Chapter 566: Advance Planning and Arrangement

The outside world is still in turmoil.

In the crew of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy", the arrival of Gu Wei and Jiang Wen allowed Xu Ke to stop working for a day, giving him enough face.

But it's only one day. After all, for a large crew of hundreds of people, a delay of one day would cost tens or even millions.

At the welcoming banquet, Xu Ke, Han Dongjun, Tony Leung, Yu Nan, and several local leaders all enjoyed themselves.

Four o'clock in the morning.

Gu Wei, Liu Yifei, and Jiang Wen and his wife were still asleep.

The actors and crew involved in the filming have already started packing up.

The entire hotel has been booked by the crew for several months. At this moment, the lobby is brightly lit and busy figures are coming and going.

Those who need to put on makeup should put on makeup, and those who need to eat breakfast should eat breakfast.

The personnel who were checking the filming location had already gone out early wearing thick cotton jackets.

At five o'clock, everyone who had finished their makeup got in cars and went to the shooting location one after another. Xu Ke also went there wearing a thick down jacket.

In the hotel room.

Gu Wei yawned and groped for his cell phone on the bedside table in a daze. He opened it and saw that it was only half past six in the morning and it was still a little dark outside.

After getting up, washing and finishing everything, Gu Wei came to the bedside and shook Liu Yifei who was still sleeping.

"Hmm...Hmm, what are you doing, ahhhh!"

Liu Yifei looked at Gu Wei with sleepy eyes and squinted, then her eyes widened and the decibel level immediately exploded.

“What the hell…” Gu Wei was startled and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

After Liu Yifei finished yelling, she pulled the quilt with her snow-white, smooth but faintly muscular arms, covered her head and continued to sleep.

"Um, Xixi, didn't you say you wanted to go to the shooting site to take a look?" After waiting for a while, Gu Wei plucked up the courage and continued.

"What are you looking at? Don't bother me while I sleep."

This morning's grumpiness, really, Gu Wei can feel the strong murderous aura through the quilt.

Then, Gu Wei, still frightened, touched his nose and walked out of the room alone.

...

In the opposite room, although Jiang Wen was not grumpy because of waking up, Zhou Yun, at this age, still gave him a severe "education" early in the morning.

"After finishing," Jiang Wen, looking a little weak, put on a thick down jacket and walked out of the room.

After walking out of the room, Jiang Wen tightened his clothes, not sure whether it was because he was weak or really cold.

In the hotel lobby, Gu Wei looked at Jiang Wen who was leaning on his waist and immediately laughed unkindly.

"Director Jiang, of course. We're doing morning exercises early in the morning." Gu Wei joked with a smile.

"Brother, seriously, when you reach my age, you will understand." Jiang Wen ignored Gu Wei's teasing. Instead, he spoke with a serious expression, looking like someone who had experienced it.

"Director Gu, Director Jiang, you guys are up, hurry up and have some breakfast. Director Xu and the others have already gone to the set."

When the logistics manager saw the two people, he immediately strode forward and greeted them.

"Ah."

After the two finished their breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the crew sent a car to take them to the filming location.

.........

After driving for more than half an hour, at around 7:30, the two arrived at the shooting location.

As soon as I got off the bus, I saw a group of actors wearing tattered cotton-padded military uniforms with many patches on their bodies. There were about forty or fifty people including the extras.

Han Dongjun plays the role of the leader, who wears a tattered military coat. Although he looks young, he does look quite capable. It seems that he has been well trained by Mr. Xu during this period.

Except for Han Dongjun, everyone else's face was weather-beaten, dusty, and pale. There was no smile, only solemnity.

"Director, Director Jiang, you are here." After seeing Gu Wei and Jiang Wen, Han Dongjun immediately greeted them.

"Not bad, you look a lot more mature." Gu Wei praised him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Well, brother, your vision is really good. Compared to the crew of "The Wandering Earth", Xiao Han's spirit and energy have changed a lot." Jiang Wen couldn't help but nodded, and looked him up and down, taking a closer look.

"Thank you Director Jiang for the compliment!" Han Dongjun answered without any restraint in front of Gu Wei.

"Oh, you are full of energy and really look like a soldier." Jiang Wen continued.

Seeing this man who admired Han Dongjun, Gu Wei said, "Lao Jiang, you know the current situation in the circle. If there is a suitable role in the future, you can consider it."

