Actor: Thank you.

"Oh." Zhang Yuan, sitting at the wonton stall, picked at his ear, listening to Jiang Zhiqiang's words.

"Did you hear that?"

"heard it."

"What did you hear?"

"Isn't it just that I was blacklisted by the Japanese? That's what I mean," Zhang Yuan summarized and reiterated.

Mr. Jiang, who was thousands of miles away, shook his head.

He only said that the release of "Fast & Furious 4" encountered problems in Japan... which is practically a ban.

But not quite.

Because if we're talking about a proper ban, it has to be an official announcement from top to bottom, no matter which country it is.

If an island nation wants to ban Zhang Yuan, it should at least issue a document, a public announcement, or release the information publicly.

Therefore, even if Lu Chuan is defined as an unpopular director within the Ministry of Culture, it cannot be considered an official ban.

However, this will only be recorded in the system, which will impose certain restrictions on cultural cooperation.

There's no reason why you can't go, stay, or visit.

Moreover, the advantage of this kind of internal announcement is that it can be canceled at any time.

It's not impossible to be unpopular today but popular tomorrow.

Just like internal disciplinary actions in many organizations, once the situation calms down and public opinion subsides, the disciplinary action is erased, and everyone goes back to their normal lives.

Therefore, this so-called soft ban is sometimes done to provide an explanation to internal parties.

Zhang Yuan's situation is similar to this.

Despite the fact that Boss Jiang was Zhang Yuan's direct adversary back then, Boss Jiang is now the one with whom he has the best relationship among all the Hong Kong businessmen.

This is what they call "no fight, no friendship".

Your rivals often know you better than your friends.

After their encounter, Jiang Zhiqiang had a thorough understanding of him, so his attitude towards cooperation was quite good.

Because he knows that being friends with this kid is beneficial, and he will sincerely repay you.

But it's different when it's an enemy; it's very dangerous, and you have no idea where the danger lies.

Mr. Jiang has numerous distribution channels throughout Asia, including Southeast Asia.

His people were also in charge of the distribution of "Fast & Furious 4" in mainland China.

So as soon as he heard there was a problem in the island nation, he hurriedly called him.

I never expected that I would be in such a hurry, but the original owner of this body is not in a hurry at all.

Judging from his tone, he acted as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Zhiqiang was in a daze.

Is this his play?

How come I'm the one who's more worried than the emperor...?

Zhang Yuan's nonchalant tone and indifferent attitude surprised him somewhat.

But the surprise quickly faded away.

He has always been different from ordinary people!
The most important thing for people who want to accomplish great things is to stay calm and rational in order to handle problems effectively.

Mr. Jiang thought that this might be the biggest difference between him and young people.

"Okay, tell me in detail." Zhang Yuan scooped up another wonton, blew on it vigorously, and then dared to put it in his mouth.

"I told my men about my connections in the island nation."

“Some island nations’ cinemas are unwilling to show the movies you starred in.”

"The reason is..."

“I know, it’s about what happened in Paris before,” Zhang Yuan replied proactively.

According to what Mr. Jiang has learned, more than 6% of Japanese cinemas are unwilling to screen the film.

This is the difference between the situation at home and abroad.

Domestic cinema chains are divided into many local and branded entities, but they all have to obey the allocation of China Film Group and higher-level departments.

In form, it remains "a unified national strategy".

However, as an island nation with a capitalist system, cinemas are all privately owned.

They have far more power to decide what movies to show and how long they run, than domestic cinemas.

If more than 6% of issuances are blocked, it's equivalent to a single market "banning" you.

Zhang Yuan understood immediately after hearing it.

"I wish they would completely blacklist me."

Jiang Zhiqiang: ...

You still think it's not enough?

“If they directly have the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue a statement, severely condemning me and completely banning my performing arts activities in the island nation, that would be much better,” Zhang Yuan replied with a smile.

"I also think highly of them."

"At the same time, it will also give me a good reputation."

If he were truly blacklisted nationwide, Zhang Yuan would have his own page in the family genealogy.

"In 2009, his descendant Zhang Yuan fought against the Japanese pirates, angering the pirates and humiliating the enemy, and thus his merits were recorded."

