Extracting skills from movies

Du Sheng suddenly tackled Zhang Baizhi to the ground behind a concrete pillar.

The bullets hit the spot where they had just been standing, blasting small craters into the concrete.

These pits were drilled in advance by the props team using impact drills, covered with camouflage materials, and then remotely controlled to explode during filming, maximizing the realism.

Du Sheng pulled Zhang Baizhi to huddle in the corner, feeling the shockwaves from the explosion.

He knew he couldn't just sit and wait to die. He caught a glimpse of a fire hydrant nearby and suddenly had an idea.

"When I count to three, you run towards the left ventilation vent!"

Du Sheng took out the last prop grenade and pulled the pin:
"one two Three!"

He suddenly threw the grenade at the Vulcan cannon, and at the same time pushed Zhang Zhi towards the ventilation shaft.

The grenade exploded next to the Vulcan cannon. Although it did not injure Watanabe Taro, it paused his firing for a second.

In that instant, Du Sheng turned and lunged at Watanabe Taro, kicking the Vulcan cannon barrel while thrusting the dagger in his right hand toward his abdomen.

Watanabe Taro screamed, but kept his hand firmly on the trigger. The Vulcan cannon veered off course, and the bullets struck the roof of the warehouse, sending chunks of cement raining down.

Du Sheng gritted her teeth and exerted force, pressing him against the steel frame, her eyes blazing with fury that almost overflowed the screen.

"Ka! Perfect!"

Dante Lam finally smiled, walked to the center of the set, and patted Du Sheng on the shoulder:

"That last look in his eyes was amazing, it was exactly the feeling I wanted!"

Du Sheng breathed a sigh of relief; his back was soaked with sweat. He looked at Zhang Baizhi, who seemed a little shaken, and she smiled and said:
"When the steel frame, weighing several hundred pounds, collapsed just now, I really thought it was going to hit you. It felt so real!"

The crew began packing up the props, the lighting technician turned off the spotlights, and the surrounding light gradually dimmed.

Du Sheng chatted for a few minutes, then sat on the slag floor, drank some warm water, and reflected on the filming that had just taken place.

With the addition of special effects and background music in post-production, this "nest showdown" will likely become the most thrilling scene in "Agent 3".

.........

On that day, "The Grandmaster" was pulled from theaters across China, with its final box office gross settling at 3.62 million yuan.

While not as good as "Taken", this is quite impressive considering the fierce competition in the summer movie season, with five Hollywood blockbusters also competing.

In addition, North America and Europe combined accounted for $8217 million.

All things considered, the global box office is definitely over 10 billion.

On that day, "The Grandmaster" was also released in Japan, grossing 19.8 billion Japanese yen.

To express their gratitude to the fans, Toei Company specially invited Du Sheng, who was filming here, to attend several fan appreciation events.

To solidify your fan base, it's essential to participate in these kinds of events occasionally.

After all, he only comes here once every two or three months. If he keeps disappearing from the public eye, even the highest popularity will fade away.

Speaking of the film "The Grandmaster", on the surface it is a Chinese kung fu film, but at its core it is an anti-Japanese war film with hidden gunpowder.

The film exposes, one by one, the despicable things that the Russian and Japanese powers did back then.

Which one of them isn't a story of blood and tears?

When filming, Du Sheng didn't expect it to be a big hit in Japan at all, and was even prepared to "lose fans".

Given the sensitive subject matter, it's normal for fans to be upset.

Who would have thought that he hadn't done much promotion in Japan before, but this was just a thank-you event, and the venue was still packed with people!
Even Tokyo's main roads were completely jammed, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Du Sheng's popularity in Japan is simply outrageous.

Wherever he goes, he is met with screams and cheers, with a scene even more exaggerated than that of top idols.

Even more outrageous, black-clad thugs came to support them.

In Japan, the black gangs are legal organizations, and what they admire most are ruthless people who can fight.

In their eyes, Du Sheng's skills were godlike.

Du-style Bajiquan is highly practical in combat, and many black gang members have long used the online "Du-style Bajiquan" instructional videos as teaching materials.

Now, the Black Gang has become Du Sheng's "die-hard fan club," showing up at every event to show their support, making it look like a gangster convention.

In fact, Du Sheng's fans in Japan are incredibly diverse.

Some boxing fans who follow K1 events think he fights very fiercely.

Some fans who listen to his songs have their phones full of his albums.

Some fans are avid viewers, watching every single series from "SPL: Sha Po Lang" to "Taken".

There are martial arts fanatics who are obsessed with kung fu and regard him as a martial arts master.

There are also fans who are purely attracted by looks ("appearance fans") and fans who are attracted by body shape ("body fans"), who are obsessed with pursuing them.

The most outrageous group is a group of "colonial worship fans".

Du Sheng's prowess in that area is world-renowned.

