Chapter 50: Preparing for Lion Camel Ridge

What's wrong?

Except for the change of actors, almost every frame of "The Matrix" including scenes, music, actions and pictures is a replica of the original.

Although it was a great success in both word of mouth and box office, Jiang Heng knew in his heart that this was not his work.

"100 Million BC" had good box office performance, but its reputation was slightly worse.

In order to reduce the "book cost", a tricky method was used.

The modern scenes in the entire film are too long, and the dinosaurs' appearance time is deliberately shortened, and there are even scenes of dinosaurs attacking at night.

Without some super shocking big shots, the whole film would have collapsed.

If we hadn't considered so many things at the beginning and turned on all the special effects, we could have made a Jurassic dinosaur blockbuster that would be even more exciting than the first time audiences watched the IMAX 3D version of "Avatar"!
But he didn't do that, after all, money doesn't fall from the sky!

But this time it’s different. The Matrix grossed over 4 million U.S. dollars worldwide, and the box office performance of Million BC was not much different.

What is even more enviable and crazy is that both films were distributed on a revenue-sharing basis in North America, the world's largest film market.

We can basically guess how much Jiang Heng can earn.

So when people heard about the rumor that he invested 50 million US dollars to make a special effects blockbuster, the first reaction of others was that this guy made too much money and he was showing off for some reason!

Instead of suspecting that Jiang Heng was just bragging and that he didn't have the funds.

Even Han Sanping, the future leader of the Chinese-language film market, did not doubt the authenticity of the news.

Instead, he rushed to persuade him, fearing that Jiang Heng would suffer heavy losses if he was not careful.

"I know that directors are more or less obsessed. They always want to give full play to their talents and make a masterpiece. But, you can't risk all your wealth. How about I help you contact some investors?"

Jiang Heng smiled, "Forget it. I have enough money. I am young and don't want to be restricted when creating. Even if the box office is not ideal and I lose some money, the remaining money will be enough for me to live a carefree life for the rest of my life!"

Upon hearing this, Han Sanping didn't know how to persuade him for a moment.

After all, as people say, if you have a lot of money, you are not afraid of losing it!
Furthermore, Jiang Heng has had successful experience with two special effects blockbusters, so even if the new film’s box office performance is not ideal, he will not lose too much.

"I'm a little envious. You can do whatever you want without any restrictions. Unlike me, I am always trembling with fear and walking on thin ice!" Han Sanping said with inexplicable emotion.

Jiang Heng smiled, "You are Mr. Han San, and you are the one who is going to lead our Chinese-language films to defeat the Americans in the future!"

"You kid, are you trying to make fun of me?" Han Sanping didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"No, no, it's really just respect!"

Han Sanping restrained his smile and said solemnly: "Although we were unable to cooperate this time, if you need any help, please feel free to ask!"

Jiang Heng smiled, cupped his hands and said, "With your words, I am satisfied!"

After chatting for a while, Han Sanping went home.

Jiang Heng, on his part, officially launched the "Lion Camel Ridge" film project.

Funds, sufficient!
The script has been revised over and over again, and I can't see anything else that needs to be revised.

As for the actor, Wu Jing was decided to play the role of Sun Wukong early on.

For other roles, Jiang Heng plans to mainly use mainland actors who have martial arts and dance skills. He also plans to invite some actors who have played classic roles to participate in the film.

For example, although Erlang Shen Yang Jian has no role in the film, Jiao Xinjun is also invited to play a cameo role. And the extremely classic Tathagata Buddha, of course, will be played by Zhu Longguang.

But the ones with the most important roles are naturally Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk, and the three monsters of Lion Camel Ridge.

Jiang Heng had no idea of ​​suitable candidates among these people, so he planned to directly send out a notice and invite male actors who wanted to participate to come for auditions.

Because of the action scenes and the lack of a love story, there are very few female characters in this movie.

The same notice was also issued, inviting interested actresses to audition at iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video.

Wow, as soon as the announcement came out, male and female artists from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan went completely crazy!
We will definitely come to the capital, and we need to build relationships in advance.

If you can't contact Jiang Heng, find someone related to him.

Especially Sammo Hung, as the big brother of the Hong Kong film industry, his cell phone number was flooded with calls.

But he couldn't even take care of his son, and he wasn't interested in other people's requests.

After receiving the invitation to be the action director of "Lion Camel Ridge", Sammo Hung hoped to bring his son into the crew.

This time, Jiang Heng ruthlessly refused.

The reason is very sufficient. We cannot afford to lose an investment of 50 million US dollars or more than 400 million RMB, so we have to be careful in every aspect!
Hong Jinbao can understand this, after all, it is not the investors' money that is being spent.

For example, when Xu Ke was filming "The Legend of Zu", the initial investment was only 40 million. As a result, this guy spent money quickly and made rapid progress in special effects, and soon spent all the 40 million.

What can Xiang Huaqi do?
The film is halfway through, and there is no way to give up halfway.

He could only wave his hand and pay another 40 million.

As a result, after the film was completed, the box office in Hong Kong was only over 10 million, and Xiang Huaqiang was so disappointed that he was in tears. Zhang Ziyi bluntly said that "The Legend of Zu" was not her work.

Even worse was Zheng Yijian, who was extremely popular at the time and was known as the "Fifth Heavenly King", but became a box office poison after the release of "The Legend of Zu".

There are really too many film and television companies that have been badly cheated by directors.

But Jiang Heng was using his own money to fulfill his dream of becoming a myth. As a friend, Sammo Hung naturally didn't want to force him and had to help him in every way he could.

In Hong Kong, he has become the assistant casting director. Anyone interested in participating in the show can go to him to sign up.

In the mainland, most people find Yu Dong, after all, he is Jiang Heng’s partner.

At one time, countless calls came in.

Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, the two "princesses" who have just become popular, Boss Fan... In fact, they also know that there is not much room for female characters to play in Jiang Heng's play, but after all, it is a blockbuster production by the country's first commercial film director.

If you don't show up now and make yourself known, will people think of you when filming in the future?
In Jiang Heng's office, Yu Dong wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile: "Boss Jiang, you must add my name to the cast and crew list of this ending. I've been given the job of assistant director without knowing what's going on!"

Jiang Heng laughed and poured him a glass of water. "Of course, not only will we increase it, but we will also count it as your share of the film remuneration. If you are interested, you can come and play a little demon!"

Yu Dong smiled innocently, "As long as I can get paid, forget about the guest appearance. I still have a lot of work to do at Bonna Company!"

Thanks to Jiang Heng's matchmaking, the joint venture between the two, Bonna Pictures, almost monopolized the distribution business of Hong Kong films in the mainland.

Although the box office performance of these films is not very high, the better ones only have 20 or 30 million, and the worse ones only have a few million.

But with so many films released, after all the hard work, I actually made quite a bit of money.

(End of this chapter)