Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 351 So Difficult to Please

The meeting between the two Lius was awkward, and neither of them knew what to say.

But sitting in silence is a basic skill for actors. We often see two artists sitting together, but they can manage not to say a word to each other.

Liu Yifei and Liu Shishi were slightly better off. Liu Shishi smiled at Liu Yifei, and Liu Yifei nodded in response.

Then neither of them spoke again.

It's fair to say that Xiao Liu Yifei's marketing was orchestrated by Tangren Company, but Liu Shishi undeniably gained attention because of it. Her later statement, "I am Liu Shishi, and I am more like my mother," is understandable, as no one wants such a title after becoming famous.

Liu Yifei has never minded others trying to ride on her coattails. She and her team don't care about things like "Little Liu Yifei," "Looks like Liu Yifei," "Liu Yifei's successor," or even "Outshines Liu Yifei."

Not minding doesn't mean she doesn't know.

Liu Yifei glanced at Liu Shishi and thought, "This doesn't seem like it either."

Yang Mi sat down next to Liu Yifei and put her arm around her arm: "You're a big international star now, right?"

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "I'm just a third-billed female lead, what international is that?" Do you think she doesn't know what people are saying about her online?
Yang Mi said, "You're so boring. So many people want to act in this role but don't. They're just jealous."

Yang Mi can still speak frankly with young friends like Liu Yifei: "Unlike us, we can't even get roles if we want to."

Liu Yifei pinched her arm: "You're overdoing it. 'Palace' had such high ratings, and the two 'Tiny Times' movies did well at the box office. What more do you want?"

Yang Mi leaned on Liu Yifei's shoulder like a kitten and said coquettishly, "I also want to act in a movie like yours! Why don't you talk to that person about it?"

"Who is it?" Tang Yan appeared out of nowhere.

"It's that guy," Yang Mi said, trying to scare Tang Yan. "You don't know him?"

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "You still want to beg me? I should be begging you to introduce me to some people. I only make one movie a year, while you make three, four, five, or six. If you can't handle them all, you can give them to me."

Yang Mi immediately replied, "Okay, I'm also making a co-production film next month, and you can act in it for me."

It's installed now.

Liu Yifei offered her a way out: "What co-production?"

"In 'The Last War,' I play a Chinese princess who has fled."

Regardless of the final product, Yang Mi definitely has the second-best film resources among the cast of "The Legend of Tang Dynasty".

After the flop of "A Chinese Ghost Story", Tang Yan dared not touch movies again and could only go back to playing naive and innocent characters in TV series. As for Liu Shishi, it goes without saying.

Yang Mi has consistently had film roles, and she still manages to access resources in both Hong Kong and mainland China. The failure of "The Legend of the Banquet at Hongmen" didn't have a significant impact on her.

Securing a co-production project is a form of recognition for her, and she is very satisfied, hoping to make a name for herself in the film industry.

Liu Yifei didn't want to tell Yang Mi that the production team of "The Last War" had approached her, but she had turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts. However, she was happy for her friend. For an actress like Yang Mi, who had only one foot in the film industry and hadn't yet established herself, playing the lead role in a Sino-US co-production was a really good opportunity.

"Yifei, your next film is also a co-production, right? It's that one called 'Lucy'."

“No,” Liu Yifei denied, “Lucy will not be filmed in China.”

After Liu Yifei was confirmed as the female lead, Luc Besson adjusted the filming plan. The original location of the Korean gangsters and Taiwan Island was changed to the Italian gangsters and Rome. The only Asian element in the entire film is Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei said she will fly to France next month to start filming "Lucy".

"Huh?" Yang Mi was a little disappointed. "I was thinking of taking a few days off in between to come visit you."

Would Liu Yifei fall for this trap?

"What's so fun about coming to me? Go play with your Kaiwei." "Play with what?" Yang Mi retorted.

"Play whatever you want." Liu Yifei gave Yang Mi a push.

Liu Yifei not only mingles with actors, but many producers and company bosses also want to get to know Autumn Pictures and Century Autumn through her connections.

However, Liu Yifei refused to take such work, saying that the company welcomes everyone to discuss cooperation, but she is just an actress and doesn't understand this kind of thing, so she can't help.

