Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 321 332 [I can't understand Chen Kaige's new work, Hollywood blockbuster is coming]

After I had secured the role of the male lead "Zhang Zilii", choosing the subsequent roles became much easier.

The role of criminal policeman Xiao Wang was given to Li Chengru who came for the audition, and the role of the male protagonist's wife was given to Yu Feihong's best friend Wang Qian.

Originally, Li Yishu didn't want Wang Qian to play the role, not because she was not suitable, but because the role only appeared in the beginning for less than a minute.

After all, Wang Qian has known him for several years, so it would be better not to give him this role which lasts less than a minute.

But Yu Feihong still decided to ask her bestie to come over and make a cameo appearance so that she could experience what it was like to be on a big director’s set.

Hearing her say this, Li Yishu did not refuse. It happened that Wang Qian had joined the Wen Yi Shi Dai agency, so it would be nice for her to go to the Northeast with the crew to broaden her horizons.

As for other supporting roles, Li Yishu handed them over to Zhao Fei and others. They will set off for Shenyang in Northeast China in a few days, and will most likely make the selections at the Shenyang Film Studio.

The time came to noon.

After Li Yishu took Yu Feihong, Zhao Fei and others to have lunch nearby, he set off to the Beijing Film Studio alone, intending to find Han Sanping to learn about the progress of the preparations for the "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms" crew.

There is still more than half a year left before "Red Cliff" will start filming. Starting in April next year, the main creative team will undergo closed training for two months, and then the filming will start around June.

In this way, the actors will be able to integrate into their respective roles during the closed training period, and when the filming officially starts, everyone will be able to integrate into the crew more quickly.

Beijing Film Studio.

In Han Sanping's office.

"As for the costumes and props, they have basically been finalized. They are all made according to the results of our previous discussions."

Han Sanping took out the album provided by the costume and props team and handed it to Li Yishu.

Taking the album, Li Yishu flipped through it page by page. Unlike the original hand-drawn drawings, these photos were all taken of the real objects, and there were also model displays. Overall, the shapes were almost the same as the hand-drawn drawings.

Li Yishu looked up and asked, "Uncle San, do you have any ready-made costumes?"

Han Sanping nodded: "Yes, the factory has sent a batch. It's in the warehouse. I'll take you to see it later."

"Well, let's go check it out later."

Li Yishu put down the album in his hand, picked up the teacup and took a sip. "Third Uncle, I have already asked the people at the company regarding Hengdian World Studios. The main structures of Changle Palace and Weiyang Palace have been built, and they will be completed around April next year."

"Yes, I have communicated with Hengdian Group. If you don't come today, I plan to bring people over to investigate in a few days."

Han Sanping smiled and said, "Come to think of it, the Qin Palace has already been built."

"The Qin Palace is completed?" Li Yishu was extremely surprised. You know, Brother Chen Kai's Qin Palace was built more than a month later than their Changle Weiyang Palace, but it was completed so quickly.

"It was Brother Chen Kai who urged us to do it. All the interior scenes of his film The Emperor and the Assassin have been completed. Now only the Palace of the Emperor and some exterior scenes are left. So after discussing with the Hengdian Group, we gathered the construction team to build the Palace of the Emperor first."

Having said that, Han Sanping looked at Li Yishu, as if to see her expression.

The conflict between Li Yishu and Chen Kai is well known to everyone. It is difficult for him, the director of Beijing Film Studio, to be caught in the middle. After all, Chen Kai is also a member of Beijing Film Studio, and "The Emperor and the Assassin" can be considered a film project of Beijing Film Studio. It is not good to be too biased towards Li Yishu.

Li Yishu said indifferently: "Let's build it first. Our crew is not in a hurry anyway."

He owns a considerable stake in Hengdian Film and Television City, so he naturally doesn't care who will finish building it first. There's no rush anyway.

Hearing this, Han Sanping breathed a sigh of relief, and recalled that he had visited Brother Chen Kai's crew last month. He hesitated and said, "Yishu, do you think Brother Chen Kai's movie can succeed? I visited his crew last month, and the filming was okay, but the lines always felt weird, and Brother Chen Kai actually changed Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin into a move directed and performed by Qin Shi Huang himself!"

Brother Chen Kai's original script is very different from the one being filmed now. Han Sanping only discovered something was wrong after visiting the set, and there was an air of weirdness about the entire crew.

Not to mention the weird lines, the Qin Shi Huang, played by Li Xuejian, likes to be startled when he speaks. People who know him as Qin Shi Huang, while people who don't know him think he is the crazy Qin next door.

