Chapter 140 Made in Hollywood

The bitterness behind Jackie Chan's decision was more or less felt by Lin Ming Yang. Jackie Chan's salary had reached $17 million when he took over the filming of Peak Hour 2. When that film was released in North America a few years ago, it had reigned as the box office champion for three weeks, and made $230 million in the United States alone. By Hollywood standards, it was a very successful commercial movie.

However, compared to the buzz of "Peak Hour 2" in the US market, the film's box office in Hong Kong was very dismal, even hitting the lowest box office record for a movie starring Jackie Chan in recent years. This is the main reason behind Jackie Chan's success in Hollywood, there is more helplessness than joy.

In fact, Jackie Chan's Hollywood works in Hong Kong box office revenue has not been very satisfactory: the first Hollywood film in 1998, "Peak Hour 1" box office revenue of more than $ 13 million, the second Hollywood film in 2000, "Dragon Swirl" box office revenue of $ 15 million, which can be seen, Hong Kong audiences are not very satisfied with the Hollywoodization of the work of Jackie Chan.

Jackie Chan himself realizes that he has this problem, which is the root cause of the distress. Although Hollywood can bring him greater fame and more money, deep down Jackie Chan doesn't have much of a sense of belonging to Hollywood, and Hong Kong is his root. The feeling of being abandoned by one's own family after achieving success outside is the hardest to bear.

Because he didn't have too many guards against Lin Ming Yang, Jackie Chan drank to his heart's content at the dinner table, and taking advantage of the strong liquor, he told Lin Ming Yang the biggest confusion in his heart all along.

Jackie Chan took the opportunity of the toast to move his body to the seat next to Lin Ming Yang, and the exchange at the wine table brought the relationship between the two people much closer again, even the name calling became a little more intimate.

"Ah Ming ah!" Jackie Chan put his hand on Lin Ming Yang's shoulder, "Big Brother Cheng and you say a word from the heart, I have suffered in Hollywood for these years, I have made money, and in the end, I have fame, but I have not been able to figure out one question, do you think that me coming to Hollywood is really a right choice?"

"For you, wanting to go further, the stage in Hong Kong is indeed a bit smaller." Lin Mingyang spoke in a very subtle way, but such a scene was not what Jackie Chan wanted to hear.

He laughed and shook his head, and even pointed a finger at him, "You, just now you were a frank person, why did you learn to play tricks after drinking?"

Lin Ming Yang looked at Jackie Chan in a serious manner, "You want to hear the truth?"

Although Jackie was drunk, he was only slightly intoxicated, when he saw the serious expression on Lin Ming Yang's face, he immediately sat up straight, and the hand on Lin Ming Yang's shoulder was released.

"Hollywood has always been the mecca in the minds of the world's filmmakers, and being accepted and recognized by Hollywood is also considered a matter of honor. But this should not be the ultimate goal of your personal pursuit. To put it bluntly, Hollywood is like a production line that specializes in manufacturing canned products, after the mold is pressed into shape, it is then labeled Hollywood and goes on to occupy a new and bigger market."

"From the moment you show up at Peaky Blinders 1 in a suit with a strained smile on your face, the movie has been made into a Hollywood can, and you have to learn to adapt to Hollywood fun and stay in the canned box. It's very difficult to break out of that. The three movies you've made in Hollywood so far have been a two-man Easterner/Westerner team, with a lot of laughs along the way. Hollywood has been soft-doughing it to its liking, and Asian moviegoers have been left to watch their first-rate actors being manipulated by second- and third-rate Hollywood writers and directors."

"You have to bow your head under someone's roof, you have to follow Hollywood's rules if you want to succeed in Hollywood. Chow Yun-Fat's acting skills are lost here, John Woo is reduced to an action technician and a model of editing, while Tsui Hark and Lin Ling Dong's talent is buried without merit are all proving that Hollywood's rules are hard to be broken by outside forces. Hollywood can change you, but you can't change Hollywood. So the Jackie Chan I see in the Hollywood era is a Jackie Chan who has been deprived of his rights and lost his freedom. You can only be an actor who does whatever the director says."

