Chapter 34 Daily Life in China
The next morning, after washing up and having breakfast at home, Gu Wei rushed to China Film Studio.

In the capital of 02, there were already quite a few vehicles on the road. Of course, compared with later generations, the current road conditions are still pretty good.

Gu Wei drove the company car and arrived at China Film Corporation in about half an hour. He parked the car in the parking space, opened the door and got out, then went straight into China Film Corporation.

Gu Wei hadn't been to China Film Group for about half a year. When he first entered the company, he was still a little uncomfortable. He followed the familiar path and went straight to Han Sanping's office.

"Director Gu, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Mr. Han is in the office now, right?"

Gu Wei greeted Assistant Han Sanping and asked.

"Yes, Director Gu."

"Dong dong dong".

Han Sanping heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in."

"Mr. Han, you are really leisurely."

Gu Wei walked into the office and saw Han Sanping sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and eating snacks, looking very leisurely, and couldn't help but say.

"Come on, sit down and have something to eat?"

Seeing Gu Wei come in, Han Sanping ate the remaining snacks in his hand and asked a question.

"I came here after having breakfast at home."

Gu Wei waved his hand and said.

"Mr. Han, why are you calling me here so early in the morning? Is there something wrong?"

Gu Wei sat opposite Han Sanping, poured himself a glass of water and started drinking.

"Well, about the movie introduction."

Hearing this, Gu Wei was shocked.

"Have you agreed?"

"Well, China Film and Warner have already reached an agreement, and the movie will be released in China at the end of August."

"In the next two days, an announcement will be made and the promotion of the film will also begin."

Han Sanping spoke in a calm tone.

Hearing Han Sanping's words, Gu Wei nodded slowly.

This movie was not released in China in the past, and not many people knew about it. Now, because of Gu Wei, it was introduced to China. Gu Wei was not sure about the box office of the movie.

But being able to come in is a good thing. The more movie box office revenue there is, the greater the income Gu Wei will get.

"Mr. Han, besides this matter, there should be other things."

Gu Wei looked at Han Sanping's expression and felt that there was probably more than just this one thing.

"China Film Group has invested in quite a few movies this year, including those directed by directors like Tian Zhuangzhuang and Lu Chuan."

After saying this, Han Sanping took a sip of tea and continued.

"Mr. Han, I heard that you played a guest role in "Looking for the Gun"."

China Film Corporation participated in the investment of the movie "Looking for the Gun" which was released in May this year. The starring role was Jiang Wen. The movie directed by Lu Chuan was filmed in the style of Jiang Wen, and Han Sanping was also allowed to make a cameo appearance as the police chief in it.

Hearing what Gu Wei said, Han Sanping smiled slightly and said, "It's just a small cameo. After all, it's a movie invested by China Film Group Corporation."

"However, the investment funds are not large. I called you here to ask about your plans for the second half of the year. China Film Group currently has a lot of funds left."

Hearing Han Sanping's words, Gu Wei felt a little helpless. This man is worthy of being the future big shot of China Film Group, and he has a special liking for big productions and big scenes.

Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Boss Han, I told you on the phone a few days ago that the domestic film market is too small to accommodate a few blockbusters.

I heard that directors Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Jiang Wen all have films coming out this year, plus several films co-invested by China Film, the domestic market is almost saturated."

After saying this, Gu Wei paused, glanced at Han Sanping's expression, and seeing that he looked normal, he continued: "I think, let's forget about it this year. My next movie is going to be an art film, and win awards at film festivals. After going to film festivals, I will plan to shoot commercial films, and I will definitely not forget China Film Group by then."

When Han Sanping heard Gu Wei's plan, he nodded and realized the problems in the domestic market.

After that, the two talked for a few more words, and Han Sanping decided to put the movie matter aside for the time being and talk about it next year.

"This movie has really good box office results. It requires little investment but brings huge returns. Compared to the Hollywood market, the domestic market is indeed too small."

"You have established yourself in North America. You have won awards and have box office success. People in Hollywood wish you could stay there forever. It's a pity that you haven't been able to make movies in China in recent years, otherwise you could have boosted the domestic market."

"Mr. Han, there are so many great directors in the country, they don't need someone like me."

Gu Wei did not respond to this question, but instead mentioned several domestic directors.

"There are many directors, but almost none of them have high box office. It's not like over there, where the box office of a movie can catch up with the annual box office in China."

Han Sanping was a little emotional, and his tone was a little sour. Gu Wei didn't say anything after hearing what Han Sanping said. He suddenly realized that being banned from directing was not a bad thing. At this stage, he had so many high-quality scripts in his hands, so he would develop in Hollywood for a few years first.

By the time Han Sanping takes over, Gu Wei's ban on coaching will be almost over. He will have a lot to do when he comes back then.

Gu Wei also does not plan to film the representative commercial works of several domestic directors. The mainland market is not big to begin with, so there is no need to waste time. It would be better to use this time to shoot a few more Hollywood blockbusters.

Gu Wei, who is competing for awards, plans to shoot a foreign language film. He is currently banned from directing in China, and does not plan to use a domestic script, otherwise the filming and location selection will be too troublesome.