Hearing this, Han Dongjun's face showed joy. Although his boss was a world-famous director, he was also looking forward to having the opportunity to work with Jiang Wen in the future.

"Haha, okay, there's definitely no chance for me to play in this movie. I'll talk about it later when there's a suitable role." Jiang Wen said happily.

The conversation between the few people was naturally heard by the others nearby. Except for Su Chang and Chen Xiao who were already filming, the others couldn't help but show envious expressions.

This is the advantage of having a great director behind you. You have the opportunity to come into contact with other great directors at any time.

Afterwards, Xu Ke came over and chatted for a few words, then continued to busy himself with filming.

"Filming will start in five minutes, everyone get ready."

Dozens of actors were in place in an instant according to the original plan.

Camera crew, lighting, script supervisor and other teams, get ready.

Five minutes later, Xu Ke shouted "action".

The filming of today's scenes has started.

.........

industry.

One of the most anticipated movies of the summer vacation, and arguably the biggest rival of "Knife of the Assassin", "Pacific Rim" is released.

Before its release, Pacific Rim held previews in the capital, Guangzhou and other places. Whether it was the special effects, subject matter, creative lineup or the highly praised excellent production, it won a good reputation.

The box office performance of this movie will fully test whether male or female viewers are the decisive factor in movie viewing.

For monster film lovers and Japanese mecha fans, this movie is enough to get their blood pumping and they are hooked.

But for female audiences with delicate emotions, watching robots fight monsters lasts two hours. Is there anything more boring than this?

However, the box office performance of "Pacific Rim" shows that even if it's just robots fighting monsters, it can still earn a lot of money at the box office.

On the day of its release, the first-day box office reached 5600 million, undoubtedly winning the box office champion of the day.

"Pacific Rim's box office has exceeded RMB 100 million in two days. Hollywood blockbusters are still popular among domestic audiences."

""Pacific Rim" was released in North America, with only US$3728 million in the first three days in the first weekend, which is not ideal. The domestic box office is soaring. Whose appetite does it suit?"

“Can “The Blade of the Assassin” take on the responsibility of competing with Hollywood blockbusters?”

"Director Lu Yang said frankly that he is not afraid of competing head-on with Hollywood blockbusters, and both sides speak for themselves based on their own abilities..."

The media regarded "Knife of the Assassin" as a magic weapon to compete with Hollywood. Even though this movie has not been released yet, it has been compared with the other. As a result, fans are not happy. After all, comparing these two movies is too unfair to "Knife of the Assassin".

The production cost of "Pacific Rim" was as high as 1.9 million US dollars, while that of "Knife of the Assassin" was only more than million US dollars. The cost alone is dozens of times different.

...

The crew of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" is still filming.

After returning to the hotel from the crew, Gu Wei was browsing the news while answering the phone.

Well, the young lady left him behind, and took advantage of the fact that Su Chang had no scenes in the afternoon, and went with Zhou Yun and the other two, along with their assistants, under the pretext of going to appreciate the scenery of nature.

As for Jiang Wen?

Hey, I’m getting older, so naturally I need to catch up on some sleep!!!
Reid knew Gu Wei's habits very well. Even when he called, he chose the time at night because it was daytime in China.

"Boss, the registration for the regular Oscar awards has ended."

Gu Wei naturally understood what the other party meant. The movie was registered, and then it was released on a small scale, followed by the movie's public relations.

To be honest, Gu Wei felt it was a bit early, but Leonardo was anxious.

Now, they have communicated through Reid and Gu Wei, which means that they can start planning and even carry it out.

"Leon believes that we need to set a release date for the movie first so that both public relations and the release will not be delayed."

"Well, no problem. What does Leon think about the show time?"

To be honest, compared to Leonardo's excitement and anxiety, Gu Wei is much calmer. After all, he is very experienced in arranging movie releases in North America.

For example, the release date of "The Revenant" should not be too early. After all, "The Wandering Earth" will be released in October. Even though the two films are of different genres and there is not much conflict, Gu Wei is a little overwhelmed if the two films are released at the same time.

At the same time, the film cannot be released too late. After all, after November, which is the Christmas period, many Hollywood blockbusters have set their sights on this period, and "The Revenant" should avoid direct conflict with them.

"Appia and Leonardo suggested that it be released on December 12, which is when the awards season officially begins."

Gu Wei thought about it and decided that this was not the right time, so he shared his thoughts with Reid.

"So, boss, what you mean is that this movie should be released in November?"

