Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 530: Conspiracy against Hong Kong Films

It's the end of the year again, and as usual, the Film Bureau held another industry forum, a seminar-style forum, to discuss the future of Chinese films.

Such seminars are held almost every year at the end of the year. Zhang Chen went there last year and found it boring.

He originally didn't want to go this year, but the Film Bureau leader asked him to speak.

Of course he had to speak. As the first director of a science fiction film in China, whose box office just exceeded 400 million, of course he had to share his experience.

The time is set for mid-January, so Zhang Chen still has time to prepare.

On the last day of December, "My Blueberry Nights" was released.

An art film directed by King of Sunglasses, which many people have never seen or even heard of.

The film is very Wang Jiawei.

Many people say that this is the foreign version of "Chungking Express", even the plot is exactly the same.

A British guy with a receding hairline falls in love with a girl who helps him with his pie scraps, and then misses her terribly after she leaves him and gets a Jewish chick.

The pace of the movie is very slow.

Wang Jiawei is known as a film master. People who like his movies love them to death, but people who don’t like them can’t get into them at all.

Who likes his movies? Actually, it’s Wen Qing.

In this era, Wenqing is not a disease, on the contrary, it is a trend.

People of Wenqing have a trait: they are extremely fond of things they don’t understand.

Wang Jiawei's films just meet this requirement.

Winning an award means that one is well-known, and has a slight sense of pretentiousness, which gives people the impression of being classy!

The young literary people can't help themselves after watching it.

So, this is a product of the times.

Do you think there are still people who think he is a master after 2010?

Because the older generation of literary youths have grown up and realized that the world does not run on pretense, and the new generation of literary youths are fading away and people don’t buy into that anymore.

But at this stage, domestic audiences only recognize masters.

Whether the movie is good or not is another matter. I heard it is a masterpiece by a master, so I'll watch it first.

In fact, few people can understand his movies, but in the past two years, people have a blind pursuit of award-winning works, as if they will become advanced if they watch award-winning works.

Wang Jiawei’s last movie released in mainland China was "2046", which actually earned 3000 million yuan at the box office in mainland China.

An art film, can you believe it?

"New Police Story" released during the same period only had a box office of 4300 million.

At that time, Jackie Chan was so embarrassed that he didn't even dare to accept interviews in Hong Kong.

Probably because of the success of "2046", Wang Jiawei is full of confidence. While others have moved their release dates, he has not.

Then it was crushed into pieces in seconds by Pacific Rim.

Pacific Rim is now in its fourth week of release, and its box office is still higher than My Blueberry Nights in its first week of release.

The King of Sunglasses might be a good friend. He has wild ideas and might be a good person to chat with.

But as a partner, I really can’t say enough good things about him.

When Zhang Chen was chatting with Huang Baiming, Huang once revealed this.

At that time in New One City, Wang Jingjing was the company's screenwriter and Huang was the creative director.

Hong Kong's film and television companies write scripts very quickly.

Then when it came to King of Sunglasses, he failed to submit scripts month after month, so Huang fired him.

What does this show? You are not serious about your work.

Not only that, they are also irresponsible towards investors.

The overspending investors of Ashes of Time nearly went bankrupt.

It took three years to shoot the drama "Fanghua".

There are still people bragging about this.

As the saying goes, slow work makes fine work.

Three years, please.
What investor can afford such a delay?

Just like the joke goes, the film's investor went to visit the set for the first time in a Mercedes Benz, full of high spirits.

Then the third time I visited the set, I rode a bicycle. If the movie wasn’t released, I would have no food to eat.

Zhang Chen had some unpleasantness with this person, and they had even had a verbal fight over "Ip Man" before.

When Golden Harvest was about to film Ip Man, Zedong Film and Television jumped out and said, "Don't plagiarize."

Please, Ip Man is a public figure like Wong Fei Hung, and he doesn't have any copyright, so how can it be considered plagiarism?

