Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 247 New Script

While Rubik's Cube was working on the special effects for Infinite Terror 3, Li Boda began to think about his next film, wanting to write his own script.

The main problem is that there aren't any suitable, or even excellent, food-themed books available on the market.

Of course, it is also related to the fact that Li Boda himself has relatively high standards.

After all, the kind of food Li Boda wanted was the kind of luminous dishes that appeared in the manga "MasterChef." There might be food-themed manga on the market, but they would only be slightly exaggerated, and would hardly exceed the level of reality. At most, they would showcase the level of those master chefs who served state banquets in real life.

This level of performance fell far short of Li Boda's desired requirements.

Therefore, it is actually quite difficult to capture the culinary skills of an exceptionally high-level dish on film.

The main point is that with movies, while you can exaggerate, you can't go too far.

In fact, if you look closely, among the food-themed movies over the years, only Stephen Chow's nonsensical film "The God of Cookery" was truly outstanding. Other food-themed works were either not good enough in terms of food quality or were poorly made, so hardly anyone watched them.

Because movies are different from other things, unless it's a nonsensical movie like Stephen Chow's, it's really hard to film extraordinary food.

In terms of anime, there are "Cooking Master Boy" and "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma," but anime is anime, and very few anime can be successfully adapted into movies or TV series.

It's normal for you to act so exaggeratedly because it's anime. Anime already has a fixed audience who are used to this kind of setting.

However, if you adapt anime into a movie or TV series, many viewers will find it difficult to accept.

Of course, the main issue is the worldview set in anime, like "Food Wars!", where everything is solved by cooking skills, and they even seem to think that if a real war breaks out, a bowl of fried rice can quell it. This is normal in anime, but if you actually portray it like that in a movie or TV series, you'd be in for a lot of criticism.

Therefore, if you want to achieve the effect that Li Boda wants, the nonsensical style is more suitable.

However, not everyone can pull off this nonsensical style.

Or rather, even in Hong Kong, where nonsensical comedy originated, there aren't many people who can truly master the nonsensical style of filmmaking.

Furthermore, making a film about the God of Cookery, coupled with a nonsensical style, is practically a remake of Stephen Chow's "The God of Cookery." Even if the film is well-made, its reputation might not be that good.

So Li Boda was also struggling with whether or not to create a nonsensical, food-themed script.

However, while Li Boda was casually browsing online for movies, TV series, and anime related to food, an anime caught his eye.

Holy Grail War!

The Fate series of anime.

The premise of this anime is quite interesting.

Modern magicians summon heroic spirits from the past or future to fight.

These heroic spirits come from different eras and possess a wide variety of skills.

It's exactly like the classic "Guan Yu vs. Qin Qiong" scenario, but strangely enough, it makes perfect sense.

Of course, it's fine if it's just heroic spirits from different eras fighting. The key is that Li Boda can give the heroic spirit who is the protagonist extraordinary culinary skills.

He became famous for his culinary skills, and through the sublimation of legend, he was ultimately endowed with extraordinary culinary skills.

Li Boda could totally play it that way.

Furthermore, in Fate/stay night, the protagonist, Shirou Emiya, is an incredibly skilled cook. It would be entirely feasible to adapt the story into a movie or TV series, even if it were just based on the original story.

So Li Boda called Sister Wang directly and asked her to buy back the film and television rights to Fate.

Of course, even if he buys it, Li Boda won't actually make a movie based on the plot of Fate/stay night.

After all, Fate/stay night is an anime and game from Japan, and it is full of Japanese culture.

Since Li Boda wants to film this subject, he naturally has to make corresponding changes.

For example, you could change the city of Fuyuki to Hong Kong or somewhere else. The main issue is that Fuyuki is prone to gas explosions, which is something that can't be filmed in China, right? But it would be perfectly fine in Hong Kong, or even abroad.

As for the Heroic Spirits, Li Boda will also make corresponding changes. For example, among the seven Heroic Spirits, he will choose two or three figures from Chinese history, and the rest can be King Arthur, Alexander the Great, or Washington, the legendary figure from the United States.

After all, his previous films were able to be released globally. Even if Li Boda had his own selfish motives and wanted to improve his culinary skills, he still hoped to release his works globally and achieve great box office success.

To achieve good box office results, it's natural to add elements that appeal to other countries to the film.

For example, this "Cherry Blossom Axe God" Washington!
Imagine if Li Boda made this movie exceptionally well, with a very high quality, and it also featured George Washington, the first president of the United States, with the addition of a cherry blossom axe, and even added some glamour to the character. In that case, the movie would definitely be a huge box office hit in North America, audiences would definitely buy it, and there would be absolutely no need to worry about the box office.

So, before Li Boda even wrote the script, he directly decided on the seven heroic spirits.

These seven heroic spirits are:
Knight: Cherry Blossom Axe Washington.

Swordsman: King Arthur, Artoria.

Magician: Iron-Crowned Taoist Su Shi (Su Dongpo).

