Chapter 305: Rumble in the Bronx
Cheng Long's surrender is a win-win situation for both parties.
Liu Hongmin wanted to interfere with MGM and increase his control, while Cheng Long needed a chance to make his way in Hollywood, and Liu Hongmin could give him that chance.
Not only can he give it, but Liu Hongmin is also a righteous person and can help him deal with the relationship with Jiahe Company.
"Brother Long, you are different from Jet Li. Jet Li has a very positive action style, so he is suitable to directly join the Hollywood crew. Brother Long, your action style is humorous, and it is impossible to find a movie that suits you in Hollywood. Therefore, if you want to go to Hollywood, you must create a movie that suits your action style."
Cheng Long was stunned for a moment. He certainly knew what kind of film would suit his action style. However, he was worried, "Will Hollywood audiences like it?"
"Of course!" Liu Hongmin said affirmatively: "They are also human beings, and human beings will like your style. Westerners are more adventurous, so as long as you conquer them, they will like you more than our own people."
Cheng Long seems to be thinking about something. Humor is the surface of his action style, but high risk is the underlying tone.
Liu Hongmin said: "Find a director who agrees with you, and I will write a script for you, setting the story in America. When the movie is released, you will know that what I said is correct."
"Okay!" Cheng Long agreed immediately. Since Liu Hongmin dared to guarantee it, it meant that he was confident.
Liu Hongmin continued, “I will let MGM make the main investment, and then Tomorrow Film Company and Jiahe Company will follow suit.”
Cheng Long nodded quickly, "Thank you, Mr. Liu."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "You're welcome. Since we are cooperating, we must achieve a win-win situation."
Jiahe has a great debt of gratitude to Cheng Long and has been very supportive of him over the years. If Liu Hongmin asked Cheng Long to leave Jiahe behind and work with him alone, Cheng Long would be a little hesitant. Fortunately, Liu Hongmin is not a stingy person, nor is he short-sighted. Since he can give up the benefits of the Source Code series, he will kick Jiahe out.
Within a few days, Liu Hongmin wrote the script of "Rumble in the Bronx".
Cheng Long also brought a young director to the Clearwater Bay Villa, "Mr. Liu, this is Tang Jili, we just finished filming Police Story 3 together, and it was a very pleasant collaboration."
Tang Jili is a martial artist, so he is very good at shooting action scenes. Although he has only worked with Jackie Chan on one movie, Jackie Chan is very satisfied with him.
"Hello, Mr. Liu!" Tang Jili knew that this was a very important opportunity. If he could grasp it, he might become a famous action film director in Hong Kong. As for following Cheng Long to Hollywood, Tang Jili didn't dare to think about it. He had only been a director for two or three years, and his foundation was too far behind.
Liu Hongmin nodded to Tang Jili, then handed the script to the two of them.
As they flipped through the script, they both felt that the script was written into their hearts.
Cheng Long said excitedly: "Mr. Liu, this script is so well written. If this Rumble in the Bronx can really help me gain a foothold in Hollywood, I will follow your lead in the future."
Liu Hongmin doesn't care about words of loyalty, as long as Cheng Long can help him make money.
"You should familiarize yourself with the script first, and then choose the roles. I will say hello to MGM and set up the crew first. After you are ready, you can go directly to the United States to start filming." "Okay!" The two of them quickly agreed, then left the Clearwater Bay Villa and found a place to discuss the casting.
Although the story of "Rumble in the Bronx" is set in the United States, it is actually a Chinese-language film. It's just that the dialogue is spoken in English, and the Chinese dubbing will be done in the later stage. After all, this film is intended for Jackie Chan to impact Hollywood, and everything must be based on Hollywood audiences.
There are many Chinese characters in the film, so they had to be cast in Hong Kong first and then brought to the United States for filming.
Casting was easy. Most of the heroines in Cheng Long's movies were just pretty girls, so as long as they had some acting skills, it would be fine. As for the other supporting roles, they could just be found from Jiahe Company.
It only took a few days for the two of them to choose the roles.
Liu Hongmin also greeted MGM, and after Cheng Long and Tang Jili brought their people over, the crew quickly got things up and running.
The cost of Rumble in the Bronx was 10 million US dollars, of which MGM invested half, and the remaining 5 million US dollars was divided equally between Tomorrow Films and Golden Harvest. According to the current exchange rate, million US dollars is equivalent to more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars, which is a large investment.
Jiahe was very supportive of Cheng Long and did not hesitate at all when allocating funds, and the money was even received earlier than the film company's tomorrow.
Not only that, Jiahe also sent a large number of behind-the-scenes personnel to Cheng Long, fearing that Cheng Long would be wronged in the United States.
Rumble in the Bronx was set in an urban setting, and MGM quickly found a filming location in the Bay Area. Tang Jili used the speed of Hong Kong filmmakers to complete most of the preparatory work in less than half a month and entered the filming stage.
Working hours in Hollywood are very short, and the filming of Rumble in the Bronx was able to start so quickly thanks to the staff behind the scenes of Jiahe Company. Hong Kong people don't have as many rules as Americans, and they worked fourteen or fifteen hours a day to create the required scenes.
While filming, Tang Jili also had to direct the construction of the supermarket. The scene of destroying the supermarket is a big scene in "Rumble in the Bronx". The work of nearly a month had to be destroyed in just a few shots, which was very expensive.
However, Tang Jili was very confident about this.
As long as the key points of destruction are calculated, we can set up a few cameras and review all the footage at once.
The difficult part was the scene where the new supermarket owner Yi Ling vented her anger in the ruins of the supermarket. If it couldn't be filmed on the same day, it would be troublesome. So Cheng Long found an actress with good acting skills, Mei Yanfang.
Anita Mui’s acting skills are very good. She is currently the only actress who does not look like a vase in Jackie Chan’s movies.
The same was true for this shoot, and I completed the shot after playing the role of Mei Yanfang a few times.
If Cheng Long had not been injured several times while filming dangerous scenes, Rumble in the Bronx would have been completed in less than two months. Even so, the filming of Rumble in the Bronx did not exceed three months, and it was still completed earlier than other MGM projects.
Because labor is cheap in Hong Kong, and Tang Jili and Cheng Long made full use of the advantages of props, after the filming of "Rumble in the Bronx" was completed, there was still more than two million US dollars left in the budget.
This shocked MGM. If it were a Hollywood crew, three months of filming would cost at least $30 million. Rumble in the Bronx didn't even cost $8 million, which was a miracle in Hollywood.
(End of this chapter)
