Actor: Thank you.

"That's outrageous!"

"A young actor, just because he acted in a movie that did well at the box office, dares to do this!"

"I'll get someone to kill him right now, break his legs first."

On the set of "The Grandmaster", Wong Kar-wai summoned the senior executives of the production team.

They didn't call any actors; it was just an administrative meeting.

Upon hearing about this, most people immediately started making a fuss.

Whether or not they will actually do it remains to be seen, but first I'll vent my emotions and prepare to cheer on the director.

In addition, organizing film crews is just taking away our livelihood.

They certainly had reason to be angry.

"Let's fight him."

"Yes, I don't believe it."

"I took the picture, what do you think?"

"There can't be only one Ip Man in the world."

"We all support you, director."

Wong Ka-wai is not a director like Tsui Hark or Sammo Hung, who are known for their "fierce" style.

He is a relatively "quiet" person.

Therefore, I didn't get carried away with enthusiasm at the first sign of arousal.

Yuan Hepin was also present. Unlike Wang Jiawei, he knew more about Zhang Yuan's affairs.

"Let's ask someone first and see what they think."

This is an experienced person's opinion, because he always felt that something was not quite right.

Is this kid so arrogant that he'd come to our door looking for trouble?
Sunglasses King instructed his assistant to prepare for legal matters and also obediently inquire with others beforehand.

However, the film crew was like a courtesan's underwear—not only easy to put on and take off, but also leaky.

Within half a day, the senior members and actors of the production team all knew about it.

Zhao Benshan had just brought Xiao Shenyang to see Wong Kar-wai, wanting to bring his apprentice to perform together, and had heard about this matter.

Teacher Zhao is so quick-witted; his reactions are even faster than Yuan Hepin's.

"Something's going to happen..."

After he finished explaining what needed to be explained, he immediately left the film crew.

Only after getting on the bus did I call Zhang Yuan.

"I've heard some rumors."

"what's up?"

After the two checked the accounts, Uncle Benshan knew that it was not unfounded.

I won't ask any more questions.

"I just want to know, can this show still be filmed in Shenyang?"

"Take the pictures, feel free to take them," Zhang Yuan replied with a smile. "But please don't tell anyone about our conversation."

"Oh dear, the most painful thing in my life is keeping someone's secret," Uncle Benshan replied.

"I didn't tell you to keep things to yourself. If people don't ask, you don't answer, that's all."

"Too……"

Once a江湖人 (jianghu person) like Zhao Benshan senses that Zhao is about to "stir up trouble," he will only get involved if he is sure that he is safe.

On the production crew side, apart from Song Hye-kyo who doesn't understand much Chinese, all the other main cast members looked worried.

Liang Chaowei had a huge head and a huge question mark on it.

Why did the young man who was just taking a photo with me suddenly turn on me?

He never imagined that Zhang Yuan had come just to turn against him.

Zhang Ziyi, who had just joined the crew, arrived late and just missed Zhang Yuan.

Upon hearing this, her brows furrowed.

Am I really that unlucky lately?
First of all, the beach incident and the ink-splashing incident have both caused a stir, and her popularity is now at a low point.

At least half of the positive image built up in earlier years has been lost.

And now they're unlucky on both ends.

The person from Yintai lost contact with her.

As a result, the older woman from the south also publicly turned against her.

The result is not only a significant loss of resources, especially business resources.

Even fashion resources have been greatly damaged.

To put it bluntly, she's been flattering Su Mang for years, but this year's Bazaar Charity Night is already in the works, yet she hasn't received an invitation!

She got to know Su Mang at the banquet hosted by the Southern Sister.

They were originally best friends; you came later.

Su Mang is the kind of person who should be belittle the weak and flatter the strong; he also has to be mindful of others' opinions.

They would only invite Zhang Ziyi after confirming that no one was causing her trouble.

This is domestic.

The Jewish expatriates overseas have also broken off contact with her.