It was because the name Zedong Film and Television was too awesome that Zhang Chen didn’t dare to brag too much.

Now that Golden Harvest's "Ip Man" has been released, Wang Jiawei's "The Grandmaster" has not yet been completed.

By the way, when talking about Wang Jiawei, we have to talk about his good friend Liu Zhenwei.

Liu Zhenwei can really be considered a director with a particularly good mentality, without any idol baggage at all.

I don’t care what famous director it is.

"A Chinese Odyssey" unexpectedly became popular in mainland China, and this guy squeezed out every bit of the IP value of "A Chinese Odyssey".

He has no manners when eating at all.

Starting from "A Chinese Odyssey", every one of his movies was made to make money under the name of "A Chinese Odyssey", which can be said to be a money-making scam.

He is different from Wang Jing. Wang Jing also makes money by cheating, but at least he is serious sometimes.

Liu's films do not show any proper respect for films. He treats mainland audiences as fools and tries to fool as many as possible.

Why do people say that he has no idol baggage at all?

Because no matter whether they are famous directors from Hong Kong or the Mainland, even if they are out of fashion, their attitude towards movies is at least serious.

But Liu Zhenwei is not.

He's just in it for the money.

Later, the film and television industry did not allow the adaptation of the four great classics, so he became completely out of date and could not even make money from it.

In his previous life, Zhang Chen was badly cheated by this guy.

Basically, Zhang Chen stopped watching any movies about Journey to the West until the release of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.

Zhou Xingxing's box office appeal is still very strong.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is a very alternative movie about Journey to the West, which actually restores the original novel.

It was also after watching Stephen Chow's "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" that many people realized that the "Journey to the West" TV series we watched when we were young was completely different from "Journey to the West".

Monkey King is not some handsome monkey king;

Zhu Bajie is not some stupid person;

Director Yang Jie, you have deceived us and made us suffer so much.

……

As January came, the box office of "Pacific Rim" continued to grow.

Everyone is curious about when the box office will break 500 million.

No one doubts whether the final box office of the film can reach 500 million. This depends entirely on the attitude of China Film.

China Film Corporation controls 70% of the cinema resources. With just one word from Han Sanping, the box office can increase further by letting the movie be shown for a longer period of time.

Many movies are stuck at a certain point, such as 9000 million yuan. The producers will run to Han Sanping and ask, "Master San, can my movie finally make over million yuan?"

The Third Master usually asks: "How much is it now?"

"9000 million~"

"That's for sure."

Okay, it's done.

If Mr. San said it can exceed 100 million, then it will definitely exceed 100 million.

So the box office of "The Warlords" is 2.08 million, that's how it came about.

In January, quite unexpectedly, a large photography exhibition opened.

It started on the Bis Forum in Hong Kong, those who understand will understand...

The producers of "Pacific Rim" are very depressed, and the producers of "My Blueberry Nights" are even more depressed.

Because, ever since the opening of the big photography exhibition, no one has been talking about movies anymore.

Everyone is talking about female celebrities.

What does movie promotion rely on?
Depend on public opinion.

No one is discussing movies right now, so what's the point of promoting them?
The movie was about to reach 4.5 million yuan, but the box office suddenly stopped.

China Film Group has specially extended the release date for the secret key, and Pacific Rim will continue to be shown for two months to ensure that it can break the 500 million mark.

Five hundred million! What a remarkable political achievement.

But every disadvantage has its advantages. Zhang Chen was originally worried about what to say during the seminar, but now he is no longer worried.

In the past two years, there have been quite a few seminars of similar nature. Zhang Chen has also participated in some of them, but he felt they were not very meaningful.

We can indeed talk about some problems, but we can't talk about solutions.

Everyone is used to focusing on what is in their own bowl and does not care about the entire industry.

So gradually, Zhang Chen didn't want to go anymore.

But there was no choice this time, as his leader specifically asked him to go.

