Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 431 Taking down the undercover agent, and Wen Ziren too!

Because of his young age and the fact that his first directorial work was only recently released, this was the first time Gu Bei had ever heard a famous director call himself a fan.

After all, established directors are generally older and wouldn't be so embarrassed to admit they're fans of Gu Bei.

Wen Ziren was only a few years older than Gu Bei, and his first directorial work, Saw, was less than three years earlier than Gu Bei's Whiplash.

The two are of the same generation in terms of age.
They both became directors around the same time.

Therefore, they don't have as much psychological burden as other veteran directors.

Gu Bei smiled and followed Ray Whannell into the screening room.

"James, look who I brought for you?"

Ray Whannell found Wen Ziren, who looked a little nervous in the screening room, and warmly introduced Gu Bei to him, wanting to offer Wen Ziren some opportunities.

Ray has been a good friend of Wen Ziren for a long time. They started collaborating on Saw, Dead Silence, and now Lurk, all of which were written by Ray and directed by Wen Ziren.

In Hollywood, directors hold a higher status than screenwriters.
However, the responsibilities they bear are also greater than those of screenwriters.
Since his stunning debut with Saw, Wen Ziren's next two films have both flopped.
Whether it was the horror film Dead Silence or the drama film Death Sentence, both were critical and commercial failures, which immediately brought Wen Ziren's career in Hollywood to a standstill, with no new works produced for four whole years.

Gu Bei and Liu Yifei's interest in the movie "Lurking" is definitely a great opportunity for Wen Ziren.

"Lei, I'm still busy right now..."

Wen Ziren replied somewhat absentmindedly.

As his comeback project after a four-year hiatus, if "Lurking" fails again, he can forget about ever working in Hollywood again. No studio will hire a director who has failed three times in a row.

However, when he saw Gu Bei's face, his impatient tone immediately froze, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face: "Bruce, hello, Bruce!"

"Hi James, I really enjoyed your Saw movie."

Gu Bei smiled and shook hands with Wen Ziren.

"Haha, I'm glad you like it."

Wen Ziren's tone sounded slightly awkward.

Saw is undoubtedly one of his proudest works.

The awkward thing is, he only has one Saw movie right now.

His success with Saw earned him two directing opportunities from Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Both were standard B-movies with a budget of $20 million, but the average box office revenue did not even reach the $20 million production cost.

The critical and commercial failure forced him to make another film, "Insidious," a $1.5 million horror movie that's practically a remake of "Saw." It remains to be seen whether it can achieve the same success as "Saw."

Lei said you like my movies. Which one is your favorite?

Gu Bei and Wen Ziren started chatting.

He was quite interested in Wen Ziren, the 21st-century master of horror films who created the Saw and Conjuring series.

Moreover, he later transitioned to big-budget commercial films and achieved considerable success.

Fast & Furious 7 and Aquaman are both films that grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Wen Ziren is one of the very few directors who has two films that grossed over $1 billion worldwide. He is definitely a genius director in commercial films.

"The sound of the wind!"

Wen Ziren gave an answer that surprised Gu Bei.

Seeing Gu Bei's slightly surprised performance, Wen Ziren added, "I think some of the psychological techniques you used in 'The Message' are very suitable for use in horror films. Even our current 'Lurking' has been greatly influenced by 'The Message'."

Upon hearing this, Gu Bei felt a little uneasy.

This can be considered as taking the name from Wen Ziren and using it for Wen Ziren.

As mentioned before, when filming The Message, the original Message's horror style was too distinctly Chen Guofu's personal style.

Therefore, Gu Bei used techniques from horror movies as a substitute.
The most frequently used technique, naturally, is that of Wen Ziren, the master of horror films in the new century.

No wonder Wen Ziren likes Gu Bei and Liu Yifei's version of The Message so much.

He said calmly, "I think so too. The Wind is also an attempt to combine spy films and horror films. It turned out to be pretty good. The unique pressure of spy films and the supernatural power that appears and disappears in horror films are similar in nature."

"That's right!"

Wen Ziren nodded excitedly.

He becomes quite talkative when the topic turns to movies.