"Ha ha!"

Li Yishu laughed and said, "Uncle San, I think it's okay to change it this way. Qin Shihuang was able to unify the six kingdoms, so he must have been a man of great talent and strategy. Besides, it's a movie, so there's nothing wrong with a reasonable adaptation. If it's completely copied from the history books, it's not a movie but a biography."

He was laughing like crazy in his heart at this moment. It seemed that Han Sanping only saw the weird lines and some of the strange plots. When he watched the whole movie in the future, Han Sanping would probably be furious.

In her previous life, Li Yishu went to the cinema to watch the movie "The Emperor and the Assassin". After all, Chen Kai was a famous director who won the Palme d'Or at that time. It was his first time to shoot a big costume production, and it was about such a topical historical figure as Qin Shihuang, so naturally she wanted to see it.

But after watching it, I just kept silent because of Li Yishu.

Not to mention that Jing Ke was an assassin hired by Qin Shihuang himself, the fact that Lao Ai set up an ambush in the palace and led three hundred followers to break into the Qin Palace is really an insult to one's IQ.

The funniest thing is that after Lao Ai’s rebellion failed, he threatened to surrender if King Zheng of Qin would let his followers go, but King Zheng of Qin did not agree and directly ordered his soldiers to wipe out all of them. Then Lao Ai suddenly blurted out: You are a murderer, you are a murderer!

These words made Li Yishu's scalp tingle!

Afterwards, Lao Ai was arrested and he actually made a true confession to the Queen Mother in front of King Zheng of Qin, which stunned the audience in the cinema at that time.

After all this time, it turns out that Lao Ai and the Queen Mother were truly in love, and King Zheng of Qin was the culprit who broke up these two people?
A historical conspiracy turned into a madness for love!!
"It can definitely be adapted, but it just feels weird to me."

Han Sanping recalled that when he visited the crew to watch some of the filming scenes, including some of the script content that was later revised, he always felt as if something was not right, but because he did not know the full picture, he could not judge what was wrong.

“Director Chen might want to shoot a different kind of historical drama.” Li Yishu said playfully, “After all, it’s a big production with an investment of 300 million RMB. The plot is not really important. The main thing is how the war scenes are shot.”

"That's true." Han Sanping nodded in agreement.

The primary purpose of big-budget films is not the plot, but some epic scenes that cost a lot of money, because the audience goes to the cinema not to watch the plot but to watch the movie.

As long as Brother Chen Kai’s war scenes are well shot, it doesn’t matter if the plot is a little weird.

"Uncle San, let's not talk about Director Chen. I heard that our Beijing Film Studio is cooperating with Hong Kong Island recently?"

"Yes, working with Jet Li to make an action film." "..."

After chatting for a while, Li Yishu followed Han Sanping to the warehouse to check the prepared costumes and props.

The costumes, swords, guns and props that were delivered were made of sufficient materials and were of excellent quality.

If this standard is followed, after the filming of this movie is completed, it will be stored in the large prop warehouse at Hengdian Film and Television City. Whether it is rented out or used by the owner, it can be reused in the future.

"By the way, Yishu, The Fugitive will be released in China soon. The promotion has already started. It is scheduled for November 11th. It is planned to be screened for a week in six cities: Yanjing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Shancheng, and Guangzhou."

“It’s finally going to be released.”

Li Yishu looked at him with a blazing gaze, "Uncle San, you don't look worried at all?"

"What's the point of worrying? It's already a done deal. I just hope that the domestic films released at the same time won't fail so badly. I heard that there are already cinemas in Guangzhou selling tickets for the premiere, and the ticket prices are much higher than those for domestic films."

Han Sanping sighed helplessly. He had watched the videotape of "The Fugitive" in advance. The quality of the filming was worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. The scenes of gunfights, explosions, car chases, etc. were more than one level higher than the Hong Kong police and gangster films.

What's more, this is the first Hollywood movie to be released in China. In today's world where the people lack confidence and public intellectuals are everywhere, there are countless audiences who want to catch a glimpse of Hollywood blockbusters.

The average movie ticket that costs 6 yuan has been sold for dozens of yuan each, and there is still no demand!
Just because many people want to watch it on the premiere day, it is no longer just a movie. In many people's minds, getting a ticket for the first round of premieres on the first day is a symbol of wealth and status.

If this trend continues, the box office for the week-long premiere in the six cities may be much higher than that of domestic films in the same period, or even far ahead.

