Chapter 484 Whose Script?

"The latest film directed by Xu Ke is more difficult to shoot than one could imagine. Only he would dare to "subvert" a classic like this."

On the Internet, a netizen named "Confirmed to Have Seen Each Other" posted something like this.

The content of the post is very interesting: "Until this year, I didn't find anything directed by Xu Ke strange.

He has covered a wide range of subjects, including "Huang Feihong" series, "The Legend of Zu", "Liang Zhu", "Green Snake" and "A Chinese Ghost Story", including martial arts, fantasy, romance and even animation.

But I never expected that Xu Ke, who is over 60 years old, would make such a movie this year, a red model that I have only seen in the film archive - "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy".

Because in my impression, Xu Ke's movies should be full of martial arts flavor. Even though martial arts films are not enough now, he still uses technical means to shoot works with his own style. "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" is one of the representatives.

"Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" is a mainstream film, and I am very worried whether Director Xu Ke can capture the "flavor" of red. "

As soon as the post was released, it sparked heated discussions among netizens.

Supporters believe that Director Xu Ke is making new attempts and working to promote national culture.

Those who do not support it say that there is no market for mainstream films nowadays, there is no guarantee of box office success, and there is no guarantee that this type of film will be liked by the audience.

Fanfan said smoothly: "Look at the big directors in the circle, Gu, Zhang, Chen, Jiang, Feng, who will touch the mainstream theme movie?"

Minions in the Wind: "Don't big directors understand the market better than the audience? It's precisely because they understand that they won't touch this subject matter."

For a time, mainstream works were the hot topic on the internet and in the circle, and even Xu Ke’s cheating incident was covered up.

In Bona Company.

Yu Dong and Xu Ke were talking and laughing. They were very satisfied with the operation of the company's publicity department.

Just by looking at the heated discussions online, you can understand that the movie "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" has gained a lot of popularity even before it even started filming.

"It's no wonder that Xingchen Film and Television has developed well. Just this promotional routine is something I learned from them, and the effect is really good."

In the office, Yu Dong leaned on the sofa, holding a glass of red wine in his hand, tasting it and sighing.

Afterwards, Xu Ke, who was sitting opposite, nodded slightly. He felt even more emotional than Yu Dong. It was not until these two days that Xu Ke knew about this movie. Originally, Yu Dong wanted to invite Gu Wei to direct it, but he didn't expect the other party to refuse and recommend himself instead.

With the intention of returning a favor, Xu Ke said, "Director Yu, I think we should have a good discussion about the actors."

"Well, I need to discuss this with Director Han and Director Gu. Hey, do you have any recommendations?"

"I think the ones under Director Gu's company are pretty good, like Tong Liya, Zhao Liying, Wan Qian and others. They have both acting skills and fame." Xu Ke said slowly.

"It's good, but Tong Liya and Zhao Liying, one has joined the crew of Parasite, and the other has just been confirmed to star in Beijing Meets Seattle, neither of them has time. Although Wan Qian became famous with Ghost Blows Out the Light, it's not enough for her to play the leading role in a movie directly."

Yu Dong thought about it carefully and discovered the problem.

"Uh." Xu Ke was a little surprised. He didn't expect that if he wanted to return a favor, he would have to see if the other party's artists were available?
After thinking for a while, Xu Ke mentioned someone, "What about Su Chang? She has a good relationship with Director Gu and Yi Fei, and she is popular and famous enough."

"Su Chang is quite good. I'll ask Director Gu what he thinks someday."

After that, the two started discussing film investment and preparation. This is a work involving large investments. In addition, there are many investors in this film, so funding, role selection and shooting time are also difficult issues.

It requires Bona to make central adjustments to balance the satisfaction of all investors. It is easier said than done.

To be honest, things like investing in a movie and sharing the box office revenue after it's released are not as easy as you might imagine.

For example, in the film investment sector, it is definitely not possible to simply invest a certain amount of money and get a certain proportion of the share, because there are a series of issues such as premium, bringing in capital, and share transfer.

The box office revenue sharing is even more troublesome, involving box office settlement, advance payment of publicity and promotion expenses, and even miscellaneous issues such as ticket subsidies.

.........

When it comes to the major film festivals in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Gu Wei seems to be isolated from them, except for the one time he went to the Golden Rooster Awards before being banned from directing.

Gu Wei had never considered attending film festivals like the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards. Under his influence, other directors at Xingchen Film and Television Company followed suit and rejected many invitations to the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards.

