The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 963 is all tributes.jpg
Looking back from the future, Robert Downey Jr. should really be grateful for his decision to win over Susan Downey and get married. His public image has been transformed thanks to his wife's efforts behind the scenes.

As a young man nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, his acting skills are beyond doubt, but his public image in the media is terrible.

Robert's father was a Hollywood director but deeply influenced by the hippie culture of yesteryear, yet he had virtually no control over the media. By his generation, the hippie movement had faded, leaving behind a mess but not the bewildered young Robert.

Marriage, childbirth, divorce;
Alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence;
Prison breakouts, fights, car chases...

The way young Downey committed crimes under the spotlight was as if he hadn't yet emerged from the afterglow of the hippie era. The constant media coverage completely shattered his public image, to the point that his first project after his comeback was to act in a music video.

At the time, the media across the United States were mocking him for being a former Oscar nominee who had fallen so low as to act in music videos and lip-sync to singers.

Until he married Susan Downey, whose Jewish connections were among the most powerful in Hollywood, all the negative publicity surrounding Robert Downey Jr. was suppressed, and a narrative began to emerge across the United States portraying him as a prodigal son who had returned home for love.

The story of Robert Downey Jr.'s five-year arduous drug rehabilitation and his prodigal son's return to the right path has somehow managed to pull his public image score back from -100 to a positive number.

There's no way around it; the whole world loves watching a prodigal son turn over a new leaf for love.

The competition for the lead role in "Iron Man" was also orchestrated by his wife. Her incredibly low salary, breaking Hollywood's bottom line, was an irresistible temptation for Marvel, which was already facing a tight budget.

For a mere few hundred thousand dollars, you can hire a near-Oscar-caliber actor to act in a film. This actor's reputation has already improved to above average, and now he's portrayed as a prodigal son returning home in a positive light. If you were a Marvel executive, you'd be confused too.

Robert Downey Jr. did not disappoint his wife's efforts. Just as he soared to fame in the latter half of 08 with his role as Iron Man, he topped the list of highest-paid Hollywood actors in 10 with an annual income exceeding $7200 million.

Thus, Robert Downey Jr., playing the role of a prodigal son returning home, officially began his journey of dominating the list of Hollywood's highest-paid stars for many years.

From this perspective, the commercial value of top male stars is indeed much higher than that of top female stars.

Scarlett Johansson, who has expanded her global fame through the role of Black Widow and topped the list of highest-paid actresses for two consecutive years, has already broken the record for actresses. However, her income is still almost half that of Robert Downey Jr.

The unequal pay between male and female actors in Hollywood was one of the reasons why Hollywood later launched the "equal pay for equal work" movement.

"How's it going, Spike?"

Seeing Zhou Yi sitting in his chair deep in thought, Kevin Feige asked him a question after the audition for the first scene.

"Well, it really surprised me. It's too much like me."

Coming to his senses, Zhou Yi rubbed his fingertips and smiled: "How many of my videos did he study?"

“His ability to imitate is indeed very strong, otherwise he wouldn’t have been chosen to play Chaplin back then.” Seeing that Zhou Yi did not show any aversion to the adaptation, Kevin Feige breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't care who auditioned for the male lead; what he cared about was whether the male lead's character and performance would offend Spike and make him unwilling to be the reference model.

In retrospect, even when Tony Stark's character recreated the scene in the script where Zhou Yi openly flirted with a female reporter during an interview, he didn't feel disgusted at all; on the contrary, he watched it with great interest.

This puts Kevin Feige in the bag.

If things are stable, then we can test the waters further.

"Have you ever considered appearing in Iron Man, Spike?"

"?"

Zhou Yi turned to look at him in surprise: "Me?"

Dude, you're really daring. It's a big-budget production exceeding $100 million, and you're really trying to pull off every kind of gimmick. No wonder you've created the most successful superhero cinematic universe in Hollywood history.

Even setting aside the superhero title, it is arguably the most successful film series in the entire Hollywood franchise.

Kevin Feige certainly deserves great credit.

Unfortunately, Disney later became obsessed with political correctness, which not only ousted Robert Iger but also kicked Kevin Feige out. In the end, Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe were almost dead before they brought the two back.

"Don't get me wrong, Spike."

Kevin Feige, of course, understood the meaning of Zhou Yi's words and went further, saying, "I think you should have seen the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness,' Spike. This successful film also has a real-life counterpart, the person who walks out as a passerby at the end of the film..."

In the film's final scene, the lead actor, Smith, encounters the real-life figure he was based on, which is the film's biggest and most surprising Easter egg.

Kevin Feige clearly wanted to follow suit: "At the end of the film, Tony Stark holds a press conference, intending to find an excuse to get by, but unexpectedly admits that he is Iron Man."

"And you, Spike, you don't need to act. You just need to walk through the noisy venue as a big star at the back of the camera, glance at the clamoring reporters and Tony Stark surrounded by them, that's all."

There's no way around it; this iconic "I am legend" moment at the Grammy Awards has garnered at least tens of millions of views on every video website, including YouTube, Google, and MSN.

