Chapter 422 Casting News
The review of "The Wandering Earth" can be said to be a constant concern for film and television companies and celebrity artists in the industry.

But recently, news finally came out.

Online, the Film Bureau announced the latest list of films that have passed review, and "The Wandering Earth" is on the list.

"Director Han, I saw the news. The review was quite fast this time."

After learning that it had passed the review, Gu Wei was slightly surprised. Five working days later, it was considered the fastest time for a script of his to pass the review of the General Administration so far.

"The reason why the speed was so fast this time was also due to the help of Director Tong. The higher-ups are very supportive of this kind of special effects blockbuster."

After the script was approved, Gu Wei also began to prepare other things. The most important next step was naturally casting.

Subsequently, Xingchen Film and Television Company announced the casting announcement of "The Wandering Earth" through Weibo. As soon as the announcement came out, it can be said that it shocked the Chinese film and television industry.

This is the first domestic special effects blockbuster by Gu Wei, the country's number one commercial film director. If you can take part in it, whether it will be a hit or not is another matter, but the level and status will be different!

At one time, there were countless celebrity information submitted to Xingchen Film and Television Company.

Male stars have more room for choice, while the competition among female stars can only be described as fierce. After all, throughout history, both in China and abroad, except for a few movies with female protagonists, the rest of the big productions are mostly male characters, and it can even be said that there are far more male characters.

A big production with an investment of over 1 billion, the leading male and female protagonists of a new film by a top international director, in front of such a role, no international superstar or first-line actress would not want to play it. Some even called Gu Wei directly, wanting to arrange a face-to-face chat with him.

This situation is much crazier than the casting of movies like "The Flowers of War".

At the beginning, Gu Wei received a few unfamiliar calls. After a few times, he left his business phone with his assistant. Unless it was someone with a special relationship, he would answer the call directly without sending it to him.

.........

"Mr. Wang, Mr. Zhang from New Picture has replied. The other party said that if you want to terminate the contract, the penalty needs to be doubled."

The assistant's report made Wang Changtian of Guangguang look upset. "This bastard is obsessed with money," he cursed inwardly.

Guangguang lacked big directors, and even big-name artists and potential actors, so Wang Changtian kept a close eye on the Zhang Yimou matter. After hearing the inside story that the two sides failed to reach an agreement, he asked someone to talk to Zhang Weiping, but he didn't expect this result.

Double the penalty for breach of contract? This is definitely a violation of the contract, but a lawsuit is very time-consuming. He just wants to waste time and drag it out. Maybe the other party's purpose is to ban Mou Girl and let others in the industry see it.

Wang Changtian could certainly afford the penalty for breach of contract, but he was not a sucker and it was impossible for him to come up with so much money.

In other words, once he paid the double penalty, no matter how he got along in the circle in the future, people would regard him as inferior to Zhang Weiping, and this was what he could not accept.

On the other hand, Ye Ning was in a particularly bad mood.

In the office, even when Lu Zheng came in, Ye Ning didn't even stand up to say hello.

"Mr. Ye, what are you doing?" Lu Zheng asked with some confusion.

"Something unexpected happened regarding the company's invitation to Director Zhang." Ye Ning said unwillingly.

Wanda currently has no artist management business, but for Zhang Yimou, Ye Ning thinks that he can temporarily set up an artist management company, and even spend a large price to buy Ni Ni and others. Even if it means losing money, Wanda will accept it. The idea is good, but now an accident has happened.

Ye Ning's words gave Lu Zheng a bad feeling.

"What accident?"

"Director Zhang rejected our offer,"

Ye Ning said this in a weak tone, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart. This is Zhang Yimou. If he missed this opportunity, he would miss it forever.

"Refused?"

"Yes, he said he has already found a job and is not considering other companies, but we have heard other news."

"What news?" Lu Zheng asked subconsciously. He was also shocked by the news. It seemed like a sure thing before, but it turned out to be like this?
"Some time ago, LeTV contacted Director Zhang. First, they sent someone to discuss the matter, and later it seemed that someone named Jia personally went out to recruit him.

Director Zhang told us that he had already found a new team. I guess they had the upper hand and had even invited him to join. "

Hearing Ye Ning's words, "Oh, what a missed opportunity," Lu Zheng was thinking at this moment.