A lot of people came to the seminar, and almost all the famous directors came except Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou is busy with the Olympics, which has the highest priority. There is nothing we can do about it, no one can stop him.

The head of the Film Bureau coughed, then spoke: "Everyone present here is from the film industry. This year's works have achieved remarkable results. We gathered everyone together today to talk about the current situation of domestic films. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can raise them to promote the further development of the industry..."

After the opening remarks, no one spoke. The leader continued: "Director Yimou is busy with the Olympics, so let's not disturb him. Director Feng Xiaogang, why don't you say a few words to everyone first? Your movie "Assembly" has achieved a box office of 2.8 million this year. I believe you have some ideas. Don't keep them to yourself. Speak out so that everyone can learn..."

Feng Xiaogang feels honored to be mentioned.

The performance of "Assembly" is the highest among his personal works.

Originally, it was thought that it would not be his turn. After all, Zhang Chen's Pacific Rim had already grossed over 400 million yuan, and he himself was crowned the first director in China to have a cumulative box office of over 1 billion yuan. It was not logical or reasonable for him to get the turn.

But since the leader has named me...

"Let's talk about innovation..."

It was obvious that Xiao Gangpao had made preparations, and what he said was to the point.

There is a ten-minute war scene at the beginning of "Assembly", which is quite explicit.

There were broken limbs and arms inside, so Feng Xiaogang specially invited a Korean team to take charge of it.

The photo was still very good.

Feng Xiaogang believes this is an innovation.

In fact, Zhang Chen felt that the General Administration was turning a blind eye to these well-known directors.

If the same shot was not shot by Feng Xiaogang, it would definitely not pass the review.

Feng Xiaogang can shoot it.

This is similar to Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution".

Zhang Chen is actually in the same situation. In "Taken", he killed more than 100 enemies in one movie. If it were someone else, he would have been reported long ago.

It would be fine if it were him instead.

After Feng Xiaogang finished speaking, it was poet Chen who spoke up and his first words were: "I think movies should be based on life..."

Zhang Chen looked at the other person, without making eye contact, but why did it sound like Cricket to me?

"I am preparing a biographical film about Mr. Mei Lanfang..."

Poet Chen did not forget to advertise himself at the end.

The failure of “The Promise” brought his reputation to the bottom, and he was almost removed from the list of the top three directors in China.

If the media hadn't replaced the top three directors with the top four directors, he might have been the one replaced.

Although he declared stubbornly that no one would be able to understand "The Promise" within ten years.

But he still had some ideas in his heart, and was eager to prove to people that he was still the poet Chen who filmed "Farewell My Concubine".

So this time, the subject chosen is similar to "Farewell My Concubine" - "Mei Lanfang".

Let me show you that I am the Master.

Two of the four major directors have spoken, and Zhang Yimou didn’t come, so the next one should be Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen was not polite either, he cleared his throat and said to the microphone in front of him: "Everyone knows that I am a commercial filmmaker, and commercial films definitely don't have much depth.

I have said too much about commercial films and art films, so I won’t talk about it today.

Actually, I have said a lot about science fiction movies, but I don’t want to say more today.

What I want to talk about today is the big photography exhibition~"

Ok?
Zhang Chen’s speech stunned everyone present.

Big photo exhibition?

Is this topic something that can be discussed in this kind of situation?
Feng Xiaogang laughed. He wanted to hear what Zhang Chen had to say. This kid was always able to speak and dared to speak. He really expected Zhang Chen to set off a big firecracker, preferably the kind that could directly blow himself to death.

There were many people who shared the same idea as Feng Xiaogang, and everyone thought that Zhang Chen was getting too cocky.

With box office exceeding 400 million, he became the top director in China and started to feel proud of himself.

Even the leaders of the Film Bureau frowned. Young people are young people. They become arrogant when they succeed. It's a pity that Sanping praised him so much.

Among the crowd, probably only Han Sanping knew what Zhang Chen meant.