After all, the method of calculating movie box office has been reformed. It is no longer calculated based on the number of moviegoers as in the past, but is calculated based on ticket prices sold.

This is also why, for domestic movies with a box office of tens of billions, the number of fans who actually go to the cinema to watch them is not that exaggerated. It is only because movie tickets are expensive, with a single ticket costing dozens or even hundreds of dollars, and the total box office data is purely due to the high ticket prices.

Li Yishu said with emotion: "If domestically produced films want to have box office success, they still have to cultivate an audience base first. The film market has been sluggish in recent years, and the introduction of Hollywood films may be intended to stimulate the film market."

What impressed him most about the film market was not the blockbuster era in the early 2000s, but the subsequent participation of Internet companies in movie ticket sales.

At that time, Internet companies subsidized movie ticket prices, and a movie ticket only cost 9.9 yuan, which was not enough to buy even a cup of expensive milk tea. It also indirectly led to a surge in the number of moviegoers in the country at that time.

Many people in their thirties and forties who seldom go to the movies were tempted by the price and ran to the cinema, not to mention the students who didn't have much money to begin with, who flocked to buy tickets to watch the movies.

The price of movie tickets nowadays is indeed a bit high, or the national economic level has not kept up. The average price of a movie ticket is 6 yuan, which may not seem like much, but compared with the average wage, it is not a small amount of money.

"I just hope it won't be too stimulating. I heard that the situation in Hong Kong Island is not optimistic. The film market in Formosa is even more sluggish. Many local filmmakers have gone to Hong Kong Island to make a living."

Nowadays, Beijing Film Studio has more or less cooperation with film companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Those filmmakers are most aware of the changes in the film markets of the two places, and it is inevitable that they will reveal some of them during the communication with Han Sanping.

"That's hard to say."

Li Yishu hesitated for a few seconds and said, "Uncle San, I'm afraid that Hong Kong movies will have to cut production on a large scale in less than two years."

Han Sanping was stunned: "Why?! I see their box office is still very high now, tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars at any time."

"There are many reasons, including rising production costs and the impact of Hollywood movies... But the most critical factor is the Taiwan film market. There are only a few million people in Hong Kong. But Taiwan has tens of millions of people and there is no rating system, so Category III films can be released. Once Hong Kong loses the Taiwan film market, it will not be so easy for Hong Kong films to make money."

In fact, there is a more important reason, that is the Asian financial crisis. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 was the last straw that broke the camel's back for Hong Kong films.

Hong Kong Island is small and has a small population, so if a movie wants to make money, it has to be distributed overseas. However, the Asian region has fallen into a financial crisis, and several important box office bases for Hong Kong films, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries have all encountered huge financial problems.

Everyone has no money left, who would go to the movies?

Coupled with the Hong Kong financial defense battle in 98, a lot of hot money began to flow out of the film and entertainment industry, either flowing into the mainland's physical industry or Hong Kong's local real estate.

in the afternoon.

The bell for the end of get out of class rang on the Beijing Film Academy campus.

After the teacher from the 93 Acting Department left, Jiang Qinqin stood up and stretched.

Jia Jingwen came over at this time: "Qinqin, when I went to the company at noon, I heard from Sister Xuan that Director Li is back?"

"Yeah, Yishu is back."

Jiang Qinqin was smiling happily. Li Yishu met her last night and made an appointment to go shopping in Wangfujing together tomorrow when she was on holiday.

"Then can I treat Director Li to a meal?"

Jia Jingwen gritted her teeth and said, "My father is in much better health now. He called me yesterday and asked me to thank Director Li."

"Sure, but let's do it tomorrow. Yishu said he has something to do today, so we will have the day off tomorrow."

"Okay Qinqin."

The two were chatting, and Xu Jinglei also came over.

Now the relationship between the three is very good.

On the one hand, it is because they are all signed to the Wen Yi Shi Dai agency, and on the other hand, all three of them starred in "Legend of the Han Palace" filmed during the summer vacation.

Although they were just minor roles like palace maids, they had worked together and had a much better relationship than other classmates.

A few of them were talking about whether to go to Donglaishun or Sichuan hotpot tomorrow, when Xu Jinglei suddenly said, "By the way, Qinqin, there are a few good freshmen in the acting department this year. Do you want to recommend them to Sister Xuan?"

　The temperature difference between day and night is big these days. I have a slight cold and I am not feeling well. The update is a bit slow. I hope everyone will keep warm.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)