Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 376 Hegemony
Hong Kong Island, the crew of "The Chinese Zodiac".

After finishing filming in the capital, the entire crew came here to shoot again.

For Liu Yifei, who had never been to Hong Kong Island, it was indeed a bit novel.

As a world-renowned film actress, Liu Yifei also has many fans in Hong Kong Island.

However, the environment here is different from that in China. The attitude towards celebrities is not as fanatical as in the mainland, and the actors just treat acting as a job. During the filming, no one came to disturb us.

That day, after the crew finished their scene, Cheng Long came up to Liu Yifei and said happily.

"Yifei, check the news. Director Gu was praised by the central media."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei showed a curious expression on her face. She took out her mobile phone and saw that it was CCTV media that was evaluating the development of domestic films, and Gu Wei's name was on the list.

"Why can Hollywood repeatedly produce science fiction blockbusters that are popular all over the world? What is the future of Chinese science fiction blockbusters?"

When analyzing the slow development of Chinese-language science fiction films, the report mentioned Gu Wei's name, saying that he was the only director in the country who had shot multiple science fiction films.

The cause was an excellent Hollywood science fiction film "Source Code", which grossed 4300 million in China and won the mainland box office championship last week, attracting the attention of the circle and causing many film critics and fans to express dissatisfaction with the current state of science fiction in China.

When talking about the poor development of domestic science fiction films, many people will think of the lack of funds and technology.

However, in fact, there are quite a few domestic films with huge investments, some of which cost nearly 100 million US dollars or even hundreds of millions of US dollars.

However, in recent years, the mainland's film industry has developed rapidly, and excellent science fiction novels have continued to appear, but there has not been a single excellent science fiction film. What is the reason?

Some people point out that making science fiction films requires filmmakers to have good scientific literacy, a deep understanding of science fiction, an artistic phenomenon that emerged in the era of modernization and industrialization, and a good level of film art.

However, the domestic industrialization system is not good, so it is naturally impossible to produce so-called science fiction masterpieces.

Some people also directly pointed out the problem of the director. There are many great directors in China, but people like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige are not good at science fiction style, and the quality of the commercial films they make is obviously not as good as art films.

Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen and others who have made high-grossing commercial films, one is good at comedy and humorous films, while the other has a strong and unique style, which is completely different from science fiction films.

Of course, in addition to the report, CCTV reporters also gave Gu Wei an exclusive interview.

"There is a gap between China and the outside world, but it is not as big as everyone imagines. With the current film industry system in the mainland, it is entirely possible to produce science fiction blockbusters that are not inferior to Hollywood."

"It's not to say that there are no science fiction blockbusters in the mainland. Directors have made them before, but they may be a little rough in production and script. But I believe they will get better and better in the future."

Gu Wei's answer was relatively tactful, saving some face for other mainland directors.

But after seeing the interview, netizens just kept talking about irrelevant things and started posting.

"Who said that China has never made science fiction films? Aren't there "Robot" and "Future Police"? Even though they are made like shit, it can be seen that domestic directors have tried their best."

"Director Gu is too polite. With their ideas, they won't be able to make a qualified science fiction film even if they are given another ten years."

"Haha, netizens are so funny." Looking at the comments online, Liu Yifei laughed out loud.

However, the young lady was very happy at the moment. After all, Gu Wei was praised, which made Liu Yifei in a good mood.

"Brother, we have to set aside some time. Senior will be launching the global premiere in mid-October, so we have to make arrangements for that."

As soon as Gu Wei made the arrangements, he naturally informed Liu Yifei first. As the leading actors, Liu Yifei and Cheng Long naturally could not miss the premiere.

"Okay, the main scenes are almost finished, and we can find time to reshoot the other shots after the movie is released." Thinking of "2012", Cheng Long also smiled.

……

China Film Group Corporation, after reading the report, Han Sanping was also helpless. As for being teased by netizens, he has become accustomed to it.

After reading Gu Wei's interview, Han Sanping believed what he said that China can produce science fiction films that are no less than those in Hollywood.

However, Han Sanping has doubts about Gu Wei's statement that the gap between the domestic industrial system and Hollywood is not big.

“If the gap is not that big, why don’t other directors in China start science fiction films?”

China Film Group has a large budget every year, but many directors are eyeing that small budget, and each of them has a certain background. If they disperse the budget, they will lose sight of the big picture.

To be honest, domestic filmmakers are a little or too timid about science fiction films. Even if the space base is opened to other film companies for filming, they dare not make science fiction films. Instead, they are keen on finding ready-made stories in the pile, or remaking them, which makes creation easy and commercially guaranteed.

This is also a common problem in the mainland film industry. Everyone plagiarizes each other and only wants to take advantage of ready-made products. Unless they taste the sweetness of innovation and reform, they will not change the direction of development.

...

Brother Chen Kai, this director who has always been highly regarded in the circle has released a new work.

The film "Search" is expected to start shooting in October. Gao Yuanyuan and Mark Chao will play the male and female protagonists, and the other four main actors in the film will also be signed to join the crew one after another.

Compared to the Chen Kai who filmed "The Promise" and "Mei Lanfang" back then, the director this time is much more low-key.

When being interviewed by the media, he did not continue to adopt a condescending attitude, but instead focused on the film itself. The subject matter he chose happened to be a hot topic today, cyber violence.

