Chapter 560: Let Lao Zhang take over?
In the more than half a month since returning to China, Gu Wei has turned down many invitations to events, all of which were social engagements within the circle.

For example, Huayi’s annual film plan press conference, Xiaoma’s IPO reception, etc.

There were even several dinner events jointly organized by South Korea's six major brokerage companies in the capital.

According to media reports, there were many long-legged girls and pretty boys at the scene, and they had a lot of fun afterwards, which made netizens envious and jealous, and they wished they could replace them.

But I have to say that South Korean idol artists are really popular in the country now.

When it comes to the development of Korean Wave, Mango TV has made an indelible contribution in this regard.

EXO, who debuted less than a year and a half ago, has already appeared on their variety shows several times, and their popularity is almost comparable to that of the top bands in the industry.

...

Although it is easy to refuse social events, there are some activities that Gu Wei cannot refuse - the social director recruitment symposium, also known as the Spring Festival Gala director interview.

My goodness! When Gu Wei received the notice, he was stunned. He hadn't watched the Spring Festival Gala for several years, so how could he have the mind to apply for the position of director?

But he had to go. In the past two years, Ha Wen served as the chief director of the Spring Festival Gala, and he really ruined this event that has attracted much attention from the Chinese people.

There was nothing the higher-ups could do but wave their hands and replace people.

Who should we replace? Or the old way, competition.

All the big directors in the circle came over and held a meeting. Those who were chosen would take on the responsibility directly. It didn’t matter if they were not chosen, they could still give suggestions.

So, early in the morning, Gu Wei came over yawning.

Arriving at CCTV, Gu Wei picked up his mobile phone and watched some news and gossip on the Internet while walking, just to refresh himself.

Zhang Yimou, who was walking over, saw Gu Wei, smiled, and hurried forward.

Gu Wei heard hurried footsteps and subconsciously looked back.

"Senior brother."

Putting down the phone, Gu Wei greeted the other party.

"I'm in a good mood."

Zhang Yimou asked with a smile. He just saw Gu Wei looking at his phone all the way with a smile on his face.

"Haha, I was just checking Weibo. The Tiny Times thing is quite popular right now. I'm just taking it as entertainment gossip."

Gu Wei explained casually.

Director Guo’s topic was so hot that even Zhang Yimou had heard of it and was quite surprised by it.

"Alas, I really don't understand movies nowadays. The quality is obviously average, but the box office is getting higher and higher."

Zhang Yimou shook his head, feeling that he was a little behind the times.

“Hey, the box office isn’t that high, and once Parasite is released, it will be easy to surpass them.

By the way, brother, after Venice, China will be submitting films for Oscars. When you have time, let’s meet up with Mr. Han to talk about this.

Once it is confirmed, Oscar public relations matters must also be arranged in advance."

Compared to Guo Xiaosi, Gu Wei is obviously more concerned about this matter. It would be best to settle it directly while Han Sanping is still in office.

After all, this year there is Feng Xiaogang's "1942" waiting in the wings!

As for why public relations were not arranged in advance, firstly, it was too early, and secondly, they had to wait for the list to be finalized. In case of an accident, "Parasite" might have to wait until the next Oscar session to compete.

"Okay, I'll host it when I'm free and we can all get together." Zhang Yimou's personality has changed a lot since joining the company.

Since they arrived early, most people had not arrived yet, so the two of them chatted at the door.

"By the way, senior brother, are you interested in this year's Spring Festival Gala?" Zhang Yimou was invited to the symposium, and it is estimated that the higher-ups actually have some ideas about this.

Moreover, if CCTV were allowed to choose the person, the first choice would naturally be Zhang Yimou, who has experience in directing the Olympic Games and is more reassuring.

"I'm interested, but I don't have the time. One movie, Parasite, is enough to keep me busy."

"Are you interested?" Zhang Yi asked in a counter-intuitive manner.

"I'm not interested, haha." Gu Wei said directly.

This attitude was so direct that even Zhang Yimou laughed out loud.

As they chatted, the two talked about Hollywood's "Jurassic Park". Zhang Yimou felt a little regretful that Gu Wei refused to direct this series of films.

"When this movie first came out and was shown in mainland China, we were shocked. We didn't expect that American movies were so advanced."

Zhang Yimou fell into reminiscence and continued, "At that time, I had just finished filming Qiu Ju Goes to Court. Spielberg's film really had a great influence on me. From that moment on, I realized the gap between China and the United States..."

Hearing this, Gu Wei nodded with some emotion. He felt that after decades of catching up, the gap between Chinese and American films is still huge in recent years.

This gap has shifted from technology to film quality.

Technology is easy to catch up with, but ideas are not so easy to change.

Suddenly, an idea came to Gu Wei, "Brother, are you interested in directing the "Jurassic Park" series?"

"Me?" Zhang Yimou was shocked and didn't know how to answer.

"Well, I will provide the script and you will be responsible for filming. The technical part will be handled by a company in Hollywood. With the three parties working together, I believe the resulting movie will not be bad." Gu Wei continued to deceive, no, to persuade.

He just got the inspiration after hearing Zhang Yimou's sigh, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was a way to do it. In the original time and space, Zhang Yimou joined LeTV and was working on the movie "The Return"!
Of course, Gu Wei doesn't think that this movie is bad, but Zhang Yimou has made so many art films and won many awards, but the box office is really not high. It is very embarrassing for a big director to have no box office.

