Chapter 71: Motivation

"Will, the movie will be filmed in San Francisco, which is my territory! At least you don't have to worry that I will get lost." Looking at the letter paper in your hand, Will Smith smiled and continued to read the flying and beautiful words on the paper: "But the reason why I can make this movie is not just for this reason. I know, everyone says that the boy is too young and he should go back to the campus movie. He can't make a good biographical movie. But I have to say that some emotions have nothing to do with age. At least at the age of 19, I can understand that I am not a child anymore. I know what hunger is and what persistence is..."

There are a small stack of letter papers on the desk, with more than a dozen pages. The long handwritten letter is full of sincerity, well-organized content and analysis, which is also convincing. Although Will Smith has read this long letter many times in recent days, he feels very moved whenever he reads it. Now he is like a mouse crossing the street in the eyes of the producers, but magical Yang believes in him extremely, and his sincerity is unprecedented.

Although Wang Yang did not visit him in person, Will Smith did not doubt his sincerity. His sincerity was fully revealed in these letters. Yes, it was not a letter. He would send a new letter every few days, and there were already a few more letters. This was the first time Will Smith encountered such a situation. After reading the last paragraph in the letter: "Believe me, "When Happiness Comes Knocks on the Door" will be a good movie!" Will put down the letter paper and looked at the thick script next to him.

What made Will Smith feel moved was not only sincerity, but also this script. It was a very attractive script. The story was warm and touching, and the lines were also meaningful. This was the kind of excellent script that made him read it and perform a passionate life. He opened the script and looked at the passages with storyboard designs. Chris Gardner held his son and spent the night in the toilet at the subway station. The ground was covered with tissues. Chris covered his sleeping son's ears, and one foot supported the knocked toilet door, and shed tears silently...

This scene was amazing! Will Smith took a deep breath, and when he first saw it, he was moved. This scene kept entangling in his mind, constantly emerging in front of him, and even appeared in a dream.

The excellent script and full sincerity made him hesitate to refuse the invitation, but he has been thinking about it for almost two weeks, and his concerns are still the same. Can Shenqiyang direct this movie well? In "Ghost Records" and "Singing and Dance", Shenqiyang has shown his directing ability, but now it is a biographical movie. This is a middle-aged story. Can Shenqiyang shoot it well? He really can't make up his mind.

The agent's opinion? Will Smith shook his head with a self-deprecating look. The wrong choices of "The Matrix" and "The Storm Men" are due to his personal preferences and the agent's misjudgment. The current situation is different from the past. There are no examples or templates for the young director, which makes people unable to make a comparison judgment.

In fact, he tentatively asked his good friend Denzel Washington's opinion, and Denzel said, "If it were me, I wouldn't have played it. He is too young."

A few "bang" knocks on the door interrupted Will Smith's contemplation. He turned to look at the door, and saw his wife Jada leaning against the door with her hands wrapped around her chest and said, "Will, are you reading that script again?" Will Smith smiled and nodded, flipping through the script and said, "Its story is very attractive, this is a very excellent script. Jada..." He frowned and asked, "Do you think I should agree to Miracle Yang?"

Jada shrugged and said, "I don't know, Will, I asked you to act in "The Matrix", but you chose "The Wind Men".

"Please!" Will Smith had a little dissatisfied. She was just stingy and jealous. He shook his head and said, "Jadda, I admit that it was a mistake, so I don't want to do it again."

"You make your own decisions, Will, I can't tell you." Jada said, and turned around and left.

Seeing his wife's back disappear, Will Smith's eyes returned to the desktop. He looked at the latest letter from Wang Yang, which ended with Chris Gardner's phone number: "Will, you can communicate with Mr. Gardner. Maybe you will be more interested in this story." Will Smith pondered for a while, then took the letter paper, got up and walked to the phone, dialed the number on the paper, and said: "Hi, Mr. Chris Gardner? Hello, I am Will Smith..."

Next, Will Smith listened to Chris Gardner telling his story, and some opinions on "When Happiness Comes Knocking the Door", Chris Gardner said: "I talked with Young for a long time that day, and I can see that he has experienced a lot. He understands my mood and feelings very well. He is a great young man. I don't understand movies very much, but I think he can shoot my story well..."

The two talked for a long time before the call ended. Will Smith looked at the script in his hand. He was indeed more interested in this story and his impulse to act was stronger. This was a real and touching story. He was moved and others would do it. Will Smith picked up the letters on the desk again, stood silently and read for a while, and slowly made a decision in his heart.

"Okay, magical Young!" Will Smith nodded to himself. He took out his cell phone and pressed a number, and smiled briskly: "Hi, Young? Man, you convinced me that I'm going to play Chris Gardner."

"Oh, my god! yes!" Wang Yang couldn't help but raise his fist and waved it, and said excitedly: "Will, this is really good news, I'm so happy!" What's happier than finding the leading actor in the movie? Maybe there are many, but at this moment, Wang Yang was happy to dance, and he smiled and said: "This will definitely be a pleasant cooperation, ha! But Will, you need to wear more beards, and then you have to ask the makeup artist to get you some white hair, so that it looks more vicissitudes."

Will Smith felt good from the second he made up his mind and laughed like he was singing a rap: "yoyo, then I won't shave from today, I will still grow white hair..."

When Wang Yang put down his cell phone and looked at the beautiful flowers and plants on the balcony, he waved his fists excitedly again, trying to imitate Will Smith's improvisational rap like before, but found that it was indeed a black talent. Anyway, he didn't, so he had to scream a few times in the end.