He continued talking about Gu Bei's films: "And Whiplash and La La Land, your innovative combination of handheld camerawork and music in these two films is truly amazing."

I think many horror films in the future will utilize these innovative techniques, especially found-footage films, to further enhance the emotions conveyed by the visuals.

"It's really great that you can see all of this."

Gu Bei couldn't help but feel a little emotional. As expected of a future renowned director, he really had some skills and saw far more than the average director.

The two hit it off immediately.
Unfortunately, the premiere, which was lurking in the Toronto International Film Festival, is about to begin.
Wen Ziren said somewhat reluctantly, "I've arranged two exclusive studio seats for you. I have to get busy now. We'll talk again after the movie ends."

"It's alright, you go ahead and get busy!"

Gu Bei waved his hand.

then,

Led by Lei, Gu Bei and Liu Yifei found seats in the front row and sat down.

Liu Yifei glanced at the person next to her and said softly, "Isn't that one of the partners of Peak Entertainment?"

Gu Bei glanced over and saw that it really was one of the partners of Peak Entertainment, a familiar face.

but,

From the slightly hostile gaze the other person was giving him,

This partner likely belongs to Bernard Eisinger's faction.
People in this faction have a love-hate relationship with Rose Films, the biggest contributor to Pinnacle Entertainment.

"Ignore him, he's just a nobody."

Gu Bei said lightly.

Peak Entertainment has been experiencing rapid growth in the past two years.
As one of the largest film festivals in North America, it's perfectly normal for Summit Entertainment to send representatives to the Toronto International Film Festival.

With the success of Saw, no distributor would underestimate Wen Ziren's horror films; at the very least, they would send someone to test the waters.

"It seems that director James from earlier isn't exactly a nobody, is he?" Liu Yifei's voice was low in the dark screening room, but it carried a hint of sourness.

Ok?
dangerous!
Gu Bei was already very perceptive of other people's emotional changes, let alone Liu Yifei, his bedmate.

Even though Liu Yifei seemed to be just saying it casually, her tone, which was different from usual, made Gu Bei sense that Liu Yifei's emotions were slightly fluctuating.

"You wouldn't be... jealous, would you?" Gu Bei said with a strange expression.

It seems... I didn't hear Liu Yifei say much at all during the whole thing.
Especially when he was chatting with Wen Ziren, Liu Yifei didn't say a single substantive word.

"no!"

Liu Yifei said irritably.

At most, she's a little annoyed.

When Gu Bei and Wen Ziren were talking about "The Message," she wanted to chime in, but the two young directors jumped around so quickly that Liu Yifei couldn't keep up with these highly technical topics.

To know,
She suggested coming to see the undercover agent because she noticed that Gu Bei was under too much pressure lately, so she wanted to help him relieve his anxiety.

result,

The movie hasn't even started yet.
Gu Bei's mood had already improved considerably, but unfortunately, it was because of another young director...
That's why Liu Yifei felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Hahaha!"

Gu Bei chuckled twice.

In the dark screening room, he gently put his arm around Liu Yifei's shoulder, and he could sense that Liu Yifei's "no" was somewhere between the truth and a lie.

"dare you laugh!"

Liu Yifei already felt that her emotions were inappropriate.

After Gu Bei laughed at her twice, she immediately started baring her teeth and claws, as if she wanted to leave some protest marks on Gu Bei.

"Actually, I enjoyed chatting with him because I think he's a talented person, so I wanted Rose Pictures to reach an exclusive cooperation agreement with him."

Gu Bei smiled faintly, playing with Liu Yifei's soft, boneless hand as he explained softly, "Horror films are a genre that often achieves big results with small investments, and it's possible to build very long-lasting film series."

Rose Pictures currently has a very strong cash flow and hasn't ventured into horror films, so collaborating with Wen Ziren is a perfect opportunity. Think of it as a lucky draw – who knows, you might just pull a good IP!

"Oh, I see!"

Liu Yifei suddenly realized,
No wonder Gu Bei treated Wen Ziren with far more enthusiasm than he treated others.

in fact,

Gu Bei's favorite,
Undoubtedly, it is still the universe of summoning spirits created by Wen Ziren later.