Deng Wendi was furious because of the ink-splashing incident, feeling that he had lost face.

They withdrew her from the lead role in "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," which was already in the planning stages and she had been cast, effectively kicking her out of the industry.

In the end, the role benefited Li Bingbing.

It can't be said to be cheap; Lao Li is still very capable.

And this drama is about lesbian relationships, which is something she excels at.

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is an S-level project, and many people are vying for it.

Like "The Grandmaster", it also features a cast of characters from both China and South Korea.

Projects of this caliber are ones that even Zhang Ziyi would have to tackle head-on, yet she slipped away in the blink of an eye.

Faced with pressure from both internal and external forces, she currently only has one project on hand: "The Grandmaster".

Because the Wang family liked her very much, the role of Gong Er was even tailor-made for her.

You know what, with Gong Er's character and personality, no one else could really compare to her.

It must be admitted that in the race of women who are as aloof and proud as wild grass, she is the top performer.

Under these circumstances, she had a vague feeling that something was about to happen to the film crew again.

She is currently being suppressed by two forces, which has temporarily relegated her to a corner.

He had only just arrived when his old friend Zhang Yuan suddenly launched an attack.

"Does he have a conflict with the Wang family?" Zhang Ziyi pondered this over and over, never imagining that it was aimed at her...

Because she felt that Zhang Yuan and she had no conflict.

People sometimes don't even remember what they did or said when they were at their peak.

How awesome was the article when it was popular?

Will he remember how arrogant he was back then?
Meanwhile, the director held another small meeting to discuss the matter for a long time.

"We'll proceed in two steps."

"It should be fine."

The so-called two steps involve finding two groups of people.

Zhang Yuan went to confront them directly because he knew they would definitely call for reinforcements.

What he wanted was for a peacemaker to appear.

I'll say I want to demolish the house first, and then, when the peacemaker appears, I'll back down and talk about removing the doors and windows.

He had a good idea of ​​who the other party would likely contact after thinking about it silently.

Wong Ka-wai is a bigwig in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

But for this film, his biggest asset was not the people in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

There are not many people in China willing to invest in him anymore.

Nobody can stand a movie that takes several years to make and still loses money.

Wong Kar-wai, the director, has only made three films that are profitable at the box office.

Everything else depends on copyright sales.

Therefore, the primary producers and investors of "The Grandmaster" are his own companies.

That is, Jet Tone Films, which he co-founded with Liu Zhenwei.

However, like Stephen Chow, he doesn't always pay for his own films.

Moreover, he couldn't afford it, because "The Grandmaster" broke his film budget record.

The company claimed a cost of 3 million.

This is nonsense.

The high costs, attracting audiences, and then selling copyrights at inflated prices are all old tricks.

Even if it doesn't reach 3 million, this film still boasts a host of big names.

The salaries of Liang Chaowei and Zhang Ziyi alone are enormous.

In addition, given how long he takes to film, the production costs must be high.

It needs to be at least 100 million; that's a big-budget film.

Seeing that no one in mainland China would invest, Hong Kong couldn't afford it, and Hollywood had just failed, where was he going to find so much money?

Well, that's when the "big spender" appears.

The main investor in the film is Ellison Pictures, a North American company that is not part of the Hollywood system.

They specifically invest in films with a distinct style and a strong plot.

For example, True Grit, American Hustle, and Bin Laden.

The company's owner is Megan Ellison, a woman.

They gave Wong Kar-wai over ten million US dollars without batting an eye.

The reason this foreign woman is so extravagant is because she has a powerful father.

Her father's name is Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle who competed with Bill Gates to see who had the longest and biggest yacht.

Her father spends hundreds of millions of dollars on sailing every year, so investing a little over ten million in a movie is nothing to him.

They don't belong to the Hollywood system, so there's no need for them to play with you.

Her father later acquired and controlled Paramount and Universal, a direct and devastating blow.

