for the investment, I promise 100 million US dollars of production fee today. If DreamWorks doesn't want to invest, you don't have to pay a penny. I will give you 10% of the profit. If DreamWorks wants to invest, I will give you 20% of the investment space at most."
Giving DreamWorks a share was to let Spielberg and the team of DreamWorks go all out. If they were willing to invest, it would be even better. What Li Mu needed was not for them to help him share the investment, but for them to really invest in it.
Spielberg knew that Li Mu was not short of money. Tens of millions or even 100 million US dollars were nothing to him, and the most important thing was that Li Mu had a strong appeal in Hua Xia. A low-budget romance film could exceed 400 million US dollars at the box office, and it continued to rise. If such a big production could work hard on the publicity, it would definitely get a higher box office return.
Also, Feng Yu's influence in Hollywood is not to be trifled with. A movie that combines Chinese and American elements will surely attract the attention of the American audience. Also, if a Hollywood company distributes it overseas, not only North America, but other countries' box office will also be guaranteed.
In this way, Li Mu would be in charge of the release and box office of Hua Xia, and DreamWorks would be in charge of the release and box office of North America and other countries. As long as everyone did their jobs well, they could guarantee a total global box office of more than 300 million US dollars.
More importantly, Li Mu's YY had become a global super Internet product. It had an amazing number of users, influence, and information dissemination ability around the world. With its help, the global box office could be further improved. Therefore, even if this movie really needed to spend a total budget of 100 million US dollars, it would definitely make a profit.
Spielberg was thinking about money, but Li Mu was thinking about the image of the country and its people in the world.
He knew that if he invested tens of millions of US dollars and hired a Hollywood team to shoot a domestic war of resistance, as long as the budget was in place, he would be able to make those classic battles vividly and vividly. He would also be able to film the heroism and tragedy of the people of Hua Xia fighting against the Japanese fascists. And such a movie might not be worse than "Saving Private Ryan," "The Battle of Stalingrad," "Tiger Tiger," or "The Bloody Battle of Hacksaw Ridge."
But the most important problem was that Li Mu's fundamental goal was to be able to make a commercial movie about Hua Xia's war of resistance that could be accepted and liked by the whole world. The point was that it must be accepted by the whole world, and it must be absolutely commercial. At present, in the global film industry, only Hollywood could be accepted by the whole world, so the movie that Li Mu wanted to make must have Hollywood elements in it.
It was also for commercial considerations that Spielberg chose such a story with the actual participation of the Americans. Otherwise, if it was all Hua Xia's own story, Hollywood elements would not be able to be intuitively highlighted, and there would be no way to break through to the whole world.
Moreover, Hollywood's commercialization was indeed unparalleled. This could be seen from Spielberg. He deliberately set the characters in this movie script to be so distinct and contrasting. In fact, it was for commercial considerations. Whether it was the background choice, the plot, or the love story, they were all very commercial and full of Hollywood characteristics.
If this movie was made, first of all, Westerners would definitely not reject it. For Americans, this was the story of Americans helping the people of other countries gain freedom and liberation overseas. It could cater to their mentality of being the world's police. Moreover, there were so many Hollywood stars and famous directors, so it would definitely have a strong influence.
There was no need to mention the people of Hua Xia. No one dared to think about making a movie about Hua Xia's war of resistance with a budget of 100 million US dollars in 2020. Li Mu realized it, which would probably make the blood of the people of the whole country boil.
For the people of other countries, except for Japan, the people of the rest of the countries did not have to consider so much at all. Hollywood + Spielberg + Tom Hanks + Leonardo DiCaprio + a production budget of 100 million US dollars were enough to support them to walk into the cinema.
The ability of the film and television works to instill values was extremely strong, and it was the ultimate means that could really achieve silent nourishment. If this movie achieved commercial success on a global scale, it would definitely achieve a deeper success.
Through this movie, Li Mu wanted to let the world understand the real history of Hua Xia, the real people of Hua Xia, and the culture and spirit of Hua Xia.
Spielberg did not expect that Li Mu would be so straightforward. He could make a decision for 100 million US dollars in less than the time of a meal. Even well-known directors had never met such a generous investor who did not care about the cost. For him, this was a good opportunity, because the budget was sufficient, he could make the movie as perfect as possible and realize all his ambitions as much as possible.
So Spielberg was also very excited and said, "Mr. Li, please come up with a name for this movie!"
Li Mu shook his head and said with a smile, "The best Chinese name I can think of is' Top Gun ', but it has been taken up by your' Top Gun '. Although I think this movie is more suitable for' Top Gun 'than' Top Gun ', I don't want to collide with that kind of idol blockbuster. If you don't have any objections, I suggest using the most simple name,' Flying Tigers'. As for the English name, it will also be a literal translation: 'Flying-Tigers'!"
Spielberg immediately said, "No problem! Let's use this name! Flying-Tigers！”
Li Mu smiled brightly and said, "Steven, come up with a script and a detailed plan as soon as possible. We have to get this movie moving as soon as possible!"
Spielberg was also very excited. He nodded and said, "Please rest assured, I will do it as soon as possible!"
When Liu Shixiong heard that Li Mu had promised 100 million US dollars, he could not help but remind him in a low voice, "Li Mu, the story is indeed a good story, but you still have to think about it. Director Spielberg's story mainly revolves around the American Flying Tigers and Hua Xia's Flying Tigers. But at that time, Hua Xia's Flying Tigers were completely a team of GM's party. There is no plot of our party fighting against the Japanese army in the story structure of this movie. Will there be some kind of resistance?"
Li Mu shook his head and said seriously, "Liu Shixiong, you are measuring the heart of a gentleman with the yardstick of a villain."
Liu Shixiong's eyes widened, and he looked puzzled.
Li Mu said, "Have you seen 'The Bloody Battle of TEZ Area'? That is one of Hua Xia's most classic war movies. It was made in 1985, but it is completely about the story of the GM party's army fighting against the Japanese army in TEZ Area. This is the national history, and it is the historical fact that the people of Hua Xia resisted the Japanese invaders. "
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