In fact, 87 million U.S. dollars a week, equivalent to only more than 500 million Chinese dollars, is far inferior to Li Yi's previous movies compared to "Wreaths Under the Mountain" and "I'm Not the God of Medicine".
But for domestic media and netizens, this number is already extremely exaggerated.
Because there are only domestic films or co-productions that have achieved such results in North America.
At this moment, Li Yi looked at the people brought by Xu Nannan with a headache.
Meng Yibin, Xu Nannan’s cousin.
The second-generation Chinese immigrants grew up in North America. However, Meng Yibin and Xu Nannan have a good relationship.
He studied directing at UCLA!
Currently a sophomore.
The reason why Li Yi has a headache is because after the release of "A Dog's Purpose", Li Yi became famous in North America, and his achievements in China were also dug up by the media. Of course, it was mainly because Dean Pictures wanted to take the opportunity to promote the movie. .
Li Yi can now be said to be absolutely famous in Hollywood.
After all, the commercial box office results he achieved in China are absolutely rare in Hollywood. Coupled with the huge sales of "A Dog's Purpose" and the popularity of the previous short film "Carrying a Burden", there are also "Hachiko" Story" results and more.
All add a lot of aura to him.
After Meng Yibin learned about the relationship between Li Yi and Xu Nannan, he boasted in front of his classmates that he knew Li Yi and had a very good relationship.
As a result, his classmates didn't believe it, so he immediately said that he could invite Li Yi to their party!
But he knew Li Yi, but this was the first time Li Yi saw Meng Yibin.
Naturally, Meng Yibin couldn't go to Li Yi directly, so he could only ask his cousin Xu Nannan.
After all, he was boasting so much that it would be a big shame if he failed to live up to it.
"Just attending a party?" Although it was a bit of a headache, Xu Nannan still wanted to give Li Yi his face.
Since Xu Nannan can bring Meng Yibin to see him, it already shows that her relationship with this cousin should be very good.
But Li Yi felt that it was more than just attending a party.
As expected, Meng Yibin suddenly felt guilty.
Xu Nannan couldn't help frowning and staring at Meng Yibin.
"Okay, I admit it, the main reason is that we want to ask my cousin-in-law to help you look at our works! A few short films!" Meng Yibin had no choice but to tell the truth!
"That's it?" Li Yi couldn't help but be a little stunned.
"That's it! I know, it's a bit abrupt, but I, I agreed! Cousin-in-law, can you help me?" Meng Yibin said with some anxiety.
"Okay, but forget about the party, just let me take you to see the short film you made!" Li Yi glanced at Xu Nannan, and then said to Meng Yibin.
"Really? Wow, cousin-in-law, you are really great!" Meng Yibin said excitedly.
"Then I will pick you up tomorrow?" Meng Yibin asked.
"Okay!" Li Yi nodded.
Meng Yibin left excitedly!
"Will it cause you any trouble?" Xu Nannan asked after Meng Yibin left.
Li Yi shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I just want to see what the top students from the prestigious schools here are like!"
...
The next day, Meng Yibin drove over to pick up Li Yi.
Drive to UCLA!
Meng Yibin took Li Yi to their "small base"!
Meng Yibin's classmates are already waiting there, seven of them in total, five men and two women!
There are two Chinese among them!
Including Meng Yibin, there are actually three Chinese Americans!
Although these people may not be considered to be students from prestigious schools, in the profession of directing, involution is really serious in the United States.
There are only a few well-known art universities in China, but there are many in North America.
But there are very few directors who can really stand out. What's more, they not only have to compete with directors from their own country, but also with foreign directors.
Therefore, every one of them was very excited about the arrival of a director like Li Yi who has achieved great success.
Meng Yibin's classmates, two of whom are Chinese, are not all from the same class as Meng Yibin. One of them, Zhan Feiyang, is already studying for a master's degree. Just because he learned that Li Yi, a Chinese director, was coming, So we got together.
And there is another person named Jiang Yun who is not from the mainland, but an international student from Baodao.
To them, Li Yi is definitely a "big shot"!
"Let's watch the movie!" After some polite remarks, Li Yi went directly to the topic.
Meng Yibin and the others had already prepared, and there was actually a small screening room here.
The first thing to play was Meng Yibin’s work.
A short film called "Christmas Present".
The content of the short film is about five minutes.
Of course, the experimental short films shot by students like Meng Yibin and others are basically relatively simple scenes and relatively simple plots.
At the beginning of the short film, the male protagonist went to a wall calendar as soon as he got up, picked up a pen and made a cross on the first day of the calendar!
Day after day, day after day, he marked a cross on the calendar every day.
Every day seems to be looking forward to something.
Until December 25th!
The doorbell rang outside, and someone brought a gift.
It was signed: "Mom!"
The hero showed a happy smile.
Entering the room, he put on his earphones and dialed his mother's number!
"Merry Christmas, Mom!"
"Merry Christmas, did you receive the gift? Do you like it?"
"Mom, the watch is very good, I like it very much! I also asked someone to give you a gift!"
After that, he sat there and listened to his mother nagging on the other end, tears falling down uncontrollably.
The scene changes. When he was a child, he was still a little boy. Just like now, as soon as December arrived, he began to count the days and look forward to the arrival of Christmas.
And every Christmas, he always receives a Christmas gift from his mother.
The camera turned back and he hung up the phone! I picked up the photo with my mother on the table, looked at it, and put it back again!
Opening the drawer, there were several identical watches inside. Each watch had a year sticker on it. There were five years in total!
He closed the drawer and walked out to his neighbor's house and knocked on the door.
The door opened.
An old lady with white hair appeared in front of him.
"Mrs. Harling, your son asked me to give you a Christmas gift. Merry Christmas!" the actor said as he handed over the gift.
"Merry Christmas!" A happy smile appeared on the old lady's face.
The old lady took the gift and closed the door. The old lady just now was actually the actor's mother.
The camera turned back and it turned out that the old lady suffered from Alzheimer's disease five years ago. She couldn't even remember her son, but every year at Christmas, she would still remember to give her son a Christmas gift. As a gift, those five watches were all given to her son by her in the past five years.
Only on Christmas Day will she briefly remember her son.
