Chapter 60

The production of a major film is clearly not something that can be accomplished simply by gathering the actors, setting up the crew, and securing the funds.

Many behind-the-scenes preparations often take months or even years, and just the selection of locations alone can be a headache. Fortunately, Chen Tiandu is firm in his stance and decisive in his actions, which greatly shortened the preparation time. He and Vin Diesel led the team to run around, confirming each location, negotiating, and signing contracts, with Chen Tiandu personally handling the entire process, deeply feeling the difficulty of the task.

In the original work, many of the real scenes were shot in Sydney. The "Adam Bridge" is actually at the intersection of Campbell Street and Elizabeth Bridge, and the crossroads in the "Agent Training Program" were filmed at Martin Place and Pitt Street, where the red-dressed woman also appeared...

These places are beautiful, but it would be impractical for Chen Tiandu to shoot them. Not only has he never been to Sydney, but it would be impossible for him to verify so many different locations. Therefore, many of the scenes would inevitably be different. He chose New York City as the setting, with its more prosperous architectural wonders and the addition of iconic landmarks, which he believed would be more interesting.

Imagine this: a leap across the sky between two skyscrapers in New York, jumping up with the lights of the city's skyscrapers and cars below, as if crossing an infinite galaxy of light. What a sight that would be!

Of course, this would also increase the difficulty of filming.

It doesn't stop there. Many of the props in the film also need to be prepared in advance. The massive iron-clad spaceship was transported to the Matrix Effects factory for reassembly. The rough prototype was nothing special, and much of it needed post-production work. There were also lifelike models of mechanical squids and mechanical arms that needed to be built. Finally, they were moved to the Warner Bros. studio, where a long green screen was set up. All of this work costs money, and even before filming began, several million had already been spent.

Those with weak hearts might not be able to handle it.

During the preparation phase of "The Matrix," Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Hugo Weaving were still undergoing special training, learning combat moves and wire work. The first two also studied Chinese martial arts under the martial arts designer Yuen Wo-ping to complete the complex fight scenes required in the film.

When Chen Tiandu successfully convinced the investors to incorporate Eastern martial arts elements into the Western action film, it meant that the actors would face extremely painful training, even the muscular Laurence seemed to struggle. Chen Tiandu met with Director Yuen Wo-ping several times a day to discuss their ideas. He also invited Master Wang Shiquan, a master of Bajiquan, to serve as the martial arts consultant.

Yuen Wo-ping is a perfectionist, especially in action design. Compared to the less effective training of Keanu and the others, he was more concerned about Chen Tiandu, as he didn't know how many years of martial arts training Chen Tiandu had and what level he was at. He urged Chen Tiandu several times to join the training as soon as possible.

But Chen Tiandu had his own struggles. He wanted to do his best, but the time left for preparation was limited, as the release date was already set for August of the following summer. The time was tight, but if he didn't choose this release date, the next available slot would be in the year 2000, which would be even more disadvantageous.

The film's production start date was finally set for December 8th, in Yanjing, China. There was no special reason for choosing this day; it just happened to be the right time.

During this period, Chen Tiandu was constantly busy, and in his rare free moments, he also practiced his martial arts, even if it was just for show. He didn't want to repeat Keanu's mistakes.

As time gradually ran out and the preparations became more complete, Chen Tiandu's spirit was focused, ready for a big push. Suddenly, Downey called, "Boss, I've found out about the internet company you asked me to investigate. They are preparing to sell."

"Oh~~"

Chen Tiandu remembered this matter. Downey had said it would only take a few days, but it had taken much longer. Considering the amount of tasks he had been giving Downey, it was no wonder he had taken so long to remember this, "Tell me the details."

Google, known in Chinese as "Guge."

On September 4, 1998, Google was co-founded by two young Ph.D. students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who are also known as the "Google Guys." Google was founded as a private company to design and manage the internet search engine "Google Search," but the Google website had not yet been launched, which is why it took Downey so long to find it.

When Downey discovered this company, he was quite surprised. It was a small internet company, and there were many such IT companies in the United States. He didn't understand how Chen Tiandu knew about them.

These two young men were currently in negotiations with Excite to sell their company, with an asking price of $1 million. However, this price was clearly not what Excite was willing to accept, and they offered $750,000, which the CEO of Excite, George Bell, still refused to buy.

Chen Tiandu wanted to focus on the film, but recently, he felt he needed more money, so he decided to make some investments.

He didn't know what Google would achieve in the future. In the dream where he was hit by a phone, he saw that this company seemed quite impressive, but he couldn't remember the specifics. If it weren't for the Google app on his phone suddenly reminding him, he might not have considered a side business.

In a simple studio in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were somewhat distracted as they introduced their company to a young man in front of them, "Our project, BackRub, originated at Stanford. It ranks search results based on the analysis of a large number of external links. The name 'Google' comes from the word 'Googol,' which represents 10 to the power of 100, symbolizing the vast resources on the internet. Our initial mission was to organize the world's information and make it accessible and beneficial to more people..."

Chen Tiandu listened with interest, but Downey's expression was not good, and he whispered, "Boss, this company doesn't even have a website online. All their facilities and research are based on theory. Apart from two dreamy students, there's nothing worth the trip. I don't recommend you buy it."

Such a blunt suggestion made Larry Page and Sergey Brin very angry, and they stopped their introduction. "If you're not interested in buying, are you just here to mock us? Don't think a few dollars make you someone important. We don't care much for movies."

Chen Tiandu was taken aback but laughed, "Gentlemen, that's just Downey's opinion. I haven't said anything, have I? Although you were somewhat distracted, I, as a potential buyer, listened attentively from start to finish. There's no need to get angry; that's not very gentlemanly."

Larry Page and Sergey Brin were immediately embarrassed, but they had already said harsh words, and apologizing would be a loss of face.

Since their offer of $750,000 was still rejected by Excite, their confidence had been severely shaken. Although they were determined to do something to make Excite regret it, as students, they couldn't maintain their resolve after being discouraged.

Just as they were about to say something, Chen Tiandu interrupted them, "I still have a good impression of Google. Your vision may seem exaggerated now, but it's a noble goal. 'The bigger the heart, the bigger the world,' who said that... Well, having ambition is a good thing, but I'm afraid you lack the courage. I believe in this company and in you, so I've decided to buy it. What do you think of $1 million?"

The few people in the room were stunned. Larry and Sergey looked at each other, seemingly in disbelief.

Downey was even more surprised and was about to speak, but Chen Tiandu stopped him.