Fortunately, this guy didn't launch any surprise attack. Zhang Chen informed him about it in advance.

Zhang Chen, who was sitting in his seat, took in everyone's expressions one by one. He was not surprised, but looked at the leader in the main seat: "Leader, can I speak?"

The leader looked at Zhang Chen, wondering if this guy had taken the wrong medicine today. He then received Han Sanping's gaze and realized something, but in the end he said, "Okay, tell me~"

"I mainly want to talk about the situation that domestic actors may face through the big photo exhibition~"

Zhang Chen paused for a moment and continued, "The impact of the big photography exhibition is very bad, so bad that all the actresses in Hong Kong may be caught in it."

buzz~
The venue suddenly became noisy, and I don't know how many people were whispering at this moment.

They knew something about the big photography exhibition, but what Zhang Chen said was a little too serious.

"Quiet, quiet~"

The big boss knocked on the table and the meeting room became quiet again.

"Please continue."

“The Hong Kong industry is finished, no matter if it’s actresses or actors.

Everyone must think I am exaggerating. After all, what does it have to do with male actors?

But the fact is, the big photography exhibition destroyed our filter about Hong Kong stars.

For our generation, that place has always been synonymous with high-end and advanced.

The entertainment industry is also glamorous. It seems that female stars in Hong Kong are prettier than those in the mainland, and male stars in Hong Kong are more handsome than those in the mainland.

But after the big photography exhibition, all that changed.

Mainland audiences will see the real Hong Kong entertainment industry, and they may no longer buy into Hong Kong stars.

I wonder if you have read one of my blogs - "The Current Situation of Mesozoic Young People in Mainland China".

In the past, due to the CEPT agreement, co-productions generally chose a cooperation model of Hong Kong male actors and mainland female actors. Under this model, mainland male actors generally had no opportunities and could only play supporting roles in Hong Kong films...

But because of this incident, Hong Kong actresses are collectively finished, and it may be difficult for Hong Kong actors to get the same level of resources as before.

This is a good opportunity for mainland actors to rise and break the monopoly.

The female roles they leave vacant can be filled by mainland actresses, and this can also allow them to see the appeal of mainland male actors.

I remember that the Hong Kong media has been clamoring that mainland actors have no appeal, so they have always been determined to use Hong Kong and Taiwan artistes.

This is actually a means by which they often hype this point so that people who are unaware of the truth will subconsciously believe that mainland actors have no box office appeal, and this way they can maintain their own superiority.

This is what Hong Kong does, and Taiwan does the same.

This is a consensus in their circle. When Taken earned 200 million at the box office, Wu Yusen once complained about Liang Jiahui, saying that he broke the rules and helped the rise of mainland films.

Many Hong Kong filmmakers have witnessed this. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Director Wang Jing and Director Xu Ke who were at the scene…”

Zhang Chen's words focused everyone's attention on these two people.

Wang Jing never expected this to happen. He touched his nose awkwardly. Xu Ke just lowered his head and started to do nothing.

Although there was no response, the attitudes of the two people said it all; what Zhang Chen said was true.

"Although Hong Kong films have declined, there are still many good filmmakers there. If they can be combined with mainland actors, it will definitely have a significant impact on the development of the mainland film industry...

So, I suggest that we can do this and that, this and that..."

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, everyone was shocked, and even the leaders didn't know how to express their opinions.

His idea is to not treat Hong Kong and Taiwan artists as his own.

Nakedly harming others for personal gain~
Several Hong Kong directors present couldn't bear to listen any more.

But there is no way to refute it because they were the ones who used the means first.

Moreover, Zhang Chen had no intention of avoiding them at all. They also listened to the whole process. This was an open conspiracy.
Unsolvable conspiracy~
They are very sure that under this conspiracy, the acting career of Hong Kong will be extinct.

The glory of Hong Kong films ended here.

(End of this chapter)