1993 My China Entertainment Age

Chapter 380: Planning a blockbuster movie, inviting Gong Li to help!

In contrast, the box office appeal of movies directed by Tsui Hark in the mainland film market is indeed very limited.

Not to mention anything else, let’s just talk about the last super masterpiece "Seven Swords" directed by Tsui Hark, which took four years of hard work. The total investment was as high as 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars. It was released to the public in 2005 with a high profile, but the final box office was only 8300 million. The investment was low. I lost all my pants.

Therefore, Jiang Xiaofeng is really reluctant to take 1 million to let Tsui Hark film "Detective Dee: The Empire of Heaven" because the risk is too great.

At least so far, the film market in our mainland is not enough to support Hong Kong directors to direct such a huge super blockbuster.

If Feng Xiaogang, Chen Kaige, or Zhang Yimou were to shoot a super blockbuster worth [-] million, Jiang Xiaofeng might choose to invest.

As for Tsui Hark, Jiang Xiaofeng really needs to consider the investigation carefully before deciding whether to invest...

Because in Jiang Xiaofeng's view, these three great local directors are indeed more famous and influential in the mainland than other Hong Kong and Taiwan directors.

Therefore, Jiang Xiaofeng had no choice but to say sorry to Tsui Hark that he needed to temporarily shelve "Detective Dee: The Empire of Heaven", a super blockbuster with a production cost of 1 million, but he also assured Tsui Hark that he would restart the project after the company went public. .

Tsui Hark was a little disappointed, but he also expressed his understanding. After all, after the failure of the super blockbuster "Seven Swords", no one was willing to pay so much money to let him shoot the blockbuster "Detective Dee: The Dragon King".

However, Jiang Xiaofeng did not let Xu Harqian wait, but took out another movie script of the company-"Painted Skin".

"Painted Skin" is adapted from the collection of short stories "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". It tells the story of Captain Wang Sheng who rescued a stunning woman from a fierce battle with bandits. She was transformed by Xiao Wei, the beautiful fox from the sky, who wore human skin. She, Wang Sheng and Pei Rong A complicated love story.

It is worth mentioning that in Chinese movies at this time, ghosts could still be real ghosts, goblins could become spirits, and several of Pu Songling’s major IPs had not yet been filmed. Jiang Xiaofeng felt that the drama "Painted Skin" was promising, so he The script was given to Tsui Hark.

After Tsui Hark read the script, he also ignited the urge to create. After discussing creative ideas with Jiang Xiaofeng several times, he decided to prepare the film with his team and asked Jiang Xiaofeng for an investment of 8500 million.

Because he was afraid of scaring Jiang Xiaofeng away again, Tsui Hark did not ask for 8500 million this time, but lowered the ideal production fee from [-] million to [-] million.

When Jiang Xiaofeng heard that Tsui Hark was asking for money, he felt particularly troubled, because this big director looked down on small-production movies at all, and felt that without an investment of close to [-] million, he didn't want to make them at all.

The Century Group's internal investment budget for "Painted Skin" is less than 7000 million yuan. This is by far the largest film invested by the Century Group.

In Jiang Xiaofeng's view, an investment of 7000 million is already considered a relatively large investment in the current mainland film market, and the pressure to repay the capital is not small.

After some careful consideration, Jiang Xiaofeng finally called Tsui Hark to his courtyard, entertained him with good wine and meat, and told him directly: "Director Xu, let's do this. I won't bargain with you anymore. I'll give you a budget of 7000 million." For "Painted Skin", 6000 million was used for filming, and the remaining 1000 million was used for promotion."

"I don't care how you shoot it, just shoot it."

Seeing that Jiang Xiaofeng had made up his mind, Tsui Hark couldn't refuse anymore. After all, Jiang Xiaofeng was the boss, and he was just Jiang Xiaofeng's employee.

As the saying goes, if you take advantage of others and eat others with soft lips, no matter how reluctant you are in your heart, Tsui Hark can only accept this task when facing the request of the funder.

Moreover, no one has trouble with money. Tsui Hark can now get more than 300 million yuan in salary for every movie he directs with Century Group, which is also a lot of money.

In addition, after Tsui Hark signed a contract with Century Group, his personal interests were actually bound to Century Group, because he now owns 50 original shares of Century Group.

Without much hesitation, Tsui Hark forced a smile and said: "Director Jiang, I listen to you, we will make "Painted Skin"."

After confirming the project of "Painted Skin", Jiang Xiaofeng also began to work with the director team to find actors for the movie "Painted Skin".

Regarding the choice of the male lead Pang Yong, Tsui Hark suggested using actors from Hong Kong, such as Andy Lau, Donnie Yen, etc., who are more guaranteed to win at the box office.

