Chapter 133: All the Blockbusters Are Out
As the domestic film industry develops better and better, the investment in movies is increasing exponentially, or even tenfold.

Since "Hero", there have been more and more movies with a budget of hundreds of millions or even millions of dollars.

In the following years, visual feasts such as "The Promise", "The Banquet", "House of Flying Daggers" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" dominated the Chinese mainland film scene and created a blockbuster carnival viewing atmosphere for audiences across the country.

In addition, every blockbuster has the support of various film and television superstars, and is hyped up by the media. For a time, blockbusters have become a trend pursued by the market.

Following the 4.2 million investment cost of "Red Cliff" and the 7000 million US dollar investment in the co-production "The Forbidden Kingdom", Hong Kong director Chan Ke-yan announced her latest film "The Warlords", with an initial budget investment cost of up to 3 million.

Compared with these movies, the 8000 million investment in "Assembly" seems a bit insignificant.

In early March, "The Warlords" passed the review of the General Administration and the film was officially launched. Chen Kexin faced media interviews and will select actors from all over the world.

However, Chen Kexin was famous for making romantic art films, and under the market situation at the time, it was obviously difficult to enter the mainland market by making art films, and the capital side also put pressure on Chen Kexin due to market demand.

In the end, Chen Kexin was forced to make a bold transition and challenge herself to shoot a kung fu blockbuster, which she was not good at at all.

After much consideration, and just to be on the safe side, Chen Kexin decided to remake the Shaw Brothers film "The Assassin", taking the allusion from "Outlaws of the Marsh" about someone having to submit a letter of surrender before joining the gang, and renamed the story "The Letter of surrender".

Li Lianjie, who was about to start filming "The Forbidden Kingdom", became the first person he contacted, followed by Liu Dehua and Jin Chengwu.

This film, adapted from the Ma Assassination Case in the late Qing Dynasty, immediately attracted the attention of many people in the circle.

"Director Chen Kexin spent a lot of money to hire eight screenwriters, and spent more than three months discussing the script over and over again."

"Spending 1 million yuan to invite international superstar Li Lianjie to star in the film."

"Media Asia announced that it has confirmed its investment and has become one of the largest investors in The Warlords."

...

"Chen Shu acted like a big shot in the crew and was replaced by director Feng Xiaogang. Actress Tang Yan was invited to join instead."

"Zhao Benshan visited Feng Xiaogang's crew and expressed his condolences to the crew members."

"Popular actor Deng Chao is suspected to have fallen in love with Sun Li on the set of "Comrades: Almost a Love Story", and their dating photos were released by the media."

A large number of latest reports about movies appear on the Internet every day. The media obtains a large amount of material, and the circle suddenly becomes lively.

.........

Iceland, the crew of "Interstellar".

While fiddling with the equipment, Gu Wei looked at Liu Yifei and Su Chang not far away.

The two of them were wearing white winter clothes and taking pictures facing the lake, and laughter could be heard from them.

The shoot was as oppressive as ever.

Every scene of the spacecraft landing on Mercury needs to be carefully planned and designed to present a natural and original picture.

Gu Wei not only has to pay attention to the actors' performances, but also has to coordinate the filming team to ensure the shocking visual effects.

"Attention all departments, begin."

"Okay, director."

...

"CUT, Matt, watch your expression."

"One more."

Gu Wei did not let him off at all, and even Leon and others were reprimanded by him several times.

There is no way around it, that’s how photography works. Without utmost effort, you won’t get satisfactory results.

If the director is not picky, the final result of the movie can be imagined.

"Everyone take a break and continue in twenty minutes."

Liu Yifei, wearing thick winter clothes, took a rest at the shooting base with Su Chang.

"Xixi, Director Gu is so strict."

Su Chang witnessed the entire filming and spoke to Liu Yifei in a low voice.

"Of course, the investment cost of the movie is so huge, so you must be under pressure."

Liu Yifei said this with a serious expression, as if she wanted to share some of the pressure with Gu Wei.

"Just now I saw Director Gu almost made Charlize Theron cry. She's an Oscar winner. It's really scary."

"Oh, you talk a lot. Senior is a big director. That top director is not strict."

Liu Yifei retorted directly, without taking her eyes off the figure, just looking at Gu Wei who was talking to Leonardo and Matt Damon not far away.

"Huh, you're still blaming me. I wonder who secretly left the room last night and went to someone's room in the middle of the night."

Su Chang rolled his eyes and muttered.

"Boom."

"Hey, why are you hitting my head?"

Covering her forehead and looking up, Su Chang saw Liu Yifei staring at her with wide eyes.

"You're talking nonsense. I was..."

Liu Yifei's voice became smaller and smaller as she defended herself feebly.

"Haha, I won't say anything more."

When Su Chang saw Liu Yifei's expression, the corners of his mouth curled up, like a little fox whose trick had succeeded.

The break passed quickly and the crew continued filming.

After seeing Leonardo and others leave, Liu Yifei quietly came to Gu Wei.

Watching the monitor with him, two cameras were filming behind Matt Damon, and there were planes in the sky shooting overhead.

It’s a pity that drone technology has not yet been used in film shooting, otherwise it could save a lot of production costs.

