Leonardo, who was born in 1974, had just turned 27 years old at the end of last year. Most actors of his age were still yearning for a chance to become famous overnight. However, for someone like him, who had starred in Titanic at the age of 21 and became the most popular male idol in the world at the age of 23, he was no longer thinking about when he could become famous overnight. Instead, he was thinking about when he could regain his former glory.
There was no need to mention the influence of "Titanic" in the history of movies. Ever since it was released, it had always held the record for the highest box office earnings in the world. This disaster romance was also the most familiar Hollywood film to the world's audiences. As the male lead of this movie, Leonardo was once very famous. Unfortunately, after "Titanic", Leonardo himself had been on the decline.
Over the past few years, he had maintained the efficiency of producing about one movie a year, but these works were also very average in terms of reputation and influence. Not to mention being compared to Titanic, even among the movies released during the same period, none of them could stand out.
Originally, Hollywood had lost interest in Leonardo, but fortunately, at this critical moment, the A-list director Steven Spielberg invited him to join "Cat and Mouse" and take on the role of the male lead. He even brought out the A-list actor Tom Hanks to act alongside him.
Leonardo saw this movie as his comeback film and had high hopes for it. However, before the movie was released, he was worried that the movie would be overshadowed by Lord of the Rings 2. He did not expect that once the movie was released, his worry would become a reality.
Lord of the Rings 2 relied on the influence of the original novel, the influence of the first movie, and its excellent production. It was definitely the box office champion at the end of the year. However, he did not expect that one push from YY would completely reverse the situation. Now, Cat and Mouse, which he starred in, was the current box office leader.
Leonardo was completely convinced by Li Mu's strong influence. With a strong marketing channel like YY, Li Mu was already sought after by the whole of Hollywood. If Li Mu's Shadow Muxing ticketing system was popularized in North America, then Li Mu's influence on the box office would increase further. By that time, if Li Mu really entered Hollywood, the box office would definitely be very strong.
Wasn't the real core of the movie industry the box office? Once the box office was guaranteed, famous directors, famous actors, influence, and an Oscar would not be a problem.
From Li Mu, Leonardo seemed to see the shadow of a new Hollywood giant.
Cat and Mouse surpassed The Lord of the Rings 2, and Leonardo, who was no longer as popular in Hollywood, suddenly became a popular figure again. All kinds of famous directors and film companies were paying attention to him.
It wasn't just people in the industry who were paying attention. After Cat and Mouse became popular, Leonardo quickly gained a large number of fans in North America.
Netizens in North America were discussing Leonardo and the "Cat and Mouse Game" that he starred in on the Internet. Male audiences were attracted by his acting skills and the intelligence of the characters in the movie, and they admired him very much. Female audiences were stunned by his appearance. Countless female netizens would attach posters of Leonardo in a pilot's uniform when they posted on the Internet, because that perfect image had captured the hearts of countless female audiences.
Leonardo was suddenly praised by so many netizens, and this also attracted the attention of the media. In order to capture the hot news, the recent entertainment reports put Leonardo on the headlines, which further increased Leonardo's influence.
Once a person was lucky, good things would not only come one after another, but they would also form a cycle that would promote each other. Leonardo was like this.
Now, because he was being praised by netizens, he was also being paid attention to by the media. The media's attention brought him more fans, and at the same time, his popularity in Hollywood continued to rise. Soon, he became a popular movie star. Now, almost every day, people would send him scripts, hoping to invite him to take part in them.
This butterfly effect made Leonardo feel especially grateful to Li Mu. Even though he knew that Li Mu's intention might not be to help him, he still felt that he owed Li Mu a huge favor because of this.
At the same time, Leonardo also became more cautious. He knew that every success was not easy to come by, so he constantly reminded himself that he had to be very, very careful when he took on new films. He definitely could not take on bad films that would not be popular.
And at this time, he suddenly received a call from Spielberg. On the phone, Spielberg said, "Leo, I recently came up with the idea for a new show. The script is basically completed. I just sent the script to your email. See if you're interested."
"Cat and Mouse" gave Leonardo the opportunity to work with an A-list director again after so many years, and this time, there was also the A-list god-level Best Actor Tom Hanks. Leonardo benefited a lot from working with them. What he wanted the most was to take on a new Spielberg or James Cameron film. He did not expect that this wish would come true so soon!
Hearing that Spielberg had an idea for a new show and asked if he was interested, Leonardo immediately became excited. He said eagerly, "Steven, I don't need to look at the script to make a decision for your show. You just need to tell me when and where to shoot. I will definitely be there on time!"
