Actor: Thank you.

"Hey, you're here!"

Hengdian, film set.

Zhang Yimou had just walked down from the second floor of the temporary house built on the set.

When I saw him, I said hello.

Among directors, Zhang Yimou is considered to be relatively kind.

They all said he looked like an old farmer.

But so-called kindness is only possible when you meet his requirements.

"Get familiar with the set first."

"We're rehearsing a scene in the afternoon." Zhang Yimou had thick eye patch and dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were still bright.

"By the way, the actors' lounge is on the first floor, don't go to the second floor."

Zhang Yuan nodded in agreement.

This person shoots movies during the day and attends meetings at night, working 18 hours a day, non-stop.

Lao Mouzi looked him up and down again.

I thought that in terms of appearance, Zhang Yuan was indeed better than Liu Ye.

But there is a drawback.

Among the three princes, he stands out a little bit.

Especially compared with Jay Chou.

According to the setting, Jay Chou is the second prince, and his parents are Chow Yun-fat and Gong Huang.

With their looks and temperament, what kind of genetic mutation would it take for them to give birth to a son who looks like Jay Chou...

The degree of mutation is no less than that of Chen Kun's son.

Zhang Yimou felt that it was much more reasonable for Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li to combine to produce someone like Zhang Yuan.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yimou began to feel dissatisfied with Zhang Weiping.

You have to find someone who is popular but can't act.

He also told me that among young actors, popularity and acting skills cannot be achieved at the same time... So what's going on with him?

Lao Mouzi looked at Zhang Yuan.

Originally, he was just a backup plan for the crew.

But since signing the contract, his popularity has continued to rise, which makes Zhang Weiping happy.

Zhang Yuan's role will take about two months to shoot, and his salary is 200 million.

It is normal for big directors to lower prices.

Zhang Weiping felt that the 200 million was well worth it!

But what Zhang Yimou is concerned about is something else.

"Crazy Stone".

He was quite surprised when he learned that the film was invested and starred by Zhang Yuan.

After all, as an industry leader, he always pays attention to market trends.

How could he not know about the sudden appearance of such a big dark horse?
It’s just that I haven’t had time to watch it yet, after all, I’ve been too busy recently.

But because he is too busy, he doesn't pay much attention to online information.

Therefore, he also thought that "Crazy Stone" would be over after encountering "Superman Returns".

Even so, he became more interested in Zhang Yuan.

"Not only can he act, he can also make movies..."

On this side, Jay Chou took the initiative to take Zhang Yuan to stroll around the set to familiarize himself with the environment.

Hey!
You don’t know until you see it, and you’ll be shocked when you do!
What is magnificent and what is colorful?

The word "dazzling" is not an exaggeration at all when used for the interior scenes designed by Zhang Yimou.

The entire shooting scene was yellow and white.

The yellow one is the gold paint on the gorgeous clothes, pillars, cups, plates, tables and chairs.

The white ones... were not the uniforms of the silver-armored soldiers, nor were they the highly realistic swords.

Rather, it came from hundreds of palace maids who were rehearsing!

White.

Too white!
Two steamed buns per person.

At first glance, all you see is milky white snow.

The collar is low.

That's tied with a belt.

Every palace maid seemed to have two small pillows stuffed on her chest.

To some people, this is vulgar.

What’s the matter? Ordinary people just want to watch something vulgar. What’s wrong with that?
Which man doesn’t like to watch it!
I don’t like to see big buns and cleavage, but I have to look at the flat bodies pushed by capital.

Judging from the makeup and style, even though she is also a "Mou Girl", only Gong Li can play the role.

Those ladies are really talented.

If you change Zhou Dongyu...even if you tie ten straps, you still can't make a pair of A's.

Tsk tsk tsk...even Zhang Yuan is envious of it.

Besides, the costume isn’t entirely fictional.

Ordinary audiences have been brainwashed by Qing Dynasty palace dramas for too long and always think that their ancestors dressed very conservatively.

In fact, the ancestors of the Han people were very open-minded, while the Tartars were conservative.

