Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 643 I Still Prefer the Me When I Was a Small Person

At Tokyo Airport, Gu Ming met a exhausted-looking Cheng Long.

A man who was incredibly successful a few years ago, with "Police Story" becoming a classic, now appears quite exhausted.

The box office failure of "Project Eagle" is not the most important thing.

Most importantly, betrayal.

"How could they do that to me?"

Cheng Long's first words were filled with deep exhaustion.

Gu Ming certainly knew what he was talking about.

"Perhaps you need luxurious comforts and friends more right now than words of comfort?"

Jackie Chan spread his hands and gave him a bear hug, everything was understood without saying a word.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at a bar in Roppongi, Tokyo. The noisy and chaotic environment made it not a suitable place for conversation, but Jackie Chan did not choose to go to a more private room. Instead, he chose the bar counter nearby.

"It's lively here, and I like it lively!"

Cheng Long shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was almost completely drowned out by the noise of the bar.

Gu Ming nodded without saying anything, but simply clinked glasses with him.

"I treated them all like brothers, how could they treat me like this!"

“I gave them everything, I didn’t shortchange them a single penny, and in the end, they still wanted to criticize me in the newspapers!”

"Ten months! We filmed in Morocco for ten months! I had to pay them a monthly salary! And they were still taking on other acting jobs behind my back!"

"Who exactly is delaying the filming schedule? When we need people, we can't find them anywhere! Is it me, Jackie Chan, or you, or them?"

Cheng Long spoke haltingly, but in the bustling bar, hardly anyone could understand his shouts, a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese.

Gu Ming raised his hand and asked the bartender for another drink.

At times like this, all you need to do is listen. Cheng Long doesn't need comfort, he just wants to be listened to. He just wants to find a way to vent all the frustrations he's had over the past period.

As he downed glass after glass of wine, Cheng Long rambled on for a long time. Finally, he suddenly looked at Gu Ming, his face blank with drunkenness, his eyes becoming unfocused.

“I gave them everything. I treated them like brothers. I gave them everything they wanted. When filming ‘Armour of God,’ I spent $700,000 on drinks for everyone in one night! Why is it that in the end, everyone is criticizing me?”

Gu Ming had no way of answering this question.

Of course, Jackie Chan didn't expect Gu Ming to answer him. It was probably this question that drained all his strength. In the end, Jackie Chan collapsed onto the bar and gradually fell silent.

Gu Ming swirled his wine glass, looked at the half-full glass of wine remaining, and shook his head inwardly.

"Project Eagle" was filmed in Morocco, taking nearly a year to complete and costing an investment of 15 million US dollars.

Box office: ten million US dollars.

The 39 million mentioned by the marketing account is actually in Hong Kong dollars, not US dollars.

In other words, this movie not only lost money, but lost a lot of money.

There are many reasons, and opinions vary widely.

Unable to adapt to the climate and environment in Morocco and failing to cultivate good local relationships, even the production manager was arrested and imprisoned for two months. As a result, Jackie Chan simply airlifted several tons of sand back to Hong Kong for subsequent filming.

After Project Eagle ended, Jackie Chan disbanded the entire Jackie Chan Stunt Team and selected personnel to reorganize it.

Before the reorganization, the Jackie Chan Stunt Team was a traditional action team, but after the reorganization, it became a completely modern team, and everything was done according to the contract.

During the filming of Project Eagle, a large number of Jackie Chan's stunt team members went out to take on private jobs and demanded that Jackie Chan pay them monthly wages on the grounds that the pay was insufficient. Later, in order to complete the film, they even changed it to double wages.

The result of all this was Project Eagle, a film with an investment of 15 million and a box office of 10 million. As for who was right and who was wrong, opinions vary. Some members of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team recalled that Jackie Chan had too high demands and that he was indulging in a life of pleasure and neglecting filmmaking, etc.

Jackie Chan said that the Jackie Chan Stunt Team was uncooperative, ignored him, and kept demanding wages, etc.

Regardless, the direct result of this incident was the disbandment of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, and Jackie Chan almost had to say goodbye to overseas films.

Gu Ming thought about it for a moment, and realized that 1992 was about the right time. Taking into account the investment period, there were only three short years left until 1995.

After carrying Cheng Long away and having Tanaka and Koizumi make arrangements for him, Gu Ming, who hadn't slept, turned around and went to the office.

He planned to write a simple plot outline. The rest would be left for the screenwriters at Golden Harvest to refine.

Rumble in the Bronx.

In 1995, Jackie Chan officially entered the American film industry.

……

……

"I have to do this! If you dare give me money, I'm not going to be your brother anymore!"

On the set of "Yakuza," Jackie Chan chased after Gu Ming, repeatedly emphasizing, "I trust you."

Gu Ming stopped, turned to look at him, and said helplessly, "Haven't you been tricked by your brother once? Aren't you afraid I'll trick you again?"

"Damn... what do you take me for, so easy to fool? Who would give me such a good script and then fool me again?" Jackie Chan tapped his nose with his other hand, his expression quite serious: "Well, no matter what you say, I have to play a role."

Gu Ming immediately became serious.

"Alright, let's talk about this episode. This work is an episodic drama with a main storyline, and each episode tells a different story. In this episode, you play a Chinese man who comes to Tokyo to work. Although you don't usually stand out, you have a kind heart. Because you once showed off your skills, you became friends with Kiryu Kazuma. Now that Kiryu Kazuma is being hunted down, you are willing to take him in and help him. This is how the plot of this episode unfolds."

"The market downturn, the boom in small commodities, and the human relationships among the lower classes. At the end of this episode, you've saved enough money to go back to your hometown and start a business."

Cheng Long pondered for a moment, then nodded solemnly.

The character design sounds good; he's not afraid of anything else, except being taken advantage of, making him a typical villain.

People in Hong Kong who are reasonable know that the closer it gets to 1997, the less certain things can be said and the less certain things can be done.

Some people are clueless, like Zhou Yunfa. He was still doing certain things that couldn't be said until a certain point in time.

Some people are very clear-headed, like Jackie Chan.

Before 1997, Cheng Long made a few statements, such as preparing to immigrate to Japan.

After 1997, he became more honest than anyone else. Coupled with his status and achievements in the industry, and his cooperative nature, he naturally became a key target for propaganda and propaganda efforts.

Therefore, Jackie Chan shares the same idea.

A cameo role is fine, but you can't humiliate him. If you humiliate the character, then it's impossible to portray any kind of relationship.

Fortunately, Gu Ming gave him a pretty good role, which is also the type of role that Jackie Chan has always liked.

He likes to play minor roles, or those minor roles that have great abilities but are unexpectedly given important responsibilities.

But no matter what, they are all stories of ordinary people.

In the movie "New Police Story," Chen Guorong, who plays a character with a relatively high status, is still easily dismissed, and he becomes distraught in the latter half of the film.

Perhaps, when Jackie Chan plays a small role, he thinks of himself back then, when Lo Wei took him to meet Gu Long.

I was eighteen that year, and my salary was three thousand Hong Kong dollars. I stood there like a lackey, and was humiliated to my face by Gu Long: "My scripts are for handsome guys like Ti Lung. You are not good enough."

(End of this chapter)