This top guy is crazy!

Chapter 321 Hollywood A-list: Godfather!

After getting off the plane, Cheng Cheng and others saw the berets who came to pick them up.

Beret stayed in Serbia for a month and was very efficient. The crew had already been set up, and the scenery and props were also completed. They were just waiting for Cheng Cheng to come and select the actors so that they could start filming directly.

Cheng Cheng patted Beret's shoulder to show his recognition of his work:

"Good job, old director."

Encouraged by Cheng Cheng, Beret's face flushed a little, but when he saw the photographer who had been filming him and Cheng Cheng, he was a little confused and asked, "Director Cheng, what is this?"

Cheng Cheng explained to him: "This is the CCTV team, following us throughout the entire documentary filming."

"Oh~"

Hearing this, Beret suddenly realized what was going on and hurriedly met Qin Ping and others.

Qin Ping also greeted the man in beret politely.

Then, Beret said:
"Director Cheng, Director Qin, you have been on a plane for more than ten hours. You must be tired. Go to the hotel and rest first. We can eat and talk at the same time."

Cheng Cheng waved his hand and said, "No need. We can talk on the way. I'm going to the set with you now to select the actors first. Let's go."

After saying that, he turned around and said to his assistant:
"Take your luggage and other things to the hotel. I'll give you a day off today. Also, make arrangements for the food and lodging for Director Qin and the others."

The assistant nodded in agreement.

Then he said to Qin Ping's team, "Director Qin, you guys should go to the hotel and rest first."

Qin Ping originally wanted to rest, after all, he had been on the plane for more than ten hours, but when he heard Cheng Cheng was about to start working, he could only suppress his fatigue and said quickly:
"Director Cheng, we don't need to rest. We will follow your schedule."

Cheng Cheng asked: "Can you bear it?"

Qin Ping looked at his team members who were suffering from back pain from flying, and said through gritted teeth, "We can handle it."

Cheng Cheng nodded and said, "That's fine."

He then said to Jiang Nan: "Jiang Jiang, you should go back and rest too."

Jiang Nan asked: "Don't you want me to go with you?"

Cheng Cheng shook his head: "No, the filming will start the day after tomorrow at the latest, go back and adjust your condition, don't worry about me."

Jiang Nan nodded: "Okay."

Next, the personnel were divided into two groups.

A group of people went to the hotel to rest.

A group of people went directly to the set.

While still in the car, Beret sent a message to the candidate actors, informing them to come to the set for the final interview.

Cheng Cheng asked, "What about the candidate actors?"

Beret knew that Cheng Cheng was asking about the actor's status, so he said:

"This time, we sent out 10 invitations to Hollywood's top actors, but only four responded after learning about our creative team. Three more were dissatisfied with the roles, and finally only one person remained, but he has not fully agreed yet."

Cheng Cheng: "What's the reason for not fully agreeing?"

The man in beret glanced at the dark camera lens and the gazes of Qin Ping and others, feeling a little uncomfortable and not knowing whether he should say the next words.

Cheng Cheng said: "Just you say it."

The man in the beret said, "The reason is that he thinks we won't succeed, and it's shameful to be a partner of a yellow man. The other three also refused for this reason."

In fact, this idea is understandable.

For example, in the domestic entertainment industry, some veteran actors and talented people are invited to play supporting roles for young actors. Of course, some veteran actors and talented people will take this job, but there are also quite a few veteran actors and talented people with high ethics who are unwilling to take it.

The reason is that it's embarrassing!

And netizens will scold you: You are really short of money, so you take any job.

If the young actor doesn't perform well, it will affect his reputation.

I won’t name names here:
I am talking about you!
Zhang Songwen in "Ice Hunt"!

Cheng Cheng nodded and said, "Go on, there's more."

Beret said: "We sent out 20 invitations to second-tier stars, and only three actors agreed. One of them has not yet given an accurate reply."

Cheng Cheng asked, "Where's the newcomer?"

Beret: "According to your request, Director Cheng, I held three auditions and selected 30 new actors. All of them signed contracts, and 18 of them were registered with the Actors Guild by us."

Cheng Cheng nodded:
These newcomers will be his basic base in Serbia in the future, and he aims to train them to become actors under his company.

Soon, the car arrived at the set.

Cheng Cheng and Beret entered an office.

When the crew members who arrived in Serbia in advance saw Cheng Cheng coming, they immediately put down their work and greeted him.