"I didn't expect Director Chen to be so low-key this time. To be honest, I feel a little unfamiliar with him." "This is a good subject. It is easy to win awards and box office. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."

"Da Meiyuan and Yang Mi have joined, the casting is good, who is this Zhao Youting?"

Not only netizens, but even other directors in the circle found it a little unbelievable. This is still Brother Chen Kaige. It feels like he has become a different person.

The TV series "Startling by Each Step" produced by Tangren Film and Television has also come to the time for its broadcast.

Compared with "Palace Lock Heart Jade", it is also a Qing Dynasty theme and has the same fan popularity.

This "Startling by Each Step" has directly dominated the screen thanks to its larger-scale publicity, rigorous and detailed plot, and excellent production.

Several of the leading actors also became completely famous, and the leading actress Liu Shishi was directly promoted to a first-line celebrity.

Taiwanese actor Wu Qilong is experiencing his second "spring". His last big hit was thanks to the TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

So, when it comes to promoting people, in China, TV series are no worse than movies. Of course, if you want to make a splash overseas, you naturally have to rely on movies.

Although "Startling by Each Step" is very popular, Cai Yinong's mood at this time is a bit complicated.

The reason, of course, is that Yang Mi, the person who was gritting her teeth in hatred, actually got involved with director Chen Kai.

Having just finished filming "The Four", Cai Yinong was confirmed to star in the movie "Search". Although she was not the female lead, it still made her feel uncomfortable.

Online, Liu Shishi's popularity naturally made Honey a little unbearable. When Yang Mi was interviewed, she also intentionally or unintentionally said that good actors generally head for the big screen, and TV dramas and the like belong to the bottom.

"Mr. Cai, she is at best a supporting role, not the protagonist. Why is she so proud?" The assistant saw that Cai Yinong's role was not good and complained directly.

"Well, that's what I said, but movies are ultimately what an actor ultimately aspires to be, especially movies directed by great directors." In the office, Cai Yinong sighed.

"Supporting role, supporting role? Go check what dramas she has taken on recently and see if any of them overlap with "Search." After sighing for a while, Cai Yinong repeated a few words, as if he suddenly thought of something, and instructed the assistant next to him.

"Okay, Mr. Cai, I'll check it out right away." Seeing Cai Yinong's serious expression, the assistant responded immediately.

"I hope it's not what I think, otherwise, haha." At this moment, Cai Yinong already had some guesses in his mind.

...

On the Internet, the popularity of Chen Kaige's new movie and "Startling by Each Step" has not yet died down, and Han Sanping was reported by the media again.

The reason was that Southern People Weekly did a special feature on him.

Han Sanping thought it was just an ordinary interview, and after the interview, he didn't take it seriously.

As a result, the other party would also stir up trouble and directly give a big headline: Sanping hegemony, China Film Corporation monopolizes the Chinese film market.

It was originally planned to be a character interview, but after the results came out, this name was given to it.

After seeing the title, Han Sanping felt so angry that his teeth were itching, not to mention that the title also mentioned many times the words that Zhang Weiping had said to him.

Afterwards, Gu Wei couldn't help laughing when he saw the title, so he called Han Sanping and teased him a few words.

"He was a mountain eagle before, but now he is the overlord. Will he unify the entertainment industry and build a dynasty in the future? Haha."

"It was originally a happy thing, but after the results came out, I was disgusted. I even suspected that someone was behind it."

Han Sanping's tone was calm, but his words reminded Gu Wei that looking at the comments online that slandered Han Sanping, Shanghai Film Group might be the biggest mastermind behind the scenes.

But if you think about it the other way around, doing this will not accomplish anything other than disgusting Han Sanping. As to whether it is true or not, no one knows.

The Hong Kong-produced "Overheard 2" had a box office of over million yuan, but the subsequent box office sales plummeted and the word of mouth was not very good. The reason for this was that the audience was aesthetically fatigued. It was always the same few stars and there was no change in taste. Everyone would get tired of it eventually.

The producer originally shouted out the slogan of 300 million, but now it seems there is no hope.

Moreover, in Hong Kong Island, the box office of "Overheard 2" was average, and the Hong Kong media themselves felt embarrassed when reporting on it.

The police and gangster films that Hong Kong is so proud of cannot reproduce the classics.

Ultimately, there are many reasons for the decline of Hong Kong films, but in Gu Wei's opinion, it is still because of the lack of young Hong Kong stars and the lack of box office successors. The older generation of Hong Kong stars are getting old, and the new ones are not up to par.

The so-called "box office revenue" means that passers-by buy tickets because of your name.

For example, when Hong Kong films were at their peak, if you went to the cinema to watch a kung fu movie, you would buy one starring Jackie Chan, one starring Stephen Chow, and one starring Chow Yun-fat. You didn't even need to look at the posters or plot synopsis, because you knew that the "Two Chows and One Cheng" at their peak would definitely not be a rip-off.

But now, we can't expect Chef Xie, who is affected by the divorce, to carry the box office alone. He doesn't have the acting skills.

As for others like Shawn Yue, Ng Yen-cho and others, although they are good, there is still a huge gap compared to the older generation of Hong Kong filmmakers.

Originally, Mr. Chen was considered a possible successor, with good looks and acting skills (the movie "Dog Bite Dog" was considered the peak of Chen's acting skills). However, he became fond of taking photos and ruined himself.

...

(End of this chapter)