Moreover, in the ancient times when materials were scarce, having breasts meant that one ate well and had good living conditions, and it was a symbol of wealth.

Having breasts and buttocks is noble!

Those flat-faced girls look like maids.

Turning to a rehearsal room, a young girl saw Zhang Yuan and Jay Chou passing by and walked over with a happy face.

"Hello there!"

"Finally see you again!"

Zhang Yuan turned around and saw that the person coming was Li Man, whom he met during the audition.

This woman plays Xiaochan, who is considered her CP in the film.

Zhang Yuan’s character, the eldest prince, has two pairs of CPs in the film.

In addition to her biological sister Li Man, there is also her stepmother Gong Li.

His emotions are quite messy...

What a pity... Zhang Yuan glanced at Li Man, who was wearing casual clothes and not wearing a corset like the palace maids in training, so her big white buns could not be seen.

It doesn’t matter, there will be opportunities later, Zhang Yuan comforted himself.

"It's nice to see you again. We'll communicate more in the future. I still have to act with you."

"Hey!" He agreed readily.

Of course Li Man was happy.

This guy is quite famous and has many scenes opposite me in the film.

If I could fall in love with him during the filming, then I would have a long-term meal ticket... and he's handsome, so I won't be at a disadvantage.

This guy was quite good at calculation. After chatting with him for a few words, Zhang Yuan walked towards the two people in the front who were rehearsing the script.

"Teacher Dahong, Teacher Chen, hello, I'm Zhang Yuan."

"Hello." The two turned around and replied with a smile.

These two are Ni Dahong and Chen Jin. They are both talented actors and are top-notch actors among them.

As soon as they met, Zhang Yuan expressed his respect in a humble tone.

In the film, these two people are Zhang Yuan's biological mother and "stepfather" respectively.

Glancing at the two of them, Zhang Yuan thought...

In Rebirth: My biological mother is Ye Wenjie and my stepfather is Su Daqiang.

Or don't be reborn...

After greeting the two and chatting for a while, a stage manager came over and asked him to change his clothes and put on makeup.

He changed into a dark gold robe with a pure white silk lining and wore long boots of the same color.

Zhang Yuan carefully looked at his makeup look in front of the full-length mirror, and then touched the costume very carefully.

He didn't even dare to use force.

This stuff is all hand-sewn, and a set costs over 100,000 yuan!
This was the most expensive crew in terms of costumes and makeup among all the crews he had been to.

Zhang Yuan took a deep breath.

Ah, this is the smell of money!

When I went outside, I saw Chow Yun Fat, wearing a dragon robe, drinking tea and resting under a parasol not far away.

Zhang Yuan walked up to him and greeted him. The other party smiled and nodded indifferently.

At this time, Teacher Gong Li, whose makeup process was the most complicated, also arrived on the set.

Five or six stage managers followed her, helping to hold up her skirt for fear that it would get dirty.

There was no need to act. The few steps that Gong Huang took while holding up the hem of her skirt were already full of domineering power.

At this moment, Jay Chou, who was wearing a black python robe with gold patterns, and Qin Junjie, who was short and thin, also arrived at the scene.

The royal family of five is finally complete!

First a photographer came forward and took a few photos, which would be used as promotional photos later.

Behind everyone was the Chrysanthemum Terrace, a circular building more than ten meters high that imitated the Temple of Heaven.

Fa Ge had to go up to the stage and sit down first, waiting for the others to come forward and pay their respects.

There are about a hundred steps in the Chrysanthemum Terrace. Fa Ge is different from others. He does not walk up by himself, but is carried up by others.

There were two big men holding up a few bamboo poles with a chair on top, which is called a sliding pole in the Sichuan region.

Since the set of Curse of the Golden Flower was very large, Chow not only requested a separate rest car in the contract, but also a business car to travel between the palaces, and sedan chairs were used to carry people up the stairs.

And like Li Lianjie on the set of "Huo Yuanjia", he also has an eight-hour work contract, and even makeup and changing clothes are counted as part of working hours.