The field staff recruited in Serbia also looked at Cheng Cheng curiously.

They knew that the man in beret was the deputy director of the crew. Obviously, Cheng Cheng's identity was about to be revealed.

Qin Ping first asked the photographer to take some photos of the set and capture everyone's reactions, and then the dog said in a sneaky voice:

"The next step is the audition. If the foreigners know that we are making a documentary, they may not let us shoot. You just pretend to be a member of the crew. Don't expose yourself. Do you understand?"

The photographer nodded repeatedly: Just bullying the stupid foreigners!
He said, "Director Qin, don't worry, the bag won't be exposed."

"Okay, I believe you."

Qin Ping patted his shoulder.

Auditioning and casting are extremely critical steps in shooting a movie, and he doesn't want to miss it.

More importantly, a good documentary should have a clear main line and fascinating conflicts.

Right now, Cheng Cheng is facing many challenges in the casting and audition process. Qin Ping exclaimed that he came at the right time - to truly record the whole process of them encountering difficulties and overcoming them.

In this way, the documentary can be more ups and downs and full of highlights.

To put it bluntly, Qin Ping privately did not want Cheng Cheng's filming of this movie to go too smoothly.

It would be better if there were more difficulties and obstacles, and the road is difficult and arduous!
How could one obtain the true scriptures without going through 81 tribulations like Tang Monk?
After setting up the camera in the temporary audition office, the audition began soon. The first to be interviewed were the 30 new actors selected by the Beret because they arrived first. As soon as the Beret sent them a message, they rushed to the set.

The composition of these 50 new actors is not bad. There are boys and girls in their teens, young men and women with good looks, and actors of other age groups. They are enough to cover the cast of "Resident Evil". Cheng Cheng nodded.

The aesthetics of the beret are still good.

He ran them through it and then handed out the scripts to them in turn.

Later, Samuel Bell, a Hollywood A-list actor who was previously invited by Beret, arrived.

Samuel is one of the few black tough guys in Hollywood. He occupies a certain ecological niche and plays important supporting roles to super stars in many films. Qin Ping is also very familiar with him and has seen many of his movies.

Samuel once came to Tianxia when he was promoting a movie.

Seeing Qin Ping in Cheng Cheng's crew now, he was still a little dazed.

But Samuel was not polite at all. He sat on the chair carelessly, glanced at Cheng Cheng and Beret, and said impatiently:
"Hey, bro, to tell you the truth, your tricks can't impress me. Besides, I have changed my mind now. No matter what attractive conditions you offer, I will not participate in your movie. This is it."

Qin Ping looked at Cheng Cheng, wanting to see how he would handle it.

The man in the beret frowned. He didn't expect things to change again. He didn't know what happened and why Samuel's attitude was so tough.

Cheng Cheng's mind was on Samuel's skin color, which was darker than Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel, lighter than Kobe Bryant, and about the same as Ao Guanhai. It was the type that was neither black nor white.

Speaking of Ao Guanhai's skin color, there is an interesting thing.

In the 2024 election, O'Guanhai supported Hahahaha Reese and gave a public speech, saying that black men who don't vote for Hahaha Reese are misogynistic, don't understand the policy, and don't support black people. He was directly criticized by the black community:

You, Ao Guanhai, are not dark enough!

Cheng Cheng said:
"You want to be better than Blanche Riou? If you want to be better than Blanche Riou, you have to act in my movie."

The effect of Cheng Cheng's words is no less than the advice offered by ancient strategists. He starts with one sentence: You are about to be in trouble!
With just one sentence, Samuel stopped shaking his legs and sat up straighter.

He was surprised and asked: "What do you mean by this?"

Cheng Cheng said: "Blanche Riou also starred in a Sino-Serbian co-production. If the two films are released at the same time, and the box office and reputation of the film you starred in surpass the film he starred in, then you know what will happen, right?"

Samuel was somewhat tempted, but hesitated:
"I know that. Blanche Riou starred in a Tianxia movie, but what makes you think your movie is better than his? As far as I know, his movie cost 1.5 million U.S. dollars, and Hollywood giants Dream Pictures and Universal Star Pictures joined in. It can't be that bad, right? And there's only one Li Pei in your movie. I've never heard of you or your assistant director."

Cheng Cheng said: "I can tell you confidently that Blanche Riou's movie is a bad one. Dream Pictures and Universal Star Pictures wanted to ask me to act in it, but I refused."

