Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 209 The Status of the Dragon

Cheng Long is the well-deserved big brother of the Chinese entertainment and film industry.

In the field of acting, I'm afraid no one can surpass his achievements.

In Hollywood, he is the most popular Chinese actor, but his way of entering Hollywood is completely different from other actors.

Other actors usually enter Hollywood by starring in mainstream Hollywood commercial films, such as Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Zhang Ziyi...

But Cheng Long is not.

He relies on "Rumble in the Bronx".

"Rumble in the Bronx" is a standard Hong Kong film. Even Jackie Chan himself did not expect that it would become a hit in Hollywood.

Before this, Cheng Long had actually ventured into Hollywood like other people, and starred in Hollywood productions such as "The Killer" and "Dynasty", but the response was mediocre.

After the failure, he had no choice but to return to Hong Kong and continue to take root in the local market until "Rumble in the Bronx" came out.

"Rumble in the Bronx" was very successful, opening in over 2000 theaters in North America, which set a record for the opening of a non-English film at the time.

At that time, the foreigners were all stunned. Where had they ever seen a movie shot like this?
It is said that people in the cinema often can't help but exclaim "Amazing" and "Unbelivable", which means damn, this movie is awesome.

Later, with "Rush Hour" and "Rush Hour 2", Jackie Chan reached the peak of his life and officially entered the 2000 million club. He was the third highest paid male actor in North America at that time.

It surpassed Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis, and was second only to Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.

It's just that the market conditions have not been very good in the past two years. The box office performances of "Around the World in 80 Days", "The Tuxedo" and "Shanghai Noon" were not very good. It seems that North American audiences are a little tired of his style, so he is thinking about transformation.

We have made "Glass Bottle" and "Myth", and there will be "Baby Project" in the future.

On the plane, Cheng Long was still reading the script, while Liang Jiahui was lying comfortably on the sofa next to him. It was not the first time that he had followed Cheng Long on a plane.

"Jackie, have you ever thought about what to do if Zhang Chen just doesn't agree with you acting?"

Tony Leung has inquired about Zhang Chen's life, so he knows Zhang Chen's record. Although this guy has not been in the circle for a long time, he has offended many people. He has scolded Xie Tingfeng before, and recently scolded Zeng Zhiwei and Wu Yusen. The "Taken" in their hands is a work that is intended to teach Wu Yusen how to shoot a spy film.

Tony Leung couldn't guarantee whether such a tough character would give face to Jackie Chan. He just wanted to give Jackie Chan a heads-up in advance to avoid being embarrassed when the time comes.

Cheng Long raised his head when he heard this: "What can I do? Can I force him to let me act with a gun?"

In fact, he had thought about this question too.

As a big brother, you have to save face.

But he really liked this script.

He didn't think so when he first saw it, but the more he saw it, the more he liked it. If he didn't have any shame, he would have wanted to copy it.

Unfortunately, Zhang Chen is also a billionaire director with great influence in the country.

Besides, Cheng Long would never do such a thing. He usually says on the show that others copied his ideas. If he did the same thing himself, how could he be the big brother in the future?

"Okay, as long as you are mentally prepared, we can cooperate again next time~"

"Well, that's what I planned too."

In the past two years, he has embraced the mainland. "The Myth" was a collaboration with China Film Group, and the rising Star Entertainment is naturally also a possible partner.

Huo Wenxi on the side remained silent. She came here on behalf of Emperor Entertainment Group this time.

Jackie Chan and Emperor Entertainment Group are now a joint venture, and the two have jointly established Jackie Chan Emperor Entertainment Group Films Limited. "New Police Story" is the company's first work.

If Jackie Chan successfully joins "Taken", the new movie will definitely be invested in and will also need actresses, which are all within her scope of responsibility.

……

Star Entertainment
The next morning when Zhang Chen came to the company, he found that the entire company had a new look.

The news that Cheng Long is coming over today has spread throughout the company, and everyone is very excited.

Zhang Chen discovered that many of the female employees who usually looked ordinary had prepared exquisite makeup today.

Shaking his head, Cheng Long didn't come here for a blind date, you guys...

Zhang Chen stood up and prepared to go out. He wanted to go to school today.

As a student of the directing department, I actually have homework every semester, which is usually to make a short film. The subject matter is not limited and the quality can be a bit rough, but the main purpose is to hone my techniques.

This is also the reason why children from ordinary families simply cannot afford to study directing. For a short film, even if it is shot with a DV and all the actors use classmates for post-production, it will cost at least 2000 yuan.

There are more than one assignment in a semester, so the total cost is tens of thousands. In addition, art theaters do not receive government subsidies, so the tuition is expensive.

Ordinary families really cannot afford it.

When you graduate, you also have a graduation project, which is similar to the graduation projects of other departments. It is also a short film, usually about 20 minutes long. This costs a lot, tens of thousands.

Of course, if the resources are sufficient, it is also possible to make a normal movie. "So Young" is Zhao Yanzi's graduate thesis.

Zhang Chen will be a senior in the second half of this year and will have to prepare his graduation project, which he plans to use is "Taken".

Zhang Chen stood up and was about to leave when Dong Jianqiang came in.

"Where are you going?"

"Go to school."

"Not waiting for Cheng Long anymore?"

Zhang Chen rolled his eyes and said, "Please, big brother, isn't Cheng Long arriving in the afternoon? I'll go to school and won't delay anything."