…In China, in addition to several big-budget movies, there are also many TV series that started filming this year.

"Crossing the Guandong" started filming in October last year. During the process, other investors withdrew their capital. Later, with the help of China Film, Xingchen Film and Television filled the gap.

The filming of this TV series has been completed, and the total length of shooting materials has reached about 14000 minutes.

Including Heihe, Xuexiang, Hailin, Weihe in Heilongjiang Province, Harbin, Zhujiayu, Liubu, Zhoucun, Jiaonan in SD Province, Songjiang and Wuxi in Shanghai, the number of transfers reached 16 times, which is a high record in the shooting history of similar TV series.

At the same time, director Kang Honglei, who has filmed TV series, is currently facing financial difficulties.

He did not have a smooth journey when filming the military-themed TV series "Soldier Assault" in 06, and encountered many setbacks in terms of investment. The investors of this drama were jointly invested by the domestic August st Film Studio and Huayi Company.

Due to restrictions on the subject matter, the drama could only be broadcast on local TV stations at first, and later it was broadcast on the Capital TV station in 07 and became a hit.

Even so, the drama was not well received by "professionals" in the industry, who claimed that it was just an "isolated case."

Now Kang Honglei is preparing to shoot another TV series on the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The script has been completed, but there is no news about the investment.

"Soldier Assault" was invested with 1200 million yuan, which means the investment cost per episode was 40 yuan. When it was later sold to a video website, each episode was only 3000 yuan. There were 30 episodes in one movie, so only yuan was earned. Even after it became a hit, it was still a serious loss.

When Kang Honglei tried to seek investment from Huayi Company again, the other party politely refused, citing insufficient funds as an excuse.

"Director Kang, why don't you go to Xingchen Film and Television Company and see if you can get some investment?"

In the company office, screenwriter Lan Xiaolong looked at the gloomy Kang Honglei and made a suggestion.

"Director Gu Wei's company?"

Kang Honglei asked after hearing this.

“Yes, their company is investing in a movie and a TV series this year, so they definitely have no shortage of funds.

He is now very famous in the investment circle, and many directors have gone to Xingchen Film and Television to inquire.

I think I can give it a try, maybe there is hope.”

Hearing this, Kang Honglei nodded, then took out his cell phone and dialed.

He didn't have Gu Wei's contact information, so he could only contact Gu Wei after getting the number from other people.

...

On the other side, Gu Wei, who had just finished a day's filming, returned to his hotel room when his cell phone rang.

I picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar domestic number. After hesitating for a moment, I pressed the connect button and answered it.

"Hey."

"Hello, Director Gu, I'm Kang Honglei."

A male voice came from the other end of the line.

"Kang Honglei?"

Gu Wei was a little confused. He was not familiar with most other directors in China, but he had heard of this name.

"Hello, Director Kang, what's up?"

Restraining the doubts in his heart, Gu Wei asked directly.

"Sorry, Director Gu, I'm sorry to bother you during filming. This is what's going on..."

In the room, Gu Wei was lying on the sofa, listening to the other party talking. After about ten minutes, he finally understood what the other party meant.

"Director Kang, I've submitted the script."

Hearing the other party agree, Kang Honglei in the office was stunned. He was still thinking about finding a reason to convince the other party, but he didn't expect Gu Wei to agree as soon as he finished speaking. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Director Gu, don't you want to ask what the script is?"

After thinking for a while, Kang Honglei continued.

"I watched 'Soldiers Assault', it was very well made, Director Kang's script is probably also about war."

"Yes, the script has just been finalized. It's called 'My Captain, My Regiment' and it's a TV series about the war of resistance against Japanese aggression."

...

The two sides continued chatting for a while, and Gu Wei settled the matter directly on the phone. He then asked the other party to contact Wang Chen before hanging up the phone.

Ever since Kang Honglei called Gu Wei, Lan Xiaolong has been staring at him. When Kang Honglei's frown slowly relaxed, Lan Xiaolong knew that it was done.

"Director Kang, is it done?"

Lan Xiaolong confirmed with him.

"Director Gu agreed and confirmed that he would fully invest. He is indeed a great director. He didn't hesitate after listening to what I said."

After resolving the investment issue, Kang Honglei put aside his worries and answered with full energy.

After ending the call, Gu Wei packed up simply and called Wang Chen in China before going downstairs to tell him about this matter. Then he went to the restaurant downstairs.

In the restaurant downstairs, Liu Yifei and Su Chang were chatting and laughing. When they saw Gu Wei coming, they waved.

"Senior, try this, I just made it."

Liu Yifei considerately pushed the food in front of Gu Wei, not caring at all about Su Chang who rolled his eyes beside her.

"Love brain."

Su Chang muttered softly.

Then they ate and chatted, talking about some things that happened in the country.

After returning from the Berlin Film Festival, Fan Binbin has confirmed that he will not renew his contract with Huayi Company. Huayi has not responded, and netizens were discussing this matter for a while.

The movie "Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots" starring Zhao Benshan has set a release date. Many people came to the movie premiere, all of whom are well-known celebrities in the circle.

.........

(End of this chapter)