Chapter 339 Actor Selection
The investment is 70 million US dollars, and more than % of the budget will be used for special effects production.

The other slightly more expensive expenses are actors' salaries, crew expenses and props costs.

However, because it is a science fiction movie, we need to make various props while also developing peripheral products, such as selling starship models.

As for product placement, Jiang Heng thought about it and felt that it was not very appropriate.

After all, the world view in "Legend of the Little Soldiers" is different from that of the "Marvel Universe", and the story tells the battle between the Federation and the Empire in the universe.

In such a scene, it would be very inappropriate if the characters in the film used Lenovo computers, Gionee phones, and drove Fit cars.

But if there is no product placement, Jiang Heng would just lose a lot of revenue, which he was unwilling to accept.

After thinking about it, an idea suddenly came to my mind.

He can register a few trademarks and have products of these trademarks appear in the movies, and then decide whether to set up a factory to produce the products under his brand name or just sell them directly.

For example, in the mobile phone sector, in the next two years, domestic brands will rise, and he may be able to get a piece of the pie.

As for cars, Jiang Heng has insights that transcend his time and a "super microcomputer", so it is not difficult for him to create a cool coupe in the film.

In a few years, he may also be able to enter the car manufacturing industry!

As for laptops, he suddenly remembered that Dell has an Alien series, which is very consistent with the style of this movie.

If the other party can think of it, we can cooperate.

In addition to advertising placement, actor selection, and script polishing, he will also need to pay attention to prop design and production.

This is not a difficult task for Jiang Heng. His "super micro computer" is much more powerful than ordinary "AI" software and can produce a large number of renderings in minutes.

But in order to avoid suspicion from others, the process was relatively slow. It took several days before the effect sketch was given to the props group and they were ordered to make it.

Since September, the news that Jiang Heng was going to shoot a super science fiction blockbuster with an investment of 500 million US dollars has become common knowledge in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Even in Hollywood, it has become widely known.

Megan Fox called and asked if there was a role suitable for her.

Jiang Heng smiled and said yes, a female officer from the Silver Eagle Empire, she was on the villain side, but her uniform was very cool.

Megan Fox smiled, "It seems that you like uniforms very much?"

Jiang Heng said: "I like you more!

In addition to Megan Fox, old friend Tom Hiddleston also plays the villain in the film, a senior general of the Silver Eagle Empire.

Another one, Jiang Heng originally wanted to invite Robert Downey Jr., but his salary increased too quickly.

It was $1 for "Iron Man 50", and it rose to $09 million for "Sherlock Holmes" in 900.

The staff of Jiang Heng's company in Hollywood contacted Robert Downey Jr.'s agent, who offered him 10 million US dollars. However, because the role he was invited to play was a villain, he was not very interested in playing the role.

Of course he wanted to work with Jiang Heng, but the prerequisite was that he had to play the leading role. If that was the case, the pay could be negotiated!

Naturally, Jiang Heng would not let him play Tang Long, even though both of them had the word "Tang" in their names.

So even though the cooperation did not succeed, a relationship was established.

When the two sides were on the phone, Robert Downey Jr. said that if there was a suitable opportunity, he would be willing to act in Jiang Heng's film for a low price. He also praised Jiang Heng's "The Three-Body Problem 1" and looked forward to the second part.

Jiang Heng said a few polite words to him, and after hanging up the phone, he thought to himself, you don’t want to play Luo Ji, do you?

From a personality perspective, Robert Downey Jr. is really suitable for the role of Jiang Heng.

Because Luo Ji is such a cynical and irresponsible guy, but he also has the characteristics of rationality, calmness, good thinking, and strong willpower and mental strength. These characteristics are really similar to Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr.

But Luo Ji is Chinese. If Robert Downey Jr. were to play the role, European and American audiences would be happy, but Chinese people would probably scold him to death. There should be a chance for them to work together again!

Considering that the real selling point of the film was the interstellar war special effects, Jiang Heng was reluctant to spend a large sum of money to hire a top Hollywood star, and ended up finding a third-tier artist.

In addition, he called Ma Dongxi over from South Korea to make a cameo appearance.

The news was delivered by Lee Mi-kyung of South Korea's CJ Entertainment. Ma Dong-seok was stunned the first moment he heard the news.

The internationally renowned director Jiang Heng actually invited a small actor like him to make a movie. Although it was just a supporting role, Ma Dongxi still took it very seriously. He hurried over to sign the contract and went back to wait for news.

Back home, the handsome men and beautiful women in the entertainment industry are waiting so hard!

I also want to know who will get this big pie from the sky.

On September 9, the crew of "The Founding of a Republic" held a global premiere press conference and premiere celebration at the Beijing Olympic Sports Center.

Jiang Heng went there alone, got out of the car, walked onto the red carpet to sign autographs, accepted a few brief interviews and then walked into the venue, where he was surrounded by a group of guests.

"Hey, you're really generous this time, 500 million US dollars. Actually, I also want to do something that big, but I don't know where to spend the money!"

The first one to come over was Cheng Long, who gave me a warm hug.

In fact, after the news of the 5 million investment came out, Cheng Long called and first gave some advice, saying that the risk was too high.

He then implicitly stated that if there were suitable roles, actors from Hong Kong would be given priority.

You are a big shot in the Hong Kong film industry, so you should take care of the younger generations.

Jiang Heng could only say that with an investment of 500 million US dollars, the pressure to make a return was extremely high. He really had to do everything to the utmost and could not afford to be careless in the slightest.

After hearing this, Cheng Long didn't know what to say.

After all, Jiang Heng used his own funds and did not deceive investors to make the movie.

Jet Li was also present at the event and said with a smile: "Use it in special effects and combine it with your kung fu!"

Cheng Long nodded, "That's fine!"

Zhang Guoli is also an old friend of Jiang Heng. They had a rivalry in "The Founding of a Republic". He came over and smiled innocently, "Director Jiang, the casting of your new film has touched the hearts of everyone in the entertainment industry. What kind of person do you want to pick?"

"First, you have to be young and look good in a military uniform. The second thing is your eye for the best!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoli knew that his son would definitely not have a chance in the film, but he still wanted to squeeze him into the crew so that he could become familiar to the audience.

"Let's have dinner together tonight?"

Feng Xiaogang said, "Of course, I have to have a good drink with Director Jiang today!"

Everyone gathered around Jiang Heng and chatted animatedly.

Soon, the press conference began, followed by the premiere ceremony.

The crew played the full version of the movie. Although Jiang Heng had seen "Founding of a Republic" in the past, he still found it very interesting when he watched it this time.

Because he played Chiang Ching-kuo in the film, he was indeed very handsome and more imposing.

Because of this, the scene of the conversation between Jiang and his son seems even more sad.

(End of this chapter)