Even if the later Sino-US co-production "The Great Wall" is included, the global box office did not reach 3 million US dollars. But at that time, some top domestic films easily had box office of over billion.

As a great director, Zhang Yimou's weakness is undoubtedly the movie box office. He lacks high-grossing works. Even Guo Xiaosi mentioned this when he started to criticize him.

The reason why Gu Wei replaced the other and became the number one director in mainland China is definitely because of the box office.

Now Gu Wei has no time to direct "Jurassic", so if he replaces him with someone else, and with his own help, I believe it will definitely not be worse than the original version.

"Don't be afraid of you laughing at me, I have shot quite a few mainland blockbusters, but I'm not sure about Hollywood blockbusters." Zhang Yimou was obviously tempted, but he still restrained himself.

This also shows the difference between him and Brother Chen Kai. If it were Director Chen, he would probably have even thought of the "poems" to celebrate!
As a "professional" who is proficient in the films of both countries, Gu Wei instantly understood the other party's concerns. It was not that Zhang Yimou was unsure, but he was afraid that he lacked experience and was afraid that the film would not be good in the end, thus losing face for domestic directors.

"Brother, do you think it is more difficult to film To Live, Qiu Ju Goes to Court, or Jurassic Park?"

Gu Wei asked back.

"Jurassic Park, after all, the technology behind this movie is there."

"So do you think it was more difficult for you to shoot Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower, or am I afraid that The Wandering Earth will be more difficult?"

Seeing that Zhang Yimou was not taking the bait, Gu Wei became anxious and asked from a different angle.

"Well, I've seen you filming "The Wandering Earth". It's not as difficult as those two movies I was afraid of, which would be time-consuming and laborious." Zhang Yimou told the truth. He had seen Gu Wei's filming more than once. He just shot in front of the green screen and then relied on special effects production.

But the filming of movies like "Hero" requires real coordination. In terms of color rendering and character coordination, to be frank, it is much more complicated than "The Wandering Earth".

Hearing this, Gu Wei could hardly hold back his smile, and quickly said, "Yes, special effects blockbusters are complicated to say, but they are the result of technology. Brother, you can even coordinate so many big scenes, so these blockbusters are naturally not difficult at all."

"?" Zhang Yimou asked in his head. He always felt that this question was a bit awkward, but when it came from Gu Wei's mouth, it did make some sense.

Actually, Gu Wei was misleading. Hollywood blockbusters are not as simple as he said. It took him a lot of effort to shoot "The Wandering Earth". However, in order to increase the other party's confidence, he could only fool them in this way.

"Director Zhang, Director Li."

While the two were talking, they suddenly heard someone calling them from behind.

"The sound seems familiar."

Gu Wei muttered something in his heart, and it felt like Feng Xiaogang's voice.

Sure enough, when I turned around, I saw Feng Xiaogang walking towards me quickly.

"How about this, after the meeting, we can talk about it, and then you will understand that it is much easier to shoot a Hollywood blockbuster than a domestic costume blockbuster." Seeing that the other party was about to approach them, Gu Wei said directly.

"Okay, let's talk later." Zhang Yimou nodded when he heard this.

"Director Feng."

"Long time no see, Director Feng."

Gu Wei and Zhang Yimou turned around and greeted each other.

"Haha, even from a distance, I felt like you two."

Feng Xiaogang said with a smile that he heard Zhang Yimou's words about talking about it later, but he didn't think much about it. It might be about the Venice Film Festival next month.

When Feng Xiaogang thought of this, he felt extremely envious. They were all big directors in mainland China, but in terms of awards, he really could not compare with the two people in front of him.

"Well, then we can only work on other places."

Both sides were exchanging pleasantries today. Gu Wei noticed that Feng Xiaogang was holding a file bag in his hand, and it was obvious that he came prepared.

According to Gu Wei, many famous directors and big names in the entertainment industry attended today's symposium. In addition to Gu Wei, Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang in front of him, Chen Kaige, Zhang Jigang, Zhao Benshan and others also came.

After entering the venue, Gu Wei took another look around. Some people seemed to be prepared, while some came empty-handed, including Brother Chen Kai.

The meeting went smoothly. Except for Feng Xiaogang, all the other big directors were busy and simply refused. How could it not go smoothly?

...

That afternoon, news of the social director recruitment symposium also spread.

"It is almost certain that Director Feng Xiaogang will direct this year's Spring Festival Gala."

"It is rumored that directors Zhang Yimou, Gu Wei and others will not be able to perform at the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Horse due to time constraints, and Feng Xiaogang may be the chief director of the Spring Festival Gala."

Perhaps because the bidding results have not yet been announced, Feng Xiaogang was not completely sure whether he could direct the Spring Festival Gala, so he kept a low profile for once and did not give a clear answer.

However, Huayi Company was very positive and stated that if Director Feng directed the Spring Festival Gala, the company would give its full support.

This statement did not cost any money, but the stock price was raised a lot.

However, some netizens are still a little disappointed.

"I think it would be better for Zhang Yimou to direct. I'm looking forward to it."

"Director Gu is not bad either. After all, he has experienced the big scenes in Hollywood, and he is young and has many creative ideas."

"If it's Feng Xiaogang, I'll just accept it reluctantly."

.........

(End of this chapter)