Extracting skills from movies

In fact, this is a common phenomenon.

No one in the world can win the favor of everyone.

Even superstars like Sylvester Stallone and Michael Jackson are not immune to criticism.

This phenomenon was not obvious during the peak of Du Sheng's career.
But as he achieved more and more success and began to reach his peak, haters gradually appeared.

Fortunately, overall, Du Sheng has far more supporters than opponents.

Therefore, when media outlets such as Xinlang.com published articles about the public relations costs of "Taken", it immediately triggered a strong backlash from Sheng's fans.

The topic of "Hurricane Rescue PR Costs" quickly rose to the top of the trending search list.

The truth becomes clearer through debate, and the key is to provide people with opportunities for debate.

Because Du Sheng has her own platform to voice her opinions, uninformed bystanders quickly understood what the Oscar PR fee was all about.

In fact, every film participating in the Oscars invests in public relations.

The exact amount varies, but this expense is indispensable for winning the prize.

Even if the celebrity doesn't pay for it themselves, the advertising sponsors behind them will cover it.

This is a business practice.

Public relations expenses are also used to enhance their brand awareness, and their interests are closely intertwined.

YY Portal also published a special report, listing the public relations expenses of other films at this year's Oscars.

No Country for Old Men had a budget of $1300 million.
"La Vie en Rose" spent $1500 million to win the Best Actress award.
"There Will Be Blood" spent $1800 million on the Best Actor award...

In comparison, the public relations expenses for "Taken" were relatively low.

Moreover, most of the money came from sponsors.

Some video bloggers have also released educational videos on the TVING platform about Oscar PR fees.
One episode produced by Kyoko Fukada was particularly popular.

She explained in the video:

"While public relations expenses are a necessary condition for winning an award, they are by no means a sufficient condition."

First, you must be nominated to be eligible to conduct public relations activities;

Secondly, winning an award also requires the quality of the film itself and the outstanding performances of the actors.

As a film with a Chinese-American cast and crew, "Taken" faced a much greater challenge in winning awards than films from Europe and America.

It was precisely because of Du Sheng's extremely high profile in the United States, coupled with his outstanding performance in "Taken", that he was able to finally win the Oscar.

Therefore, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is extremely prestigious…

As these reports and videos spread widely, many misled people gradually came to the truth.

However, public controversy persists.

After all, some people are just trying to smear others for the sake of smearing, and there are also factors of business competition involved behind the scenes.

Two days later, the evening news program interrupted the broadcast with news that Du Sheng had won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Although it only appeared for a few seconds in the program segment, it was enough to overturn public opinion.

In this era, it was an unprecedented privilege for an artist to appear on the national news program and have their award news reported separately.

The subtext of Guan Fang's strong support for Du Sheng is self-evident.

The rise of Du Sheng and Xingji Media has led to a better development of the domestic cultural and entertainment industry than in the previous life. Their ideology closely follows Guan Fang's, resulting in fewer disruptive voices both inside and outside the country.

Guan Fang knew very well who brought it.

Therefore, Du Sheng received a generous reward for winning the Oscar.

Moreover, the timing of the broadcast was also very clever.

News is all about timeliness; it's been almost two days since Du Sheng won the award, yet the evening news is only now reporting it.

It is clear that the higher-ups noticed these debates and dissenting voices, and thus decided to make a final decision.

Du Sheng winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is an honorable achievement that brings glory to the country.

As expected, once this incident occurred, media outlets such as Xinlang.com immediately removed their previous reports about the public relations expenses.

The argument gradually subsided.

Du Sheng was also aware of the public opinion situation in China.

Ye Jingzhi has maintained communication with him.

But he didn't care too much.

As the saying goes, "the tallest tree in the forest catches the most wind," his fame in China almost vanished, and even the smallest things he did were subject to nitpicking.

This is an inevitable path to fame.

Besides, most people still support him, so there's no need to get entangled with these haters.

After receiving the award, Du Sheng did not rest but stayed in the United States to handle the final matters of filming his new movie.

In fact, he had already polished the script for "Wolverine" seven or eight times.
The changes were so drastic that it was unrecognizable!
But it's packed with exciting moments and has a stronger sense of rhythm.

It's completely different from those drawn-out versions from my previous life.

Li Yixin privately murmured to others:
"To put it bluntly, this script is just a skeleton drawn by Du Sheng. If we're really talking about screenwriter credits, he wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's number one."

In the Marvel Universe, Wolverine has always been a popular character with a large fan base.

But that's where the strangeness lies.

Why do movies often fail to achieve high box office returns?
To put it bluntly, it was filmed too "bitter and resentful"!

Audiences pay to go to the cinema for enjoyment, not to be tortured.

The comic book version of Wolverine's backstory is incredibly tragic.