Spearman: Zhao Yun (Zhao Zilong).

Berserker: Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

Assassin: John Wilkes Booth.

Archer: Gilgamesh.

Li Boda's choice of these seven heroic spirits was a well-considered one.

Among these seven, some are the spirits of heroes from China. Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong, goes without saying. Zhao Zilong, the white horse and silver spearman, is a famous figure in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and other countries and regions.

The character of Su Shi was specifically chosen by Li Boda because Su Shi invented a dish that has been passed down to this day: Dongpo Pork. Li Boda could use Dongpo Pork as an anchor point to elevate Su Shi's culinary skills, directly upgrading them to EX level.

Su Shi studied Taoist culture from a young age and even had the title of "Iron-Crowned Taoist". Therefore, he could have easily taken up the profession of magician, that is, Taoist priest, using magic and talismans to defend against enemies.

As for the characters Washington (whose name is associated with the cherry blossoms and axe) and Artoria (who is associated with King Arthur), it goes without saying that they were chosen for their box office success.

Washington is very famous in the United States and in North America.

The same was true for King Arthur in Europe.

As for the assassin John Wilkes Booth, the American president, Lincoln, died at his hands. Liberty added a special attribute to this character: when facing the American president, his strength increases, and his attacks gain attributes such as lethality, berserk, and critical hits.

As for the archer Gilgamesh, Li Boda felt that since he had borrowed the setting of the Holy Grail War, also known as Fate/stay night, it might cause dissatisfaction among Fate/stay night fans if he didn't add a character from the original anime.

As for the Berserker Minamoto no Yorimitsu, to be honest, Li Boda initially intended to reserve the Berserker role for Lu Bu.

However, Li Boda pondered that the film market in Xiao Rizi Guo was actually quite large.

For example, the movie "Chu Xuan" grossed $40 million in the US. "Infinite Terror 2" even grossed $80 million, which shows that the US film market is indeed huge.

In addition, the Fate series is a work by Japan, so it wouldn't be appropriate if there weren't any characters from Japan in it.

However, Li Boda doesn't particularly like the male characters in "Little Days Country".

On the contrary, Li Boda found the character of Minamoto no Yorimitsu quite interesting.

A super yandere, with mature woman attributes, and even motherly attributes, that's pretty appealing, isn't it?

After much deliberation and consideration, Li Boda simply decided on these seven heroic spirits.

As for the seven Masters, in Li Boda's plan, they would also come from different countries. At least two Masters would be from the United States. One Master from the United Kingdom would also be included. Another Master from the United Kingdom would be necessary. The remaining Masters would be from China and Hong Kong.

Once these important characters are defined, the script will be almost complete.

Based on these fourteen characters, their backgrounds, personalities, and so on, the script was expanded and then connected. That's how a script was completed.

Although the script may seem a bit rough at this point, it only needs to be revised and improved a second or third time, and a decent script will likely emerge.

As for the name of the script, Li Boda didn't put much thought into it and simply named it "The Holy Grail War".

Seven pairs of Masters and Servants vie for the Holy Grail, a title that is simple, clear, and directly addresses the theme—perfectly fitting.

This script still uses the original three-family setup.

One came from America, one from the United Kingdom, and one from a local Hong Kong family; together they created the Holy Grail system.

The role of the Master of the Beautiful Country was set by Li Boda as that of the Tohsaka family.

The position of the Emperor of the British Empire was set up as that of the Matou family.

In Hong Kong, the family was positioned as the Einzbern family.

The American Master chose Washington, the Sakura Axe Master. The British Master, on the other hand, chose John Wilkes Booth, the Sakura Axe Master, to counter Washington.

The reason for this targeting is also a follow-up to the Fate formula; essentially, these two characters are Tohsaka Tokiomi and Matou Kariya.

The Masters from Hong Kong, on the other hand, chose King Arthur, Artoria. This is because Hong Kong was occupied by the British Empire for so long, and its culture had long been infiltrated. So it's quite normal to choose King Arthur, Artoria, as a Servant.

Then the Master from the mainland, a descendant of Zhao Yun, who was sent by the nation to participate in the Holy Grail War, summoned Zhao Yun.

Then a food-loving girl came to Hong Kong for tourism and was accidentally drawn into the Holy Grail War. In a life-or-death crisis, she summoned Su Shi (Su Dongpo). There were no summoned creatures; the summoning was entirely based on the Master's own characteristics.

Furthermore, the Master of the Little Day Kingdom is a pervert, modeled after Ryunosuke Uryu, a perverted murderer. However, after summoning Minamoto no Yorimitsu by killing someone, he was killed by Yorimitsu for killing children. This is because Yorimitsu's berserk state was based on maternal instincts and her love for children, even to the point of being willing to fight against the world for her son.

The last archer Gilgamesh's Master, Liberty, is portrayed as a particularly arrogant, handsome white man, proud, conceited, and rude, very similar to Gilgamesh's attributes.

