Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 290 Play a supporting role?

The news that two top directors were going to make a new movie spread quickly in the circle. The film directed by Zhang Yimou was relatively okay, after all, it was a commercial film, and even if it contained some literary and artistic elements, it was estimated that there would not be too many.

But just by looking at the title, you can tell that Gu Wei’s movie is a typical art film that is going to win awards.

Yes, just as Xingchen Film and Television submitted the script, the news broke from the General Administration.

"On the Beach at Night Alone" is filled with a strong literary and artistic atmosphere. It should be noted that it has been several years since Gu Wei won the Oscar for Best Director and the Oscar for Best Actor.

Now that the actors in the circle have finally waited for his award-winning movie, what else is there to say? Just take action.

"Director, if you just ask me, I will just turn down the movie 'Flowers, Flowers, Snow and Moon'."

With nothing to do, Gu Wei invited everyone to have a small gathering. Huang Xiaoming, Zhou Xun, Qin Hao, Su Chang, and even Huang Bo all came running over.

The weather in the capital was still a little hot in October, so Gu Wei chose a farm stay that provided a one-stop service for food, drink and entertainment.

The roasted beef and mutton on the table was emitting a faint aroma, and everyone raised their beer and red wine to drink.

The one who spoke was Zhou Xun. She burped and spoke while chewing the barbecue in her mouth.

"Sister Xun, do you want to be my supporting role?"

Before Gu Wei could say anything, Liu Yifei on the side showed a sly smile on her face and winked at Zhou Xun.

"Hi."

Hearing this, Zhou Xun slapped his forehead. He had forgotten about this girl. Gu Wei must have prepared this art film for her.

"Okay, I'll be your supporting role again."

Seeing that there was no hope, Zhou Xun felt a little disappointed, but he still said so.

"I wouldn't dare. You're a three-time Golden Globes actress. If you play a supporting role for me, your fans will probably scold me to death if the news gets out."

"That's right, Sister Xun, let me do it. I'm a low-profile celebrity and don't have many fans, so I'll just be Yifei's supporting role."

Huang Bo interjected at the right time, not caring at all about his image in front of everyone.

Huang Xiaoming on the side shook his head and watched the few people teasing each other. He has been busy with the promotion of "The Orphan of Zhao" crew recently, and also made a cameo appearance in the movie "The Stylist" in the middle. He is also very busy.

However, when Gu Wei asked him to get together, Huang Xiaoming immediately put down what he was doing and rushed over.

"I don't plan to audition for this script. The actors are invited only. The main actors will be confirmed from the company. If you are free, come and play a cameo role when the time comes."

Since it involves cyber violence, celebrities are definitely indispensable. This time, Gu Wei also plans to invite some big names to join the crew and play guest roles.

"Director, there's nothing to say. Just say the word and we'll be available anytime."

Huang Xiaoming picked up his beer glass, clinked it with Gu Wei, and spoke directly.

"Listen to the director, let's use our best skills to help Yifei win the Best Actress award."

"That's possible, but it would be best if we could take all three of Europe's major ones." Huang Bo said immediately.

...

Although the gathering of Gu Wei, Liu Yifei, Huang Xiaoming, Zhou Xun and others was secret, they were still photographed by paparazzi and posted online.

"Is Zhou Xun the lead actor? I'm looking forward to it."

"After all, she has won three Golden Globes awards, so her ability must be beyond doubt."

"Isn't the heroine Yifei? It must be a private party."

Netizens have speculated.

"Alas, no chance again."

This thought spontaneously popped up in the minds of other people in the circle. Looking at the situation, he probably won’t even have the chance to play a supporting role, let alone the leading role.

On the other hand, "The Flowers of War" sent out audition invitations, and careful netizens found that the roles offered were basically supporting roles, and no leading role had been confirmed.

"I heard that the director and producer had a disagreement and the producer wanted to force the actress into the crew, and the two sides were unhappy."

Song Ge, who knew the situation, mentioned this to Gu Wei with a smile.

Hearing this, Gu Wei was a little speechless. As expected of Zhang Weiping, he started to act up again.

"The conflict is getting bigger and bigger. I think they are going to separate soon."

After the Capital Olympics, the relationship between the two Zhangs was indeed not as harmonious as before, and even Song Ge could see it.

"Without Director Zhang, I wonder how Zhang Weiping will survive in the industry."

Gu Wei said this with a bit of gloating.

"Director Gu, the preliminary preparations have already begun. The filming location and equipment will be ready by the end of the month at the latest."

This movie is not complicated and does not require many big scenes. It is a waste of Song Ge's talent to handle these things.

The two then talked about the production cost of the movie "On the Beach at Night Alone". "Director, Yifei should take the maximum salary."

Liu Yifei is currently one of the highest-paid people in China, and the blessing brought by several Hollywood movies is reflected at this moment.

Adding Gu Wei's salary as a director, the two of them together would have received tens of millions in pay.

