After receiving the script for Source Code, Guo Fan returned and studied it carefully.
This was a script with a very ingenious structure, and the story itself was not complicated.
The script placed its theme beneath the gimmick of time travel and the exterior of a science-fiction film, while its main narrative elements focused on the suspense created by bomb construction. It also employed an endless succession of puzzles to create difficulties set up for the protagonist.
The script did not contain too many hard-core science-fiction concepts either, so there would not be an excessive number of special-effects scenes, and the overall scale was not large.
Precisely because of this, the project was perfectly suited for Guo Fan to use as practice.
He had already directed two films domestically, and after studying under Gilbert for such a long time, he was not someone without experience.
Being able to obtain this opportunity made Guo Fan extremely excited. Thinking that it was morning back home, Guo Fan shared the good news with Liu Ji.
"You mean you have a chance to direct a Hollywood film?"
"That's right. Director Gilbert said this is my graduation exam."
Liu Ji was very happy when he heard this. "That's great. It shows that your academic performance has been quite good. You must seize this opportunity!"
"Yes," Guo Fan was also very excited. "I will definitely make this film well and not let down Director Gilbert's trust in me."
"There's no need to feel pressure. Since he's willing to hand this project to you, it means he believes in your ability."
Guo Fan nodded, then said, "I want to ask you to help me with something."
"What kind of help?"
"Help me bring some people over from China—the ones we've worked with before, people we know well and can trust."
Guo Fan said, "I've realized that the reason Director Gilbert can release one film every year is because he has a stable core team.
Most domestic crews are basically makeshift groups, temporarily assembled. When shooting starts, they still need time to run in together, which wastes a lot of energy."
"So you want to build a fixed core team?"
"Yes."
Guo Fan continued, "Also, let Sister Ling manage the company for now, and you come over as well, to learn how to be a professional producer."
Liu Ji asked curiously, "I have to go too? Why?"
Guo Fan explained, "I've discovered that the biggest difference between Hollywood and our side is that Hollywood has professional producers.
These producers help directors manage all kinds of affairs within the crew, allowing directors to focus entirely on filmmaking.
I think the producer system is a very good system. In the past, when crews were small workshops of one or two hundred people, directors still had the energy to manage everything.
But in the future, crew sizes may expand to one or two thousand people. At that point, if directors still have to divide their attention to manage the crew, it may be impossible to guarantee the quality of the creative work.
So I hope you can come and learn this, and truly take on the role of a producer."
Guo Fan persuaded Liu Ji, and after listening, he agreed.
"Alright, what you said makes a lot of sense. But will they allow us to go over there?"
"That won't be a problem. Director Gilbert has given me a lot of autonomy. Bringing over dozens of people to learn is not an issue. And there have already been people from China in his crew before, so it's not unusual."
"Alright then. When?"
"As long as everyone is in place before May next year. Who exactly comes, we can discuss later."
"OK!"
The two settled the matter just like that, and then chatted about some other things, mainly about the film market.
This year, the Chinese mainland box office champion was The Dark Knight, which raked in 563 million RMB. This film now sits at the top of the Douban movie rankings, surpassing The Shawshank Redemption.
In the Chinese mainland, there are many devoted Gilbert fans, cultivated over long years.
Since entering the Chinese film market in 1994, Gilbert's films have rarely been absent, and his movies have appeared in mainland theaters almost every year.
From Real Steel to Saving Private Ryan, and then to The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Over the past decade or so, Gilbert's films have accompanied the growth of an entire generation, and have even become memories of their youth.
In Chinese universities, if you talk about movies with friends, classmates, or girls, and you don't mention a few of Gilbert's films, it makes you seem uncool.
And at the Beijing Film Academy, studying Gilbert's films has even become a specialized subject.
Although in recent years Gilbert hasn't visited the Beijing Film Academy campus very often, he still holds the title of honorary president. This alone allows the Academy to hold its head high and consistently overshadow other art institutions.
After all, our president is Gilbert, a world-class director. As for your president—what is he? We've never even heard of him.
Coupled with Gilbert's donations during this year's major disaster, as well as his influence through the Olympics and state gift porcelain, the title of "an old friend of the Chinese people" is already firmly his.
The quota for imported films is limited, with only twenty allowed each year, yet films from Melon Studio always manage to secure the largest share.
Both District 9 and Fast & Furious 4 were released in the mainland. District 9 earned 63.5 million RMB at the box office, which was fairly decent.
A racing action spectacle like Fast & Furious 4 was even more popular, taking in 236 million RMB and ranking third on the annual mainland box office chart.
Second place went to the Chinese-language historical epic Red Cliff (Part I), directed by John Woo, which earned 321 million RMB. However, the film was heavily criticized, and its reputation was not very good.
Gilbert's deepest impression of that film was Zhi Ling's line: "Mengmeng, stand up!"
Fourth place was a historical fantasy blockbuster titled Painted Skin, which earned 232 million RMB at the box office. The film was widely praised, though one of its main characters was later removed.
Meanwhile, the Sino–American co-production The Forbidden Kingdom earned 188 million RMB, ranking fifth.
In this film, the "Fairy Sister" was replaced by Shu Chang. Overseas audiences clearly still remembered Jade's clever charm from The Adventure of Jackie Chan series, so its international performance was quite good.
Relying on the star power of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Shu Chang's overseas appeal, the film earned a total of 116 million US dollars overseas. Combined with the mainland box office, its global total reached 138 million US dollars.
To be honest, this result was actually passable. The film's production cost, converted to US dollars, was around 60 million, and with marketing expenses it exceeded 80 million.
It did lose money, but it gained publicity.
There was nothing to regret. The Forbidden Kingdom was a bad film. But if it had achieved that box office in the North American market, it might have turned a profit.
It's said that Shu Chang and the "Fairy Sister" have a good relationship and are close friends. One wonders how the Fairy Sister felt about her good friend taking her role.
This year, the most eye-catching film in the global movie market was undoubtedly The Dark Knight. Its North American run was already nearing its end, and it was pulled from theaters on the first weekend of November.
It grossed a staggering 565.32 million US dollars in North America, unquestionably the annual box office champion there.
At the same time, The Dark Knight was also the global box office champion of the year. The film continues to screen in scattered markets, and its current worldwide box office has reached 1.3263 billion US dollars.
This marked Gilbert's fourth film to surpass the one-billion-dollar mark, the previous three being The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This also proves one thing: original films are indeed very difficult to turn into massive box office explosions.
That's why James Cameron's greatness stands out so clearly—he is the only director to achieve a box office explosion purely through original films.
In this regard, even Gilbert cannot surpass him.
And next year, James Cameron's super original masterpiece, Avatar, which will bring an entirely new viewing experience, is about to be released.
At this moment, no one yet knows what that film will come to represent.
...
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