Cameo becomes lead role?

The oppressive atmosphere vanished as the gang members left.

The entire film crew rushed forward, surrounding Lin Yuan.

"You're an amazing fighter! I've been doing action scenes for so many years, and I never thought anyone could be as fierce as in the movies!"

"A real-life Little Li Flying Dagger! It's a shame there's no flying dagger event in the Olympics, otherwise, you'd instantly bring glory to the country."

"Lin Yuan, you're just too handsome! I want to have your babies!" a female staff member shouted.

"Are you silly? It's almost 2001, you'd only have time to have snake babies at most!"

Facing everyone's enthusiasm, Lin Yuan didn't know how to respond and could only say, "These are just minor, insignificant tricks."

"He's clearly very strong but pretends not to care. How detestable! He's totally showing off!"

Lin Yuan felt something was wrong as everyone reached out to hug him.

"What are you guys doing? Ah... haha... put me down..."

They lifted Lin Yuan and tossed him into the air repeatedly.

After a while, they finally let Lin Yuan go, allowing him to land on his feet.

Zhang Ziyi squeezed through the crowd and came before Lin Yuan. Her eyes were still a little red from crying.

"Little brother, thank you so much today. I'll remember your kindness. I won't say too much in thanks."

Lin Yuan stepped forward, gave her a light hug, and then let go. "Sister, don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I'll stand by your side."

She smiled and nodded, took a few steps back, and went to the side to compose herself.

Immediately, the crew members surrounded him again, eagerly asking him questions.

Everyone was well-intentioned, wanting to get closer to him. Lin Yuan had no choice but to activate his social butterfly mode and try his best to cope.

"Alright, everyone can disperse now and get back to your own business. Zhang Ziyi and I have something to discuss." Jackie Chan saw that the time was right and stepped forward to clear the crowd.

Lin Yuan casually picked up the document beside him. The gang members' disturbance had interrupted him, and he hadn't had a chance to read it carefully.

However, the document in his hand was snatched away by Jackie Chan.

"Big Brother?"

"Sorry about that, I grabbed the wrong one. This one isn't for you."

Jackie Chan put that document into a drawer, then took out another one and handed it to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan smiled but didn't expose him.

It wasn't that he had grabbed the wrong one; it was that Jackie Chan had changed his mind at the last minute.

He had given Lin Yuan another cooperation agreement. Although Lin Yuan didn't know the content, it was definitely better than the previous one.

Circumstances had changed. After the gang incident, Jackie Chan valued Lin Yuan even more.

It wasn't surprising that he would offer a higher-stakes agreement.

Lin Yuan opened the agreement and after a few pages, he asked doubtfully, "Big Brother, this contract isn't right."

"Where's the problem? I checked it myself, it should be correct."

"Did you add an extra zero to the salary in the contract?"

Jackie Chan glanced at it and immediately said, "That's right, that's the amount."

"This salary is too high. I'm just a cameo in a small role."

The salary Jackie Chan offered in the agreement was 2 million... US dollars.

According to what Lin Yuan learned later, Zhang Ziyi's salary in this movie was only a little over 1 million US dollars.

She played the villain BOSS and had a very significant role in the film.

But Lin Yuan, as a cameo actor, was being paid more than Zhang Ziyi. Was this really appropriate?

"I'd like to make a slight modification to the script and ask you to perform one or two action scenes. This price is appropriate," Jackie Chan gave his reason.

Lin Yuan knew this wasn't the real reason.

The script for Rush Hour 2 had already been polished to perfection. Even if Jackie Chan wanted to add scenes for Lin Yuan, it would only be about four or five minutes at most.

Otherwise, it would disrupt the entire rhythm of the movie.

Therefore, the reason for offering such a high salary was primarily based on favor.

"Big Brother, I feel unworthy of receiving this salary." Lin Yuan politely declined.

"I know what you're worried about. How about this: you listen to me first. If you still feel it's unacceptable after I'm done, I absolutely won't force you," Jackie Chan said.

Lin Yuan nodded, signaling Jackie Chan to continue.

"Firstly, the price I'm offering is for a top martial arts master. The salary should match your status. I've witnessed your swordsmanship and flying dagger skills today, and I can't pretend not to see your value. If I offered an unreasonable price, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," Jackie Chan paused and continued.

"Secondly, you helped me out a lot today, and I've come to see you as a younger brother. I can't just let you help me without showing my gratitude, can I?"

"Lastly, you're already the lead in a top Hollywood production. You can't sign for a very low salary. Even for a cameo, it shouldn't be too low, otherwise, you won't be able to negotiate better terms in the future."

Jackie Chan's explanation was very sincere, considering all aspects for Lin Yuan, making it impossible for him to refuse.

So Lin Yuan said, "Brother, I accept your explanation, but I'm worried that your script revisions might affect the overall tightness of the movie."

Lin Yuan's concern was not unfounded, as Rush Hour 2 was an extremely successful commercial film in the future timeline.

If he were to add scenes for himself and disrupt the movie's smooth pacing, it would be counterproductive.

Originally, Rush Hour 2 was scheduled to be released around August 2001, with its North American box office grossing a staggering $226 million, ranking fifth in the North American box office charts for the year!

This was even higher than The Mummy Returns and Jurassic Park 3...

If global box office revenue was considered, Rush Hour 2 reached $347 million, which, calculated at the exchange rate of the time, was equivalent to nearly 2.9 billion RMB.

In contrast, the total box office revenue for mainland China that year was just over 800 million.

Jackie Chan's box office earnings for this single film were more than three times the total box office revenue of all mainland films combined.

It could truly be said: Brother Jackie Chan, terrifying indeed!

The great success of Rush Hour 2 not only earned Jackie Chan a salary of $15 million but also an additional $26 million in box office profit sharing, totaling a staggering $41 million.

Lin Yuan couldn't help but marvel at this series of dazzling achievements, worrying that he might actually be causing more harm than good.

However, Jackie Chan wasn't worried at all.

Jackie Chan took the documents from Lin Yuan's hands, flipped to the last page, and handed them back to him.

"My initial plan is to arrange a short, independent storyline for you. As a Hong Kong detective, you'll be independently investigating the mastermind behind the scenes, a hidden subplot that won't directly intersect with my main storyline."

"I understand. This way, we won't interfere with each other."

"While this method is clever, an independent storyline needs to be engaging, which means you'll need to deliver a few exciting action scenes to support it."

"That's absolutely no problem."

How could Lin Yuan possibly pass up an opportunity to earn attribute points and strengthen himself?