Behind the clear division of labor on Hollywood crews is the strictness of hierarchy, actors who can go against the director like Lin Ming Yang are after all a minority, Jackie Chan who is his own screenwriter, director, producer and martial arts director in Hong Kong has no editing rights at all in Hollywood, Lin Ming Yang's words poked him hard.

I don't know whether he had drunk too much wine, or was stimulated by these words, Jackie Chan's two eyes were red, watery, and a little bit straight, just now Lin Ming Yang's words, as if splashing a pot of ice water on him, but also like firing a burst of random shots on him, in this moment, he really a little bit bewildered. It was only after a long time that his mouth finally moved, "So, I really came to the wrong place?"

Lin Ming Yang also shook his head in bewilderment, "It's hard to measure this issue in terms of right or wrong, it's just a process that draws on each other. You can't realize your true dream in Hollywood, but it also gives you great earnings and wider popularity, while Hollywood wants to use the influence of local Hong Kong celebrities like you to help develop the Asian film market."

Hollywood can help Hong Kong films speed up the internationalization process, but Hong Kong films are self-contained and have formed a solid Eastern film culture camp, so there is actually no need to rely on Hollywood too much. On the contrary, if Hollywood wants to maintain a long-lasting position in the global movie market, it needs to continuously absorb fresh blood from different cultures. Because of the existence of some inherent concepts, this change will only slowly change from within Hollywood, and outsiders can only "yield" to the powerful rules of Hollywood.

Seeing the script of "Baby Plan" from the hands of Hollywood film distributors, Lin Mingyang felt that this was a rare opportunity to try. The positioning of the film's comedy theme to dilute the action component, the American audience can not accept an action movie in the Jackie Chan kind of harmonic fighting, but in the perspective of a comedy film, this performance to enhance the content of comedy.

Lin Mingyang utilized clever tactics to get his hands on the screenwriter just so he could control the plot. As a comedy film, he takes the traditional funny route of Hollywood comedy movies, while Jackie Chan can return more to the kind of harmonic style in Hong Kong movies.

When Lin Mingyang told Jackie Chan about his intentions, the lost and bewildered look on his face was swept away, his eyes radiated a gleaming luster, and he felt that he hadn't looked at the wrong person, and that Lin Mingyang was indeed the key figure in this movie.

"If this movie really goes according to your idea, then you are my lucky star!" Jackie Chan was so excited that he patted Lin Ming Yang's shoulder, "Let's not say anything else, let's drink up, let's not get drunk tonight!"

----

Lin Mingyang's modifications to The Baby Project mainly focused on the details, for such a movie that mainly focuses on comedy, apart from Jackie Chan's hilarious tricks, the lines are also a highlight. Taking into account that Jackie Chan's English is not too standard, Lin Mingyang didn't design too long lines for him, and his dialogues are of the very simple and short spoken variety.

At the same time of the original lines "slimming surgery", Lin Mingyang in the revision of the script also took full account of the identity of Jackie Chan, adding some appropriate lines with Chinese flavor. In the episode of cooking noodles in the movie, the original screenwriter took into account the habits of the American audience and used the word macaroni, but Lin Mingyang changed it to the Chinese customary name of noodles.

The revisions of the script had not yet been completed when the director of the movie, Brian Levant, took the initiative to come to the door, he had read the previous script and then some ideas needed to be exchanged with Lin Ming Yang.

Brian Levent is in his early forties, but the years have not left too many traces on his face, his beard is neatly trimmed, and he has long hair with a very distinctive character, although indoors, he still wears a pair of sunglasses, which gives people a feeling of playing it cool.

Hong Kong-produced Jackie Chan movie is the second shockwave after the 70s Bruce Lee movie detonated Chinese kung fu fever in the world, Lin Mingyang in front of this Brian Levent is also counted as a Hong Kong kung fu movie fans, heard that this time to be able to cooperate with Jackie Chan, he even did not even get the script, he did not hesitate to take the film.