Song Ge had brought it up in advance, but the specific implementation steps still had to be decided by Gu Wei.

At present, Liu Yifei is still an artist of Xingchen Film and Television Company, and the two parties have an agency contract. Gu Wei originally planned to let her be a producer, but after thinking about it, he decided not to.

"Okay, we also need to add the salaries of supporting actors and guest stars. All in all, it will cost at least 60 to 70 million yuan."

Song Ge went on to say, and Gu Wei nodded when he heard it, the pay in the circle has indeed increased dramatically, a few years ago, 60 or 70 million would be considered a big production, and now an art film can reach this level.

"What are your thoughts on the actors? Do you want to hold open auditions?"

“No, there are only seven or eight people including the main characters and supporting roles in the movie, I plan to select them directly from the company.

Then we invited a dozen people to make cameo appearances. After all, it’s not a commercial film, so there aren’t that many roles.”

The two chatted for more than an hour and decided on the general details of the film. Now they just have to wait for the script to be reviewed and get the filming permit so that they can start shooting.

During the entire National Day holiday, the film market returned to the scene where it was exclusively screened by "Aftershock" in the previous two months.

However, the protagonist this time is "Frozen", and all the film companies can only watch this movie and have no way to stop it.

The box office grew rapidly, from 400 million to 500 million, making other companies in the industry envious and eager to turn "Frozen" into their own movie.

"I've read the script, it's pretty good. Have you booked the investment yet?"

After receiving the call from Han Sanping, Gu Wei heard the other party ask directly and to the point.

"It's an art film, the investment is not big, I don't plan to share the shares this time."

"Um, is it settled?"

Hearing this, Han Sanping confirmed it again, and at the same time thought to himself that he had moved so quickly but still couldn't catch up.

"Well, it's only tens of millions."

Gu Wei said lightly on the phone.

Just tens of millions? Well, for Gu Wei, tens of millions is indeed low, after all, he has made blockbusters with a cost of nearly 2 billion.

"Boss Han, you're not calling me to ask about this, are you?"

Gu Wei was a little confused. It wasn't a commercial film, so Han Sanping's reaction was a bit too positive.

“Not really. Can the domestic special effects blockbuster you mentioned earlier be released earlier? Does it have to wait until the end of next year or later?
If you have any financial or technical problems that require support, China Film will find a way to solve them for you.

As you know, a special effects blockbuster may take two or three years to be released. It takes too long. I think it can be prepared earlier.

In addition, the total box office in the country this year will definitely exceed 10 billion yuan. When the movie is finished and released in two years, the domestic market will also provide a considerable portion of the box office. "

After determining that there was no hope for investment, Han Sanping once again talked about domestic blockbusters.

Gu Wei listened to Han Sanping talking without saying anything, but his mind was thinking rapidly.

Thanks to his efforts, the domestic film market and cinema chain scale are indeed much stronger than they were during the same period, so it is not impossible to start early.

"Director Han, let's find a time to talk. It's hard to explain such a big thing in just a few words."

Gu Wei's words instantly brought a smile to Han Sanping's face. It was not that he was anxious, but there were not many domestic directors who could handle special effects films, and now 3D movies were popular all over the world. It would be too uncomfortable to just watch them without being able to enjoy them.

"Okay, that's what I've been waiting for. Let's discuss the details.

By the way, I've urged you to get the new script approved. It will be approved in three days at most, don't worry."

Even through the phone, Gu Wei could imagine Han Sanping's happy smile, but he didn't notice that the corners of his own mouth were also slightly raised.

In its original time and space, "The Wandering Earth" was considered a milestone work of domestic science fiction blockbusters. At that time, the country had been talking about the "first year of science fiction movies", but no works had been released. On the one hand, it was indeed because the domestic special effects level had not been reached, and on the other hand, there were no good science fiction novels as the basis for the script.

After "The Three-Body Problem" won the Hugo Award, Chinese science fiction films seemed to be activated overnight.

However, in terms of the film's content, Gu Wei still made major adjustments, hoping to make the background more grand, the scene effects to the extreme, and to remove the original boring and old-fashioned plot.

After all, when making science fiction blockbusters, the audience wants to see the big scenes and the visual impact. If you add some messy love stories or emotional entanglements, it will affect the fans' viewing experience.

In addition, for the first film in this series, Gu Wei will leave more than 80% of the special effects production to two domestic and foreign companies. Only some particularly difficult ones will be handed over to Warner and other Hollywood special effects companies.

After years of accumulation, Xingchen Films and Tomorrow's Star Company are fully equipped with such technology. The only thing they lack is a small number of personnel, so the production speed will be slower.

By the time the second film comes around, once the domestic film industry system is complete, it will be possible to achieve “completely domestic production” to counter Hollywood Marvel’s superhero culture.

Why can't China make a great science fiction movie? No matter what others think or how they lick the European and American film technology, Gu Wei always believes that domestic films will rise. The only thing lacking now is time.

(End of this chapter)