Upon learning that Li Boda had written a new script, Han Sanye immediately sought out Li Boda and demanded the script.

Li Boda didn't hide anything and handed the script directly to Master Han.

When Master Han first started reading the script, he was a little confused and couldn't help but frown.

After all, it's quite chaotic to have characters from different eras and countries all gathered together for a chaotic brawl.

However, after he figured out the setting of the heroic spirits, he found that the script was actually quite interesting.

"What a pity, there's no Guan Yu, and no Qin Qiong either! The saying 'Guan Yu vs. Qin Qiong' has been around for so many years. Now that we finally have a script like this, you didn't even choose either of these two roles." Han Sanye complained to Li Boda with great regret.

“…How about I replace the characters of Washington with the cherry blossom axe and King Arthur? At worst, we’ll just have to compete in the North American and European markets,” Li Boda said casually.

"That won't do!!!" Third Master Han quickly interrupted Li Boda.

Although he was indeed quite interested in seeing Guan Yu fight Qin Qiong, he felt that the seven heroic spirits created by Li Boda were very suitable.

Especially Washington with his cherry blossom axe and King Arthur, Artoria—

"Uh, wait a minute, isn't King Arthur a man?" Third Master Han noticed the key point.

“A gender change would make the character more appealing. Actually, it’s not just King Arthur; Minamoto no Yorimitsu was originally a man too. However, audiences love this. In the original Fate anime and games, King Arthur Artoria is incredibly popular, far more so than the male version of King Arthur,” Li Boda explained.

"I see—" Although Master Han still felt it was a bit absurd and ridiculous, considering that Li Boda's movies had achieved such great success worldwide, he chose to trust Li Boda's judgment.

Since Li Boda thinks King Arthur would be better off changing his nature, then let him change his nature.

Moreover, and most importantly, more than half of the fourteen characters are foreigners. The character of Han Sanye in this movie could totally be a collaboration with Hollywood stars.

For example, Robert Downey Jr., whom Han Sanye mentioned before.

However, after Master Han expressed this wish, Li Boda looked at Master Han with a somewhat speechless expression.

"His salary alone is as high as 50 million US dollars. Third Master, does China Film Group have money to burn? Robert Downey Jr. became a huge hit when he played Iron Man, but now in the eyes of the audience, he is only Tony Stark. Do you think he can succeed in playing other roles?"

"Alright, I'm a little dizzy, don't take my words to heart," Han Sanye could only apologize.

The entertainment industry is a place where everything is exposed.

Han Sanye had only just finished reading Li Boda's script when, the very next day, news of Li Boda's new play had already spread throughout the entire entertainment industry.

Then, countless male and female celebrities began to approach Li Boda or inquire about information.

Fan Bingbing was the most direct, blocking Li Boda right at the door.

“Boda, this time you have to reserve a role for me no matter what, otherwise I will—” Fan Bingbing stared intently at Li Boda.

"Or what will you do?"

"I'll make sure you can't get out of bed for three days!"

"Haha, Bingbing, before, which of us couldn't get out of bed?"

"...Even if I'm no match for you, I'll still cling to you and keep you from getting out of bed for three days."

"Alright, alright, actually, I've already reserved a role for you," Li Boda said to Fan Bingbing with a smile.

Fan Bingbing's face lit up with joy: "What role? What role? Where's the script? Let me see it quickly."

"The Berserker Heroic Spirit Minamoto no Yorimitsu, you were the first person I thought of when I was creating this character," Li Boda said with a smile.

"Minamoto no Yorimitsu? That name sounds a bit strange, like he's not Chinese."

"It's a name from the Kingdom of Little Days. This character is a heroic spirit from the Kingdom of Little Days," Li Boda explained, placing the script in front of Fan Bingbing.

"Little Days Country?" Fan Bingbing frowned subconsciously, but still picked up the script, ready to take a good look.

As long as the role is compelling enough, she doesn't care what country the character is from.

The reason why Li Boda chose Fan Bingbing to play the role of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, instead of having a Japanese actor play the role, is that Li Boda chose Fan Bingbing to play the role of Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

The main reason was that Li Boda's impression of actresses from Japan was limited to stars like Yui Boda and Yu Shinoda. He couldn't very well invite them to make movies.

Although if they were actually invited to star in the film, the box office performance would probably be quite good in China, Japan, and even Southeast Asia, the concern is that it might be censored.

Therefore, Li Boda ultimately decided to cast a domestic actress in the role of Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

After all, there are too many female celebrities in China who have close relationships with Li Boda.

Although she can't arrange roles for all the actresses she's close to, she'll arrange one as many as she can, and the rest can take their turn in line.

Moreover, Fan Bingbing's figure is indeed very suitable for playing the role of Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

Fan Bingbing looked at the script and at the character Minamoto no Yorimitsu. She found that although the character was a pervert and a yandere, he did seem quite charming. So she was in a great mood and decided to give Li Boda a reward. She decided not to get out of bed for three days.

(End of this chapter)