Chapter 240 Black Actors

"Boss, there are a lot of people who signed up. In just two days, the company has received hundreds of resumes, including some big-name stars."

In the company, Reid held the list and continued.

"Robert, Tom Cruise, Leonardo, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf..."

"Wait, I remember there is an age requirement. The male lead needs an actor around 40 to 45 years old."

Hearing that some people obviously did not meet the specific requirements, Gu Wei asked with some confusion.

"Many people say that they can get older and uglier with makeup."

Wow, it seems that the production cost of 300 million US dollars has attracted even the top Hollywood stars.

“Resumes are accepted strictly on a case-by-case basis.”

"Okay, boss."

Some actors become famous through a specific series of movies, but this is not within Gu Wei's consideration.

Because once they are allowed to perform, it is easy for the audience to be distracted. For example, several actors in "Love Apartment" became famous because of this TV series, but it took them a long time to gradually get rid of the fixed image brought by the role.

The same is true in Hollywood. For example, if Robert Downey Jr. were the protagonist, as soon as he appeared on the screen, the audience would think that Iron Man had come out to save the world.

...

The celebration party for "No Man's Land" was held at a star-rated hotel in the capital.

Gu Wei did not go to the scene because the audition was still going on and the company was surrounded by reporters.

The selection of male actors is relatively simple, and the remaining roles are mostly about soldiers and scientists.

"Old Chen, you should play a scientist with this look. Playing a soldier is a bit too rough, haha."

Seeing Chen Minghao who had just returned, Gu Wei made a joke.

"Okay, director, as long as there's a role."

Chen Minghao was not picky and agreed immediately after hearing this. He heard that Chen Daoming would only play a supporting role and Li Binbin would only be a guest star, so he was lucky to have a role at all.

"How's it going over there? When will it be over?"

"It will be finished by early January at the latest. I asked Director Jiang about this before coming here."

There was still enough time. After Chen Minghao finished speaking, Gu Wei waved his hand, and the other party stood up, said hello, and left the meeting room.

About five minutes later, Gu Wei nodded to his assistant and signaled him to continue.

"Next, Wu Jing."

Hearing the shout, Wu Jing, who was waiting nearby, stood up from the crowd, quickly adjusted his breathing, and followed his assistant into the meeting room.

"Hello, Director Gu, I'm actor Wu Jing."

This actor, who used to be a director, was very humble at the moment. He kept greeting several people as soon as he entered the door.

"Hello, are you going to return to acting again?"

"Director Gu, you're joking. I've always been an actor, and directing is a part-time job."

In the past two years, Wu Jing has had a hard time in the circle. He has basically not gotten the leading role in any movie, and most of the time he has been playing supporting roles for people in Hong Kong Island.

With "Wolf Tooth" losing so much money, who would dare to continue investing in it? That would be just a waste of money.

The audition was simple, it just involved reciting a line. Gu Wei mainly looked at his image and whether it matched the temperament of a soldier.

Fortunately, this person is a martial artist, so there is no problem with this.

"Arrange the time and come over to sign the contract then."

It's settled. Wu Jing was a little confused at the moment, but after so many years of acting in TV dramas and movies, he still had some on-the-spot reaction.

"Thank you, Director Gu."

Huang Xiaoming was busy with company matters and rushed over when the audition was almost over.

"Director Gu, I'm sorry, I'm late."

"It's okay, the schedule is confirmed, right?"

"No, everything has been arranged."

Gu Wei had promised him before that he would have the role of the second male lead in the domestic film for him, playing a military leader.

...

In the evening, the official Weibo of Xingchen Film and Television updated the latest news and added the names of the confirmed actors.

The male and female protagonists, several supporting roles, and even guest roles are being updated one after another.

The name of the heroine was clearly written as Liu Yifei.

"Mimi, come and see, the female lead has been decided."

Zeng Jia saw the Weibo message and quickly said.

At this moment, Yang Mi looked at the name and felt a little powerless.

She tried very hard, but still didn't get any role.

"Uncle Lu, this role is no longer available."

After Jingtian finished filming with the crew, he called Lu Zheng.

"It's okay, let's try to get other roles. I think some of the supporting roles are pretty good too."

Lu Zheng was also a little helpless. Although he was an investor, he had no say in this movie.

In other words, the investors had no say and no right to intervene. This time, he had a deep understanding of Gu Wei's tyranny.

Jingtian had also gone for the audition before, and he took time out from the filming of the movie to go. The director of the crew had no objection, nor did he dare to have any objection, because the movies were invested by others.

After the audition, Gu Wei asked her to go back and wait for news.

Now that he had seen the list announced, Jing Tian, ​​unwilling to give up, sent a message to Gu Wei.

"Director Gu, have the other roles been decided? Supporting roles are also fine." Looking at the message sent by Jing Tian, ​​Gu Wei thought for a moment and finally refused.