He killed his own father, became enemies with his own brother Sabretooth, lost his wife, had his son brainwashed into a villain, and finally died himself...

In its previous film series, the plot clung tightly to the comic book storyline, with Wolverine suffering misfortune throughout.

Even if you win, it's a "pyrrhic victory" that leaves you feeling frustrated and uneasy; there's no sense of satisfaction in it.

Then look at Tony Stark, Iron Man. He's a top-tier rich kid with an off-the-charts IQ. He can create Iron Man armor with ease, and he has a beautiful and cool assistant like Pepper Potts by his side to protect him.

The characters are well-developed, the plot is exciting, and it's a blatant copy of the feel-good novel template.

How could the box office not skyrocket?
His popularity directly surpassed that of a host of superheroes, making him the top dog in Marvel.

But this time it's different.

Ever since Du Sheng agreed to play Wolverine 'Logan', Li Yixin immediately postponed the company's original plans for the "Get Out" and "Searching" series projects, which have not yet started filming.

Du Sheng, on the other hand, took direct control of the script and made sweeping changes.

He added a completely new main storyline:

After Wolverine's wife in Japan was murdered, he completely broke down, and the wildness within him could no longer be suppressed.

Later, he met a master who guided him, and he traveled far away to China, where he lived in seclusion in an ancient village at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, where he devoted himself to martial arts and lived an ordinary life.

He stayed there for fifteen years.

During this time, he adopted a little girl named Lucy.

This peaceful period became the warmest and most reassuring time of his life.

When Lucy turned ten, a group of mysterious people suddenly appeared, wanting to "take her away".

As a result, they were completely outmaneuvered by Lucy and Logan.

After a standoff, Logan finally learned the truth.

The son, Laurent, didn't die at all. Instead, he was manipulated by the mastermind behind the scenes and came back specifically to seek revenge.

In order not to bring trouble to the village, Wolverine decides to return to the world of crime.

The little girl, Lucy, insisted on coming along, and so the father and daughter set off together.

Along the way, a seasoned veteran and a clever young man taught Lauren a lesson with their twisted logic and also took care of the mastermind behind the scenes.

This movie even got a few down-to-earth nicknames from director Du Sheng, such as "Your Dad Is Still Your Dad," "No One Can Touch My Daughter," and "Wolverine Knows Kung Fu, Anyone Who Runs into Him Will Kneel." Its main theme is "Invincible and Overbearing," guaranteed to be a thrilling watch!
Moreover, adding a daughter character not only adds a touch of warmth to the cold-blooded Wolverine, but also injects a lot of laughs, making the whole movie less depressing.

Du Sheng has several expectations for this "Wolverine" movie.

At the very least, fight scenes must be ruthless, accurate, and fierce, with every punch landing and every slash drawing blood, making the audience's adrenaline surge.

Secondly, the humor must be natural, not forced. It needs to come up with a sudden, unexpected twist during a tense break in the battle to make people laugh out loud.

Finally, it needs to have some "staying power".

Amidst the playful banter, the film reveals Wolverine's life of hardship and resilience, showing how he can still face life with a smile even in dire circumstances.

After watching it, the audience can laugh until they cry, feel a lump in their throat, and ultimately savor the flavors of life.

After finishing his chores, Du Sheng took Li Yixin straight to the Sony Pictures Studios.

At this point, the core team of the Wolverine crew was almost complete.

The director was Gavin Hood, the same one from my previous life. Sony made the decision, and Du Sheng didn't get involved.

Anyway, he holds the title of producer, but to the director, he's basically just a tool who does whatever the boss says.

The director went to New Cianal some time ago and isn't here.

The foreign actors were all chosen by Sony, and Du Sheng didn't pay much attention to them.

When he arrived at the film set, he greeted everyone one by one, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

The most dazzling character has to be the female lead, Ivy Heidelberg.

Her father is a well-known production mogul in the industry and has a good relationship with Sony.

She was able to land this role, which can be considered a success due to her "connections".

Of course, she was quite famous in her previous life, having starred in blockbusters such as "Justice League" and "Aquaman".

Now 21 years old, Ivy Heard is at the peak of her beauty, with delicate features, an oval face, a high nose bridge, and deep blue eyes as deep as lake water.

What's most amazing is her figure.

That was incredibly popular; she truly deserves her reputation as Hollywood's undisputed "most beautiful bust."

Du Sheng glanced at it and estimated in his mind that it was at least a D to E cup, definitely a visual shock.

At this point, Ivy Heard hadn't even considered easing the burden on her chest.
Her chest was incredibly voluptuous, and her figure was so hot that it was impossible to look away; she was a sight to behold just by standing there.

It perfectly matches the requirement of "stunning beauty" for the female lead in "Wolverine".