In Japan, the worship of "reproductive power" is particularly strong, and there are special sacrificial activities in various places every year.

With this combination, many locals who believe in this practice directly worship Du Sheng as a "deity," and this group is not small.

With fans from all walks of life coming together, Du Sheng's popularity in Japan has been pushed to a level that is "unrivaled".

As a result, the box office performance of "The Grandmaster" exceeded expectations!
While it can't compare to a blockbuster like "Taken" (due to its subject matter limitations), its box office performance is still quite surprising.

What's even more surprising is that it has an excellent reputation.

On Filmmarks, Japan's largest film and television rating website, The Grandmaster received a score of 4.47 out of 5.

This score is definitely top-tier.

Du Sheng idly scrolled through the comments and almost burst out laughing; the style was quite peculiar:

"Du Jun is too fierce! His combat power is simply that of an 'empire's fierce god'!"
"Beat us Japanese, that's so beaver-like!"

"Who among the Japanese can beat him? Isn't it only natural for him to get beaten up?"

"Du Jun's action scenes are perfect! His action is even better than Jackie Chan's, and 'Shinjuku Incident' has to take a backseat!"

"Du Jun has an amazing body! I really want to spend the night with him!"

"After watching the movie, the poster on my wall must be replaced with one of Du Jun!"

"It turns out our country really did conduct septicemia experiments back then... We must apologize."

"The fault doesn't lie with our generation, but we must acknowledge the mistakes made by our ancestors!"

"Yes! I'm going to watch it several more times, and bring my family to watch it too, as a way of atonement."

Of course, there are also trolls:
"It's all made up! This film is a smear campaign against our great Japanese Empire! We must boycott it!"

"Wake up, you brainless fans! Don't forget you're haters too!"

"All Chinese kung fu is just for show! Karate is the true way!"

The septicemia experiment simply didn't happen; don't be fooled by Du Sheng!

After reading this, Du Sheng understood.

The Japanese have a very complex mentality.

But if you're strong enough, even if you step on their faces, they'll still bow and scrape before you.

No wonder this place has developed a culture of "NTR".

Besides the movie itself, Japanese netizens are also having a heated discussion about Liu Shishi and her upcoming dramas:

"To be honest, The Grandmaster has only one flaw."

The two female leads have too little screen time!

"Tang Yan looked so cool in that female warrior outfit! My goddess, I can't get enough of her!"

"Thank goodness there was an Easter egg. It looks like the trailer for 'The Grandmaster 2,' so they'll definitely be back. I have to watch it again!"

Liu Shishi and Tang Yan only managed two meet-and-greet events for "The Grandmaster" in Japan due to their tight schedules, and then quickly flew away the next day.

Du Sheng could stay a couple more days and travel to all five major Japanese cities.

She does promotional work and appears on TV shows, and occasionally she can take some time to have a meal and chat with Sakurako Yukawa, Kyoko Fukada, and Keiko Kitagawa to relax.

As soon as the promotional campaign wrapped up, he rushed back to the film set to continue filming "Agent 3". It took another week to finish all the remaining street scenes and close-up shots in Japan before the crew packed up and returned to Hengdian.

But as soon as I landed, my phone rang.

My boss called and asked me to meet and talk.

On the morning of October 22, Du Sheng took Ye Jingzhi to the leader's office.

The leader personally brewed tea and said with a smile:

"Congratulations to both of you. The Grandmaster is a huge global success and has brought honor to Chinese cinema."

From now on, Ah Sheng, we'll have to rely on you to hold things together.

He paused, then changed the subject:
"However, there is something I need to remind you of."

In the future, you should communicate in advance about things like scheduling conflicts.

Even if there is competition, it must be healthy competition; don't push your competitors too far.

Du Sheng understood perfectly.

In the past two years, whenever his movies are released, most domestic films released at the same time are doomed to fail.

Huayi Brothers was repeatedly hit hard, and several big-name directors in Hong Kong complained about it privately.

The male escort was also criticized for being "biased" and even had to issue a statement to explain.

Du Sheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded.
"This is something we failed to do well; we will definitely coordinate in advance next time."

The leader only touched on the issue briefly and didn't really intend to blame him.

The topic quickly changed:
"The main reason I called you here today is that there was a meeting at the higher-ups, and there are a few things we need to discuss."

"The general direction for next year will still be stability, unity, and development."

There are some conflicts in Hong Kong, so let's not dig any deeper.

John Woo's "Red Cliff 2" will be released later, but it will try to avoid internal conflicts, and the theaters will also provide some compensation in terms of screenings..."

Du Sheng understood immediately upon hearing this.

He is now not only a celebrity, but also an entrepreneur, and every move he makes carries the meaning of a "benchmark".

His previous underhanded competition with the Hong Kong entertainment circle was a normal phenomenon in the entertainment industry.

