In 1980, Jet Li was spotted by Hong Kong director Zhang Xinpei and starred in the movie "Shaolin Temple". In 1982, when the movie was released, Jet Li became a hit. At that time, the average ticket price was 1 cent. According to incomplete statistics, "Shaolin Temple" sold 160 million at the box office. This is the movie with the largest number of viewers in the history of China. Many people have watched it four or five times or even Dozens of times, if calculated according to the current market, the box office far exceeded 5 billion "Wolf Warrior 2".
How red was Jet Li back then? Later in the interview, he said that in those two years, he received more than a dozen sacks of letters from the audience, and his mother had vacated a room for these letters. One day, several policemen came to the door inexplicably, saying that a suspect confessed that he had hidden spy information in a letter to Jet Li. As a result, several policemen only read these letters for a week.
At that time Jet Li was still an athlete of the Beijing Wushu Team, and his relationship was linked to the Beijing Sports Commission. He did not get paid for making movies, and only had one dollar per day as a subsidy. After "Shaolin Temple" became popular, Jet Li took "Shaolin Boy" and "North and South Shaolin", and the subsidy rose to two or three yuan a day. And the Hong Kong staff of the same crew can get a remuneration of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars for a play, which is 50 yuan a day for a Hong Kong group performance of a dead body.
After Jet Li became popular, Hong Kong filmmakers offered him a salary of 3 million to make a film, but Jet Li was a member of the sports committee and could not sign a contract privately. To sign, the sports committee could only sign, and the benefit was of course the public took it.
When Jet Li was filming, he hit the sky and the dark every day, and his whole body was injured. Sometimes at 6 o'clock in the morning under the icy city wall and ready to wait for filming, the director only appeared at 12 o'clock and took a look at the city wall with the beauty, and announced that he would not shoot today.
Before becoming a Kung Fu star, Jet Li won five consecutive martial arts all-around champions. When he was filming, he agreed that he did not need to participate in the sixth. However, after the filming, the leaders of the sports committee asked him to participate. In the hasty training, the ligaments were hardened. Torn and rested for a whole year. After
was injured and retired, Jet Li was finally able to concentrate on the direction of the film. In 1986, he directed and acted in "Chinese Hero". During the filming process, he was beaten by a foreign boxer to the internal organs. He had abdominal pain lying in bed, and he could not eat for several months. He relied on nutrient solution to maintain it, but he could not detect any problems. Fortunately, I met Zhao Xuequn, a magical female doctor. After listening to the description, I immediately knew that the stomach shifted and pressed the capillaries. The movement was too slight, so I couldn't see it under X-ray. After massage and other treatments, he vomited a lot of blood and water, and then slowly recovered.
"Chinese Hero" lost the box office, Jet Li was discouraged. At that time, he and his teammate Huang Qiuyan were already married. On the suggestion of a friend, he and his wife moved to the United States as visiting scholars. Although
arrived in the United States, Jet Li’s reputation was still there. At that time martial arts films were very popular. Martial arts all-rounders like Jet Li were very rare. Producers would naturally not miss it easily. Hong Kong directors Luo Wei and Tsui Hark both came to visit soon. . "The End of the Dragon" filmed by
in the United States was produced by Rowe Company. When Rowe was the director, he became famous for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, two martial arts superstars. Needless to say, its position in the Hong Kong film circle is naturally. This is also Jet Li's willingness to come out again. Important reason. Of course, after leaving the system, his salary was very high, which still moved him.
Jet Li had two major gains in filming "The End of the Dragon". One was to meet Lizhi and later became his second wife. Second, they met Luo Wei’s son David Luo. The two became good friends. Under the match between David Luo, Jet Li signed a contract with Golden Harvest Pictures and returned to Hong Kong. At the same time, David Luo became his agent.
Jet Li signed with Jiahe to shoot four films in two years, each paid 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars. However, this cooperation is not pleasant. After Jiahe finished filming "Huang Feihong: Rising Clouds", Jet Li's reputation soared and his value skyrocketed. Many other companies asked him to make films, and Jiahe made things difficult for him. And his agent David Luo is not a fuel-efficient lamp, not only does not protect Jet Li's interests, but also colludes with Jiahe and suppresses them in various ways. Whenever Jet Li and Jiahe clashed, David Luo would persuade Jet Li that the company is too powerful and you can't afford it, so it's better to give in. In fact, David Luo is in the same line with Total Golden Harvest. He is not only a producer of Golden Harvest, but his mother is also a shareholder of Golden Harvest. So how could he take Jet Li’s interest into consideration?
Jet Li’s two-year contract with Jiahe has expired and only made two films. According to the contract, the film did notThe auction is full, that is the company's problem, the remuneration must be paid, but Jiahe is unwilling to pay the remaining 3 million pieces for various reasons, unless another two-year contract is signed.
At that time Jet Li was worth more than 1.5 million per film. Of course, he did not want to be trapped by Jiahe. There were many people who wanted to find him to make movies, but because of the loopholes in the contract, and the signing of David Luo It was a 10-year brokerage contract. It was really troublesome to start a lawsuit. Jet Li wanted to leave and go back to the United States at the time. However, to apply for a visa, Jiahe had to issue documents, and he was stuck again. He was threatened by Luo David and Jiahe. Under the circumstances, Jet Li had to sign up for a half-year contract, only 50,000 salary per month, of which the agent Luo David would take 20,000.
