Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 314 Scare Chen Kexin

Inside the hotel room, the TV was on but no one was watching. The host of the science and education program spoke in a calm voice: "When the drill goes deep into the dry well and touches the mysterious water source, the chance of water coming out is almost 100%, and there may even be a rare blowout..."

Zhang Chen hid in his hotel room for the past two days and did not go out at all. Even his meals were delivered to him.

He can't stay in Hong Kong for a few days, so he has to hurry up...

Ripe peaches are sweeter than unripe ones, and Zhongli Ti gave him a completely different experience.

Moreover, the other party has good acting skills and can easily handle various role-playing.

Zhang Chen began to understand Prime Minister Cao a little.

This is a very complicated psychological process: to hate Cao thief, to understand Cao thief, and to become Cao thief!

A few days later, a haggard and skinny young man staggered out of the room.

They had agreed to practice dual cultivation, but it ended up being a practice of collecting and replenishing energy, and he was the one being collected and replenished.

At this moment, Zhang Chen was just a pile of medicine dregs.

The fighting power of mature women should not be underestimated, they can be called human juicers.

The phone rang: "Hello, who is this? Oh, Director Du~
You're welcome, I'm just stating my true feelings.

Want to have dinner together? No problem, I'll be out now."

Because of the broadcast of "锵锵三人行", Zhang Chen praised "Underworld" highly in the program, which led to a significant increase in the box office of "Underworld".

"Taken" is very popular now, and its box office in Hong Kong has exceeded 2000 million.

It was specially recommended by the director of "Hurricane", so the audience is certainly interested in watching it.

Johnnie To called specifically to express his gratitude and invited me to have lunch together.

Zhang Chen would certainly seize the opportunity to escape from the clutches of the devil. He now just wanted to leave early to avoid dying of exhaustion.

"Director Du invited me to dinner, so you don't have to go today. By the way, I talked to Lu Yang and arranged a role for you. You should prepare to join the crew today."

This beauty has been eating, playing and playing games with me these past few days, but she hasn't asked for anything.

Zhang Chen was not an ignorant person, so she asked Lu Yang to assign her a role. In the script, the protagonist was rescued by a family, and they hid the protagonist in a secret compartment on the TV wall.

Why not give the role of saving people to Zhong Li?

Zhong Liti was very happy. She clamped her legs together and hung herself on Zhang Chen. Her movements were so skillful that it made people feel distressed.

Zhang Chen hurriedly tried to stop him, because if he continued like this he would be crippled.

I can handle it myself, but my second brother can't.

For the first time, I felt that partying every night was not happiness, but a way to kill people.

……

At the dinner table, the two talked about movies again

"Director Du, when I watched Hong Kong crime films before, I always felt that the gangsters here were all loyal and righteous. In "A Better Tomorrow" and "Young and Dangerous", although some people were helpless in the underworld, there was more of a strong brotherhood. When I got older and had some experience, I realized that these were all deliberately beautified.

What these directors who make crime films like to do most is to show the loyalty of gang members, but they never mention the evil deeds they do.

Their method is actually very simple, which is to create a worse villain for contrast."

Johnnie To listened to this with a smile and laughed, "That's true. Gangster themes are a major feature of Hong Kong movies. This is related to the fact that many film companies have their own gang backgrounds. Some bigwigs even personally pay for themselves to make biographical movies..."

Zhang Chen knew that he was talking about "The Storm Riders", which was the autobiography of Haojiang Ju.

Gangster themes were very popular in those two years. "Young and Dangerous" actually tells the story of Xin Ji, so Hao Jiangju was of course itching to do something after watching it.

In Hong Kong, Xin Ji can still be ranked high, but in Macau, the Number Gang is number one. Macau Ju is an important leader of the Number Gang. According to the military classification, he belongs to the tire 0 level.

"So I like your movies, because your gangster movies are real~"

This is not really a compliment. There is no glorification of gangs in "Underworld". It is so realistic that it seems like a story happening around us.