Samuel didn't believe it: "Dream Pictures and Universal Star Pictures also contacted you?"

Beret couldn't bear to see Cheng Cheng being looked down upon, so he said:
"You can search for "The Three-Body Problem". We produced this TV series, which is currently ranked second on Netflix's global hit series. In addition, our director Cheng has won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, including a Best Actor and a Best Actress, as well as the Grand Jury Prize."

To sum up in one sentence: the results can be checked.

Samuel was incredulous, staring at Cheng Cheng's young face and asked, "You?"

Cheng Cheng spread his hands.

Samuel pulled out his phone. "Bro, do you mind if I check it? I don't mean anything else, I just can't believe it."

The beret was a little angry: "You can check it as you like."

Why don’t you believe it even after I tell you?

Samuel started to check immediately. This BYD used voice input. He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with big and thick hands. He held a delicate mobile phone and spoke into it, which was full of humor.

After checking for a long time, he finally finished and found that it was exactly the same as what the beret said.

Immediately, he became enthusiastic, laughed out loud and wanted to hug Cheng Cheng.

However, facing this movie, he was still a little hesitant: "But you didn't give me the protagonist, I——"

Cheng Cheng interrupted directly: "I will give you a salary of 20 million US dollars, and I will only use you for half a month."

Samuel's rich lips trembled:
"Twenty million, half a month?"

Qin Ping was also shocked!
Twenty million dollars is really too high!
You know, Vin Diesel's salary for "Fast & Furious 10" was only 2000 million US dollars, and Samuel's status in Hollywood is not as high as Vin Diesel, not to mention that Samuel is not the protagonist.

According to statistics, in the 2023 Hollywood pay ranking, Leo ranked first with 4000 million US dollars.

Twenty million dollars is enough to rank among the top ten in Hollywood!

In China, the highest pay for a film is only about 40 to 50 million RMB, and only in very rare cases will it reach a small goal. Of course, this does not include Cheng Cheng. If Cheng Cheng is included, the starting point is 80 million RMB.

Cheng Cheng said: "With a 20 million yuan salary, your value in Hollywood will be raised, and your status may also be improved. Do you agree?"

"I promise!"

Samuel agreed quickly.

Only a fool would refuse!
He hugged Cheng Cheng, very excited:
"Okay, the most honored thing for me recently is to meet you. Really, there are not many directors in Hollywood who are as generous and insightful as you! They are all a bunch of blind people, and only you give me real respect! When are we going to sign the contract? Let's sign it quickly?"

At this moment, Samuel almost wanted to recognize Cheng Cheng as his godfather!

If you don't abandon me, I am willing to be your adoptive father!
Qin Ping didn't expect Cheng Cheng's solution to be so simple and crude. He just added money. He really is rich!

After signing the contract, Samuel left reluctantly.

Before leaving, he also invited Cheng Cheng to his cruise party and wanted to introduce Cheng Cheng to all his friends.

Beret sighed: "These Hollywood stars are so realistic."

Cheng Cheng said: "It's the same for Chinese stars, but in China, people recognize us, so we are willing to reduce our pay, or even not get paid to act in our movies. But in Hollywood, no one recognizes us, so we can only rely on money."

He and Jiang Nan are not well-known in Hollywood. If they hire some unknown people, even if the quality of the film is good, the box office will not be very high.

It is a necessity to invite first- and second-tier Hollywood actors to play supporting roles.

Moreover, although the box office of 20 million US dollars is very high, the role of this 20 million US dollars is not just the film salary, but also "advertising fee" and "gimmick". According to normal market prices, Samuel's salary as the second male lead is at most 5 million, which can't even enter the 10 million US dollar club.

Cheng Cheng’s salary increased fourfold. All Hollywood stars and netizens were discussing it.

This discussion will continue until the movie is released, until it attracts audiences to the cinema:

Let’s see what this Tianxia movie, which cost 2000 million US dollars to hire Samuel, is like.

To achieve the same publicity and promotion effect, the publicity and promotion costs would be more than 20 million US dollars. This is really spending little money to achieve great things.

What's more, Beret sent invitations to 10 Hollywood A-listers, but only Samuel was considering it. Although there was an element of price gouging, it was what he deserved.

Beret asked:

"Director Cheng, in the future in Hollywood, will there be people who will film our movies for free?"

Cheng Cheng said: "Of course."

(End of this chapter)