Jet Li stayed in Jiahe to shoot Huang Feihong's sequel "A Man Should Be Self-improvement". At this time, he had already seen the true face of David Luo and wanted to replace him. During this period, many other film companies approached him to discuss cooperation, including the newly established but very strong Fuyi Company. Cai Ziming, the owner of
Fuyi Company, is very mysterious. Everyone knows that he traveled from Guangzhou to Hong Kong and then to the Netherlands. He also knows that he has a deep underworld background, but no one can guess how deep he is. Throughout, it is circulated that he has a close relationship with international gangs that are engaged in drug trafficking. Although Hong Kong gangs were rampant at the time, they did not dare to act rashly in the face of such mysterious people. And Cai Ziming's company also has a local snake involved, that is, the 14k ruthless man "Bearded and Brave", accounting for 10% of the shares.
Cai Ziming was generous, vicious and righteous, so he could quickly gain a foothold in the film and television industry. After Jet Li met him, he quickly became a good friend. Cai Ziming knew about his dispute with Jiahe, and promised to settle his dispute immediately and take over as his agent.
Jiahe knew Jet Li was a cash cow and didn't want to let him go. He was still threatened. Jet Li was too courageous to support someone. After Jiahe repeatedly made unreasonable demands, he announced that he would stop filming "Men should be self-improvement". Director Tsui Hark of
was in a hurry and asked the company to discuss that they must find Jet Li back. When the company said it couldn't do it, it changed people, and Zhao Wenzhuo came to shoot, and he did try the show. Of course Tsui Hark didn't do it. Although Zhao Wenzhuo was very skilled, he could not compare with Jet Li regardless of his martial arts temperament and influence. In desperation, the company had to discuss with Jet Li, who entrusted various affairs to Cai Ziming. Cai Ziming's bargaining ability is naturally better than Jet Li. After several trades, Jet Li promised to finish filming the rest of the scene, and Jiahe had to compensate Jet Li for the relevant compensation. After
solved the problem with Jiahe, Jet Li formally appointed Cai Ziming as his agent, and at the same time asked David Luo to terminate the contract. David Luo was unwilling to lose the cash cow and sued Jet Li for breach of contract and put forward various demanding requirements, including his previous relationship with Jet Li. The 100,000 U.S. dollars borrowed is not repaid. The most important one is that in the future, Jet Li will draw a commission regardless of which company he accepts. But Cai Ziming was not in a hurry, he assured Jet Li that he would settle these things.
After Jet Li regained his freedom, Cai Ziming's company quickly prepared a new play for him. In fact, this is his real purpose of "rescuing" Jet Li. Any good and righteousness is false. It is true to get Jet Li as a cash cow. At that time, Cai Ziming planned "New Dragon Inn", starring Jet Li, invested heavily in production, and even said hello to Stallone, asking him to come as a guest. As for the costume martial arts film Stallone, I don’t know how to participate. During the period of
, the two had frequent contacts and talked deeply about the script. On April 15, 1992, Cai Ziming and Jet Li talked for more than 4 hours, and they talked until late at night. But this was the last time they talked, and after ten hours of separation, Cai Ziming hung up.
Early on the morning of April 16, Cai Ziming went to his company. He had just come out of the elevator and was ambushed by two gunmen. He was shot 9 times in his body and his head was blown.
When Jet Li received the call at 11:40 and knew about it, he couldn't believe it. When it was later confirmed to be true, he was stunned. I couldn't even hang up the phone, and I repeated it three times before putting the phone back in place. The
police quickly tracked down the murderer, but did not find out why. On the second day of the incident, a newspaper received an anonymous call, claiming to be a killer from the Mainland, and was hired by a Hong Kong film producer to assassinate Cai Ziming for one million Hong Kong dollars. After the incident, there were only 500,000 yuan, so it was exposed because of injustice. However, the police judged that it was a smoke bomb, and judging from the guns used and the method of conduct, it should be the work of a foreign killer. The police speculated that it might be Cai ZimingIt was done by a foe in the Netherlands.
However, people in the circle don't think so, many people speculate that the incident was done by the local gang. At that time, Hong Kong films were booming, especially Taiwanese filmmakers were vying for film sources. Many films were bought before they were finished. The production company only needed to build a lineup, and the star contract could be sold for money. This is the so-called Sell "Pian Hua". Just because it is profitable, many underworlds get involved in the film industry, and if they want to sell a good price, the first thing to do is to compete for stars. So there were many rumors of celebrities being shot at their heads to film. Of course, Cai Ziming is not idle at this convenience. His methods are fierce and he has attracted many big-name celebrities. This has touched the interests of others. Therefore, it is not an accident to get a headshot. As to which one did it, That's hard to say. Jackie Chan said in an interview with Gao Xiaosong two years ago that in fact, we all know who did it, but there is no way to say that this secret can only be revealed after decades or 100 years.
After Cai Ziming's death, Fuyi Company collapsed not long ago. Jet Li was protected by the police and returned to the mainland after staying in the hotel for a period of time. The lead actor of "New Dragon Inn" also became Leung Ka Fai. However, Jet Li knew in his heart that the killer would not attack him, because he was a cash cow, and they wanted eggs instead of killing him as a chicken.
After experiencing all kinds of right and wrong in Hong Kong, Jet Li set up his own production company, mainly in the mainland, and Jin Yong gave him a new stage name called "Li Yangzhong". Jet Li's film company is called "Zhengdong Production Company", and Zhengdong is actually Jet Li's real name.
Zhengdong Company made five films including "Fang Shiyu" and "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng", but the overall operation was not successful. After that, Jet Li stopped the company, returned to actors, and devoted himself to Hollywood, still occupying an irreplaceable position in the field of kung fu movies.