As soon as he talked about Jackie Chan's kung fu movie, Brian Levent got excited, even under the somewhat dim light in the cubicle, it could be seen that his cheeks, which were not busy with his beard, were swirling with a kind of dream-like glory. He leaned his back on the chair and talked about Jackie Chan's movies like a drunken first lover talking to people about his lover, whether Lin Mingyang wanted to listen or not, just gushing, sometimes waving his arms, sometimes closing his eyes.

"I'm all in love with Jackie Chan's kung fu movies, especially those action movies he made in Hong Kong with exaggerated movements and hilarious details. Those things are Jackie Chan's signature, and if a Jackie Chan movie has those elements in it, then the movie is sure to be a hit with Jackie Chan fans."

In the face of such a "hardcore" Jackie Chan fan as Brian Levent, the only thing Lin Mingyang could do was to listen patiently.

"I watched those movies Jackie Chan made in Hollywood, and they were all too stiff; Jackie Chan was either paired with a blonde white guy or a black guy who was full of slang. I didn't really think that combination suited Jackie Chan. So in this movie, the real partner to Jackie Chan would have been the little baby, the man with great kung fu taking care of a little baby, which would have made for some interesting sequences. That way the movie has both laughs and allows that sense of comedy that Jackie Chan has in Hong Kong action movies to come out."

Speaking of the excitement, Brian Levent's hands were dancing and then he was gesticulating.

Lin Mingyang was somehow inspired by his thoughts, "Can you be more specific?"

"For example, if the little baby climbs high up and then falls down, and Jackie Chan catches him on his hands and knees... I think the script, if it includes such a plot, creates a comedic effect that's definitely funnier than that of 'The Kid's Homecoming', where the little boy pranks the two bumbling thieves in his house. Because the little baby's own doesn't have a sense of mischief, all of his actions happen unconsciously, but that's exactly how the comedic effect created will be more realistic." Seeing that Lin Ming Yang did not resist, Brian Levant immediately put forward his own conception.

"According to your idea, I should portray Mr. Jackie Chan in the script as a character who is responsive and witty, but whose behavior is not without hilarity?" Lin Mingyang asked, following Brian Levant's train of thought.

"If all screenwriters could have your understanding, Hollywood movies as a whole could go up a level. Worthy of being the Wonder Boy of Hollywood, it's such a pleasant pleasure to talk to a smart person like you!" Even though he had already shaken hands once when they met, under Brian Levant's strong request, Lin Mingyang had to re-shake hands with him once more.

"What about me?" When Brian Levent had resumed his seat, Lin Mingyang pointed at himself and asked, "In the script, what kind of character should I portray myself as?"

"Please pardon my candor...I don't think your image and temperament are suitable for comedy."

Brian Levant spoke directly, and Lin Ming Yang accepted it with candor, "Then what should I do in this script?"

"In fact, if you just put on a pair of sunglasses like mine, stand in front of the camera, and do nothing, there will be movie fans who will willingly shell out money for you to buy a ticket, being good looking is such a benefit!" Brian Levant tsked, he couldn't hear any sarcasm in his tone, instead there was a flavor of envy, "If I really do this during the shooting, I guess you definitely won't do it. You're not the kind of actor with a natural sense of comedy, and I don't mean that in a pejorative way, you can disguise it as a compliment."

"But in a comedy movie where I'm just just handsome and cool and do nothing else, it doesn't take a brain to know that's a stupid thing to do!"

Brian Levent did a double take and nodded affirmatively, "The fact that you think like that proves that you're much more mature than most idol stars. In fact there are a lot of ways to make up for this lack of innate comedy, but if you are allowed to be abused in the film in a nonsensical manner, just like Mr. Bean, I guess your fans will definitely not agree to it, and this will make it difficult.... There's no better way to do it, we can only work on the lines, you need to try your best to prepare yourself for some very humorous lines, in this film, you are a stupid thief who loves to make a scene and pick up girls."

"Although this is a comedy movie, to make the plot more exciting, you can also appropriately add some parkour elements to your performance. I remember there's a bit in the script where a baby stroller gets hung up on a car and then you and Jackie Chan go after it at the same time. This is just my personal suggestion, but maybe you could seriously consider it?"