Chapter 562: The Great Deception Starts
Early in the morning, Gu Wei received a boastful call from Jiang Wen.

Wow, it’s just a movie that was selected for the ‘Venice Masters Classics’ section. If you don’t know, you would think it won the Palme d’Or!

Speaking of the Palme d'Or, Gu Wei thought of what happened at the Cannes Film Festival. Just as the two of them had agreed on it, Jiang Wen made an excuse, saying that he was too busy preparing for a new movie and directly cancelled his decision.

As a result, until now, the filming start time of "One Step Away" has not been announced to the public. Not to mention the start time, even the casting has not been finalized.

In addition to Jiang Wen and his wife, Ge You is also confirmed to join.

It has to be said that when it comes to film preparation and casting, Jiang Wen is indeed one of the most slow directors in the industry.

"Haha, when the restored version of "Sunny Days" comes out, I'll give you a copy. Keep it well."

Hearing Jiang Wen's asking-for-a-punch tone on the other end of the phone, Gu Wei was speechless.

"Okay, stop it. Who wants your movies, especially restored ones? I really don't understand the movies you make."

Gu Wei deliberately said a few words to the other party, and sure enough, Jiang Wen suddenly fell silent.

"Brother, what you said really makes me sad. When I knew that Zhang's "Parasite" was shortlisted for the main competition unit, I immediately agreed to the Venice Film Festival's official invitation to me to serve as a judge...

I am also a judge of the main competition unit. You can rest assured that I am here. The chances of Parasite winning the award are definitely high.”

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Wen was talking nonstop, while Gu Wei on this side was pinching his nose with an indifferent expression.

Zhang Yimou's film is participating in the Venice Film Festival. You let yourself thank you and you even pat your chest to guarantee that it will win a prize. So you are the one who has the final say?

"Oh, don't talk nonsense. If you really want to win the award, go to Director Zhang and ask for credit. Ask him to treat you to a meal."

Looking at the young lady who was still sleeping next to him, Gu Wei stood up, put on his pajamas, and walked outside.

The two chatted for a while, and Jiang Wen naturally mentioned his own movie. Casting is currently a problem, and this time he called, his subtext was also to ask Gu Wei if he had any roles to recommend.

After all, Gu Wei is one of the few investors in this movie.

"Alas, I felt comfortable when I was filming Let the Bullets Fly. I don't feel that way anymore. Casting alone is a problem. There are still too few people in the industry who are suitable for starring in my movies."

At this moment, Jiang Wen seemed to be very lonely at the top of the world, and his tone was full of loneliness.

"Uh, this is the old problem again."

Talking about the casting of "One Step Away", Gu Wei almost forgot one thing. In the original version, the final female lead was Shu Qi, and it was Zhou Yun who recommended her.

"I really need to recommend two actors." Gu Wei thought silently.

Actually, Gu Wei doesn't have to worry about this. In this time and space, he and Jiang Wen, including director Ning Hao and the people from Hong Kong Island don't get along well. So even if another female lead cannot be decided for a long time, Jiang Wen probably won't consider the actors from Hong Kong Island.

"Hey, brother, are you listening?"

Seeing that there was no movement on the other end of the phone, Jiang Wen asked directly.

"Yeah." Gu Wei responded to prove that he was still listening.

"Then I'll just say it directly?" Jiang Wen talked about it for a while and finally got to the point.

"Well, go ahead." Gu Wei remained calm.

"I want to ask if Yifei is free. If she is, she can definitely come over and play the female lead. As for the pay, don't worry, it will definitely be the highest salary..."

"Stop, stop, she's busy." Gu Wei refused flatly.

"Don't worry, brother. You've read the script for this movie before. There must be no problem with the plot. I promise you, it won't reveal too much..."

Next, Jiang Wen started to deceive people.

What? Yifei is now starring in your and Director Zhang's work. As the top female star in the domestic entertainment industry, she should at least work with the top five directors in the mainland.

The number one female star in the domestic entertainment industry?

Gong Li: “?”

Fan Binbin, Zhang Ziyi, Li Binbin: "..."

Liu Yifei: "Director Jiang is still a good judge of vision, hehe!"

What if Yifei agrees to act in the role, she will be given more scenes immediately, and it would be no problem to change the double female lead to a single female lead.

As for the need to cut the role of his wife Zhou Yun, just cut it directly. She is not important.

Zhou Yun: "Mr. Jiang, wait for me." Unfortunately, no matter how Jiang Wen tried to fool him, Gu Wei just said two words: I'm busy.

In the end, Gu Wei just recommended Tong Liya and Zhao Liying from the company to the other party and asked them to go for an audition. The other party would have the final say on whether they could perform well or not.

This made Jiang Wen quite depressed, but Tong Liya was fine, as the drama "Seattle" made her very popular, and she is currently catching up with other big stars like Fan Binbin and Li Binbin.

As for Zhao Liying, Jiang Wen had also heard of her name, but he also heard that Chen Jiashang was considering inviting her to play the leading female role in "The Four 2", but he didn't know whether it was true.

Jiang Wen was in a bad mood after being rejected by Gu Wei, but he didn't ask directly. Anyway, he would have the opportunity to ask during the audition.

