China Entertainment started from Nortel 96

Chapter 187
Qi Wei nodded and said with a smile, "I think brother, you are very suitable for the role of Li Mubai."

Don't look at Zhang Guorong's appearance that doesn't show his age, but in fact he is over 30 years old, and the years have left marks on his face. He is no longer the "little fresh meat" in his [-]s and [-]s.

He is more stable when he is mature.

If there is no preconceived impression, Qi Wei thinks he is quite suitable.

"I heard that the role of Li Mubai in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was tailor-made for Li Lianjie, it must be him, I have no chance." Zhang Guorong said.

In fact, the casting of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has not yet started. Although Li An's team has contacted Li Lianjie, they have not reached any intention of cooperation.

But this does not prevent Li An from using Li Lianjie's name to "attract investment" for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Li Lianjie is one of the few Chinese movie stars with box office appeal at this stage, and he can attract investors.

Later generations of directors who filmed "Certificate of Fame" said that it was profitable to invite Li Lianjie with hundreds of millions of film remuneration, because with his participation in the film, he could get [-] million or even [-] million investment.

Although Li Lianjie's fame is not as great as later generations at this time, it is also the same reason.

So much so that most people in the circle know that the role of Li Mubai belongs to Li Lianjie.

"Li An's team has been in contact with Li Lianjie for a while. It has not been successful for such a long time. It is probably useless. There is a high probability that this role needs to be replaced by another actor."

"Do you have any inside information?" Li An's approach to Qi Weila's investment must have said a lot of things that are unknown to the outside world, Zhang Guorong thinks so.

Of course, Qi Wei has inside information. Li Lianjie’s wife in the United States happened to be pregnant when Li An was preparing for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and the filming of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had to go back to the mainland to shoot, which made him unable to take care of both ends. In order to take care of his wife He eventually quit the show.

Of course, this may be one of the reasons.

It is also possible that Li Lianjie, who had gradually gained a foothold in Hollywood at that time, was not very optimistic about Li An's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", thinking that such an oriental martial arts movie would not bring bonuses to his Hollywood career.

He himself has no shortage of film and television invitations in Hollywood.

Qi Wei showed a mysterious smile, neither affirming nor denying, but asked again: "Brother, if you believe my vision, you'd better take this role, this movie will definitely help you open up the Hollywood market , let you gain both fame and fortune."

Although Qi Wei is young, so far there has been no loss in film investment.

In addition, many Hong Kong people are superstitious, whether it is true ability or luck, Zhang Guorong has a kind of trust in Qi Wei,
After pondering for a moment, he replied: "Li An is an internationally renowned director. Such a director generally doesn't like others to judge his play, including casting. Even if I am willing to take this role, I am afraid it will be difficult to get this role." Role."

Li An was born as a newcomer in 90, and won multiple nominations for the Golden Horse Awards by directing his first film "Pushing Hands".

After that, he directed two films, "The Wedding Banquet" and "Eating and Drinking Man and Woman", both of which won many international awards.

After that, he began to develop in Hollywood, and now he has directed many Hollywood movies such as "Sense and Sensibility" and "Ice Storm".

It is not an exaggeration to call him an international director.

"I can take you as a condition for investing in his film. Of course, I also know that such a big director is more stubborn, but as long as you can meet his requirements during the audition, with me as an investor, he will definitely I will take you in."

A commercial blockbuster like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with an investment of over [-] million is not a project of Qi Wei's company, so even if Qi Wei is the largest investor in this movie, it is impossible to get too much right to speak.

Like male and female protagonists or important supporting roles, Qi Wei can give opinions and arrange people to audition, but the decision-making power still rests with the director team.

Of course, the director team must also consider the interests and face of the investors.

However, it is impossible to have only one investor in a commercial blockbuster like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

In fact, Qi Wei considered mainland actors when planning "Heroes" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

But after careful consideration, I can only give up this idea temporarily.

Not even being considered for the lead role.

The reason is simple, that is, mainland actors at this time have almost no market appeal.

The market does not recognize it, the filmmakers in the industry do not recognize it, the investors do not recognize it, and even the audience does not recognize it.

Of course, except for the big brother Long who has box office appeal, most Hong Kong stars do not, but there is no way, most people still follow their set.

So even if you have a God's perspective and know that these two movies are more of a joke, you know that some of them are profitable, but the problem is that others don't know.

Others want to reduce the investment risk as much as possible, so even if you say extravagantly, there is no way to convince other investors.

For example, now that Qi Wei and Zhang Weiping are developing the project "Hero" together, if you ask him to choose a mainland actor as the male lead, he will definitely not agree. He will only choose between Big Brother Long and Li Lianjie.

