Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 689 You're a cook too

Zhang Chen knew all too well what a terrible project "Painted Skin" was.

The most famous thing about this project is its feud with "The Legend of the White Snake"—Zhao Yazhi is said to have come from heaven to earth, while Huang Shengyi is said to have come from heaven to earth.

Guangming, relying on its status in the industry, thoroughly disgusted Yangzi.

It's said that the costumes in "Painted Skin" were directly used from the leftovers of "Sex and Zen," and yet they still have the nerve to say that the White Snake in "The Legend of the White Snake" came from heaven and earth.

Li Xiaoping invited Gulina, possibly simply because she was pretty, or perhaps she wanted to get Zhang Chen involved in the project through Gulina, but either way, it was unnecessary.

Gulina is his assistant. If she really wants to pursue a career in film, Zhang Chen can give her plenty of opportunities with just a word.

After saying goodbye to Gulina and letting her wander around on her own, Zhang Chen walked towards Chen Xi in the corner.

Chen Xi was chatting with Zhong Lifang when Zhang Chen walked over and overheard her saying, "The Wang brothers have gotten some money from the stock market and they think they're all above the law. This time, I'm not only going to ban their 'Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame,' but also their 'If You Are the One 2'..."

Strictly speaking, Chen Xi and Zhong Lifang were not very close. When Zhong Lifang joined Star Entertainment, Chen Xi had already gone to Golden Harvest.

However, since everyone was working under Zhang Chen, they often cooperated with each other, so they had quite a few opportunities to meet.

Across from her, Zhong Lifang held a glass of champagne, her tone filled with righteous indignation: "Huayi was the first to go public, and they really think they're number one in the film and television industry. They dared to pull some tricks when we went public, they should have known this day would come."

Feng Xiaogang is known for his dancing skills, I really want to see his expression when "If You Are the One 2" gets banned~

"Ban 'If You Are the One 2'?"

Just then, Zhang Chen's voice came from behind them, and the two turned around: "Yes, Director Zhang, we're discussing banning Huayi Brothers' 'If You Are the One 2'~"

Zhang Chen smiled and shook his head: "This matter is probably not that simple."

Seeing their puzzled expressions, he explained, "Both of these are big-budget productions with investments exceeding 100 million yuan. The industry chain involved is too long, and theaters, distributors, and investors are all watching closely. Moreover, if two big-budget productions flop in a row, Huayi will definitely suffer a major blow. The Film Bureau will not allow us to do that."

Chen Xi clearly disagreed, looking directly at Zhang Chen: "Why not? Huayi was the one who tripped us up first. Since they dared to do the first thing, they shouldn't blame us for doing the fifteenth."

Seeing her unconvinced expression, Zhang Chen calmly analyzed, "I'm not saying Huayi is right, they did cross the line."

But you have to think about it from a national perspective: who is the biggest enemy of the film market right now?

It's Hollywood.

Last year, Avatar swept the global box office, and the domestic market was also severely impacted. The current policy of the higher authorities is to encourage domestic films to unite and resist the invasion of foreign culture.

At times like this, if we have an internal conflict with Huayi, no matter who is in the right, it won't look good if word gets out.

The Film Bureau isn't intervening now only because Huayi started this, letting us vent our anger. But if they really wanted to bring down Huayi, they would definitely intervene and stop it.

Then he looked at Zhong Lifang and said, "I had dinner with Third Master yesterday, and he mentioned in a roundabout way that the Film Bureau is paying attention to the trends of top domestic films and hopes that the box office share of domestic films this year can be increased by another two percentage points. If we block both of Huayi's films, the total box office this year will definitely be affected, and we won't get the short end of the stick when we are held accountable."

Chen Xi remained silent for a long while before saying, "Alright, if the Film Bureau protects them, I'll give them face. However, while they might escape the death penalty, they won't escape punishment. Getting good screenings from Golden Harvest is impossible; getting any screenings at all will be good enough."

Zhang Chen nodded, not continuing the topic, but instead asked, "Won't your ban on 'Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame' affect your relationship with Shi Nansheng?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "No, Sister Nan Sheng is very professional. She keeps public and private matters separate and won't mix them up. Besides, I have already compensated Old Monster Xu."

Now it was Zhang Chen's turn to be curious: "Compensate Tsui Hark? How did you compensate him?"

"I gave him the director's position for 'The Ghostwriter'."

Zhang Chen suddenly realized, thought about it, and felt it was acceptable, but still couldn't help but remind him: "Directing is fine, but it's best not to let him participate in other work. This person's ideas are too unconventional, and he has a very strong desire for control."

After thinking it over, he was still not reassured and said again, "The Ghostwriter is a series, and the most important thing about a series is to keep things consistent and maintain a consistent setting."