Even Wu Qilong wanted to meet with Cao Ping of Century Autumn through Liu Yifei's connections to discuss projects.

Straw Bear is a startup, and if it could partner with a large company like Century Autumn, its development would definitely be even better.

However, Liu Yifei had no choice but to decline Wu Qilong's offer for the TV series.

After dinner, Liu Yifei did not stay overnight in Hengdian, but took a car and left overnight. The next morning, she appeared at an event in Nanjing.

Last week, Li Qiutang took a group to see the Liao Qing Mausoleum. They had just returned from the grasslands and enjoyed the grassland scenery along the way.

He brought back several large bags of beef jerky as a reward for screenwriter Zhang Jialu.

"You think you can get rid of me with these two packets of lousy beef jerky?" Zhang Jialu was not buying it.

“This isn’t some cheap beef jerky; it’s top-quality beef jerky from the grasslands. You’d pay at least 30% more in Yanjing.” Li Qiutang herself quite enjoys it. “Where’s Bachang? Get him a couple of bags too.”

"Bachang went to meet with Lu Chuan. Isn't China Film Group also going to film 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'? Today is the first time Bachang has met with Lu Chuan."

Xu Wanda invited people to be his consultants, and Xu Zhongying did the same.

Li Qiutang stayed in Zhang Jialu's studio, eating beef jerky while reading the script he had written.

The story is already quite well-developed; the villain will definitely be a sorceress with a group of henchmen.

However, the shortcomings still lie in the lack of three-dimensionality of the characters, including the protagonist Hu Bayi. Li Qiutang did not expect Zhang Jialu to write everyone in a three-dimensional and complex way, which is unrealistic in commercial films, but she did expect that at least the protagonist Hu Bayi and the villainous sorceress Ying Caihong should be more three-dimensional.

In Li Qiutang's view, Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan's return to Mongolia solely for the sake of "love" is too simplistic.

Wang Kaixuan is okay, but Hu Bayi is not.

Zhang Jialu, the screenwriter from Taiwan, clearly didn't truly understand Li Qiutang's reasons for arranging the Japanese chemical plant.

“Adding a sense of mission to unravel historical mysteries to Hu Bayi’s motivation makes the character’s motivation more substantial; being troubled by love is too simplistic,” Li Qiutang said. “Hu Bayi returned to Mongolia for three reasons: first, to rescue the king and return in triumph; second, to find out the cause of his comrade’s death; and third, to figure out why Japan built this chemical plant and what they did here.”

Although Li Qiutang is not good at romance scenes, she pointed out a flaw in the romance scenes in Zhang Jialu's script: "Let Ding Sitian leave a keepsake. Relying solely on lines and flashbacks makes it difficult to convince the audience that Wang Kaixuan still misses her. A badge would be good, or a scarf, a hair accessory, or anything like that would work."

Wang Kaixuan's emotional motivation is not strong enough to simply say that he still misses Ding Sitian, who died, and that he ran back to China upon seeing a picture of the red spider lily.

This suggestion was inspired by rewatching "Titanic" a few days ago. The Heart of the Ocean necklace runs throughout "Titanic" and is a testament to Jack and Rose's love.

Li Qiutang discovered that Zhang Jialu's version of the script included a new character not found in the previous drafts, named Yangzi. Yangzi is Ying Caihong's combat specialist. She doesn't have many lines, but she appears early and leaves late. As the combat specialist, she will likely have quite a few scenes.

It's quite obvious that producer Chan Kwok-fu was brought in.

Chen Guofu knew Li Qiutang's style of doing things. He was unlikely to get the five main roles, including the three tomb raiders, Jin Ya, and Ying Caihong. Moreover, if nothing unexpected happened, Li Qiutang would use all five of them as mainland actors. However, Chen Guofu could still get the role of one of Ying Caihong's main followers.

Li Qiutang had no intention of competing with Chen Guofu for this role.

"Let's revise it later, make it more detailed, and delve deeper into Rainbow's background, experiences, and methods. If the villain is good-looking, the protagonist will also look good."

Zhang Jialu felt that Li Qiutang was really difficult to please.

(End of this chapter)