Huayu Entertainment: Who let him be the director!

Chapter 369 Life of Pi grossed over $7 million worldwide, and The Revenant started filming

After things in the capital were almost settled, Zhou Qing did not procrastinate any further.

After handing over the affairs of Zhou Qing Pictures to Director Chen, he said hello to Liu Yifei and quickly returned to Crown Pictures.

“How is the preparation for The Revenant going?”

What Zhou Qing is most concerned about right now is this matter, and he immediately called Director Yang to inquire about the situation.

"The location scouting has been preliminarily completed. The locations you mentioned, Director Zhou, all meet the requirements."

"The selection of actors has also ended, but the final list still needs to be decided by you, Director Zhou."

"I have also completed three versions of the costume and styling designs based on your requirements..."

Director Yang gave a detailed report in front of Zhou Qing.

After hearing this, Zhou Qing showed a look of satisfaction.

All I can say is that the advantage of having foresight is speed. In just over a month, the preparations have been mostly completed.

There are nearly 20 days left before the start of filming, which is still in time no matter how you calculate it.

"By the way, Director Zhou, the global release of Life of Pi has basically ended, and the total box office is very good."

After briefly reporting on "The Revenant", Director Yang brought up another matter.

The global box office of "Life of Pi" reached an astonishing 7.24 million US dollars!

Is this a high-grossing movie?

Very, very high!

You should know that in the original time and space, the North American box office champion in 14 was the Marvel blockbuster "Guardians of the Galaxy".

The film topped the box office with $3.33 million.

So what is the total global box office of "Guardians of the Galaxy"?

$7.73 billion.

It's only tens of millions of US dollars more than "Life of Pi"!

This shows that the global box office of "Life of Pi" is truly explosive.

After all, "Life of Pi" is not a purely commercial film, but a half-art film and half-commercial film.

In terms of box office potential, it is naturally inferior to ordinary commercial films.

The fact that it could still achieve this level of global box office really surprised many people.

This movie "Life of Pi" really made Crown Pictures win a lot, it's not an exaggeration at all.

"7.24 million? I see."

Zhou Qing said that he already knew about it, but he was not surprised by it.

This was actually completely expected.

The original global box office of "Life of Pi" was 6 million yuan, and China added more than 1 million yuan, so that's more than 7 million yuan.

No fuss.

Of course, satisfaction is the same.

You have to know that the cost of "Life of Pi" was only 1 million US dollars!

"Send me a copy of all audition videos and actors' resumes, and also a copy of all location videos."

"Also, inform Leon and the others to attend the script reading on time in 10 days."

"in addition……"

Zhou Qing, who was in a good mood, also began to make a series of arrangements for Director Yang.

It’s time to get busy with the preparations for “The Revenant”!
that's it.

With Zhou Qing working at full speed, one task after another was progressing in an orderly manner.

The first is the issue of the cast.

Zhou Qing went through everyone's resumes and audition videos and found no problems.

This is all natural.

"The Revenant" is actually not very big. Except for the male protagonist and the villain, the other actors are all supporting roles.

Each of them doesn't have many roles, they are basically just background characters.

This kind of actor is very easy to find, as long as there is only one requirement: good acting skills.

Don't even consider fame or anything like that.

There are so many actors like this in the guild, you can say that there are a lot of them.

What’s more, the casting director is not just there to do his job and the actors he chooses are all quite reliable.

Zhou Qing didn't say anything else, and immediately asked Crown Pictures to announce the cast of "The Revenant".

"Leonardo DiCaprio joins director Zhou Qing's new film The Revenant, and appears to be making another push for an Oscar."

"It's confirmed! The leading actor of The Revenant is confirmed to be the famous superstar Leonardo DiCaprio!"

"The powerful combination of director Zhou Qing and Leonardo DiCaprio makes The Revenant the most anticipated film of the year."

Hollywood immediately became lively, and it could even be said that it exploded.

The cast of "The Revenant" is so luxurious!
There is no need to say much about the male lead, Leonardo DiCaprio. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the most heavyweight star in Hollywood.