The implication is that a director like Tsui Hark, with his innovative ideas, might sometimes make a single change to an idea more exciting for a movie, but it could be a disaster for the entire series.

Chen Xi nodded: "I've considered all of what you've said, so what I mean is that Tsui Hark should be the director, but the screenwriting team must be controlled by Golden Harvest itself, and the final approval right for the script should also be in our hands. He is only responsible for visualizing the script and cannot interfere with the story."

Zhong Lifang suddenly said, "But would Tsui Hark be willing? This guy has always liked to be the director, producer, and screenwriter all at once, wishing he could have control over the entire project. Back when he and Nansun Shi were at Golden Harvest, they had a lot of conflicts because Nansun Shi wanted to restrict his creative freedom. Now, although we hold a controlling stake in Golden Harvest, if he knew he could only be the director and not interfere with the screenwriting, he probably wouldn't agree."

"You have to agree even if you don't agree."

Chen Xi’s tone was forceful and left no room for argument: “Now I’m the one in charge at Golden Harvest, not Shi Nansheng, and certainly not Tsui Hark.”

If he wants to continue with "Ghostwriter", he must accept our conditions, or he can leave.

I'm making it up to him, I don't owe him anything.

During his time in charge of Golden Harvest, Chen Xi's words carried an air of authority, making him a man of absolute power.

Seeing that Chen Xi had made up her mind, Zhang Chen didn't say anything more and turned to Zhong Lifang: "Any news from Zhang Yimou? Wasn't he supposed to be collaborating with us on his new project, 'The Flowers of War'? Why haven't we heard anything lately?"

Mentioning Zhang Yimou, Zhong Lifang's expression became somewhat complicated: "Don't mention it. Xiao Ma snatched the rights to 'The Flowers of War.' I only received confirmation yesterday that Zhang Yimou and Li Ming signed a cooperation agreement. I don't know what kind of conditions Li Ming offered Zhang Yimou..."

Zhang Chen was also a little surprised. Logically speaking, A Mou had just collaborated with them on "Aftershock" and their relationship had always been good. They should have continued to collaborate on "The Flowers of War".

Could it be that the phone call I made to him last time made him resentful?

Zhang Chen felt that Zhang Yimou shouldn't be such a petty person. Forget it, he decided not to think about it anymore; there might be other reasons.

Zhong Lifang sighed, "Li Ming is very good at building relationships, otherwise he wouldn't have earned the nickname 'Big Dog Brother'."

She came from Little Ma and knows Li Ming very well.

Zhang Chen had also heard of Li Ming; he was known for his forthright personality and skill in interpersonal relationships.

In the original timeline, Xiao Ma Bengteng was the last to enter the scene, yet he developed the best, collaborating with Ning Hao and Wu Baige. If Li Ming hadn't suddenly fallen ill and passed away, Xiao Ma might have been able to replace Bona and become one of the three driving forces.

However, he also knew that if "The Flowers of War" fell into Xiao Ma's hands, it meant that the project would basically have nothing to do with Star Entertainment anymore.

The relationship between Xingchen Entertainment and Xiao Ma is not good. Zhong Lifang was once deeply trusted by Li Ming and even became Xiao Ma's second-in-command. If it weren't for the later differences in their ideas, she would not have been able to switch to Xingchen Entertainment.

Moreover, Xiao Ma has too many ties to the Hong Kong entertainment circle. In 09, the three films they produced, namely "Metallic Attraction: Kung Fu Cyborg", "Just Another Pandora's Box" and "Mulan", were all directed by Hong Kong directors.

Star Entertainment and the Hong Kong entertainment circle are irreconcilable enemies. Based on this alone, Little Ma and Star Entertainment are not on the same page.

“Li Ming has big ambitions. Last year, they signed Wu Baige and I heard that they were going to work with Wu Baige to create a disaster film. The inspiration came from watching Director Zhang’s ‘2012’.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen suddenly frowned. Wu Baige was making a disaster movie?
Could it be "The Crossing"?

In the original timeline, this project almost made Xiao Ma question his existence.

Old Wu really dares to think big. His previous film, "Red Cliff," received polarized reviews. Disaster films have even higher requirements for special effects and narrative pacing. Can he handle it?

"No matter how great the risk, Li Ming is willing to gamble."

Zhong Lifang knows Li Ming all too well: "That's just how he is. As long as it's a hot topic, he wants to get involved regardless of whether he has the ability to handle it. But then again, Xiaoma Benteng now has capital, connections, and has brought so many directors together. I guess their next step is to go public..."

Zhang Chen knew that Zhong Lifang's former boss probably didn't have many years left to live.