In fact, Wang Yang was also trying it out. He did not go to interview Will Smith in person. Firstly, because there was no need for an audition, and secondly, sometimes the interview was difficult to explain clearly, and it was easy to make the other party lose patience. It was better to have a touching letter than to write a handwritten letter. Now it seems that his attempt was successful. He continued to stay in New York and did not return to Los Angeles because he still had to participate in the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios, and this animation company was opened in New York.

The most important male lead has been confirmed. The filming of "When Happiness Comes Knocks" can basically be put on the agenda, but there is another important role that needs to be time-consuming to find, which is the actor who plays Chris Gardner's son. Originally, in the original version, this actor was Will's son Jaden Smith, but now Jaden is only a one-year-old baby. Although in reality, when Chris Gardner quit his job and came to New York, his son was almost one year old; in the movie, Chris Jr. must be 5 or 6 years old.

"This is a problem." Wang Yang frowned and thought. Originally, Will Smith and his son's partner was a highlight, which was also very helpful for them to interpret the warm feeling between father and son. He suddenly thought of something: "Will seems to have a son? And now he is 6 or 7 years old. I don't know if he is interested or understands acting..."

Next, Flame Film Company quickly negotiated contracts with Will Smith's agent. After several days of discussion, Will Smith finally signed a contract with a pay of 15 million yuan, plus a 5% dividend in North America. This contract can be said to be very generous to his current situation. For first-tier superstars, box office dividends are routine; but in terms of pay, Sandy Pix originally wanted to lower it, but Wang Yang stopped it. He was not willing to hurt his relationship for 100 or 2 million yuan, nor was he willing to take the blame.

The most important point is that he feels that the actor's acting mood is very important. Only when the actor is truly satisfied and devoted to it can he achieve his best state. Everything is focused on the effect of the movie. As long as the actors are in high mood, he will not care about increasing the production cost. Besides, the cost budget of "When Happiness Comes Knocks" is 40 million, which is enough to include Will Smith's 15 million yuan in pay.

After signing a contract with Will Smith, Flame Movie couldn't wait to announce the news to the media, and also announced some information about "When Happiness Comes Knocks", which is adapted from the biography of famous investor Chris Gardner.

Will Smith plays the leading role of "When Happiness Comes Knocks on the Door"! When the media, fans saw this news on the official website of the Fire Movie, they all looked at the calendar in confusion, Oh, it wasn't April 1st? Then, this is not April Fool's Day news!

Then, everyone was uproared. Will Smith's fans were happy and worried. What was happy was some hardcore fans. They didn't think "The Wind Men" was so bad. With Will there be a lot of fun to watch. Now Will is magical. This combination is so attractive! But some fans are pouring cold water. Is Will crazy? Didn't the crushing defeat of "The Wind Men" teach him a lesson? Turn around and join a 19-year-old director's biographical movie? Shit!

Now Wang Yang's hardcore fans and hardcore female fans fight back. Will Smith is about to win the worst male lead. Now he wants to play the male lead, and they are not happy! Yang should not be dragged into the water by him!

The attitude of the media almost represents the attitude of the film industry. Fantastic Yang is crazy, and Will Smith is crazy too! Of course, no one said it clearly, but the comments on the Internet were revealed. The official website of the Film News commented on the report: "Mitstic Yang is crazy. He invited an action superstar to act in a plot biopic. What's even more funny is that the protagonist of this biography is a stock broker, not boxing champion Tyson or Ali. Will we see a quiet, not funny Will? Are you kidding?"

"Will Smith is also crazy. It seems that "The Wind Men" has brought him too much damage to him that he doesn't want to fight and make fun of it anymore, but instead try the acting path. But did he choose the wrong movie again? It can't be said that "When Happiness Comes Knocking" is a magical improvisation, but maybe, but looking at his age, it's too worrying. Will, good luck!"

Faced with a lot of doubts, Will Smith and Wang Yang did not respond, and there was no need to respond. When the filming started, the crew would conduct exclusive interviews with the media for preliminary publicity. By then, the mood of the movie fans had already become accepting reality and began to look forward to it. The most important thing was to make the movie well! Because doubts are questioning, as long as the publicity is properly promoted, a large number of people will still take the lead in entering the cinema.

Wang Yang is still in New York, and has been completing the storyboard script of "When Happiness Comes Knocking the Door" every day during this period; he is also involved in the acquisition of Blue Sky Studio. More than two weeks ago, Flame Movie contacted Blue Sky Studio and proposed the first acquisition plan, injecting 80 million yuan, and obtaining 85% of the shares. The 68 million belonging to Flame Movie will also be used to produce "Ice Age"; in addition, it will not cut off employees of the original company; in "Ice Age", it will not interfere with Chris Wakekey's creation.

This acquisition plan is much more generous than Fox. As long as Chris Weikey nods, his shares will become 10%, and his net worth will be 8 million yuan at once; 5% of the shares are concentrated on technical director Mike Elinkis, several technical backbones and senior management leaders.

But Chris Waiki did not nodded in agreement. Compared with 20th Century Fox, Flame Movie is just a small company. Small companies mean unstable. If Flame Movie has to lay off employees and sell Blue Sky in two years due to serious losses, it will definitely be a very chaotic situation, and it is also something he doesn't want to see; more importantly, if Blue Sky is acquired by Fox, they can get some technology sharing from Fox animation department. If acquired by Flame Movie, they will not make any progress.

After learning about his concerns, Mark Slunt followed Wang Yang's intention and raised the acquisition price to 90 million. The money was deposited in one go, and it was placed in the Blue Sky Studios account to ensure that the entire production of "Ice Age" was completed; and it promised on paper that no one in the production team would be cut before "Ice Age" was completed. In addition to producing "Ice Age", they were allowed to carry out multiple technical research and development, and they could also expand their recruitment of employees if necessary.
Chapter completed!