Of all the gangster films Zhang Chen has seen, "Underworld" and "Mongolia" are the most realistic.

As they were chatting, Johnnie To suddenly looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Why, Director Du, do you have something to do later? Then shall we stop here for today?"

"No, you misunderstood. I called a friend. He asked me out for dinner after I called you. After he found out that I had an appointment with you, he wanted to get to know you, so I agreed on my own initiative. However, he was at the filming site, so it would take some time for him to get over..."

Zhang Chen became interested when Johnnie To said this: "Who is it?"

"Chen Kexin~"

Oh, it’s Chen’s straw hat.

The first time Zhang Chen knew about this person in his previous life was the straw hat incident. A straw hat cost 6000 yuan, and it was widely spread among netizens.

After waiting for a while and learning more, I finally understood the inside story. It's not that the producers are stupid, but they can't explain it to the outside world.

"Oh, he's here~"

Zhang Chen followed Johnnie To's gaze and saw a young man with long hair just walking into the hotel. He was looking around and saw Johnnie To, and waved with a smile.

When the visitor came closer, Johnnie To said with a smile: "I don't need to introduce you to him..."

"Haha, no need. Hello, Director Zhang. I am really sorry for being so rude today..."

Zhang Chen also smiled and shook hands: "No, I've wanted to meet Director Chen for a long time..."

The two actually met at last year's Golden Horse Awards, when Zhang Chen brought Taken to the show and chatted with Fruit Chan, the director of Three Hours 2, of which Chen Kexin was the producer. But at the time, Zhang Chen was still a young kid, and the other party probably looked down on him, but things are different now.

The three of them sat down again, ordered a few more dishes, and then continued chatting.

"Ke Xin has a movie that will be released in mainland China at the end of the year. This is his first time entering the mainland market and he is not very familiar with it, so he asked me, but I didn't understand, so I thought of you. With you, the most popular director in mainland China, there is no one else I should ask for help..."

Johnnie To was being polite. Chen Kexin also said, "Yeah, this is my first time entering the mainland. I'm a little unsure. I want to ask Director Zhang for advice~"

Learn from experience?

impossible!
Do you know what it means that the Dharma should not be passed on lightly? I have to save my sperm for those female fairies, but I still said, "Is Director Chen's movie "If Love"? "

"Yes, yes, yes, Director Zhang knows?" Chen Kexin seemed very excited.

Zhang Chen looked at Chen Kexin, then at Johnnie To, not knowing whether he should tell the truth.

Johnnie To noticed Zhang Chen's hesitation and raised his glass quickly: "Ke Xin, let's toast to Director Zhang. I hope Director Zhang will give us some advice..."

Chen Kexin also reacted and raised her glass: "I hope Director Zhang can give me some advice~"

"Hey, what are you doing? We are just chatting, why are you putting me in a difficult position..."

After being tricked like this, Zhang Chen couldn't hide it anymore. The two men drank the liquor in their glasses, and Zhang Chen followed suit.

Chen Kexin filled Zhang Chen's glass with wine, and Zhang Chen immediately asked, "Is Director Chen's If Love scheduled to be released in December?"

"Yes, it premieres on December 12th."

"You asked me to speak, so I told you the truth."

After hearing what Zhang Chen said, the two of them already had a bad feeling in their hearts.

Zhang Chen shrugged and said, "I don't think the box office will be very good."

Chen Kexin's expression immediately fell when she heard this, but Johnnie To didn't show any emotion, instead he asked, "What's the reason?"

"Because you are facing The Promise."

After hearing this reason, Johnnie To and Chan Ke-Hsin looked at each other, with the latter asking uncertainly, "Is The Promise strong?"

"Whether it is strong or not is another matter, but it is a project of poet Chen. You may not know much about the status of poet Chen in the mainland film industry. He can do whatever he wants, and The Promise is a blockbuster~"

"If Love is also a blockbuster~"

Zhang Chen shook his head.

