The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 237 At the Dinner Party

"Big Shot's Funeral is a good movie, but only mainland audiences understand its core themes, which is why it failed to succeed overseas."

“Movies like Hero are better. North American audiences watch for the action, while mainland Chinese audiences watch for the action and the core message.”

"The mainland film market will develop along with the economy, which is why I'm here to start a business and find partners."

The atmosphere in the private room was very harmonious, and Angela controlled the rhythm. Her fluent Chinese alone was enough to impress everyone present, not to mention that she could use both Chinese allusions and Western professional terms with ease.

Xu Jiuyang barely spoke and ate much food. He was quite frustrated because he realized that the idea he had come up with on a whim seemed to have no effect.

So far, the group of men, including the two foreign executives from Colombia, still look at him with curiosity and inquiry.

The two foreigners were even more surprised, their eyes darting back and forth between him and Anne Hathaway.

Xu Jiuyang didn't care about so much; he spent most of his time thinking about how to salvage the situation.

For example, her last sentence, while seemingly dispelling the claim that he was keeping her, made people think that the young couple was just having a tiff.

But if you look at it from another angle and make everyone think that he's actually being coquettish, thus confirming that he's being kept by a sugar daddy... that's just too weird. You can't help but act coy.

Just then, Angela nudged him with her elbow: "Jiuyang, there's something I need to discuss with you."

"What's wrong?" Xu Jiuyang came to his senses and realized that everyone was staring at him.

“I know you like to immerse yourself in your own world, but sometimes you need to be mindful of the occasion,” Angela said, trying to smooth things over.

“Excuse me,” he quickly composed himself, smiled calmly at the others, and then turned to Angela, “I just had a good idea, I’ll tell you when we get back.”

“Hmm,” Angela nodded, then brought up the previous topic, “I just introduced Mr. Wang to a Hollywood anthology film project, hoping to get him to invest. To show our sincerity, we decided to put a movie with a high probability of becoming a blockbuster in it, so I thought of your novels.”

“In that case, the source code will definitely need to be modified in detail,” Xu Jiuyang replied, stroking his chin.

“I haven’t said which one yet,” Angela said, raising an eyebrow.

"That goes without saying. To make Inception and Interstellar into movies, the investment would be at least hundreds of millions. Ex Machina is more artistic, so the only one suitable for a medium-budget adaptation is Source Code," Xu Jiuyang shrugged.

"You reacted pretty quickly," Angela snorted, quite coquettishly, conveying a flirtatious meaning. "So, how should it be revised?"

"I won't go into the details; Hollywood has a bunch of screenwriters who can handle that. But the ending, obviously, should have been set up so that the evil leader was preparing to erase the soldier's memory and continue using him to pave the way for his own promotion and wealth, instead of letting him go as promised. But the liaison officer disagreed, so he secretly sent the soldier back to the train to make up for the regret, and then pressed the button at the last moment, sending him back to death," Xu Jiuyang said.

Someone at Huayi frowned, instinctively wanting to refute, but Angela had already opened up with a "ha": "It does fit the ideas of those Hollywood screenwriters, so I said, the backgrounds of your science fiction novels are all more suitable for the United States."

"I've given you the overseas copyrights, say what you want." Xu Jiuyang spread out his handmade items, looking helpless.

"Does Mr. Xu also write science fiction?" Da Wang seized the opportunity to ask.

During dinner tonight, he tried to test the waters several times, but Angela and Xu Jiuyang worked together to thwart his attempts.

“Write, write science fiction, write essays, and write online novels.” Xu Jiuyang nodded.

These people's concept of online novels is still limited to "First Intimate Contact," so they don't think they've written anything special. "I occasionally write screenplays, but I'm busy with her lately," he continued, pointing to Angela.

"Are you busy with me, or with your female confidantes?" Angela tilted her head and looked at him.

Upon hearing this, the men present immediately turned their attention to him again.

Xu Jiuyang immediately coughed twice in a mock manner: "Didn't you think the story was good and could be submitted to a film festival?"

“Yeah, so what?” Angela crossed her arms.

Seeing this, Da Wang exchanged a glance with Feng Kuzi, who then interjected, "Mr. Xu, what kind of story is this 'Source Code' you're talking about?"

Xu Jiuyang pretended to be a donkey going downhill and gave a general account of the plot of "Source Code".

"This is a good story. Just from hearing the gist, I can imagine the exciting plot." Feng Kuzi immediately chimed in, though his tone was quite serious.

As a commercial director who relies on storytelling, he is indeed more sensitive to the ups and downs of the plot.

Perhaps feeling that this praise wasn't enough, he went on to exaggerate further, saying, "I think this is the kind of science fiction we should have—with our own ideas and an innovative spirit. Instead of deceiving ourselves by saying things like, 'We've already written down many ideas for science fiction movies,' and so on."

The same thing happened with "The Matrix." After the movie was released, many college students said that there was already a science fiction novel with a similar concept in "Science Fiction World," called something like "Upgrade."

In my opinion, this is classic arrogance, always thinking that they were the first to create something. Is it shameful to admit that others are better and that you are inferior?

Xu Jiuyang coughed lightly: "Director Feng, that article you mentioned, 'Upgrade,' was also written by me."

Feng Kuzi visibly stiffened. Some of the people from Huayi lowered their heads, and Xiao Wang awkwardly rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. However, Da Wang, who had seen it all, was able to maintain a normal smiling expression.

However, Feng Kuzi is Feng Kuzi after all. After rolling his eyes, he immediately changed the subject: "This just shows that some college students are really neither learned nor skilled. They just say that we already have such ideas, but they can't explain where they are similar or where they are different."

It's like making a movie; if you only focus on the scenes and colors but fail to tell the most basic story clearly, it's perfectly normal for the audience to misunderstand.

He said all this without batting an eye, and you have to admit, there's definitely a reason why this guy has made it this far.

Xu Jiuyang changed the subject: "However, I don't think adapting 'Source Code' is a good idea. Changing the subject matter, or one that mainland actors can participate in, might be more suitable."

"Oh?" Angela suddenly became interested, seemingly not expecting him to say that.

"For example, action scenes or assassin-themed films. This way, we can invite Li Lianjie to play the lead role, and President Wang and the others will feel more at ease investing money," Xu Jiuyang explained simply.

“That’s true.” The king’s eyes lit up.

"That being said, Jett Lee's movies have never grossed more than $1 million worldwide, but they do sell well on videotapes and DVDs," Angela said casually, with a hint of sarcastic remarks.

“That’s easy,” Xu Jiuyang said nonchalantly. “Find an American actor for the lead role, like Keanu Reeves who’s currently very popular. And have an important supporting actor from the mainland, who could be the male lead’s partner. Zhen Zidan would be fine.”

(End of this chapter)