Their family's future assets will "only" be around 4000 billion US dollars...

It was she who was contacted first by Wong Kar-wai!
Logically speaking, Zhang Yuan was nothing more than an insect in the face of oracle bone script.

But as Liu Cixin wrote, the insects were never truly eradicated.

Moreover, there is an old Chinese saying: "A local official is more powerful than a distant one."

This happened on Chinese soil, and Zhang Yuan was the current manager. Furthermore, although the investor was Oracle's "eldest daughter," Larry Ellison had been married six times and had several children.

The situation is similar to Musk's; the two are also friends.

So the young lady has money, but she can't mobilize the resources of her father and Oracle.

Most people, especially those shallow-minded people in the entertainment industry, would be terrified when they hear about the eldest daughter of the Oracle family!

Zhang Yuan, however, was fearless.

He didn't even need anyone to come to him; he first called Ross Brawn, the new manager of the Mercedes F1 team who was in Bahrain for preseason testing.

Ask him to help me find the Red Bull racing team next door and contact the Oracle team.

Zhang Yuan even went so far as to "accuse the villain first."

They turn the tables and spout phrases like "contractual spirit," "respect for copyright," and "intellectual property"—things Americans love to say.

This is called using their own methods against them!

His overly confident tone startled the manager at Ellison Films.

Quickly find someone, a lawyer, to review the feasibility and legality of investing in the film.

He intimidated me.

So when Wang Jiawei contacted the investors, the response he received was...

“We are in discussions with Mr. Zhang Yuan.”

Wong Kar-wai: ...

Is your greatest asset being discussed with the other party?

Doesn't that mean Zhang Yuan can bypass me and contact investors directly?

Hiss...Wong Kai-wai suddenly realized that what Yuan Hepin said made sense.

The fact that they were able to bypass me means they have connections.

Thinking back to how the other party dared to come to his door and do this to him face-to-face, he now felt that they were not simple.

At this time, news also came back from the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

The gist of it was telling him not to act impulsively!
Wong Kar-wai's face was completely blank.

I'm the "victim," and you're telling me not to act impulsively?

Because the previous "victim" was Jiang Zhiqiang, the result of his impulsive actions was that the Hong Kong entertainment circle was almost completely defeated.

So when they heard that Zhang Yuan was "causing trouble" again, the Hong Kong tycoons, who usually clashed with him over interests and power, were now extremely clear-headed.

Minor squabbles are fine, but when this person goes crazy, no one can stand it.

No one wants to go through the pain of the "photo scandal" again.

Only those who have been beaten are willing to sit down and have a proper talk.

Let the Wang family remain calm and not make any moves yet. Send someone to find out the specific situation.

So soon after, the peacemaker Zhang Yuan wanted came knocking on his door.

There were two people in total.

Jiang Zhiqiang led Liu Weiqiang to contact him.

Both of them have worked with him before, and may work with him again in the future, so they came as his representatives to negotiate.

"what's wrong?"

"I heard you're not satisfied with the Wang family?"

Jiang Zhiqiang understands his character; a former enemy understands you far better than a friend.

"When we filmed 'Ip Man,' we paid Ip Chun to be our consultant. It took so much effort to make a profit."

"He wanted to film his own version of Ip Man, and he just started filming without even saying hello."

Does he still have any regard for Mr. Ip Man, the Ip family, and Wing Chun?

Jiang Zhiqiang thought to himself, "Don't try to be high-profile with me, kid. You're really good at labeling people."

Knowing that this was definitely not his goal, he went along with what he said.

"We should discuss it."

"But we're all in the same circle, we're friends."

"There's nothing that's hard to talk about."

“We should sit down and talk. You should have told us first after you found out about this.”

Let me tell you first, if things had turned out this well, would you be so polite?
I play the game of acting first and asking questions later.

The two then shared their opinions, and Liu Zhenwei joined in.

The message remains the same: we're all friends, we can cooperate, there's no need for fighting.