After the premiere, Zhang Chen received a call from Yang Xiaomi: "Director Zhang, at the Golden Eagle Awards the other day, someone lost to Wang Luodan. Need some consolation~"

Well, Yang Xiaomi didn't say anything at the meeting, but now she's suddenly calling, which is obviously an invitation.

Moreover, the sweetness level of that voice was at least six plus signs. Unfortunately, due to strict censorship recently, Zhang Chen was afraid of being censored and had to reluctantly refuse.

Unfortunately, this scene was witnessed by Gulina, who was acting as the assistant. No, I refused, so why are you looking at me like that?

The Golden Eagle Award is actually a popularity award; it doesn't judge acting skills, but rather popularity.

The first Golden Eagle Goddess was Liu Yifei. Being a goddess is not easy. Not everyone can pull off the golden gown. In history, two people won the Golden Eagle Goddess title, but it became their darkest moment. Wang Luodan happened to be one of them.

This year's Golden Eagle Goddess, from the moment the nomination list was announced, Yang Xiaomi and Wang Luodan were the only two favorites.

Both are rising stars with roughly the same number of fans, and even industry insiders are betting on who will ultimately win.

Yang Xiaomi, in particular, recently became a sensation with the time-travel drama "Palace". Her role as the quirky and clever Qingchuan in the drama earned her the title of "top-tier actress" and she was originally a strong contender for the Golden Eagle Goddess award.

However, what brought him success also brought him down. Because he filmed "Palace" ahead of schedule, his popularity soared, but this also offended Tang Ren and caused him to lose the opportunity to participate in "Chinese Paladin 3".

Zhang Chen made up for it with "My Love from the Star," but "My Love from the Star" had only just finished filming and hadn't even aired yet.

In contrast, Wang Luo had already won over audiences with her straightforward Mi Lai in "Struggle" and rebellious Qian Xiaoyang in "My Youth, My Choice". In the subsequent "Go Lala Go!", she successfully transformed into a career woman. The popularity accumulated from several hit dramas grew like a snowball, and she eventually won the Golden Eagle Goddess title.

But the moment her outfit at the awards ceremony was revealed, the entire internet exploded.

Wang Luodan's physical attributes are truly lacking—the Golden Eagle Goddess gown prepared for her by the organizing committee not only featured a pair of knock-off "Victoria's Secret" wings with a cheap metallic sheen, but also, under the high-saturation yellow stage lights, gave her an inexplicably tacky look.

Netizens' jokes were overwhelming, with comments like "It reminds me of 'Sawasdee ka'" and "This isn't the Golden Eagle Goddess, it's a giant, gold-plated moth." Even Wang Luodan's fans couldn't help but complain that the styling team was dragging her down.

……

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was released globally at the same time, and it created a thrilling box office storm in the film market on its opening weekend.

In the North American market, the film grossed $7080 million in its opening weekend. While this figure is slightly lower than the $7200 million grossed by Pacific Rim 2 in the same period, it has firmly secured its position as the top-grossing action film, demonstrating its strong market appeal.

Prior to this, the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for an action film was held by The Bourne Ultimatum, which grossed $70.4 million, while Quantum of Solace came in second with $6753 million.

Mission: Impossible 4 not only broke this pattern, but also surpassed The Bourne Ultimatum by a narrow margin of $400,000 to become the new action movie box office leader. This breakthrough has attracted the attention of industry insiders and made fans of the series excited.

Compared to its steady performance in the North American market, Mission: Impossible 4's box office results in mainland China can only be described as "terrifying".

The film raked in 2.8 million RMB in its opening weekend, a figure that was extremely rare in the Chinese film market at the time, almost sweeping aside other films released at the same time.

During the same period, no other film could pose a real threat to Mission: Impossible 4, not even Tsui Hark's Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

"Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" was a highly anticipated period suspense film in China at the time, with an initial production cost of 1.1 million RMB.

However, due to director Tsui Hark's extreme pursuit of special effects, an additional 2000 million yuan was invested in the later stages, bringing the total cost to 1.3 million yuan.

However, compared to the massive $1.5 million production cost of Mission: Impossible 4, the two are not only vastly different in terms of numbers, but also in terms of production scale and global distribution.

Under the strong impact of "Mission: Impossible 4", other domestic films released at the same time did not have a good time.

Huayi Brothers had previously touted a box office target of 5 million yuan for its films, but the films only grossed a paltry 5000 million yuan in their opening weekend.

Judging from the subsequent box office trend, achieving the goal of "5 million yuan in box office revenue" is almost a pipe dream. Industry insiders predict that the film may only barely break even or make a meager profit.