Jingtian was definitely disappointed after getting the reply, and the continuous NGs during filming were the best proof of this.

"Ah, this is fate. Look at her. She has average acting skills but can still be the leading actress."

Someone in the crew complained privately.

"I knew it was Yifei, there was no need to guess."

"Come on, Yifei."

After seeing the announced list, Liu Yifei's fans were no longer as excited as before, as if it was a matter of course.

...

Zhang Yimou's films are one of the focuses of the entire circle. Even when "2012" is in the hot casting stage, the media has given "Three Guns" many headlines.

On the day of its release, the box office grossed over 2100 million.

The previous "刺陵" and "风云2" were completely crushed, and reporters almost stopped reporting on them.

Not only the audience and fans, but also many celebrities went to the cinema to show their support, and after watching the movie, they posted congratulatory messages on Weibo.

Immediately afterwards, the box office exceeded 100 million in four days.

News began to appear online that the domestic box office record was about to be broken, and even CCTV mentioned it.

But starting from the fifth day, a large number of negative reviews and complaints appeared on Weibo, Tieba and Tianya Forum.

"Lao Mouzi was possessed by someone, and he made something like this?"

"I originally thought that The Promise was the pinnacle of domestically made movies, but I didn't expect that I would be able to see a movie that surpasses it in my lifetime."

Well, netizens have defined this movie as the king of domestic "bad movies", and there is an endless stream of criticism.

Not only that, even the box office pattern is the same as that of "The Promise": the more it is criticized, the more popular it becomes.

After all, if you want to criticize, you have to watch the movie before you can say anything. The phenomenon of being blackened and popular was already played out in this movie in advance.

...

After finishing the domestic casting, Gu Wei and his assistant set off for the Capital Airport.

"Go back, I'll be back when I'm done."

Liu Yifei drove and took Gu Wei to the airport.

"Yeah, be careful on the road."

The reporters who were waiting at the airport took the photos and quickly posted them online.

"Director Gu showed up at the Capital Airport, and Liu Yifei saw him off in person."

"Director Gu got up and rushed to Hollywood to participate in the audition and casting."

After arriving at the Los Angeles company, Gu Wei immediately instructed Reid to notify the audition personnel to come over.

The next day, Hollywood stars of all sizes came to the Tomorrow's Star Film and Television Company, and many media reporters also conducted interviews at the company's door.

Rachel Weisz, Keira Knightley and Kristen Thayer were nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron.

Top superstars such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise and others have gathered in the company.

At this moment, the Rising Star Film and Television Company became the center of the entire Hollywood, shining with stars.

There are quite a lot of roles in North America, and with the extras, there are probably several hundred people. Gu Wei only needs to audition for the main roles, and the others can be left to Ryder and Warner.

The first person to be interviewed was a male character, a top geologist who first learned of the impending disaster in India.

There were many people who came to audition, including Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx, Chiwetel Ejiofor, most of them were black stars.

Gu Wei sat in the main seat, and only a section of the script was cut out and distributed by the staff.

The audition went well. This was the second male lead role, and Gu Wei eventually chose Chiwetel Ejiofor, a Nigerian-British actor who is also a director and screenwriter.

"Gu, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will work hard."

Watt Ejiofor said modestly that after all, the second male lead was already a very important role, and he was not sure he could get it before coming here.

Looking at the black man in front of him, Gu Wei chose him because he had seen him starring in the historical film "12 Years a Slave" in the original time and space. He won the British Academy Film Award for Best Actor for the film and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

"Well, this is the complete script, take it back and read it carefully."

After receiving the script, Walter Ejiofor stood up, shook hands with Gu Wei, and then left the meeting room.

During the subsequent auditions, Gu Wei mostly chose black actors for roles except the male and female protagonists.

Including the role of the White House Chief of Staff, who is selfish and doesn't care about the lives of others, and has been decided to be played by Oliver Platt.

Danny Glover plays the President of the United States.

When it was Gu Wei's turn to play the male lead, he was a little embarrassed. He had worked with Leonardo before, and his performance was impeccable both in terms of status and acting skills.

However, the other party had some problems with their schedule and needed to concentrate on filming all the scenes, which was a bit against Gu Wei's idea.

“Sorry, Leon, let’s work together again next time.”

Upon hearing this, Leonardo's expression remained unchanged. He had considered the schedule issue before coming, and this result was within his expectations.

"Gu, I hope to work with you on an award-winning film next time."

Leonardo said while sitting on the sofa.

Compared with commercial films, he is now very interested in Gu Wei's art films.

"Haha, it's not that easy to win an Oscar for Best Actor."

The two chatted for a while, and Leonardo got up and left.

Gu Wei glanced at the list and gestured to continue...

(End of this chapter)