Spielberg smiled and said, "Don't you want to understand the general situation of this movie first?"
Leonardo said without hesitation, "There's no need. My answer is yes!"
Spielberg said, "Most of the scenes in this movie will be shot in Hua Xia, and there are many scenes in the movie. I estimate that after shooting, you will need to shoot in Hua Xia for a long time."
"No problem!" Leonardo said, "If you need to shoot on Mars, as long as you can send me there, my answer is still no problem!"
Spielberg smiled and said, "Okay, read the script first. We will talk about more detailed cooperation plans."
“OK！”
After hanging up the phone, Leonardo excitedly turned on his computer and logged into his email. He was extremely excited. If he could work with Spielberg again, it would be a great thing for him. Spielberg's abilities were clear for all to see. Even if he didn't read the script, he could guarantee that it wouldn't be a bad film.
However, Leonardo was still very curious about the script. He wanted to know what kind of story Spielberg had prepared for Hollywood and the world.
Like most Americans, Leonardo's understanding of World War II was mainly focused on the war in Europe and the Pacific War between the United States and Japan. So when he saw the outline of the script, he was even surprised. Who was this Chennault who went to Hua Xia to help Hua Xia resist the Japanese invasion? Why had he never heard of him? Was Spielberg going to make a movie about such a person?
Leonardo was more or less uncertain. Hollywood's war movies were basically based on well-known historical figures and well-known battles. Filming an unknown person and a battle that Americans didn't understand, would such a movie have a market in the United States?
With doubts in his heart, Leonardo began to read the main text of the script. What he didn't expect was that he was completely attracted by the main text of the script. He could have finished the script in half an hour, but it took him more than an hour to finish it.
When he finished reading the script, Leonardo was extremely excited. He didn't know that the United States had such a person and such a thing during World War II.
Regarding World War II, the Americans were most proud of two things.
First, they helped the Allied forces achieve the D-Day landing and finally defeated Nazi Germany.
Second, they annihilated the Japanese navy, bombed the Japanese mainland, and dropped two atomic bombs to hasten the surrender of Japan.
These two things that the Americans were most proud of were the sacrifices, efforts, and contributions that the United States had made to world peace. It was also because of these deeds that the Americans felt the most proud of maintaining world peace and the vanity of being the world's policeman.
Therefore, when Leonardo read the story of Chennault and his Flying Tigers, he was once again touched by the sacrifices that the Americans had made for world peace. At the same time, he immediately realized that although many Americans didn't know who Chennault was and the history of the Flying Tigers, as long as a movie like this was made, the Americans would definitely like to watch it!
Moreover, the story itself was indeed very moving for Leonardo. In his opinion, the rebellious second male lead was simply tailor-made for him. With such a good story, a good script, and a good director like Spielberg, even if he had to give him a 50% discount, he would definitely not hesitate.
After reading the script, Leonardo then saw Spielberg's note. When he saw that this movie was invested by Li Mu, and that he had invested 100 million US dollars, he was so excited that he almost jumped up!
With Li Mu's powerful resources, if it was a movie that he had invested in, exposure would definitely be the least of his worries! Moreover, Li Mu had YY and the Mu Ying ticketing system. Under such circumstances, there was no need to worry about the box office at all!
Moreover, this time, Li Mu had actually come up with a budget of 100 million US dollars. With such a large budget and Spielberg's presence, the quality of this movie was guaranteed to be excellent.
Combining all this information, Leonardo concluded that this Flying Tigers would definitely be a good movie of high quality. Moreover, it would be a good movie with high box office!
For an actor, wasn't the most desired thing to be in a movie with high box office?
The excited Leonardo immediately called his agent and said, "I received the script for a new movie. I really like the story, and I'm ready to follow it."
The agent hurriedly asked, "Whose movie is it?"
"Director Spielberg's movie."
The agent said excitedly, "That's great! It's definitely a great thing for you to be able to work with Spielberg again! "
Then, the agent continued to ask, "How much will you be paid this time?"
Leonardo said, "He didn't say, it's still in the preparation stage. But Spielberg wants me to report my own salary."
The agent said, "Now that 'Cat and Mouse' is so popular, your value has increased greatly. In my opinion, your salary should be around 20 million US dollars. But since you're working with Director Spielberg, we can lower the box office a little. 15 million, what do you think?"
Leonardo said without hesitation, "I'm prepared to lower the salary to 5 million US dollars!"
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