Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 368 (366): One Against Two
(Several words have been deleted)

……

The next day.

September 16th, Sunday afternoon.

As expected, the culture and entertainment sections of many evening newspapers in Beijing and even across the country were dominated by the grand occasion at the Hilton Hotel's Kunlun Hall last night.

The Beijing Evening News devoted an entire page to the event with the headline, "A Star-Studded Celebration Banquet: Is Chinese Cinema Ushering in a 'Golden Age'?"

The article vividly describes the dazzling competition among the "Three Beauties of Shengying" on the red carpet, the collective northward migration of Hong Kong filmmakers, the joint appearance of internet upstarts and film giants, and the symbolic moment when Wang Sheng, Han Sanping, and Zhou Xingxing broke through the ice sculpture together.

The report concluded by quoting Wang Sheng's statement, "The best era has just begun," suggesting that this heralds the arrival of a new phase driven by the market, capital, and genre-based exploration.

The Xinmin Evening News focused on the industry implications behind the Kung Fu Soccer phenomenon, with the headline "From 200 Million to the Future: The Marketing Philosophy and Channel Revolution of Kung Fu Soccer".

The article provides an in-depth analysis of how the "World Cup ticket lottery" marketing strategy accurately captured and ignited public sentiment, and emphasizes the role of China Film Grand Cinema Circuit as a modern screening terminal in ensuring box office miracles.

The report points out that Wang Sheng's remarks on "ecological competition" at the celebration banquet indicate that the competitive dimensions of China's film industry are escalating.

The Beijing Entertainment News, on the other hand, focuses more on gossip and people, with eye-catching headlines such as "Wang Sheng sits firmly in the center, Hong Kong bigwigs toast him as if they were paying homage, and Korean wave actresses pale in comparison."

The article vividly describes the scene where Wang Sheng respectfully toasted Xiang Huaqiang and his wife, Xu Ke, and others, and responded with only his business card. It also mentions the scene where Zheng Taiyuan brought three Korean actresses but failed to attract much attention from Wang Sheng. The article highlights Wang Sheng's unparalleled power and influence in the current Chinese film and television industry.

In the following days, various media outlets continued to amplify the story, interpreting the celebration banquet from different perspectives.

"Wang Sheng's Quotes", "Stephen Chow's Reflections", "The Tacit Understanding Between Jackie Chan and Wang Sheng", and "Sheng Ying's Artist Matrix" have all become hot topics in the entertainment section.

The box office miracle of "Shaolin Soccer" and the lavish celebration banquet together created a powerful wave of public opinion, further consolidating Wang Sheng and his "Shengying Group" as a benchmark in the minds of the public and the industry.

……

Amidst the clamor of the media extravaganza, the construction site of "Jackie Chan Happy Park" in Huairou was a scene of orderly bustling activity.

In mid-September, the main structure of the "Chinese Civilization Museum" was fully capped and successfully passed the joint acceptance inspection by the construction party, the design party, the supervision party, and the professional technical team dispatched by Wang Sheng.

The massive steel frame stands majestically under the clear autumn sky, initially revealing its grand scale that blends traditional imagery with modern style.

The day after the acceptance inspection was passed, new changes took place on the construction site.

Large quantities of decoration materials and prefabricated components began to be delivered continuously.

The construction of internal partitions, pipeline laying, ventilation and fire protection systems, and other processes have been fully launched.

At the same time, the first batch of professional film shooting equipment also began to arrive – including a high-speed motion control robot prepared for shooting the "resurrection of cultural relics" special effects, a giant crane and softbox for complex lighting setups, and a digital workstation prepared for on-site previews in post-production.

Wang Sheng would personally visit the site almost every two or three days, wearing a safety helmet, and walk through the space filled with building materials and pipelines with the project manager, art director, and special effects supervisor.

He was extremely meticulous about details, from the reflectivity of the wall material to the angle of the future hidden camera positions, from the routing of the cable trays to the potential impact of the ventilation openings on the recording; he had to be involved in everything, no matter how small.

"Here, lower the base of the Qin terracotta warriors array by another 15 centimeters. This is to ensure that when Jackie Chan walks among them, the camera can have more varied angles of elevation and depression to highlight the volume contrast," Wang Sheng said to the engineers and art director beside him, pointing to a spot on the drawing.

“Understood, Director Wang.” The engineer immediately marked it on the tablet.

"And the dome lighting system for the 'Paleogene Skeleton Museum',"

Wang Sheng looked up at the towering space where the keel was being installed. "What I want is not uniform lighting, but an effect that can simulate moonlight shining through a skylight. It needs to have layers and shadows to highlight the three-dimensionality and mystery of the skeleton. The design needs to be optimized further."

"Okay, we'll contact the lighting design team right away to adjust the plan."

The entire interior of the "museum" resembles a giant precision instrument being meticulously calibrated, with every corner preparing for the upcoming fantastical night.

According to the latest progress assessment, the interior decoration and equipment debugging are expected to be completed by the end of November, at which time "Night at the Museum" will officially begin filming.

……

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the Yadan landforms of Dunhuang, the crew of "Hero" has begun location shooting.

Zhang Yi implemented strict military-style management of information within the production crew, strictly prohibiting unauthorized personnel from visiting the set, and requiring all actors and staff to sign strict confidentiality agreements.