Tsui Hark is not completely selfish, because apart from Ge You, there is really no actor in the Mainland who can stably carry the box office. Even Ge You, if he does not make comedies, it will be difficult for him to have box office appeal. .As for international superstars such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan, they definitely look down on such small productions and there is no need to consider them at all.

However, Jiang Xiaofeng still declined Tsui Hark's "suggestion" and explained with a smile: "Director Xu, we are not filming a co-production, so there is no need to hire Hong Kong actors."

Without waiting for Tsui Hark to answer, Jiang Xiaofeng then asked: "What do you think about the lineup of letting me play the leading actor and Zhou Jilun playing the second male lead?"

Xu Hark was quite surprised and asked with a smile: "Director Jiang, you have such a big enterprise to manage and the company is going to be listed. Are you busy enough?"

Jiang Xiaofeng explained with a smile: "No problem, I have temporarily retired from the music scene. I still have time to squeeze in."

"What? You don't believe in my box office appeal? Let me tell you this. Zhou Jilun and I have collaborated on a movie before, called "Waiting Alone". The investment was less than 4000 million, and the box office in the three places across the Taiwan Strait was also broken. Billions of dollars.”

Tsui Hark is also aware of Jiang Xiaofeng's popularity. Back then, Jiang Xiaofeng single-handedly broke the monopoly of the Four Heavenly Kings in the Hong Kong music scene, and his popularity was unprecedented.

Tsui Hark hurriedly replied: "Of course not. If you, Director Jiang, are willing to star, it will be even more powerful for our crew."

"However, I do think that if you and Zhou Jiulun are allowed to star, it would be better to make "Detective Dee" instead of "Painted Skin". Even if the investment is larger, with you two popular kings joining the cast, the box office will definitely not be bad. "

Jiang Xiaofeng immediately understood the meaning of Tsui Hark's words, and said angrily and funnyly: "Director Xu, I think you are determined to film Dee Renjie."

Tsui Hark smiled and explained: "Director Jiang, you have misunderstood me. I just objectively believe that you and Zhou Jiulun are more suitable for the two roles of Di Renjie and Pei Donglai in "Di Renjie"."

Jiang Xiaofeng thought for a while and was a little moved, but still did not make a decision immediately. Instead, he said to Tsui Hark: "Director Xu, 8000 million is still too much. If I really want to film Dee Renjie now, I can only spend [-] at most." Wan, I don’t need to be paid for the film myself.”

"Otherwise, we can only make plans for the "Detective Dee" project after the company goes public."

Tsui Hark then said: "Director Jiang, you are a big shot, you have to take a long-term view. My plan is not to just make one Detective Dee, I plan to make it into a series of movies."

"If the response to the first part is good, we can continue to make the second part, or even the third part, or the fourth part, just like when I made Jet Li's Once Upon a Time, every part can make money..."

Jiang Xiaofeng knew that Tsui Hark had great creative enthusiasm for the movie "Detective Dee", so he stopped talking and said bluntly: "Director Xu, let's not bargain anymore. It's so boring. In this case, I will give you 8500 million , if you can shoot it now, I will shoot it,”

"If you think you don't have enough money to shoot, we'll wait until next year, or the year after, to make plans. What do you think?"

Compared to the movie "Painted Skin", Tsui Hark obviously wanted to make the movie "Detective Dee" more. In order to achieve his wish as soon as possible and get the movie he wanted to shoot, he gritted his teeth and agreed: "Okay. , I’ll shoot, 8200 million is 8200 million!”

Hearing Tsui Hark's answer, Jiang Xiaofeng was relieved, and finally no longer had to fight with Tsui Hark.

After confirming the project of "Detective Dee: The Empire of Heaven", Jiang Xiaofeng immediately started preparing the crew and personally scouted for the starring actors.

In addition to himself and Zhou Jilun, Jiang Xiaofeng also plans to cast Fan Bingbing as the heroine Shangguan Jing'er, and Gong Li as the second female lead Wu Zetian.

Regarding the candidate for Wu Zetian, Jiang Xiaofeng thought about it for a while, and still felt that Gong Li was the most suitable candidate. She was both plump and domineering. To be fair, Liu Xiaoqing was a bit older.

However, it is definitely impossible for Gong Li to play the role of Fan Bingbing. Therefore, in the allocation of roles and roles, Gong Li must be arranged as the heroine.

Fan Bingbing did not raise any objection to Jiang Xiaofeng's arrangement. After all, she knew very well that Gong Li's popularity, acting skills, qualifications, celebrity status, etc. were all above hers.

(End of this chapter)