Gu Wei couldn't fall asleep after being disturbed by Jiang Wen's noise. After hanging up the phone and returning to the room, he saw the young lady staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.

"Who is it?" Liu Yifei asked curiously.

She was half asleep just now and only vaguely heard Gu Wei's cell phone ringing. Then he said a few words to the other party and left the bedroom. As for who it was, she didn't hear clearly.

"Who else could it be? Jiang Wenbei. This guy's movie was selected for the Venice Film Festival, and he was invited to be a judge. He came to show off to me..."

Gu Wei yawned and spoke weakly, without mentioning Jiang Wen's invitation to the other party. He knew Liu Yifei. The girl was a typical "emotional person" and might be fooled by the other party and agree to it in a daze.

"Judges? Then..." Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei's eyes lit up, and the meaning was self-evident.

The two have been together for such a long time, so you know me well and I know your strengths and weaknesses. Liu Yifei's expression changed, and Gu Wei understood what the other was thinking without any words from either side.

.........

industry.

"New Police Story 2013" announced that it had officially wrapped up, and the wrap-up party was held in a high-profile manner.

In fact, the filming of this movie was almost completed in mid-June. The reason why it was postponed for another month was because Jackie Chan had to go to Hollywood to film a movie and might not be able to return to China in the short term.

So Lu Yang shot the shots that needed to be re-shot at the same time to avoid the need to run back and forth in the later stage. On the one hand, it was troublesome, and on the other hand, it also took into account Cheng Long's schedule.

The wrap party for "New Police Story 2013" was quite large. Needless to say, the male lead, Cheng Long, is a big shot among the actors in the circle. The female lead, Jing Tian, ​​has a star-studded cast behind her. Lu Zheng also put a lot of effort into this movie.

At the wrap party, Gu Wei and Liu Yifei showed up.

"Brother, have you received the subsequent share of "2012"?"

At the dinner table, Lu Yang, Cheng Long, Liu Yifei, Jing Tian, ​​Liu Ye, Lu Zheng and others were sitting together. When they heard what Gu Wei said, they were all a little curious.

"Haha, I got it, but I didn't expect it to be so much!" When everyone heard Cheng Long say a number, they couldn't help but gasp. The temperature in the room rose, and their eyes towards Gu Wei changed. This guy is not a director, he must be the God of Wealth.

"This is not much. I estimate that you will receive a share of the profits every year." Gu Wei said calmly.

Now, even Lu Zheng became a little uneasy after hearing this.

At the beginning, when filming "2012", Gu Wei paid the top salary to several leading actors. Except for Liu Yifei, none of them received the top salary. Instead, they received the salary based on the box office share plus the salary. After all, if these leading actors plus a large number of supporting roles were all paid the top salary, the cost of this film would at least increase by tens of millions of dollars.

Moreover, Gu Wei did not expect that this movie would surpass "Avatar" and become the highest-grossing movie in the world, so he agreed to this signing method.

But when "2012" became the box office champion, Gu Wei didn't feel bad about the profit share he had to pay every year. After all, today's results were achieved by everyone's hard work.

"Haha, Director Gu, I've learned a lot today. I didn't expect that making a movie could become a stable job. The film profit-sharing model in Hollywood is indeed much better than that in China." Lu Zheng flattered, feeling a little emotional in his heart. Just like when filming "Special Identity", Zou Zhaolong told everyone that to this day he can still make a lot of money from "The Matrix" every year, which is almost unheard of in China.

"Mr. Lu, the domestic market is getting better and better now. Maybe this model will appear in the future," said Gu Wei.

"The mainland?" Lu Zheng was stunned when he heard that. It's not that he thought Gu Wei was talking nonsense, but although the mainland film industry is developing well nowadays, there are still only a handful of domestic films that can make money every year.

In other words, why are the costs of domestic films getting higher and higher and the investments getting bigger and bigger? Fundamentally, it is because the pay of celebrity artists is getting higher and higher, which means that many directors and investors who want to make blockbusters have to "pay more".

Moreover, the added pay is actual pay. Few people will agree to get a share of the subsequent box office revenue of the film, because even the producers cannot guarantee that the film will make money after its release, and the actors naturally will not follow the Hollywood model.

However, as the scale of the mainland film market continues to expand next year and the year after, driven by the concepts of "Internet Plus", "Big Data" and "IP (copyright) fever", Penguin, Alibaba, Baidu and others have successively entered and deepened their roots in the film industry. A number of new film companies and film funds have been established, and the film market pie continues to grow.

Popular films such as "Monster Hunt" and "Charlotte's Troubles" have introduced Internet platforms to join, and "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" and other films have adopted crowdfunding models to raise funds, further increasing private investment enthusiasm.

At that time, the film industry had become one of the important industries in the cultural field to stimulate domestic demand, promote employment, and drive national economic growth and transformation and upgrading.

The crowdfunding for movies launched by mainland filmmakers will also be unprecedentedly popular for a while, but this kind of operation is a bit unconventional. When it goes well, everyone is happy, but once it fails, it will be like lifting tofu with a hemp rope - don't even mention it.

As a result, the crowdfunding model only lasted for a few years and then almost disappeared.

……

(End of this chapter)