Even Ning Hao and Wuershan, who were keen on awards, never mentioned going again after being cheated once.

However, there was a rumor outside that Gu Wei would serve as the chairman of the jury at this year's Golden Horse Film Festival. The key point was that the news was spread with such authenticity that many people could not help but believe it.

Now, even the directors of the company called to confirm the truth of the matter with Gu Wei.

"Director, why don't you serve as the chairman of the Golden Horse Awards jury next year? I'll bring 'Partners' there then, and maybe I'll win the Best Director Award."

Ning Hao's words made Gu Wei laugh.

"Who said I was going to the Golden Horse?"

“It’s all over the internet.”

"If I were to go, I'd go to one of the three major European film festivals to be the jury chairman. The few film festivals here are too complicated, and I'm afraid I can't handle it."

After leaving a message, Gu Wei hung up the phone.

Ning Hao was still thinking about what Gu Wei had just said on the other end of the phone. "Europe's top three? The fame and box office are enough, but the qualifications and awards are a bit lacking."

Gu Wei naturally knew about the news spreading on the Internet, but he chose not to respond directly. After all, if he said one more word, he would only be hyping up the other party.

In early September, because China Film Corporation directly concentrated the release of imported films, several blockbusters were competing in a narrow schedule, which also cleared some obstacles for the subsequent release of domestic films.

No matter where you are or what industry you are in, there will always be people cutting in line, and the reality of the entertainment industry is no exception.

"According to reliable sources, the 3D fantasy blockbuster Life of Pi, directed by Li An, has been confirmed to be introduced to the mainland. The film is tentatively scheduled to be released on November 11, just one day later than the North American release date."

Yet another imported film has landed in the Lunar New Year schedule, and it's directed by Li An. Several companies that have movies showing during the Lunar New Year schedule couldn't help but complain a few words when faced with interviews from reporters.

But Gu Wei was somewhat interested in this movie. Li An's Oscar-winning film had caused a heated discussion in Hollywood before it was released.

Reid even called specifically to mention the movie, saying that the PR company the other party hired was good, and was no less capable than Harvey and his team in terms of publicity and public relations with the Oscar judges.

For this reason, Gu Wei thought that when Li An came to China, they could communicate with each other. After all, it has been many years since he won the Oscar for Best Director, and he didn't know if the current public relations routines had changed compared to before.

.........

Speaking of Deng Chao, after finishing the filming of "Breakup Master", people in the circle still regard him as an actor rather than a director.

Not only has his positioning not changed, but compared to before, more people have invited him to make movies.

Because of this, Deng Chao didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

However, at this moment, his face showed neither happiness nor sadness, but only seriousness. "Director Ning, is this the movie that Xingchen Films just submitted for review?"

In the coffee shop, the two people talked face to face. Deng Chao treated Ning Hao's invitation very seriously.

"Yeah, that one. It's been handed over for a few days. I think it will be ready in two days." Ning Hao took a sip of the coffee in front of him, then immediately complained, "It's so damn unpalatable!"

The grinning expression did not make Deng Chao laugh, because he was in a dilemma. Chen Jiashang had invited him to star in "The Four 2", and he was also preparing for this movie.

Compared with the original time and space, although Guangxian is still Deng Chao's mentor, with the involvement of Xingchen Film and Television, it can only be considered as 0.5 of a mentor, and the relationship between the two sides is not that strong.

"Director Ning, I'm really looking forward to working with you, but the schedule is a problem. Director Chen Jiashang is also preparing for his latest movie."

"The script was written by Director Gu!" Ning Hao said leisurely, and then stared at the other party's reaction.

"When will it be turned on?"

"Is the schedule okay?"

"no problem!"

"Director Chen?"

"No problem. I'll go and apologize to Director Chen in person. Besides, the contract hasn't been signed yet!" Deng Chao said with a smile.

He now fully understands the weight of the two words "Gu Wei". When filming "The Breakup Master", he risked his reputation but failed to invite any big name to make a cameo appearance. But after Gu Wei said a word, the movie almost became an all-star cast.

As for "The Four 2", as far as Deng Chao knows, there are still a lot of things to do, otherwise it would not have been delayed in starting filming.

After dealing with Deng Chao, Ning Hao breathed a sigh of relief and felt happy. He picked up the remaining coffee and drank it with relish.

While drinking, I was thinking about the other remaining male protagonist, Huang Xiaoming.

In the original time and space, Deng Chao had a bad reputation for overlapping roles due to his acceptance of two films, "The Four 2" and "Partners", which led to him losing out in the competition for the leading male role and ultimately losing to the leader.