Let's make money together from now on.

Zhang Yuan remained firm in his stance, insisting that the other party give in first.

"Okay, what are your conditions? You can tell me."

"I'll pass on your message and try my best to negotiate a settlement so you won't have to fight."

"Harmony brings wealth."

That’s what I’ve been waiting for!

Zhang Yuan finally found a topic to talk about.

"It's only because of you."

"Who doesn't know Ip Man now?"

"What if his actions affect the box office performance of our subsequent films?"

"Never mind, you have a point about harmony bringing wealth."

After muttering a few more words, he returned to the main topic.

"Let me think about it first."

It cannot be said on the spot, otherwise it will be a long-planned scheme.

Even if the other party knows that he has been planning this for a long time, he cannot reveal it so openly.

So he didn't reply to the other party for several hours after putting down his phone.

"Okay, I've thought about it."

"Director Wang's films are all great shows."

"The actors are all good actors."

"I have ideas for the female lead in this drama."

His goal was to target Zhang Ziyi, and ultimately it would all come back to her.

"Oh...I understand." Jiang Zhiqiang indicated that he understood.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhenwei still asked.

"What's the meaning."

"He originally wanted a female role."

"so?"

“I know him too well. I’ll handle this. I’ll go and talk to Wang Jiawei.”

Zhang Yuan was calmly sitting at home, legs crossed, humming a song.

"Give back what you ate of mine, and return what you took from me..."

In a good mood.

At this point, the matter is about 6-7% complete.

Just then, I received a call from Jiang Zhiqiang, who said that he had already communicated with Wang Jiawei.

They would go with the female lead to Kaiping to discuss things.

"it is good!"

He agreed and flew back.

With Jiang Zhiqiang acting as a middleman, the other side won't use me as a jungler.

Safety can still be guaranteed.

After he arrived, the group met in a private room at a large local restaurant.

"You're here." Jiang Zhiqiang stepped forward and hugged him.

"Director Wang will be here soon."

"Oh dear, give him some face, he's such an old man."

“We all know he has a rather eccentric personality, so please be more tolerant of him.”

That's the advantage of getting angry first; now everyone's appeasing him.

"arrive."

They had barely exchanged a few words when Wang Jiawei arrived with his men.

Of course, the female lead also arrived.

However, she wasn't the female lead he wanted.

"Hey, Zhang Yuan, how are you?" A girl's voice with a Korean accent rang out.

Zhang Yuan: …

He pointed at the woman in front of him, then turned to look at Jiang Zhiqiang.

"Hey, the person you wanted is here." Jiang Zhiqiang gave him a knowing look, as if he'd been young once too.

After thinking it over, he recalled how he and Zhang Yuan had resolved their previous conflict.

They sent Yang Tianbao and Wen Yongshan to his side.

Habitual thinking.

We need a female lead.

Yosi!

You little rascal, after going through all this trouble, it turns out it was all just to pick up girls.

Why didn't you say so sooner? You should have said so earlier!

Upon further reflection, of all the people in the "The Grandmaster" crew, only this one could catch his eye!
The person brought by Wang Jiawei was none other than Song Hye-kyo!
Jiang Zhiqiang: Surely he doesn't want Zhang Ziyi, that plain-looking girl?
There are only two female leads.

They actually look quite well-matched.

"How come it's her?" Zhang Yuan saw the South Korean national star who was smiling and greeting him.

"Of course it's her."

“However, they are foreigners. We can interact with them, but we cannot force them or cause an international incident,” Jiang Zhiqiang advised.

Zhang Yuan: …

"Is that right?" He was dumbfounded. What kind of person did you take me for, peacemaker?
Seeing that Qiao Mei was still smiling at him, Zhang Yuan glanced at her up and down.

She has bright eyes and white teeth, and her smile is sweet.

That’s right, that’s right.

Jiang Zhiqiang, that peacemaker, really has a good eye for people… (End of Chapter)