To put it bluntly, the female lead in this movie is just a "pretty face."
The main task is to make an appearance and look good. If you can also create some laughs along the way, then you've exceeded your expectations.

Ivy Hilde was indeed beautiful. Du Sheng exchanged a few polite words with her.

Then he walked over to the youngest actor on set, smiled and waved.

Speaking of the role of ten-year-old Lucy, the casting process was even more arduous than filming.

After trying out more than a dozen children, Zhao Fushi was finally chosen.

This girl later rose to prominence among the post-95 generation of actresses, but unfortunately, she was badly let down by her agency, and her career almost came to a standstill.

But right now, she's just a little girl who hasn't fully grown up yet, with an innocent look on her face.

The film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" was co-produced by Sony and Miracle Pictures.

Sony has the final say on foreign actors, but for domestic roles, especially those in Chinese-language films, Miracle Pictures makes all the decisions.

Du Sheng simply handed over the casting task to Wang Jinhua.

Actually, when he designed the character Lucy, he wanted to bring together all four beauties of Jiangcheng.

Even if you can't gather all the money, you still have to sign it under the company's name.

But Wang Jinhua discovered the problem as soon as she auditioned.

Hani Hezi (Hani) is quite pretty, but she is too timid and can't relax in front of the camera. She even gets stuck when acting out a crying scene.

What's even more troublesome are her parents; they're demanding and difficult to communicate with.
If you take them abroad to film, there's no guarantee they won't cause trouble every day.

After much deliberation, I had no choice but to reluctantly give up.

Wang Jinhua then arranged for several other young girls, including Song Zuer, Guan Xiaotong, and Lu Shuxin, to try out.
But when I saw the finished product, I felt it was lacking.

They are either too quiet or not lively enough; they look decent, but they lack that "spirit and energy".

After much deliberation, Zhao Beishi's poem was still the most to my liking.

Life is sometimes full of unexpected coincidences.

Influenced by her mother, Zhao Beishi does indeed show some signs of being "snobbish."

From another perspective, this also shows that she is bold, quick-witted, and good at reading people.

The key point is that this girl is only 9 years old, but she is already incredibly beautiful.

In her past life, that photo of the school beauty went viral on social media. She was also an exchange student, having visited the Bay Area and the United States. She was outgoing and not shy.

A pair of big, watery eyes, a chubby round face, a straight nose, and rosy lips.

They are the perfect template for adorable kids straight out of cartoons.

Little did Wang Jinhua know that Du Sheng harbored a lingering "filter" for Zhao Fushi from a past life.

She was purely acting from a business perspective, thinking this child was the most suitable.

Even more coincidentally, Zhao Yishi was going to the United States, so she simply stopped by the film crew to meet him.

After understanding the situation, Du Sheng nodded in agreement.

He knew in his heart that he was still too tightly bound by his memories of his past life.

Zhao Beishi is only 9 years old and doesn't understand anything. Her mother teaches her those "realistic" things because of her environment.

Children are highly malleable.

If they are properly taught, their character will definitely improve in the future.

Besides, this girl has had a tough time too.
Growing up, I followed my mother around and was exposed to some less-than-ideal ideas, so it's not entirely her fault.

The mother and daughter arrived at the film set just after nine o'clock in the morning.

Du Sheng stepped forward and greeted Zhao Fushi with a smile.

Her mother immediately beamed with joy, bowing and scraping as she said:

"Mr. Du, thank you so much this time!"
"Give Lin Shi this opportunity, and she will definitely repay you in the future!"

Zhao Beishi blinked her big eyes, looking very serious:
"Yes! Big brother, I will definitely repay you after I become famous!"

Upon hearing the word "repayment," some strange images immediately flashed through Du Sheng's mind.

Then, recalling her somewhat "odd" past life entanglements, she smiled and waved her hand:

"Since you've signed with Interstellar Media, your opportunities are equal."

"And you have some family connection with Xiao Mi; she mentioned it to me about it this time."

His words were ostensibly a way of doing a favor, but in reality, he wanted to place the credit for Yang Mi.

After all, Yang Mi's uncle is Zhao Beishi's cousin-in-law. With this relationship in place, Zhao Beishi's mother can't cause any more trouble.

A harmonious family brings prosperity, which in turn ensures a smooth career.

After exchanging pleasantries with Zhao Fushi, Du Sheng said a few words to her mother, then turned around and went to find the producer from Sony to discuss the shooting details and action design.

Over there, Zhao Beishi's mother was still lecturing her daughter:

"Remember, be good, be obedient, whatever President Du says goes..."

Zhao Beishi nodded obediently, blinking her eyes as she looked at Du Sheng's back, like a curious child.

Fortunately, most of her scenes were filmed in Jiangcheng, and she only needed to film a small part in Xinxilan.

……………(End of this chapter)