When he was collecting IPs before, he specifically looked for the origins of the Conjuring Universe IPs.

unfortunately,

North American producers are just too greedy.
The Conjuring Universe's IP originates from the autobiographical novel "True Story: The House of Darkness and the House of Light" by Ed and Lorraine Warren, renowned North American paranormal investigators.
This story, which clearly had the potential for adaptation, was already taken by veteran Hollywood producer Tony DeRosa-Grund in the last century, who worked tirelessly to adapt it and bring it to the big screen.

This project has passed through the hands of various film studios, and Gu Bei doesn't know which studio it ended up with. After all, the project already has an owner, and it would be difficult for Rose Pictures to find it in the project pools of other film studios.

Gu Bei was just an ordinary person in his previous life, so he naturally believed that Wen Ziren was the irreplaceable core of the Summoning Universe.

But obviously,

Producers like Tony DeRosa-Grund, who have worked hard for over a decade,

It is also definitely one of the core elements of the Conjuring universe.

but,

Wen Ziren's value is not limited to summoning spirits from the universe.
Even if we can't get the Conjuring Universe, getting Wen Ziren is a good thing.

"Let's go see a movie!"

Liu Yifei nudged Gu Bei.

Under the screen's light, she looked at the big screen with slightly expectant eyes, her whole being in a state of excitement even before the movie started.

Gu Bei smiled as he looked at Liu Yifei's profile. At home, Liu Yifei also enjoyed watching horror movies.

But just like the last time the two of them watched Ju-on at the ski resort...
Liu Yifei is the type who's bad at games but loves to have fun.
She pushed Gu Bei away so quickly because she wanted to experience the terrifying atmosphere of a horror movie.
But when things get really scary, Liu Yifei will immediately protect her arm.

He also turned his attention to movies.

I also took the time to look up this movie in the entertainment database.
I just realized that this film, "Lurking," is quite impressive. It cost $1.5 million to produce and grossed $100 million worldwide.

The Insidious franchise spawned four sequels, and the five films grossed $700 million worldwide. While not as successful as The Conjuring universe, it was still a very profitable horror film series.

but,

I wonder if it's because "Lurking" isn't popular in the country.
Or perhaps it's because Gu Bei wasn't particularly interested in horror movies to begin with.
So he only knew about Wen Ziren's Saw and Conjuring universes, but knew nothing about this Lurk series.

After the movie ended,

Liu Yifei had already hugged Gu Bei tightly.
Only when the lights in the screening room came on did Liu Yifei quickly release Gu Bei, maintaining a calm expression on her face, though her slightly flushed cheeks and rapid breathing betrayed her fear.

Gu Bei didn't expose Liu Yifei; he simply recalled the undercover movie he had just watched.

Compared to Saw and The Conjuring, both directed by Wen Ziren, The Infiltrator is clearly inferior.

The first part was alright, but starting from the third act, the quality of the infiltration dropped sharply. No wonder he had never even heard of the infiltration series in his previous life.

but,

Even if the third act of the infiltration has some flaws,
However, this absolutely did not prevent Insidious from being a very successful horror film, as evidenced by its potential to gross $100 million worldwide.

We must capture the undercover agent, and Wen Ziren too!

Gu Bei thought to himself.

at this time,

After thanking the audience, Wen Ziren walked over to them.

However, halfway there, Wen Ziren was stopped by a partner from Top Peak Entertainment. The two started talking, and judging from Wen Ziren's surprised expression, the partner from Top Peak Entertainment must have already made an offer to him.

"James!"

Gu Bei walked over and interrupted the partner of Peak Entertainment, "Congratulations, you've made another classic horror film."

When Gu Bei arrived, the partner at Summit Entertainment immediately tried to build rapport: "James, you should know that Bruce is also a partner at Summit Entertainment. You two can have a much smoother collaboration at Summit Entertainment."

"I need to hear your more detailed quote."

Wen Ziren looked somewhat tempted, but still declined.

“No need to listen to him, listen to me!” Gu Bei completely ignored the look in the eyes of the partner at Peak Entertainment and directly quoted a high price that Wen Ziren could not refuse, “Three million US dollars, plus a sequel contract!”

(End of this chapter)