When Zhou Yi appears at the end of the movie, those who understand will naturally smile knowingly and realize who this scene is paying homage to.

Audiences were pleasantly surprised by the Easter egg, the film gained the backing of its real-life counterpart, and the I Ching was able to expand its influence, allowing more viewers unfamiliar with this famous scene to learn about it through popular science.

win!
A win-win-win situation! Zhou Yi doesn't even need to act; he can simply show his superstar nature in just a few shots.

A true tribute.

Of course, considering the global reputation of the I Ching, this is definitely a way to ride the wave of popularity, at least it will get a lot of media coverage during the promotion phase.

This shows how much pressure Kevin Feige was under.

As a big-budget superhero movie that Marvel Studios sold off numerous rights to gamble on, if "Iron Man" fails, then his career in Marvel will be over.

"To be honest, Spike, I'll be officially taking over as president of Marvel Studios next year. I've staked everything on this movie, so I've been looking for growth opportunities that can help me succeed."

Compared to the I Ching, Kevin Feige, who is now clearly in a weaker position, speaks with great sincerity.

Unfortunately, the superhero market has been rather lackluster in recent years, with only Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man and Christian Bale's Batman achieving true super success since the turn of the century.

As for the others, some were decent, but many more flopped. Even a superstar like Ben Affleck, who had proven himself many times, failed miserably with Daredevil.

Not to mention that even a super IP like "Superman" flopped this year, so you can imagine how much pressure Kevin Feige is under right now.

"So, this is your real reason for coming to me, isn't it?"

Zhou Yi had indeed read "The Pursuit of Happyness," so when he said that, he immediately understood the old man's true purpose, which he had been hiding from the very beginning.

As is well known, in Europe and America, top singers and top actors are usually quite distinct.

When everyone is well-off, actors work even harder on film sets, so singers are usually unwilling to go through the hardships of acting and cross over into performing. They'd rather use that time to hold more concerts, which would earn them more money.

The only exception is a cameo appearance.

Especially those cameo appearances that don't require acting skills, or those where the performer is simply themselves, are a little surprise for the fans.

Of course, there are also those who truly cross over to play the male lead. For example, The Weeknd, another potential male lead candidate in the future besides Bruno Mars, came out as the male lead, but was criticized relentlessly in the West and even in Japan and South Korea because of the terrible plot and his bad acting.

“I don’t want to lie to you, Spike. I know you’ve had cameo appearances in Jack’s movies, which is why I thought of inviting you to have a few cameo appearances at the end of the film, like the real-life figure in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ passing by Will Smith.”

Kevin Feige readily admitted it, citing Jackie Chan's "New Police Story" as an example.

This is the only film to date in which Zhou Yi made a cameo appearance after becoming a global sensation, and it even helped this film, which had a disastrous reputation in China, to break the 100 million yuan mark at the box office.

“I have no objections. You can discuss the specific details with Leo (Qianjiang) later. As you know, I’m not good at acting. In order not to ruin the overall viewing experience of your movie, I suggest that you keep this post-credits scene under 20 seconds.”

If someone offers you money, why not take it? After all, Iron Man 1 was a critically acclaimed film, which only highlights his lucky charm persona.

The reason for emphasizing 20 seconds is not really because of acting skills, but because Marvel definitely cannot afford that price - moreover, he left room for maneuver and did not directly say 60 seconds.

Anything over 30 seconds is considered a minute, and a full minute of cameo footage could fetch a million dollars if he still has a conscience.

Although the highest-paid actor in the entire "Iron Man" movie only received five million dollars, with the bulk of the money going into post-production, he had no intention of sacrificing his own interests to participate in Marvel movies, and he would not lose a single penny of the money he was entitled to.

Either Kevin Feige doesn't invite me to make a cameo appearance to create hype, and just sticks to playing character tributes, and I'll symbolically charge a consulting fee of around ten thousand dollars and call it a day.

Either charge me the market price.

Hollywood cameos don't care how many minutes or how much screen time you get; they're all calculated at market rates. It's all about business.

“I understand.” Kevin Feige smiled broadly, having received permission to negotiate.

Kevin Feige was relieved, but Robert Downey Jr., who had just finished his first scene audition, was still feeling uneasy. Even while chatting happily with the director and screenwriter, his eyes kept glancing at the closed dressing room door—

Because inside sat two people who could decide his life or death: Kevin Feige, whom his wife said was about to take over as president of Marvel Studios, and Spike Chow, the real-life inspiration for Tony Stark.

"Spike, do you have time tomorrow night or the night after?"

After Kevin Feige left, Susan Downey pushed open the door and entered, extending an invitation to Zhou Yi, who turned to her after hearing her voice: "I think we can talk."

Zhou Yi, who knew everything perfectly well, smiled slightly: "Of course, I would be more than happy to."

He was completely indifferent to Robert Downey Jr., and he didn't care whether or not Downey Jr. played Iron Man, since he remembered Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark as quite successful.

However, if Zhou Yi could use this opportunity to gain a favor from Susan Downey, he would absolutely not object.

After all, these are just things done casually, and you never know when you might need them in the future.

(End of this chapter)