Just as I was about to leave, the phone suddenly rang. It was Han Sanping.

"Third Master~"

"I heard Cheng Long is going to your place?"

Zhang Chen looked at Dong Jianqiang suspiciously, and the latter spread his hands, indicating that he was not the one who leaked the information.

"Third Master, did you install a bug in my company?"

"Haha, brat, how can you talk to me like that? I'm just asking you, do you need me to come over and support you?"

It turned out that this was the old man's plan. Zhang Chen was a little touched.

Although he is already one of the few billionaire directors in China, Cheng Long's status is not low. If he were put in a novel, he would be a martial arts master.

The Third Master was worried that Cheng Long would take advantage of his age and seniority.

Zhang Chen thought about it and finally refused: "Forget it, it's no big deal, Cheng Long shouldn't use force. I'll talk to him nicely, he should understand. If you're here, he might feel embarrassed..."

"Well, that's right. Then you should be more careful about your attitude and stop being so aggressive towards others."

"Third Master, I'm not crazy. Those guys I was against were the ones who provoked me first. Cheng Long didn't provoke me. I still respect him very much."

"As long as you know."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chen drove to the school and went straight to the guidance building.

Beijing Film Academy is really too small. It’s such a tiny place that there’s no place even for dating.

Before coming, Zhang Chen called Teacher Fu and talked to him about his graduation project.

So when Zhang Chen came over, Teacher Fu was waiting for him in the office, along with another teacher, Jiang Wei.

"Teacher Fu, Teacher Jiang..." Zhang Chen greeted them one by one.

"Zhang Chen is here, Lao Fu, I really envy you for having such a good student..."

Teacher Jiang Wei's tone was full of envy. Zhang Chen's achievement was unparalleled among current students, and even in the history of Beijing Film Academy, there were only a few.

Otherwise, people say that actors come from the Central Academy of Drama and directors come from the Beijing Film Academy.

Among these four directors, three graduated from Beijing Film Academy.

“Isn’t this also your student?”

Teacher Fu was smiling. Jiang Wei was a script teacher at Beijing Film Academy and had also taught Zhang Chen several script classes.

Jiang Wei is very awesome. He is the screenwriter of "Don't Talk to Strangers" and he also tinkered with the later "Insidious".

When seeing Jiang Wei, Zhang Chen immediately thought of "The Disguiser" and Xie Ruolin in it.

I have been busy during this period, and Ning Hao has also released "Stone", so I have neglected my good brother Cao Bingkun.

Should we release "The Disguiser" earlier to help Lao Cao become famous sooner?

Well, it seems to be possible.

"Okay, you guys chat, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Zhang Chen must have come here to talk to Fu Donglai about something, so Jiang Wei found an excuse to leave.

"Okay, then come over more often, we can have a drink someday..."

After seeing Jiang Wei off, Teacher Fu came back to greet Zhang Chen. When he was about to make tea for him, he found that the boy poured it himself as if he was familiar with it.

That's pretty good.

"Teacher Fu, let me talk about what I said on the phone. I will treat the new film as my graduation project, so I'm telling you in advance."

"Okay, did you bring the script?"

"I brought it, take a look~"

Teacher Fu took the script and said, "Taken? Is this the movie that Cheng Long wants to work with you on?"

"Ah, you know that too?"

"It's not just me, even the school leaders asked."

Zhang Chen scratched his head: "Cheng Long did have an idea, but I didn't agree."

Teacher Fu had the same reaction as everyone else, staring with eyes wide open in disbelief. Zhang Chen explained, "He is not quite suitable for the role."

“Oh~” Teacher Fu understood what I said.

After finishing the script quickly, Teacher Fu looked up and said, "It's OK. The characterization is good, but it's indeed not very suitable for Cheng Long."

Zhang Chen was relieved that there was finally someone who understood him.

“This has to be filmed abroad, right?”

Zhang Chen nodded: "Yes, we are planning to shoot in the United States."

"You have set a new record. It seems that no student at Beijing Film Academy has ever produced a graduation project of this scale..."

"When will it be turned on?"

"If the actors can be confirmed, we will be ready to start filming before the end of the month."

Teacher Fu nodded. "The principal asked me yesterday, if you and Cheng Long reach a cooperation, can you hold the signing ceremony at school? It seems that he will be disappointed."

Zhang Chen smiled bitterly.

"Oh, there's one more thing. Our department is planning to recruit graduate students. Professor Tian Zhuangzhuang mentioned it to me vaguely. It seems that he wants you to apply for his graduate program. What do you think?"

"postgraduate?"

Zhang Chen had never thought about this.

In the entertainment industry, academic qualifications seem to be of little use.

Teacher Fu knew that he hadn't figured out the key point, so he reminded him, "Teacher Tian Zhuangzhuang is different from me. I'm just an ordinary person and can't help you much.

But Teacher Tian Zhuangzhuang has a wide circle of contacts, and many seniors in the circle are his former classmates or friends. Including the fact that your previous script was able to pass the review, in fact, Teacher Tian Zhuangzhuang contributed a lot.

If you want awards or something in the future, he can help you a lot."

Zhang Chen is not interested in things like movie awards. In his previous life, he was naive and thought that these things were the highest honor.

Later, as my knowledge grew, I realized more and more that no award in the world is fair and just.

They also lost their awe of the awards.

But then again, it's really nice to have such an awesome teacher.

(End of this chapter)