Any Chinese person who could be silenced by the Japanese would have a separate family genealogy.

But they won't give me a chance...

The fact that 6-7% of broadcasts are prohibited indicates that the other side is not a united front either.

More importantly, it's about the stance of the companies behind it.

This is related to the attitude of the current president of the island nation.

After all, their leader was a Japanese soldier, so it was impossible for the people below to love peace.

But not everyone shares this attitude; some companies simply ignore the president.

But this is enough to keep him going.

"Thank you for reminding me, I understand now," Zhang Yuan said politely.

"So what are you going to do?" Boss Jiang became interested when he saw his attitude.

Such composure must mean she has a plan.

"There's nothing we can do, let him go."

"I can't control other people's attitudes."

To be honest, Zhang Yuan's approach was simply to let things take their course.

"He makes him strong, and the breeze blows the hills."

"If they don't want me to, they don't want me to. Even if they don't have Zhang the butcher, will I still be able to eat pigs with hair on?"

Jiang Zhiqiang was somewhat disappointed. Wasn't this just sitting and waiting to die?

He didn't understand; Zhang Yuan was left to his own devices.

But letting him go is not a passive acceptance of death.

Instead, they are waiting.

Wait for the situation to change on its own.

Sometimes, when faced with a major event, instead of making a fuss over nothing, it's better to quietly remain a handsome man and wait for the situation to change.

Going with the flow is the right way to survive.

After greeting Boss Jiang, I reassured him and told him not to worry.

I can handle the pressure myself.

Mr. Jiang was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

I'm over fifty, and I'm not as capable of handling things as a young person; he even has to persuade me instead...

Zhang Yuan put down his phone and looked around.

Everyone around him stared at him expectantly.

Everyone around heard what he just said.

"Eat up," Zhang Yuan said with a smile, pointing to the bowl.

"If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up."

"In our crew, there's also a 2.1-meter-tall Batel carrying it."

"How could it possibly affect our meal?"

"Brother Yuan is definitely a man!"

"Yes, a real man, a pure one."

"A real man!" everyone around praised.

Hu Jun was also startled.

How can they still have the appetite when they're being blacklisted by the Japanese?
Not only eating... Hu Jun glanced at them and it seemed like they had a particularly good appetite.

You really didn't take it seriously?
Regardless of what others thought, Zhang Yuan genuinely didn't take it seriously.

Not only did he finish a whole night's worth of shepherd's purse and pork wontons, but he was also in a good mood and went to the stall next door to buy several skewers of barbecue.

This role doesn't require weight loss or controlling one's condition.

Because Shen Chongyang is a gambling addict, the worse his condition, the more he resembles the gambler.

How can anyone who's involved in prostitution, gambling, and drugs be mentally sound?

Moreover, he was full and waiting.

He waited for someone else to call him.

The next day, on the film set.

Despite what happened yesterday, everyone still calls him a real man.

But the real men have only arrived today.

"Chun Chun is here."

Upon arriving at the location, they discovered that Li Yuchun had also come to participate in the filming.

Zhang Yuan is usually very busy, with a lot of announcements.

But Li Yuchun was even busier than him.

Because, apart from some personal relationships, Zhang Yuan and Fan Bingbing, as the boss, could manage most of the time.

But Li Yuchun is different.

Tianyu Media is currently going through a turbulent period, and as its most popular artist, she will naturally be treated like a "donkey."

Concerts, fan meetings, album recordings, TV shows, filming—he does it all.

With this kind of pressure, it's no wonder that everyone at Tianyu Entertainment wants to leave.

Although it's in the Chinese entertainment industry, its style is similar to that of Korean entertainment.

"Hello, Brother Yuan."

"Don't keep calling me 'brother,' it sounds awful. Just call me by my name."

"Hey, please guide me in the future." Although "Super Girl" and "Happy Boy" are very popular, many of the people who come out of these shows are mentally unstable.

Li Yuchun is a very normal person.

Just like Zhang Jie, being mentally sound is one of the reasons why the two are so popular.

Her character in the film has a lot of action scenes.

Because she doesn't know how to do dramatic scenes.

She mainly collaborated with Simon Yam, playing his daughter.

Casting Chris Lee as Simon Yam's daughter seems somewhat unreasonable, given her image.

