Millennium director

"Filming definitely cannot be done abroad."

"That shitty New Zealand is even more unnecessary. Isn't our Hulunbuir grassland in China attractive?"

"As for the ancient scenery, which dynasty is it hard to find a film and television city in China?"

"In the original script, it was planned to find Hakka earth buildings for filming? Have you watched too much Big Fish and Begonia?"

"Mulan is from the north, and she first appeared in "The Ballad of Mulan" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. What's the matter with running to the south?"

"Change, all have to be changed, according to the 1998 version of "Mulan" animated film!"

Wu Yuan sat on the sofa in the living room, facing the computer for an online video conference.

Working from home has now become a normal part of global work.

It is actually quite convenient, especially for Americans, who often work from home and are very accustomed to this kind of online video conference.

However, the things discussed in the meeting were not so harmonious.

The large amount of preparations made by the original crew of "Mulan" were criticized by Wu Yuan.

I can only say that the female director really has a weird idea.

Wu Yuan was speechless just because of the fact that the film was shot in New Zealand.

For a Chinese film, what's the point of shooting in the grasslands of New Zealand? Is there really too much money to spend?

"In short, the script has to be rewritten, but I will finalize the leading actors first, and then let them go to the horse farm for closed training."

"The list of actors will be based on the list of main and supporting roles in the 1998 version of "Mulan", but one more villain will be added, tentatively set to be a shaman of the grassland people, a female witch."

"Not the kind of witch in Western culture, but the kind of witch in the style of primitive religious worship."

"Oh, this setting is very mysterious, and European and American audiences will also buy into it."

"The shooting location must be in China. Now that the epidemic is raging so seriously in Europe and the United States, it is too risky to go out and shoot. It is safer in our country."

"I will take the team to scout the location. There is no rush."

"Ask the Peking University professors you contacted to provide consulting support on the historical background."

Wu Yuan arranged the preparatory work for "Mulan" in an orderly manner.

Disney still keeps its word. If they tell him to make the overall decision, he can make the overall decision.

In addition, Wu Yuan is different from the previous female director. He is a serious Hollywood top director. No one in the crew dares to go against him and only dares to do things according to his requirements.

Wu Yuan has already established his attitude since he filmed "Juno".

A video conference lasted nearly three hours. After fully understanding Wu Yuan's ideas, the joint crew composed of Disney and Wu Yuan's Light and Shadow Era crew began to carry out preliminary preparations according to his instructions.

After disbanding the meeting group and closing the computer, Wu Yuan leaned on the sofa and took a long breath. "I haven't worked for a long time, and suddenly I'm back to work. I'm not used to it."

At this time, Liu Yifei, who had been watching him work, handed him a cup of hot tea at the right time, and sat next to him with a smile: "I never thought that after all these twists and turns, I would have the opportunity to star in this movie, and the director became you."

"Who told that Niki Caro was not up to the task?" Wu Yuan shrugged. He didn't expect that "Mulan" in this time and space would have such twists and turns.

"Niki Caro spent nearly $100 million and messed up the project, and Disney had to swallow it with broken teeth."

"This time, Disney approved a budget of only $150 million, which adds up to a total of $250 million. This is not a small amount of money."

In the original time and space, "Mulan" was the most expensive live-action movie remade by Disney animation, with a production cost of $200 million.

This huge investment reflects Disney's attention and expectations for the project.

It can be said that in the original time and space, "Mulan" is indeed a top priority project for Disney, and Liu Yifei did eat a top-notch cake. Unfortunately, it encountered a black swan event of force majeure, which made the movie not even have a chance to be released in theaters.

However, in this time and space, because Niki Caro messed up the project, it wasted $100 million first, and then added another $150 million. From Disney's perspective, they paid $250 million for this project, which is more expensive and can be regarded as a heavy bet.

But from the perspective of director Wu Yuan, the money he can spend is not as much as Niki Caro in the original time and space.

So he has no interest in any inexplicable ideas such as going to New Zealand for filming.

$150 million, converted into RMB, is almost 1.1 billion. Even if two-thirds of the crew are from Hollywood and have to be paid according to Hollywood standards, if the film is shot entirely in China, the cost is still controllable.

Even if there is no way to save on special effects, Wu Yuan's $150 million can basically achieve the effect of Niki Caro's $200 million.

"I don't plan to ask Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and other action movie stars to star in the film. Their salaries are too expensive."

"This time, in addition to you as the heroine, I only plan to invite two international superstars, and all of them are friendly prices."

"Who?" Liu Yifei looked at her husband curiously.

"Brother Cheng Long and Sister Gong Li." Wu Yuan raised his eyebrows proudly and said, "They are both good friends who have worked together before."

"Furthermore, Sister Gong Li's salary is not high, and she is willing to star for the sake of friendship. After all, she has semi-retired now and lives abroad."

"Brother Cheng Long, needless to say, we are good brothers who have supported us all the way in Hollywood. I just made a phone call and mentioned this project. He was willing to act without any salary, but I still asked for friendship. price."

"One of them can play the villainous witch boss, and the other can play the general."

"Brother Cheng Long plays a general, haha, I dreamed back to "The Myth"."

Wu Yuan does not intend to completely localize "Mulan". Again, Hollywood princess movies have their own style, and this style is popular with global audiences, but it is just not suitable for China.

If it was really based on the traditional Chinese story of Hua Mulan, would it still be called a Disney princess movie?

From the beginning to the end, "Mulan" has been positioned for the global market, not the Chinese market. Disney does not even attach great importance to the Chinese market. After all, Disney's princess movies have never been sold in China.

Therefore, Wu Yuan actually did not want to change "Mulan" into a very traditional Chinese story. In fact, the main plot still has to follow the story of a princess fighting a witch given by Disney.

It's just that he has to revise some of the inconsistent costumes, scenes, and plots that cannot be explained, such as "qi" and "loyalty", so that they are not so inconsistent in the eyes of the Chinese audience. .

This Disney-produced "Mulan" is ultimately a princess film aimed at the European and American markets, and Wu Yuan has always been clear about this.

"Get ready to resume work." He looked at Liu Yifei with a smile: "In the next few months, I have to find a horse farm for you to train your equestrian skills."

"The first Asian princess in Disney history, the first atypical princess, and the first martial arts princess are about to be born!" (End of this chapter)