"Could it be that you invested in this movie for me?" Leslie Cheung suddenly asked with a puzzled look.

"If you think so, you can also think so." Qi Wei replied with a smile.

"What you do makes me feel that you have some bad intentions for me."

Qi Wei rolled his eyes involuntarily, and said: "Idol, don't think wrongly, I just regard you as my idol. Let me repeat the important thing, I am only interested in women."

Qi Wei suddenly laughed, "If you feel embarrassed, you can repay me and introduce some beautiful women to me."

"Oh? Who do you want to meet?"

"Well, for example, the one who filmed "A Chinese Ghost Story" with you, she is my goddess."

"You said before that your teacher Zhou is also your goddess"

"No one stipulates that there is only one goddess."

"No one stipulates it, but with your virtue, I dare not introduce these friends of mine to you."

"You're such a disappointment."

"Anyway, I won't betray my friends."

After joking around like this for a while, the atmosphere that was a little dignified just now became a lot more relaxed.

Returning to the topic just now, Zhang Guorong said seriously: "Even if, as you said, Li Lianjie didn't take the role in the end, I don't think I am the right candidate. There are at least two people who are more suitable than me."

"Oh, which two?" Qi Wei asked curiously.

"Zhou Runfa and Liang Jiahui."

Since participating in "The True Colors of Heroes" together in 86, Zhou Runfa and Zhang Guorong have established friendship.

And Liang Jiahui and Zhang Guorong have acted in many movies together. When filming Wang Sunjing's "Evil and West Poison", they even ate sand in the desert for several years, and they also have a relatively deep friendship.

Zhang Guorong is also a kind person. If someone invites him to make a movie, if he feels that he is not suitable, he will recommend his friends as much as possible among suitable candidates.

Just like it is now.

For a commercial blockbuster like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", overseas markets must be considered, and the international popularity of the actors must be considered when choosing the protagonist.

There are also reasons why Li An intended to belong to Li Lianjie.

Through a series of movies such as "The True Colors of Heroes" and "God of Gamblers", Zhou Runfa became popular throughout Southeast Asia in the early years. Although he didn't do well in Hollywood these years, at least he was familiar with him.

Zhang Guorong didn't care about opening up the Hollywood market, but this was an opportunity for Zhou Runfa, so Zhang Guorong thought of him immediately.

As for Liang Jiahui, although he is far inferior to Zhou Runfa in terms of international popularity, it does not mean that he has not. In fact, he was invited by a foreign producer to participate in a love movie "Lover" a few years ago. He opened up to international fame.

As the actor with thousands of faces, Liang Jiahui, who can be both good and evil, has another advantage.

Compared with Zhou Runfa, who has never acted in costume movies, Liang Jiahui has acted as a hero, that is, Xu Ke's "New Dragon Inn".

In fact, the leading actor of "New Dragon Inn" was Li Lianjie, but due to various reasons, Li Lianjie did not participate in the role in the end, and Liang Jiahui invited him to save the scene.

Although it was a rescue, Liang Jiahui's performance was quite good.

It can be replaced once, and it must be no problem to replace it again in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

If he had to choose between Zhou Runfa and Liang Jiahui, Qi Wei would definitely prefer the latter.

Without him, it's more about personal emotions.

In the early years, because of the classic roles left by the classic movies that Zhou Runfa participated in, Qi Wei still had some filters for him.

But with the in-depth understanding of him later, Qi Wei's filter for him has been shattered, and it is difficult to have a good impression of him anymore.

So even though he knew that the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" he participated in was a great success, Qi Wei didn't want to have too much contact with him, and still wanted to find someone to replace him.

This is also an important reason why Qi Wei encouraged Leslie Cheung to fight for Li Mubai.

As for Liang Jiahui, it's not impossible.

In the early years, because he participated in a film shot in the mainland and refused to write a review, he was blocked by the relevant departments of the Bay Area. With this incident, it was difficult for Qi Wei not to have a good impression of him.

He is one of the few Hong Kong movie stars that Qi Wei has a crush on.

It's just a pity that Qi Wei doesn't have much friendship with him now.

In Qi Wei's heart, he can only be a spare tire,
"I still hope that my brother can take the role of Li Mubai." Qi Wei said.

"I appreciate your kindness. I can only say that if what you said really happens, you recommend me to director Li An, and I will go for an audition and try to win this role." Leslie Cheung finally said on this matter .

Compared with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Zhang Guorong is more concerned about another movie.

"Who do you think is suitable to be the director of the movie "Suspect"?" Zhang Guorong asked with great interest when talking about "Suspect".