It is said that the first person to find all the scripts in Hollywood is actually Leo.

The other male stars can only get a chance to take advantage of the opportunity after Leo refuses.

Although this statement is somewhat exaggerated, it is not completely exaggerated.

Christian Bale once said that his career success was entirely due to Leo's role inheritance.

Because "until today, any role played by anyone is because of his (Leo) giving up. Everyone who has worked with me, they all offered the role to him (Leo) first, so thank you, Leon..."

It is not known whether Bale's words are exaggerated, but his Batman is indeed a role that Leo rejected.

There is also the 2019 version of "Joker", which was a global hit.

The first person I looked for was also Leo.

Leonardo DiCaprio didn't like the role, so the film crew found Joaquin Phoenix.

The other party also publicly thanked Leo at the Screen Actors Guild, and the general meaning was similar to that of Bale.

It can be seen from all these things that Leo's status in Hollywood is really exaggerated.

Who can ignore Leo's new film?
"The Revenant" has invited Leo to make it, so the movie is half done.

So what about the director of The Revenant?
Wow, that’s just as amazing!

The new Oscar-winning best director!
The combination of these two is truly a king bomb.

However, there is one thing that people in the circle are generally curious about.

Can Leo, who has been a runner-up at the Oscars for 20 years, win the golden statue this time with the help of Director Zhou?

"Director Zhou actually found Leonardo for his new film?"

"Has Director Zhou started working with top celebrities like this?"

"Is this Director Zhou's current level?"

Many people at Huayu Entertainment were shocked and felt emotional.

Director Zhou has really become an internationally renowned director.

The new film actually invited Leonardo DiCaprio to star in it.

You have to know that Leo is not willing to work with just any director.

Looking back at the directors he has worked with throughout his career, they are all top directors.

Cameron, Woody Allen, Spielberg, Nolan, Quentin, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood...

Now, there is also a Director Zhou!
This truly reflects Director Zhou's current level in Hollywood.

It's just a pity that there are no Chinese characters in such a movie. We can only watch but can't do anything about it.

"Director Zhou, Director Ridley Scott is here to visit."

At Crown Pictures, Zhou Qing had been busy preparing for The Revenant for a while, and Director Yang brought this news, which surprised Zhou Qing a little.

Ridley Scott?

This is a very famous director.

No, he should be said to be one of the top directors in Hollywood.

The kind that will go down in the history of film.

Although he has not won many official awards, he has too many classic representative works.

It is no exaggeration to call it the king of genre films.

"Alien", "Thelma and Louise", "Blade Runner", "Gladiator", "Black Hawk Down", "American Gangster" and so on...

He can handle a variety of subjects and any kind of film with ease.

In particular, many of the films are groundbreaking and have far-reaching influence.

It will definitely be mentioned in the inventory of major film types!

Fans affectionately call Ridley "Thor".

Zhou Qing actually agreed with this very much. It was simply that the old man's energy was too strong.

He is over eighty years old and can still make movies. If this isn’t godliness, then what is he?
In his previous life, Zhou Qing had seen many of Ridley's films, and he liked many of them very much.

He never imagined that one day he would meet this top director face to face.

But at this time, why did Ridley come to him?

As a person who has been reborn, Zhou Qing came up with a guess after just a little thought.

"I'll go over now."

Zhou Qing hesitated for a moment, and soon saw Ridley in the reception room.

"I never thought that the famous Director Zhou is so young!"

After some simple courtesy from both sides, Ridley uttered such an exclamation, feeling quite uneasy in his heart.

Although he is well-known in Hollywood, Ridley also understands that there is still a big gap between his level and Zhou Qing.

The reason why he is much more famous than Zhou Qing is simply that Zhou Qing does not work in Hollywood.

But Ridley felt ashamed and amazed by Zhou Qing's achievements.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Ridley wouldn't have dared to imagine that such an achievement was achieved by a young man!
"Director Ridley, you give me too much credit."

Zhou Qing smiled and exchanged greetings with Ridley.

"Director Zhou, your script for The Martian is so well written..."