The worst performer was the martial arts film "Reign of Assassins," which had a production cost of 1 million RMB, but its opening weekend box office figures were not released for a long time.

Reports suggest that the film's producers chose to remain silent because they were afraid of losing face due to poor box office performance.

At that time, due to the fierce competition between Star Entertainment and Huayi Brothers, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" was able to maintain a certain level of popularity thanks to the competition between the two parties, while "Reign of Assassins" was completely ignored.

Xiao Ma Ben Teng also invested in "Reign of Assassins". Zhang Chen remembers that the film's final total box office was only over 6000 million RMB. Such a result was undoubtedly a huge loss for a production cost of 1 million RMB.

In addition to its outstanding box office performance, Mission: Impossible 4 also received rave reviews after its release, and was hailed as one of the best in the series.

The film's innovative action choreography, such as Tom Cruise's thrilling free climb of the Burj Khalifa, and its tense and exciting narrative pace, have all been praised by audiences.

Critics have given it high praise, saying that "Zhang Chen perfectly blends the subtlety of the East with the grand vision of the West," cleverly combining elements of Eastern and Western cinema and setting a new benchmark for action films.

As word-of-mouth spread, the buzz surrounding Mission: Impossible 4 quickly exploded across the internet.

Whether in traditional print media or emerging online platforms, the film has become an absolute hot topic.

Zhang Chen's fans were enthusiastic on Weibo, posting comments praising the film as "great! awesome! stunning!" expressing their love in the most direct language.

Director Lu Yang also posted on Weibo in support: "Senior brother is indeed senior brother, I admire him greatly."

It's worth noting that Lu Yang's previous film, "The Equalizer," only grossed 380 million RMB, while "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" earned 280 million RMB in its opening week in China alone, making the difference in box office revenue obvious.

Director Guo Fan also joined in the fun, leaving a comment on Weibo: "Truly admirable +1".

Actor Xiaoming also joined the praise, posting: "Great admiration +2, a milestone in action films."

However, where there is praise, there are bound to be dissenting voices. Some people, in order to show their uniqueness, have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with Mission: Impossible 4.

Director Gao Qunshu commented on Weibo: "It's a typical popcorn movie. I think the action scenes could have been filmed to be a bit more rugged."

It is worth noting that Gao Qunshu's film "Wind Blast" is set to be released at the end of the month, and many netizens believe that his remarks are suspected of trying to gain attention and belittle his competitors.

Subsequently, when the media interviewed director Xiao Gangpao, he avoided talking about "Mission: Impossible 4" and did not make any comments.

According to industry insiders, Xiao Gangpao was affected by his remarks some time ago, so he has become extra cautious in public.

He was secretly relieved that the script Zhang Chen had mentioned targeting him was just a way to vent his anger, but Xingchen Entertainment had actually registered it. Fortunately, the Film Bureau did not approve it, otherwise he would have been nailed to the pillar of shame.

Director Lu Chuan also made a sour comment on Weibo: "Those who sing praises are all laymen who don't understand movies. The script has no surprises at all. You can tell the ending after reading the beginning. It's far worse than 'The Bourne Ultimatum'."

These remarks immediately sparked outrage among Mission: Impossible 4 fans, with a barrage of insults following: "Why don't you make your own movie if you're so capable!"

Faced with criticism from fans, Lu Chuan put forward his famous "chef theory": "Do I have to be a chef to judge whether a dish is good or not?"

At that time, Zhang Chen was traveling around the world with the global promotional team for "Mission: Impossible 4" and was exhausted, but he still took the time to keep an eye on the updates on Weibo.

After seeing Gao Qunshu and Lu Chuan's comments, he couldn't help but respond.

He first tagged Gao Qunshu: "Don't try to ride the coattails of this trend."

This directly exposed the other party's intention, because Gao Qunshu's "The Wind Rises" is set to be released at the end of the month, and commenting on "Mission: Impossible 4" at this time would inevitably be seen as hype.

Subsequently, Zhang Chen tagged Lu Chuan and published a long article: "One of the benefits of Weibo is that it has removed the barriers to publishing film criticism. The general public and film fans have become an important force in film criticism. Everyone can freely publish film reviews on Weibo, which has broken the monopoly of professional film critics."

Film is a popular art form, made for the general public. So don't flaunt your pathetic sense of superiority and call others amateurs when you yourself are probably not an expert either.

Furthermore, while the chef's theory might hold true for the average viewer, if you yourself are a chef, and your cooking is absolutely terrible, how dare you criticize others?

This sharp response immediately resonated with many netizens.

Yeah, you're a cook yourself, and your cooking is terrible, yet you have the nerve to criticize other people's food?

(End of this chapter)