However, he was too popular, and once the public opinion was amplified, some people felt that "the government was supporting him behind the scenes to suppress him."

This clearly does not align with the grand strategy of "uniting all forces to promote development".

The idea behind this is to "subtly influence" the mainland and gradually let it gain the upper hand, rather than confronting it head-on.

Du Sheng quickly explained:

"Actually, we've always been in communication, but the entertainment industry is too good at hype, and even the slightest movement gets amplified."

Providing a platform in a positive way is definitely the right thing to do.

Our company has signed Hong Kong directors such as Yip Wai-shun and Ju Jue-liang, and we also collaborated with Hong Kong on the film "Rob-B-Hood".

Media Asia also invested in "SPL: Sha Po Lang" and "Flash Point," and the collaborations went quite smoothly.

The leader listened, nodded in satisfaction, and poured him more tea.

"Now, Star Media is not only a leader in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but also well-known throughout Asia, and it ranks among the top in the world."

"Any small movement you make has a huge impact, even affecting international public opinion."

"So, we need to communicate more about some things, and there's no need to be childish over trivial matters."

We've collaborated on the "Agent" series before, so we're fairly familiar with each other, but there's no conflict of interest between us. That's why my superiors assigned me to liaise with you.

After taking a sip of tea, the leader's tone softened further:

We are all aware of your contributions.

The TV series "The Grandmaster" that aired during the summer vacation, although fictional, had many plot points based on facts, exposing the evil deeds of Russia and Japan in the past.

This has a significant impact.

Many people in Europe, America, and Central Asia only learned about the massacres and septic experiments that Japan was conducting in our region after watching this film.

Yesterday, at the UN meeting, some national representatives, after watching a movie, specifically brought up this issue, saying that Japan's attitude of admitting its mistake was far inferior to Germany's.

"This is the power of cultural export. It is your contribution that the country should thank you for."

Du Sheng didn't reply, but just smiled and drank his tea.

He's an expert at this kind of conversation.

First, they'll praise you to the skies, then they'll definitely follow up with a "but".

Sure enough, the leader changed the subject:
“We know you love your country.”

We also understand the metaphors used to describe Ip Man in "The Grandmaster".

But sometimes, different perspectives lead to different considerations.

"Take General Fei for example. His battle record was actually mediocre. If he hadn't come from a prestigious family, Emperor Wu of Han would have dealt with him long ago."

But why did his deeds become a classic story, and why has the Flying General's reputation lasted for so long?

Because writers need a symbol of 'unappreciated talent' to express their emotions.

As for just how formidable Li Guang was, nobody really bothered to investigate.

The leader paused, then continued:
"If it weren't for your film 'The Grandmaster,' we were originally planning to support Zhen Zidan and her team in making the Ip Man series."

There are also plans regarding the future arrangements for Wing Chun.

We will reject the applications from Guangzhou and Foshan to be listed as World Heritage Sites.

Ultimately, applications from other regions will be allowed, primarily to balance the disputes over the affiliation of different martial arts styles across regions.

Du Sheng understood immediately.

This is about balancing the interests of all parties.

The portrayal of Ip Man in "The Grandmaster" was not good, so the Hong Kong filmmakers were very hesitant to make a film based on this subject.

But Wong Kar-wai's film had already been approved, so it was impossible for it to be abandoned halfway.

Du Sheng didn't rush to express his opinion. He turned to look at Ye Jingzhi, who nodded slightly.

In matters like this, following the official's lead is the safest bet.

Du Sheng put down his teacup, his tone sincere:
"I understand what the leader means, and I also understand the considerations above."

"From now on, whether it's filming or undertaking projects, we will communicate more, cooperate with the overall situation, and never cause trouble."

The leader smiled:

"I knew you were a smart person."

We are all working together to promote Chinese culture and develop the industry.

If you have any ideas or difficulties in the future, feel free to come and talk to me.

The leader was very open and straightforward during his conversation with Du Sheng, saying whatever came to mind without beating around the bush.

That's normal, really. People see things differently from their different perspectives.

Leaders must be concerned with the big picture and emphasize stability, unity, and moving forward.

As for which movie's box office is higher or lower, or who was hit by a car, that's not the point.

Du Sheng knew perfectly well what was going on. He didn't think his leader was wrong, nor did he think he was at fault.

He had two ideas: one was to film a true story, and the other was that he had the ability to make a good film of "The Grandmaster" and fill in the rights and wrongs of the subject matter of Yeh Tzu-ying.

As for the impact on the Hong Kong entertainment industry?

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.

Some Hong Kong people have already become arrogant; simply giving in will only make them more complacent.

Why not just overturn the table, shatter that illusion of being "superior," and free up resources to properly cultivate new talent?

…(End of this chapter)