After chatting for a while, Ridley finally explained his purpose, which was not beyond Zhou Qing's expectations.

After all, the only thing Crown Pictures has that could possibly interest Ridley is The Martian.

In the original time and space, Ridley read the script of "The Martian" and loved it so much that he postponed the sequel to "Prometheus" and started filming as soon as possible.

It's not surprising that he came to me for this reason at this moment.

It’s just a pity that Zhou Qing has no plans to release the book “The Martian” yet.

There is no other reason, I just can’t bear to do so.

You know, "The Martian" is also an extremely successful business case.

The film cost 1 million US dollars and grossed 2.28 million US dollars in North America, ranking 8th in the annual box office in its original time and space.

The global box office reached 6.3 million US dollars.

Not only did the film sell well at the box office, it also received rave reviews, with high ratings both in Hollywood and in the Chinese entertainment industry.

A typical success of both box office and popular reputation.

Although he didn't win any Oscars, he received a lot of nominations.

It would be a pity to let outsiders get such a high-quality project, so Zhou Qing naturally planned to keep it for himself.

Of course, it is not absolutely impossible to hand it over to Ridley, unless Zhou Qing really can't take the photos anymore.

So at this moment, Zhou Qing still tactfully rejected Ridley.

"It's a pity, it's such a pity."

Ridley shook his head and sighed repeatedly, and kept telling me, "Director Zhou, if you change your mind one day, please let me know."

Regardless of whether he had this intention or not, Zhou Qing certainly could not refuse to die, so he politely agreed.

"Make arrangements. I'm going to Canada."

After Ridley left, Zhou Qing once again gave Director Yang an important task.

At present, the preparations for "The Revenant" are almost complete.

The cast, costumes, props and other related matters have all been finalized, and the only thing left is the most important one: the confirmation of the location.

Although the location scout director had already completed the location scout and Zhou Qing had watched the video in detail, this kind of thing still required him to go there in person.

Of course, the possibility of accidents is not great.

Because the filming locations chosen by Zhou Qing are, as far as I can remember, the original filming locations of "The Revenant".

This time, we just need to make a final confirmation.

The facts prove that this is indeed the case.

Zhou Qing traveled back and forth in Canada for a week without any accidents.

He returned to Hollywood with satisfaction.

"Notify Leon and the others to join the group!"

This time, Zhou Qing didn't have any more nonsense to say and gathered all the actors including Leonardo DiCaprio.

The grand script reading began.

Since The Revenant isn't a big game, this time doesn't need to be too long, a week is enough.

During this period of time, Zhou Qing led everyone to analyze characters, study roles, and discuss various issues.

We strive to ensure that everyone can fully understand their role when we start filming.

Little Leo and Teacher Tang are the ones that Zhou Qing focuses on.

After all, the whole movie can be said to be a rivalry between these two.

"He deserves to be the best director at the Oscars!"

"He's really good at it!"

As the reading progressed, many people became convinced by Zhou Qing.

There is no other reason, Director Zhou’s ability is really extraordinary.

Not only does he have a very thorough understanding of the characters, after all, he is the screenwriter.

But his ability to train actors is truly perfect. With just a few words, he can make people completely enter the role.

I can't accept it.

"Little Leo is actually quite insightful."

Little did people know that Zhou Qing actually admired Leo very much.

Even though he has been a runner-up for more than 20 years, Leo definitely has acting skills and is not lacking in talent.

Especially during this period of reading, Zhou Qing was able to appreciate this point even more.

Little Leo often understands things faster and more accurately than others.

This made Zhou Qing a little suspicious. He wondered if those guys in the academy really did it on purpose because he hadn't won any awards for more than 20 years.

But no matter what, with the efforts of Zhou Qing and Xiao Lizi, the reading went very smoothly.

By the time the production ended successfully on April 4, the entire crew had basically reached their best condition.

Then what is Zhou Qing hesitating about?

He immediately gave an order and led the entire crew to march towards Canada in a mighty force.

We said we would start filming in May, so we will do what we said!
(End of this chapter)