A big star, worthy of the fact that he has been to Hollywood and lost money in every movie.

Because of these conditions, especially the luxury RV, Zhang Weiping almost fell out with him.

After all, he had been paid 4000 million yuan for the film and a separate luxurious lounge was prepared.

But this person said that the RV is for family members to visit and rest.

In the end, the RV was basically never used, but it cost hundreds of thousands of yuan in rent, which made Zhang Weiping very angry...

Gong Li, who also works in Hollywood and is more famous and has produced more works, only received a salary of 1600 million.

You know, her salary for the movie "Miami" last year was 500 million US dollars.

I only took this little pay just for Zhang Yimou's sake.

And Emperor Gong does not have so many restrictions. He can walk on his own and does not need a luxury RV.

"Come on, all actors get ready!" Zhang Yimou raised his loudspeaker and shouted.

“Try walking it once first.”

"Pay attention to your position, rhythm, expression, and movements."

Then, Emperor Gong took the lead, followed by the eldest prince Zhang Yuan, Jay Chou, Qin Junjie and a group of extras, and walked towards the top of the Chrysanthemum Terrace.

"There's nothing wrong with Gong Li's performance." Zhang Yimou was watching on the monitor.

"Oh, that Zhang Yuan appeared in costume for the first time, and he looked quite good."

“Nice temperament!”

"Zhou Jie Lun... it's not good enough, it needs some more training."

When everyone reached the top of the stage, Zhang Yimou called for a stop and asked everyone to return to their seats.

Checked with everyone again.

"Calm, steady, and generous. Do you understand?"

Zhang Yuan was listening nearby. Zhang Yimou had very high requirements for the shots, especially the pictures, which could not have the slightest imperfection.

Jay Chou's pants had some tears on them at some point, so he was asked to go and get a new pair.

This kind of detail is hard to see in the camera, but Zhang Yimou did not miss any of it.

In addition to being time-consuming and costly, this is really particular.

"Come on, let's go through it formally!"

"ACTION!"

Following the director's call, Zhang Yuan followed closely behind Gong Li and climbed up the stairs...

At the same time, the box office of "Crazy Stone" is also rising step by step!

A few days later, the second week's box office report was sent to Ning Hao.

"Hahahaha!" After reading the report, Big Head laughed so hard that his back teeth almost popped out.

1800 million!
Only 10% less than last week.

Even Zhang Yuan, who is relatively optimistic, originally expected a 50% reduction.

After all, Hollywood blockbusters are no joke.

But I didn't expect that a foreign strongman weighing more than 200 pounds couldn't even move a single finger of mine.

More importantly, as the pioneer of China's summer box office, "Superman Returns", which was intended to make a fortune during the students' vacation, only took in 2600 million in the first week.

There is no essential difference between it and "Crazy Stone" at all.

The one-sided situation that everyone imagined did not occur at all.

The reason is... apart from the song "Don't Look at Me as Just a Sheep" played by Zhang Yuan on a million-dollar Steinway, the movie "Superman Returns" itself is actually of average quality.

First of all, the actor who plays Superman is Brandon Routh, who has the weakest presence in history.

This guy just played Superman in this movie.

Compared with his predecessor Christopher Reeve and his successor Henry Cavill, his popularity is almost invisible.

And the shooting process of this film was also full of hardships.

The first director to be confirmed was the Hollywood genius Tim Burton, the director of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Edward Scissorhands".

And the original actor for Superman was the famous acting master Nicolas Cage!
The long-haired Cage version of Superman that circulated on the Internet later was the costume test photo for this movie.

But soon, the producer Warner's old problem came back.

The script was repeatedly overturned and the director was changed back and forth. Seeing this, Cage quit the role directly.

The original budget was 3.5 million US dollars, and 5000 million US dollars was consumed in the repeated troubles in the early stages.

The money they wasted is enough to make a movie like "Curse of the Golden Flower".

I wonder how many relevant leaders have been very upset because of this.

It took several years to complete this revival of the Superman series.

So China Film Group arranged this schedule for "Crazy Stone", which is actually quite considerate.