From the outside, Wanda is rich and has cinemas. But LeEco is also very powerful at the moment. It is a listed company with a large business and has made great strides into the film and television industry, recruiting filmmakers from the industry everywhere, and doing it in a very high-profile manner.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Mr. Ye, don't worry. We still have Director Gu. There will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future." Lu Zheng could only comfort him.

Wanda’s main target is Zhang Yimou, and the so-called "Mou Girls" and "Mou Boys" are just extras. Now that the main target is almost hopeless, these people are definitely not in Wanda Pictures’ consideration.

……

After the casting of "The Wandering Earth" was announced, Han Sanping suggested holding a media conference to announce the next few investors.

Gu Wei and others had no objection to this. Although the main characters of this film would be selected from China, after discussion, everyone still felt that some supporting roles and guest appearances should include celebrity artists from other countries and regions.

For example, in Japan and South Korea, inviting a few well-known celebrities to make guest appearances will also be good for the box office.

As for Hollywood, Gu Wei also greeted Matt Damon and Will Smith. The two will guest-star as European and American scientists, with about one minute of footage.

The two of them accepted Gu Wei's invitation immediately, especially Will Smith, who was very envious of the global box office of "2012". After accepting the invitation, he joked with Gu Wei that he hoped to have the opportunity to shoot a commercial blockbuster directed by him in the future.

The media conference will be held at the China Film Auditorium.

There weren't many big stars present, but they were all big names in the circle because everyone was very busy.

Besides, it’s still early for the film to be released, and it’s not the critical period for promotion.

The media present were quite excited and took photos non-stop.

When it came to the question-and-answer session, they even asked directly about the specific candidates for the roles.

"Hello, Director Gu. I'm a reporter from China Film Report. I'd like to ask who the specific candidates for the male and female protagonists are?" When the reporter on the scene asked the question, he also looked at Han Sanping, Ye Ning, Wang Changtian and others next to him.

"At present, the specific candidates for the male and female protagonists have not yet been decided. Xingchen Film and Television has announced the audition time to all major brokerage companies in the circle, and the specific conditions have also been announced. The audition personnel will be determined as soon as possible." Gu Wei answered the question in a formal manner.

Then, after answering a few questions from the audience, Gu Wei announced the specific investment details of the film.

The company is mainly invested by Xingchen Films, with participation from China Film Group, Wanda Films, Enlight Media, Bona Film Group, Emperor Entertainment Group and Starlight Brilliant.

Among them, China Film Group and Wanda Pictures accounted for the largest share, both reaching over 100 million yuan, while other companies were around 50 to 80 million.

At the press conference, every time a company’s investment funds were announced, there would be exclamations from the media reporters.

After all, judging from the production costs that have been announced, the cost of "The Wandering Earth" is equivalent to the investment of two "The Flowers of War".

"Director Gu, the investment in "The Wandering Earth" has broken the latest production cost record for domestic films. According to the current domestic market, it will take at least 3 billion box office to make a profit. What do you want to say in this regard?" The Sina reporter raised his hand and asked.

"Before the film project was launched, Xingchen Film and Television Company had already discussed this issue with several other companies. You can listen to President Han's answer." After Gu Wei finished speaking, he handed the microphone to Han Sanping next to him.

For a moment, all the reporters turned their eyes to him.

Han Sanping enjoyed this feeling very much. "As for the box office, The Wandering Earth has been targeting the global market since the project was launched. After discussion, we will focus on the European and American markets in the future..."

On the stage, Han Sanping spoke eloquently and many people nodded in agreement, but some were skeptical. Domestic films have not been very successful in entering Hollywood, and many attempts by big directors have ended in failure. Now, changing a director can conquer Europe and the United States, which some of them don't believe.

"Hello, Mr. Han, I'm a reporter from the entertainment scene. Based on past experience, the impact of domestic films on Hollywood is not optimistic. Why are you so confident about this movie?"

As soon as Han San finished his comments, more reporters asked questions, and their questions were very pointed.

"Let Director Gu explain this to everyone." The microphone returned to Gu Wei's hands.

Seeing this, Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "In the past, domestic films failed to enter the European and American markets. One reason is that the cultures are different. The natural differences between the East and the West make it difficult for European and American audiences to recognize domestic films.

Secondly, when shooting and producing domestic films, many of them only focus on hiring actors and how much pay they should pay to attract audiences.

The Wandering Earth will invest 90% of its funds in YD special effects, bringing the ultimate visual enjoyment to fans around the world.”

.........

(End of this chapter)