Gu Wei chatted in Han Sanping's office until noon, and also had lunch in the China Film canteen. It's true that the food in the canteen tastes good, and is no worse than that in hotels outside.

After lunch, Gu Wei left China Film Group directly and did not go to school. The school was on summer vacation in August, and most of the teachers would not be in school at this time.

After leaving China Film Group, Gu Wei went directly to the company in the afternoon. Wang Chen showed him the novels and award-winning articles that Wang Chen had selected during this period.

Gu Wei picked out a few that were suitable for adaptation and asked Wang Chen to purchase the copyright.

After finishing this matter, he stayed in the company for a while. Around six o'clock in the evening, Gu Wei left the company and went straight home.

The next morning, Gu Wei had just come out of the house when his phone rang. It was a call from an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, is this Director Gu?"

"Who are you?".

"I'm Cheng Long."

"Brother Cheng Long, how come you have time to call me?"

"Haha, I haven't congratulated Director Gu yet for his movie being a big hit."

Gu Wei chatted with Jackie Chan for a while, and the other party called just to congratulate him on the box office of his movie.

In the following days, Gu Wei got together with Wang Changtian from China and other actors he had worked with before.

Immediately afterwards, Feng Xiaogang invited Gu Wei to a dinner party. Also attending the dinner was Mr. Wang from Huayi. During the meal, Mr. Wang's words implied that he wanted to cooperate with Gu Wei.

Huayi's current development places it at the forefront among private enterprises in the domestic film and television industry and it has no shortage of investment funds. Its most pressing idea now is to participate in large-scale productions in order to attract more celebrity artists to join Huayi. The brothers' idea is to take Huayi public.

Gu Wei's success in Hollywood gave them an opportunity, and they wanted to ride on Gu Wei's ship to sail out to sea.

Gu Wei did not agree to Huayi and just made a perfunctory response. He said that if there was such an opportunity, it would be better to cooperate more with China Film. He worked hard, not to benefit outsiders.

After the dinner, Gu Wei refused Huayi's Xiao Wang's subsequent arrangements. Huayi's drinking culture is indeed well-known in the circle, but its reputation is not very good.

Big Beard is keen on adapting Mr. Jin Yong's novels. The casting of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" has caused a lot of controversy online since before filming began.

Hu Jun was rejected by the bearded man during his audition for "Swordsman", but unexpectedly, he became the first actor signed by the crew during the preparations for "Tianlong".

There were about 20 candidates for the role of "Duan Yu", from Vic Chou at the beginning, to Lu Yi, Huang Haibing, and Ren Quan, all of whom had good voices, but in the end Jimmy Lin was chosen.

Thanks to his experience as the male protagonist in "Time and Space Lovers", Qin Hao replaced the original role of Gao Hu and played the role of the second brother Xu Zhu.

Upon hearing the news that Gu Wei had returned to China, Qin Hao even made a special phone call and asked Gu Wei to visit him on set when he was free to give him some face.

Hearing him say this, Gu Wei agreed with a smile, planning to go around after the crew started filming to see what Tianlong City, which was built specifically for the filming of this TV series, looked like.

It's a pity for Yan Danchen. I heard that she looked exceptionally beautiful in the audition for the role of "Wang Yuyan", but she was rejected in the end and replaced by Liu Yifei, who had just finished starring in "The Story of a Noble Family".

On August 8, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was announced to start filming. After nearly half a year of preparation and casting from March to August, the TV series was finally announced to have started filming, and online news media reported on it again.

.........

At the end of August, "A Time to Live and Work" was released in China, but the film's ending was another version, otherwise it would not have passed domestic review. The publicity and promotion of the film was handled by China Film Group, which released a list of imported films at the beginning of the month, and "A Time to Live and Work" was on the list.

Netizens also left comments on major portals, looking forward to the release of this movie. However, it is said that foreign pirated copies have already spread on the Internet, which will still have a great impact on the movie's box office.

At the same time, Gu Wei received Cai Yinong and his team from Tangren Film and Television at Xingchen Film and Television.

"Hello, Director Gu, I am Cai Yinong from Tangren."

Cai Yinong, who was born in 71, is just in his early 30s this year. Tangren Film and Television is currently in the rising stage of its career. Cai Yinong, dressed in professional attire, was the first to greet Gu Wei.

"Hello, Mr. Cai."

The two sides sat down separately in the conference room.

Wang Chen, manager of Xingchen Film and Television, was a little confused when he saw the people from Tangren Film and Television who came to interview him, but Gu Wei could guess something. Among the film and television copyrights acquired by the company last year, there was one that Tangren was very interested in.

Although Xingchen Film and Television is not involved in the production of domestic films and TV series at this stage, it holds a lot of copyrights suitable for adaptation. The purpose of Cai Yinong and his team's visit is most likely for copyright.

"Mr. Cai, as far as I know, Tangren Films is currently filming and producing TV series in China. I wonder what is the purpose of Mr. Cai's visit?"

Gu Wei took a sip of water and asked calmly.

.........

(End of this chapter)