"Well, mid-month or end-month is fine. It'll be just right after I finish working on The Wandering Earth, so I'll have time to keep an eye on the release of this movie."

At this time, Gu Wei already had a plan in mind. Starting from October until next year's Oscars ceremony, he had a general arrangement in mind.

"No problem, boss. I'll talk to Leonardo." Reid replied immediately, and then seemed to have thought of something, "By the way, boss, what about the PR of this movie?"

“There’s no rush for now. I will communicate with Leonardo personally within a week at the latest.

But you can look for a good PR company in advance, after all, there are two movies that need PR." Gu Wei said.

"Hmm? Two?" Reid paused, then immediately responded, "Zhang's Parasite?"

"Haha, yes. If nothing unexpected happens, this movie will represent the mainland in the competition for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar next year."

When saying this, Gu Wei was still imagining that it would be great if "Parasite" could make a splash at the Venice Film Festival and win a big prize.

In that way, not only will it have an advantage in competing for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but the increased fame brought by a three major award-winning European work may also save a lot of public relations costs.

After all, Oscar public relations costs are notoriously expensive in the industry.

The public relations for "The Pursuit of Happyness" cost Warner Bros. tens of millions of dollars, and now so many years have passed.

In addition, the public relations for the two films were launched at the same time, and the minimum guarantee would require 20 million US dollars, which is enough to make a blockbuster movie when converted into RMB.

Although Appian Way will bear part of the public relations expenses of "The Revenant" according to its investment share, the bulk of the cost still needs to be paid by Gu Wei.

"Alas, I always feel it's a bit unfair to spend this money on foreigners." Gu Wei thought silently in his heart, but this is also a necessary expense. After all, the benefits of winning the grand prize are far greater than the investment.

"Okay, boss. Next, I will focus on the release date of The Revenant and finding a suitable PR company."

"Well, I trust you to do the job!"

After spending such a long time with Reid, Gu Wei still recognized his ability to get things done.

.........

capital.

Gu Wei, Jiang Wen and others only stayed in the crew of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" for two days.

When they came back, Su Chang naturally followed them. After all, tomorrow was the premiere of "The Blade of the Assassin", and as the leading actress, she definitely could not be absent.

For this reason, Director Xu Ke also gave enough face. In order not to delay the filming process, Su Chang's scenes for the past two days were filmed in advance.

After it was over, Su Chang was given a three-day vacation.

"Haha, Xixi, I'll follow you for the next two days." After leaving the airport, Su Chang ignored her best friend's eye roll and acted as if she was going to follow him.

"I know, you little girl, you actually fell in love secretly behind my back. When we get home, if you don't tell me the details, you will be in trouble."

Liu Yifei looked impatient at first, then she raised the corners of her mouth slightly and continued.

Now it was Su Chang's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Um, Xixi, I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do, so I won't go back with you." Su Chang said pitifully.

"If you dare, I'll break your legs." Liu Yifei's body shook, and her fingers made snapping sounds.

Gu Wei, who was standing next to him, was trembling with fear when he saw the situation. He could only mourn for Su Chang in his heart.

...

At the same time, Reid is very efficient, and the domestic media are also not to be trifled with.

“Hollywood movie news: Directed by Oscar-winning director Gu Wei, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and others.

The movie "The Revenant" will be released on November 11th, North American time.

The film is also an entry for the 86th Academy Awards.”

As soon as he returned to the capital, Gu Wei found that he was on the front page of film and television news again?
Wow, the film industry suddenly became lively.

After all, apart from Gu Wei, there are very few mainland directors who direct foreign language films, let alone those that are released in North America.

Most importantly, Gu Wei's "The Revenant" is an Oscar entry.

Looking at Gu Wei's record at foreign film festivals, he has won the Golden Bear Award and the Oscar for Best Director.

It produced an Oscar-winning actor and a Berlin Film Festival actress.

I wonder what kind of award I will win this time?
"Director Gu is awesome. He has participated in the Academy Awards twice. He is the only one in China who has done that!"

"Gu's The Revenant, plus Zhang Yimou's Parasite, this year's Oscars ceremony will be worth watching."

"Parasite doesn't seem to have received a spot in the domestic selection yet, so it's a bit early to say that now."

"That's right, let's first see if Director Zhang can win an award at the Venice Film Festival with Parasite."

Online, netizens are discussing...

.........

(End of this chapter)