Pick the weakest foreign enemy.

But China Film Group never thought that "Crazy Stone" would almost tie with the other party!

Inside the China Film Corporation office, Han Sanpin was stunned when he saw the box office report.

This was totally beyond his expectations.

It was as if I saw a picture.

"Superman Returns": I'm an elite.

"Crazy Stone": I'm fighting the elite!

After a long time, the old man spoke with a smile.

"Zhang Yuan is a kid who always comes up with something new for me."

He also heard from his subordinates that Zhang Yuan had recently made big news on the Internet, which attracted a large number of viewers to pay attention to the film.

"Is the propaganda power of the Internet really that great?" Old Han muttered.

He turned on the computer, and his stiff fingers slowly tapped on the keyboard, checking various messages.

Sure enough, there are a lot of discussion posts about "Crazy Stone" on major forums.

Especially various interpretations of the plot and analyses of the characters.

This film does have some interesting content.

And when the box office results came out, some film media even published a magazine headline.

"Superman encounters Kryptonite!"

The film critics were also silent. Their previous comments that Dark Horse would be defeated once it encountered a Hollywood blockbuster were now slapped in the face.

It was originally just a piece of low-cost domestic jadeite, but I didn’t expect it to be bought by Superman.

It may be because of the color. After all, Kryptonite, Superman's only weakness, is emerald-colored.

It's not surprising that Zhang Yimou can work with Hollywood blockbusters.

It is unheard of that an unknown director would dare to compete with a Hollywood blockbuster with a budget of several million.

It’s like Ning Hao grabbing the collar of Bryan Singer, the director of “Superman Returns”.

"You're the only one called Superman. I heard you're pretty arrogant!"

Bryan Singer is no ordinary person. In addition to "Superman Returns", the "X"-Men trilogy, "Wolverine", "X-Men First Class" and "X-Men Days of Future Past" are all his works. This guy is quite talented.

Domestic movie fans are happy.

After all, domestic films have always been in the traditional fighting stage of "I have beaten the foreigners, so why can't I beat you?"

Otherwise, there would be no need for the Domestic Protection Month.

Now suddenly a young director shows up and takes young actors to fight the foreigners. How can everyone not be excited?

Warner Bros. was also dumbfounded when they saw the results.

It was said that the blockbuster movies would sweep away everything, but where are the Chinese people who are stupid and rich?
Where the hell is this going? Is this still China?

Is the Chinese film and television market so dangerous now?

Is a low-budget movie so awesome?

Warner thought to himself, I was prepared to play in the bronze league, so how come I ended up in the king league for no apparent reason?
The key is that when Warner took a look, he said, "I'm not familiar with this movie, I'm not familiar with this director, but I'm familiar with this actor!"

Isn’t this the guy who told us the Harry Potter series?

You had to rely on me for food before, but now you dare to ride on my neck and shit?
I, a foreigner, have never suffered such humiliation before!

Warner Bros. immediately called China Film Group.

Lao Han received the call and scratched his head, feeling very puzzled.
Warner is one of China Film’s main partners.

After all, the China Film Warner Hengdian Group was established only not long ago.

After the other party complained angrily for a while, Han Sanpin agreed to notify the theaters to adjust the screening rate.

As a result, the screening schedule of "Crazy Stone" is bound to be squeezed out.

But the box office in the first two weeks has far exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Give him 350 million dollars to make a Hollywood blockbuster in the summer season."

"If he was given tens of millions to spend, he would have a big hit during the Lunar New Year holiday!"

Han Sanpin took the information about "Crazy Stone" in his hand and studied it carefully again.

"Ning Hao is a good candidate!"

"But he can't do this alone."

"It is thanks to Zhang Yuan's cooperation and efforts that we have achieved the current flourishing scene."

"I heard that all the TV series this guy invested in were very popular."

"It seems that he has an extraordinary vision."

"Interesting." Old Han discovered that several powerful younger generations had emerged in the film industry.

He decided to focus on the subsequent movements of these people... (End of this chapter)