After all, Simon Yam has a biological daughter who is quite good-looking and looks more like his wife, Qi Qi, who is a former model.

But there's nothing we can do, Chris Lee is so popular.

Find veteran actors to support her in the role.

By the time her scenes were filmed, it was already evening.

Zhang Yuan also had to get involved, because it was the gambling addict Shen Chongyang who took money to tip off the Qing army about Chen Shaobai, played by Liang Jiahui, colluding with the opera troupe.

This led to the later massacre of the opera troupe, leaving only Fang Hong, played by Li Yuchun, alive. In the end, to avenge her father, she resolutely joined the team protecting Mr. Sun.

"Hehehe..."

Upon arriving on set, Zhang Yuan kept covering his mouth and laughing.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?"

Liang Jiahui was familiar with him and thought that Zhang Yuan remembered his naked buttocks look when he filmed "Apple".

"It's nothing, I just thought of something happy."

Zhang Yuan laughed, not because of Liang Jiahui.

In this film, the director paired Simon Yam and Leung Ka-fai together again.

Big D and Ah Lok are together again.

Big D has gone even crazier this time. Last time he only wanted to destroy the Sun Wo Luen Shing, but this time he says he wants to destroy the new China!

He also said he wanted to elect Sun Yat-sen as the leader!
It took Zhang Yuan a long time to manage not to laugh when he saw Simon Yam and Leung Ka-fai sitting together.

Despite his amusement, Zhang Yuan quite liked the script's design for Simon Yam.

His character is named Fang Tian.

On the surface, he is a Peking Opera troupe leader, leading more than thirty followers to perform.

In reality, he was a Qing Dynasty general.

Why did they need to find Qing army generals to start a revolution?
Isn't this anti-Qing?
That's where the script's brilliance lies.

In the story, Fang Tian is a Qing army leader who led his soldiers to fight against the Eight-Nation Alliance.

However, after the war, he was wanted by the Qing Dynasty and had no choice but to flee to Hong Kong for refuge.

That makes sense.

The old witch was afraid of foreigners, and the Qing court wanted to maintain its rule and prevent being overthrown by them.

Following the Eight-Nation Alliance incident, soldiers who had fought against foreigners were investigated and massacred.

To appease foreign barbarians, patriotic generals were killed.

With a country and ruling class like this, who else but you is destined to perish?

First of all, this is a true historical fact; the old witch killed many people.

Everyone says that the old witch killed indiscriminately in order to appease the foreigners' anger.

It wasn't a random killing; the Empress Dowager and Li Hongzhang joined forces and took this opportunity to kill many dissidents.

True insiders, such as Prince Duan, Zaiyi.

After Empress Dowager Cixi deposed Emperor Guangxu, she wanted Zaiyi's son, Pujun, to succeed to the throne.

However, it was stopped because Zaiyi led the Boxer Rebellion and was not recognized by foreign ministers.

The Qing court had to consider the opinions of foreigners when establishing a new emperor...

Even though Zaiyi was identified as the "culprit" by the Eight-Nation Alliance, he was only exiled and not beheaded.

The Duke of Fuguo, Zailan, was also recognized as the second-in-command, but it was he who protected Empress Dowager Cixi during her escape.

In the end, it's nothing more than having their titles confiscated and being sent to the frontier; their lives are safe.

Those who lost their lives were either Han officials or those who genuinely fought against the enemy.

This is a classic case of Gresham's Law (bad money drives out good).

This is strikingly similar to how large companies "reduce costs and increase efficiency," firing those who actually do the work and leaving behind a bunch of people who only know how to make PPTs and hold meetings.

Simon Yam's character, Fang Tian, ​​is clearly one of those people who get things done.

Therefore, the Hong Kong director did a very good job of exposing the Qing Dynasty's inhumanity.

With this character designation, it's quite reasonable for him to oppose the Qing Dynasty and resolutely participate in the escort of Sun Yat-sen.

However, before they could even take action, Yan Xiaoguo's top assassins arrived.

Those killers from the North are so rude!
As a result, Leung Ka-fai was arrested and Simon Yam was killed in battle.

It was quite tragic.

From this, we can draw a conclusion.