After all, this novel was published on Qi Wei's novel website, and Qi Wei insisted on buying the copyright of the novel. Zhang Guorong believed that Qi Wei had his own opinion on this novel, and he wanted to ask Qi Wei for his opinion.

"Brother asked so, there must be a suitable candidate, who is brother considering?" Qi Wei asked back.

"What do you think of Director Wang Sunjing?" Zhang Guorong first named the first candidate.

Zhang Guorong is one of the actors who have cooperated with Wang Sunglass the most. He knows the basics, and he still recognizes Wang Sunglass's strength.

Although Zhang Guorong and Wang Sunglass have some rifts now, in order to make "The Suspect" a perfect film, he can still put aside the previous suspicions with Wang Sunglass.

For the movie "Suspect", Qi Wei intends to cooperate with Zhang Guorong. Qi Wei's film and television company will definitely participate in part of the investment, and the director should also be selected from the perspective of profit.

And if you choose Wang Sunglasses as the director of this movie, you probably think the money is too much.

Qi Wei quickly gave a reason and replied: "Although I appreciate Director Wang's movies very much, like "Days of Being Wild" I have savored several times, but Director Wang's movies are still too literary, "Suspect" The suspenseful elements in this novel can be commercialized."

Knowing that Qi Wei didn't want to choose Wang Sunglasses, Zhang Guorong also agreed with Qi Wei's words, and changed his choice again.

"What do you think of Director Chen? His "Farewell My Concubine" has a good balance between art and commercialization."

"Director Chen is indeed very good, but brother, you have worked with him on several films, and you should know his style of filmmaking. I feel that he is a bit too self-indulgent now that he has become famous. If "Suspect" is handed over to him, I'm afraid there will be a situation like "Jing Ke Assassinates the King of Qin"."

Although the movie "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" suffered from Waterloo at the domestic box office, it still made big foreign investors profitable. Although it was considered a failure in production, it did not ruin Director Chen's reputation.

Director Chen, who didn't make a big somersault, will still go his own way when making movies at this time. Not to mention the "Murder Case Caused by a Steamed Bun" in later generations, you can watch it from "Lu Bu and Diao Chan" filmed by him in the Three Kingdoms. out of this.

Can't choose him either.

"Then there is Guan Jingpeng."

Guan Jingpeng is better at filming emotional scenes, and once collaborated with Zhang Guorong in "Rouge Button".

Zhang Guorong talked about all the directors he had worked with and felt suitable for.

I talked about many directors, but Qi Wei always refused with various inappropriate reasons. In the end, Zhang Guorong asked a little speechlessly:
"None of them are suitable, but you should come up with a suitable one."

"Brother, it's very appropriate for you to come in person." Qi Wei finally expressed his thoughts.

"I'll come in person, do you want me to direct and act on my own?"

Seeing Qi Wei nodded, he gave up reflexively and said, "I'm not suitable, and I've never been a director before."

"Brother, haven't you never been a director before? Wasn't you the one who directed the "Surprise" filmed by you and Li Lizhen back then?"

Qi Wei laughed again, and added, "Li Lizhen is also my woman, can you introduce me to her?"

Regarding Qi Wei's seemingly joking words, Zhang Guorong rolled his eyes, "Don't interrupt, "Surprise" is just a musical, not a movie in the true sense."

"But no matter what, brother, you have experience as a director. It's better than those directors who have become monks halfway through."

Qi Wei persuaded again: "Film is the director's art, and it expresses the director's opinion. Brother, if you find someone else to direct this movie, it is someone else's understanding of this novel. As an actor, it is not good to point fingers at the director.
Since my brother likes this novel so much, it is better to direct it by himself, so that he can better express his understanding of this novel through the film.
Brother doesn't have to worry about making this movie badly. With his connections in the industry, there must be someone willing to help, which is enough for him to pull out a professional shooting team.
We also have a lot of outstanding behind-the-scenes talents in the mainland, I believe they can also help you brother, they just lack a chance."

In addition to directing the musical "Surprised Love", Zhang Guorong also directed "Smoke Flying Smoke" and "Left and Right Love".

Although "Left and Right Love" is still a musical, "Smoke Flies and Smoke Extinguishes" is a non-smoking public welfare film.

They are not traditional movies, but this does not prevent Zhang Guorong from having a heart to become a director.

It is the norm in the circle to perform well and direct.

The only thing Zhang Guorong lacked was determination.

"Your words make sense, you can really give it a try." Although he still had to go back and discuss with his manager, Qi Wei's words made him make up his mind.

Acting and directing, he wants to try to make a complete movie by himself as a director.

(End of this chapter)