However, even the most meticulous plans can have flaws, and driven by enormous commercial interests, there are always those willing to take risks. In late September, a well-known weekly newspaper in southern China published a series of blurry, long-distance candid photos. Although the faces of the actors were not clearly visible, the black Qin army formation under the blood-red setting sun in the vast desert, the figures of actors dressed in flowing ancient costumes in pure red, green, and white, and a corner of a constructed replica ancient palace still attracted considerable attention.

The weekly magazine published an article titled "On the Set of 'Hero': Lao Mouzi's Ultimate Interpretation of Color Aesthetics, vs. Wang Sheng's Fantasy Comedy?"

The film contrasts the solemnity and epic feel of "Hero" with the fantasy and comedy style already revealed in "Night at the Museum," and cites an "industry insider" who analyzes that this will be a "head-on collision between China's top film directors regarding future market discourse power and aesthetic style."

Immediately afterwards, more entertainment reporters, like sharks smelling blood, began to surround the "Hero" film crew.

Although Zhang Weiping used his connections to suppress some reports, news about the huge investment, lavish sets, and astronomical star salaries of "Hero" still spread like wildfire, further intensifying public comparisons and expectations between the two blockbuster films.

The media loves to create this kind of "king versus king" narrative because it is highly topical.

For a time, "Night at the Museum VS Hero" became the second most talked-about topic in the entertainment section after the celebration party for "Shaolin Soccer".

Amidst this vortex of public opinion, another iconic figure in the Chinese directing world—Chen Kaige—also entered this invisible "battle" with an international flair.

Chen Kaige just completed his first attempt in Hollywood last year, directing the erotic thriller "Killing Me Softly" starring Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes.

Although the film has not yet been released (it was released in 2002), it has already caused a lot of discussion in the industry due to its subject matter and bold content.

In September, Chen Kaige's team revealed that he had received an invitation from an Australian production company to direct an English-language film about Chinese history, with a proposed investment of up to $2000 million.

According to reports, Chen Kaige showed great interest in the project. Although he said he needed to further evaluate the script, he was inclined to accept it due to his personal love for war history.

This is not an isolated case.

In fact, since "Farewell My Concubine" won the Palme d'Or and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1993, Chen Kaige has been highly favored by international film production capital.

Following "The Emperor's Shadow" (1999), such invitations seem to have entered another active period.

If examined from a slightly "conspiracy theory" perspective, the international collaborations Chen Kaige received around 2001 were intertwined with complex motives and forces...

The success of "Farewell My Concubine" established Chen Kaige's reputation internationally as a director who "can tell Chinese stories well, especially presenting Eastern mysticism, historical weight, and human entanglements."

For Western production companies, he is a reliable candidate who can "artistically" and "internationally" package "Chinese elements".

Whether it's the cross-cultural romance and suspense set in "Kill Me Gently" or the "Chinese historical war theme" proposed by Australia, they all essentially contain a desire to explore and consume "other cultures" in a curious way.

What they need is not a purely Chinese perspective, but a director who can use cinematic language that Western audiences can understand to present their imagined "Orient".

From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, with the deepening of China's reform and opening up, its comprehensive national strength steadily improved and its international status became increasingly prominent.

Some Western foundations, cultural institutions, and even intelligence organizations, out of "concern" and "shaping" of China's future direction, intentionally or unintentionally infiltrate or exert influence through cultural channels.

Supporting a Chinese director like Chen Kaige, who has international prestige and whose works often touch upon historical reflection and the complexities of human nature, to make films that conform to Western values ​​or can provoke specific interpretations of Chinese history and society, is seen as a "soft" strategic investment.

Especially when it comes to sensitive topics such as historical wars, whoever controls the narrative can influence international public opinion to a certain extent.

Chen Kaige's preference for grand historical narratives and the intellectual critique that occasionally shines through his works have made him an object of "investment" and "guidance" in the eyes of certain forces.

Perhaps there is also a potential intention to counterbalance the "domestic business behemoths"?

The meteoric rise of Wang Sheng and his "Shengying Group" represents a powerful force that is fully rooted in the Chinese domestic market, follows business logic, and has begun to build its own complete industrial chain.

The emergence of this force may have touched a nerve with some international capital or forces that do not want to see China form an overly powerful and independent cultural industry giant.

Against this backdrop, supporting and encouraging directors like Chen Kaige, who have a more "international perspective" (or are more easily influenced by international capital), to produce large-scale productions, especially those that differentiate themselves from or even potentially compete with Wang Sheng's costume fantasy (Night at the Museum, though not a traditional costume film, is centered on Chinese civilization) and historical martial arts (Hero) genres, can perhaps be seen as a strategy of "market segmentation" and "influence checks and balances" at the cultural level.

It's better to let China's top directors "compete" under the support of different capital groups than to let them unite and form a powerful local interest group.

Therefore, the invitation from Australia that Chen Kaige received in September 2001 may not have been just a simple business cooperation proposal.

It may be a carefully calculated move, involving the power structure of the international film industry, the struggle for cultural export, and a complex response to the rising power of Chinese domestic films.

Chen Kaige himself may be immersed in the passion of artistic creation and historical exploration, but the position he stands in has long been a stage where various forces are casting their gaze and secretly vying for power.

(End of this chapter)