No one goes on a revolution without wearing a helmet...

Wearing a helmet might have saved me from a terrible death.

Zhang Yuan left after finishing his scenes.

Because I couldn't bear to watch it.

Li Yuchun's acting skills are really... just plain bad.

Even with on-set guidance from several veteran actors and directors, it still wasn't quite right.

Zhang Yuan dared not watch, fearing that watching too much would drag down his acting skills.

However, Chun Chun also has her strengths.

She knew she didn't know how, so she was quite modest.

He did whatever the senior colleague told him to do, and his attitude was very proper.

Nicholas Tse is similar, but both of them lack acting talent.

Go back to your room to rest.

I had just sat down when I received a call from Universal Pictures.

The other party called, of course, to inquire about the sordid affairs of the island nation.

When he came to China for promotional purposes before, the production company asked him about his plans and how he would handle the situation.

Zhang Yuan's answer remains the same.

"Let them go."

"I believe that the vitality of the Chinese market can make up for the gaps and losses in the island nation's market."

Producer Neil gave a disgruntled snort.

I don't see any vitality in the Chinese market.
Are you even capable of doing it?
You've always said you're very popular in the country.

As a result, the film has been showing in mainland China for three weeks now, and its box office has yet to break 100 million yuan.

It's just a mere ten million US dollars.

The global box office has now exceeded 2 million US dollars!
This is even though it hasn't been released in many regions.

The people at Universal are ecstatic.

Bring back to life!

Based on Universal's issuance levels, it can basically break even with 2.5 times the cost.

The film had a total cost of $8000 million, and it's almost backed up its costs after just one month on the market.

After that, with subsequent releases and revenue from DVD sales, the project was basically secured.

At the same time, I also feel a little regretful.

The film made money, so they felt it was a bit of a loss to have Zhang Yuan join the project and take away the subsequent distribution rights.

Not only did he fail to generate significant revenue in mainland China, but he also caused difficulties for the film in the island nation.

So, after you arrived, I was supposed to share the money with you, but you're holding me back...

In fact, the North American box office alone was enough to break even, and the box office revenue in China was pure profit.

Nobody complains about having too much money.

Moreover, Fast & Furious 3 grossed over ten million US dollars in Japan, and Universal thought this time it would at least not be less than the previous one.
Unexpectedly, they simply wouldn't allow it to be released.

In the island nation, the distributors demanded that all of Zhang Yuan's scenes be cut before the film could be released.

However, the contract between Universal and Zhang Yuan stipulated that he must appear in the show and that there was a guaranteed minimum number of hours.

Therefore, unless Zhang Yuan himself agrees to sign a separate supplementary agreement, this matter carries international legal risks.

Neil made this request, but Zhang Yuan refused.

Why should we go along with the Japanese devils' wishes?

"Don't worry, I will communicate with the island nation. Please give me some time."

Neil didn't believe it.

Even we at Global Times can't handle this, how could you, a Chinese person, possibly manage it?
Or is it under the circumstances of having a feud with the island nation?

But Hollywood still follows the same old rules.

Whoever has money, whoever spends it, has the final say.

The IP is now reviving, and Universal is already considering making a sequel and is in initial discussions with Justin Lin.

To film a new movie, they still need Zhang Yuan and his investment, so the producer can't just turn against him directly.

After the negotiations failed, the other party hung up the phone in frustration.

"Okay." Zhang Yuan cracked his neck.

"Well, now that I've received a call from Global Times, I should get to do something."

Zhang Yuan called his agent, Zeng Jia, directly.

He explained to the other party the general situation he was facing.

"Ah!" Zeng Jia sighed.

I told you that doing it that way back then was too radical... but she swallowed her words back down.

Saying things like "I told you before" is easy for other artists, but Zhang Yuan is her boss, so she doesn't dare to say it.

But I still had my doubts.

You were enjoying great success abroad, but now the consequences are coming.

"Stop thinking and listen to me."

Zhang Yuan noticed that she hadn't spoken for a while and guessed that she might be cursing him.

"Now I'm going to test you, give you a chance to use your brain," he asked playfully.

"I'll give you three minutes to think it over."

"Given this situation, what should we do next..." (End of Chapter)