"Of course not. Although the investment is not as high as The Promise, the investment in If Love is also 80 million, which is considered a big movie. The combined salary of Jacky Cheung, Zhou Xun, and Takeshi Kaneshiro alone is quite a lot~"

Chen Kexin kept talking to herself, it was obvious that he still followed the Hong Kong film-making theory and liked to pile up big stars.

Zhang Chen curled his lips: "The definition of a blockbuster in China is comprehensive. It must have a large investment, big stars, big scenes, and the director must be a famous director. Even the musical scripts behind the scenes are all participated by well-known figures...

What does "If Love" have? 3.5 million box office is not bad in normal times, but compared with the million of "The Promise", it is not enough. In terms of director, Chen Kaige is the first in China, but you are basically not famous in China, and there are no big scenes. Only the star lineup is OK, barely able to tie...

Also, there is a flaw in If Love, which is its subject matter. It is actually a musical, which is definitely a niche genre in mainland China.

Speaking of this, Zhang Chen admired Chen Kexin's courage. Even he, a reborn person, didn't dare to do this, but Chen Kexin actually did it~
For domestic audiences, musicals are imported products, a niche within a niche.

Even though this thing is popular abroad, it would be a miracle if it could be released in China.

"But if it's so bad, why would Mr. Tan from Xingmei invest? He said he would support it..."

Chen Kexin seemed to have found a life-saving straw.

“I don’t know why Star Media invested, but Star Media has to listen to China Film. The Promise is China Film’s key project of the year. Do you know what a key project is? It means that China Film will do its best to promote The Promise.

Not only Star Media, but all the cinema chains in China have to listen to China Film. If you go against it, how many resources do you think you can get? If a cinema can reserve a hall for you, it will be considered a great achievement..."

Hearing what Zhang Chen said, the two people opposite looked at each other again. Zhang Chen knew that they must think he was exaggerating, because they didn't understand the mainland's system at all.

He simply continued, "Do you know why my film 'Taken' has to be released in the 11th slot? Even if it has to compete with 'The Myth', it has to be released in the 11th slot?"

“In order to… avoid ‘The Promise’?” Chen Kexin’s tone was a little uncertain.

Now, the two were finally moved. They didn’t have any intuitive feelings about other things, but it was different when it came to the box office.

"Taken" sold very well both in mainland China and Hong Kong, so it has to give way?

"My film Taken also received investment from China Film Group, but it still had to give way to the annual key projects..."

Hearing this, Chen Kexin finally realized the seriousness of the matter and couldn't help but take a breath.

"You mean, my "If Love" might fail miserably against "The Promise"? "

Zhang Chen chuckled: "Be more confident, remove the possibility, you will definitely fail miserably~"

Now Chen Kexin could no longer sit still.

"Is it that serious?" Johnnie To still didn't believe it.

Zhang Chen shrugged: "When making movies in the mainland, the only giant that cannot be avoided is China Film. It has the right to import foreign films, which means it controls the cinemas. The cinemas have to rely on it for their livelihood."

No matter how reluctant we are to admit it, we have to admit that the current film market is indeed dominated by Western films. Although the box office champion every year is not a Western film and the total box office is limited to less than 50%, imported Western films have never lost money.

The audience is willing to watch it, and theaters are willing to show it.

"Then... then I'm done for, right?" Chen Kexin never expected that she would encounter such a thing when she first entered the mainland market. Johnnie To was thankful that his "Election" would be released in mainland China in October.

"Move up the release date, try to avoid The Promise. I remember that the Lunar New Year release date seemed to be The Promise, A One Man's Journey, A Chinese Odyssey, A Chinese Odyssey: Part One, and If You Love Me. If you don't move up the release date, these three of your films will become cannon fodder..."

(End of this chapter)