Chapter 52 Role Selection
The crew of "Lion Camel Ridge" has temporarily confirmed the cast for important roles including Tang Monk (played by Ding Haifeng), Sun Wukong (Wu Jing), Zhu Bajie (Lin Zhicong), Sha Monk (Zang Jinsheng), Golden Winged Dapeng (Zhao Wenzhuo), Green Lion Spirit (Chen Zhihui), White Elephant Spirit (Sammo Hung), Tathagata Buddha (Zhu Longguang), and Erlang Shen (Jiao Xinjun).

The other characters didn’t have that many scenes, so Jiang Heng decided to look for them while filming.

The reason? Of course, I can’t wait any longer.

It’s already May in the blink of an eye. If we start shooting now, it would be reasonable to release it in the summer of next year. If it’s later, we’ll have to wait until the Lunar New Year holiday next year!

After a simple ceremony, the filming of the movie "Lion Camel Ridge" started.

After all the actors had put on their makeup and changed their clothes and appeared, all the staff on the scene were dumbfounded.

There are four people in Tang Monk's group. Except for the thin Monkey King played by Wu Jing, the other three are all strong men.

It would be fine if Lin Zhicong just looked bloated, but Ding Haifeng and Zang Jinsheng were both over 180cm tall and played the roles of Wu Song and Lu Zhishen in the 98 version of "Outlaws of the Marsh".

It feels a bit weird that he plays Tang Monk and Sha Monk in this drama now.

Hong Jinbao asked when no one was around, "You, Tang Monk, can't be better at fighting than Sun Wukong, right?"

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "No, the Tang Monk in the play is just tall and resolute, there is no action scene with him!"

Having said that, there are still people who say in a roundabout way that Ding Haifeng is not suitable and suggest that Jiang Heng replace another actor.

After hearing so many rumors, Ding Haifeng became more and more nervous, so that his performances in several scenes were not good.

Jiang Heng had no choice but to talk to Ding Haifeng and ask him to relax and act attentively. Only then did the latter regain his form.

After this incident, everyone saw Jiang Heng's determination, but they didn't quite understand why he had to create such a burly and domineering Tang Monk.

Jiang Heng naturally has his own understanding of this, but it is inconvenient to explain it to others.

In his opinion, the character creation in the film serves the plot. If we stick to the original work and are restricted, there is no need to change the script.

For example, Tang Monk played by Luo Jiaying is a classic in "A Chinese Odyssey", and no one cares about his appearance. But if he is put into the plot of "The Kingdom of Women", it would be very inconsistent.

Imagine him and the Queen of the Kingdom of Women together, one of them calls "Your Majesty, Brother" in a tender voice, and the other sings "Only You" in a soft and clear voice. The scene is so shocking that it is unbearable to watch!
The Tang Monk played by Ding Haifeng does fit the description of the original novel as "handsome and majestic", but it does not reach the "teeth as white as silver, lips as red as a square mouth" as described in the book.

However, the crew spent most of the time shooting in China Film's digital studio and rarely shot on location.

At the same time, the global box office results of "2.89 Million BC" have also been released, with a total of million US dollars.

Among them, the North American box office was 1.13 million US dollars, finally entering the million yuan club. It is ranked around th or th in the annual box office rankings in North America.

The box office results of 2.07 million RMB in the Mainland and 4084 million HKD in Hong Kong both ranked as the annual champions.

What surprised Jiang Heng even more was that "100 Million Years BC" had good reputation and box office in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Europe, and did not fail anywhere. This made him finally put his mind at ease.

After the news was released, it caused a sensation again.

At the age of about 7, Jiang Heng won a global box office of million US dollars with two special effects blockbusters, making him the number one in domestic commercial films.

Many media outlets called him China's "Spielberg", which made Jiang Heng very angry.

On this day, the crew was taking a lunch break, and Jiang Heng, who had just finished his meal, was lying in a rocking chair reading a newspaper.

A leader from the Beijing Film Studio called and asked Jiang Heng if he had anyone selected for the role of Guanyin in the film.

Jiang Heng said no, he has tried many female stars recently, but he always feels that their looks are not good enough.

The leader said, "Director Jiang, how about I recommend someone to you?" Jiang Heng smiled and said, "You say, if this works, it will be a great help to me!"

The man said, "The actress I'm talking about is called Tao Huimin. She was originally an actress of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Yue Opera Troupe. In 95, she starred in a TV series called The Legend of Guanyin, and she performed well in the drama. Later, the Beijing Film Studio filmed a version of A Dream of Red Mansions, in which she played Lin Daiyu...!"

Jiang Heng knew who he was talking about halfway through.

I thought, "Isn't this Liang Lu from In the Name of People? When I watched her on TV, I thought she was a school beauty, but after looking at her makeup when she was young, Director Qi is really out of her league!"

He hurriedly said, "Oh, where is she now?"

The man said, "She just arrived in Beijing and is staying in our factory's guesthouse now!"

Jiang Heng said: "Then let her come over and try it!"

"Okay, thank you Director Jiang, I'll tell her the news right away!"

After I hung up the phone, in the afternoon, an assistant came over and said that someone named Liang Huimin came and said she wanted to audition.

Jiang Heng ordered his assistant to bring her over. It turned out to be a woman in her early thirties, dressed elegantly and with a beautiful face. She gave people a feeling of being both beautiful and intelligent.

"How many movies have you filmed?"

Tao Huimin softly said the names of several plays, and when she saw Jiang Heng looking at her, she timidly said, "Not many people asked me to act in plays, so I stayed in the troupe all the time!"

Jiang Heng smiled, "Then why did you decide to come here this time?"

Tao Huimin said: "I didn't dare to think about it at first. This time I came to Beijing by chance and a friend told me that I performed well in "The Legend of Guanyin" that year, but unfortunately the investment in that film was too small, the filming was relatively crude, and there was not much response. If I could perform in your play again, maybe it would be different."

Jiang Heng nodded slightly and said only, "Go put on makeup first!"

Upon hearing this, Tao Huimin became extremely nervous and followed the makeup artist to the backstage.

Hong Jinbao came over and asked, "Another audition?"

Jiang Heng nodded, and Hong Jinbao said, "If you ask me, there are so many beauties in Hong Kong...!"

Seeing Jiang Heng looking at him, Hong Jinbao choked back his words.

I thought to myself, "It's not that I don't want to help you get resources, it's just that Jiang Heng is being ruthless this time!"

After the break, Jiang Heng continued filming and completely forgot about Tao Huimin.

After finally passing one line, I saw Tao Huimin standing beside me dressed as Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Jiang Heng took a closer look and found her to be indeed dignified and beautiful.

"Not bad, not bad, let's go and sign the contract!"

Tao Huimin was overjoyed. Although she knew that Guanyin Bodhisattva would not have many parts in the play, being able to star in a movie with an investment of 50 million US dollars would still be of great benefit to her future career development.

He bowed and said, "Thank you Director Jiang, thank you Director Jiang!"

Jiang Heng quickly moved away, "No need to thank me, just acting well is the greatest thanks to me!"

(End of this chapter)