But now Ning Hao has made some adjustments to the characters in the script, changing it to a drama with two male protagonists. As for why there are not three male protagonists, Lei Jiayin does not have that kind of status or ability.

...

But let’s talk about the light.

The movie "Sad Fairy Tale" was released, but netizens suddenly discovered that the screening rate was cut lower and lower within a few days of the movie's release, and finally it was directly taken off the shelves by major theaters.

Now, the fans (the number of Liu Shishi’s fans is a mystery. When there are many, you can see them all over the Internet. When there are few, many people buy tickets to support the movie even though it has been released) are not happy about this. They have accused the theaters of suppressing domestic films, and Tangren Film and Television has also been fanning the flames.

But the cinema chain would not care about Tangren. How dare you, a TV drama producer, talk nonsense in the film industry?

In the end, it was Wang Changtian who stepped forward and directly warned the Tang people to shut up.

But the internet trolls immediately turned their guns around and accused Guangguang of not promoting "Sad Fairy Tale" enough. With Yang Mi also playing the female lead, why did the movie that she starred in receive such overwhelming publicity and promotion support?

This made Wang Changtian very angry, and he immediately arranged for the film to be withdrawn from the schedule to avoid further embarrassment.

Oh my god, Wang Changtian felt like crying but had no tears at the moment. He was definitely going to lose money. "I have to be more careful when choosing a heroine in the future. What the hell is this?"

It’s not known whether Wang Changtian cried or not, but Chen Jiashang seemed to want to cry at this moment.

It is said that relying on the box office of "The Four 1", the preparation of "The Four 2" should be smooth, but in reality it is not that simple.

Wang Changtian decided to change the female lead because Yang Mi had been frequently contacting Guo Yimi in private, preparing to star in his debut film - "Tiny Times". It was said that the two sides had basically reached an agreement.

The new female lead has not been confirmed yet, and the iron hand of the Four Famous Detectives, Zou Zhaolong, is having a lot of fun in the "Special Identity" crew. Now coupled with Deng Chao's desire to postpone his joining the crew, Lao Wang suddenly feels that the whole world is against him.

"Why don't you talk to Deng Chao privately and shoot together."

Now it was Chen Jiashang's turn to look unhappy. After all, no director could accept overlapping projects.

However, seeing the expectant look in his boss' eyes, Chen Jiashang still said, "Even if I agree, will Ning Hao agree? I heard that Director Gu wrote the script. It seems that Deng Chao went there for this reason."

"That's right."

Wang Changtian was just impulsive and blurted out this idea.

"If it really doesn't work, we can only wait." The two discussed for a long time, but couldn't find a better solution.

.........

"The Amazing Spider-Man", "Prometheus", "The Expendables 2", and "The Dark Knight Rises" which is coming to an end, the film industry seems to have returned to the first half of the year.

These four movies accounted for about 90% of the box office, and their combined daily box office exceeded 100 million yuan. Other domestic films could hardly even get a share of the box office.

"The Whisperer" has been released for half a month, and the box office has barely reached 1.5 million. It has come to the end, and there will be no hope in the future.

Not to mention "The Lion Roars 2", which is estimated to have a box office of at most to million, a huge loss.

Although the higher-ups have begun to intervene, domestic films are not up to the task and cannot win at all.

"Chinese Partners" was pretty much as Ning Hao had guessed. It passed the review smoothly within two days after the discussion with Deng Chao.

The notice of external auditions for the heroine and several supporting roles was posted on Xingchen Film and Television’s Weibo.

Many management companies, actors and artists have turned their attention to this, and the media are also forwarding and reporting on it.

Many celebrities in the circle expressed their feelings that it is not easy.

Over the years, the number of times Xingchen Films' films have been open to the public for auditions has become less and less.

In the eyes of many artists in the circle, this opportunity is rare!
A large number of actors' resumes were sent over from domestic brokerage companies and agents.

Some people who have good relationships and contact information even inquired about casting directly through Gu Wei and Liu Yifei in private.

Neither of them promised anything. At most, they were allowed to cut in line and go find Ning Hao. It would be up to the director to decide whether it was appropriate or not.

At the same time, China Film Group took the lead.

The CEOs and heads of several major companies in the industry, including Huayi Group, Enlight Media, Bona Media, Stellar Media and Star Films, are now gathering together to discuss the issue of "forcing the emperor to abdicate."

The target of "forcing the palace" is naturally the theater chain.

.........

(End of this chapter)