Global Film Emperor

Chapter 223 News of the New Movie
In the midst of ordinary days, time slips away unnoticed. Before we knew it, it was mid-April. Shanghai had entered a period of rapid heat, so hot that even a cripple didn't want to move. I've gained seven or eight pounds in the past month.

Lu Ze has never been used to setting the air conditioner temperature too low; 24 degrees Celsius is enough for him. Right now, he is sweating profusely on the treadmill in his room.

Although Lu Ze wasn't considered fat after filming "To Live," he still had a lot of body fat, with a noticeable belly and slightly protruding chest. In March, he weighed around 170 pounds, but now he has dropped to 155 pounds.

With a car and a house, and some spare money, Lu Ze started buying things he wanted. Since the house was big enough, he could easily fit some large items, including this treadmill.

Once the timer was up, the treadmill belt began to slow down. After walking on it for another ten minutes, Lu Ze wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and took a sip of warm water from his water bottle.

Lu Ze turned off the music playing in the room and was about to go into the bathroom to take a shower when his phone rang. It was Shen Jinghan calling.

"Aze, have you bought the round-trip tickets to Hong Kong?"

"Yeah, I bought it yesterday. I'm flying to Hong Kong on the 29th and returning to Shanghai on May 3rd. What's up?"

Ever since Lu Ze announced that he was going to take on a new role, Shen Jinghan has been casting a wide net, asking many directors and friends in the industry, hoping to find a suitable script for Lu Ze. And today, she has finally lived up to Lu Ze's expectations.

"I'd like to ask about your opinion on romance films. I've found a script for a romance film, directed by Xiao Fengying, and I'd like to ask for your opinion."

Lu Ze paused slightly in his hand holding the remote control. He didn't have any subjective likes or dislikes for the romance film genre. To him, as long as it was a good script, what did the genre matter?

However, the values ​​in domestic romance films these days are not quite right. They are filled with all sorts of messy plots, love triangles, reminiscing about exes, premarital sex and abortion in college, rich young master and Cinderella, wedding battles, and so on.

Lu Ze would never make a movie that promotes a warped view of love and influences immature teenagers. Putting himself in Lu Ze's shoes, if he had children in the future, would he feel comfortable letting them watch movies with such warped values?
He is not an ordinary viewer, nor will he become an ordinary parent in the future. He is an industry insider, an actor. Although he cannot influence the entire industry's atmosphere, he will at least set an example by not going to watch this type of film.

Otherwise, when his children watch his movies in the future and see this kind of work, Lu Ze will be so ashamed that he won't be able to lift his head. It will also affect other people's children. Let whoever wants to do this kind of thing that will get him struck by lightning do it. Lu Ze would rather die than do it.

Lu Ze also had a deep understanding of director Xiao Fengying, although the two had never met. She is one of the few well-known female directors in China, and her forte is romance films. She is famous for her delicate use of camerawork and understanding of women's thinking.

Her status in romance films is equivalent to Guo Mingde's status in war and military-themed TV dramas—an unshakeable leading lady. Of course, there are also leading men in romance films.

Especially more than a decade ago, when she was at the peak of her career, let's just say that when Lu Ze was fifteen or sixteen, he, like countless other teenagers, secretly shed a few tears while watching her movies on TV, and was deeply moved by the scenes in the movies.

However, in recent years, Xiao Fengying's works have become somewhat lackluster. They have followed the mainstream and lost their uniqueness, resorting to clichéd love stories. She relies on her previous reputation and still delicate camerawork to carry the weight of romance films in this almost-deteriorated genre.

As a well-known director, it's impossible for her reputation to be ruined by a few bad movies, but the audience's trust in her has still plummeted.

Come to think of it, a director as big as you has made three movies in the past four years, two of which have a 6.0 rating and one has now dropped to 4.9. How can we trust you?
Lu Ze thought about a lot of things, but actually didn't think about them for very long before quickly answering Shen Jinghan's question on the other end of the phone.

"A romance film? It depends on the quality. If the quality is good, I have no problem with it."

"Let me tell you first, if you want to act in this movie, you'll need to audition. I can help you get an audition spot. I'll send the script to your email first. If you're interested, give me a call."

"Okay, no problem."

Just after hanging up the phone, Lu Ze saw a message notification on his already powered-on laptop. He opened his email and found a file titled "The Audition Script for the Male Lead in 'Mistaken Love'." Lu Ze was somewhat disappointed by the movie's title, because "Mistaken Love" didn't sound sophisticated at all; on the contrary, it had a kind of unconventional feel to it.

The name alone was enough to kill Lu Ze’s interest. He went to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee, placed it on the computer desk, held the cripple in his arms, and started to understand the general plot of the script.

Then his brows furrowed, he sat up straight, and began to read the audition script carefully, word by word, taking nearly an hour to finish.

After giving the cripple a good rub, Lu Ze sighed, closed his eyes, visualized the words in his mind, and completed the storyboard in his heart before finally opening his eyes with satisfaction.

Judging from the audition script, this movie is indeed very different from those clichéd romance movies nowadays, and even has a touch of science fiction. Lu Ze disagrees and says the screenwriter is very talented.

It breaks away from the materialism and hedonism present in most romance films today, making the emotions very sincere. It tells the story of the love between two ordinary, similar, yet extremely different men and women with a purity that is close to that of pure love.

To be honest, this is the only romantic movie in recent years that has impressed Lu Ze. Now, looking at the movie's title again, Lu Ze feels that the title is very fitting, as if it should have been called that originally.

This mistake is not a mistake of the correct one, but a mistake of the intertwined ones. Understanding it in this way is more in line with the meaning of the name itself.

Lu Ze fell in love with the script. Unable to contain his joy, he opened the script again and began to read it from the beginning, gradually deepening his understanding of the script.

Reaching out of the bookshelf, he pulled out a notebook, casually flipped through it—it was brand new and unused. He opened a drawer, took out a pen, and began writing down all the key points from the audition script. Meanwhile, the cripple took advantage of the moment to jump to the ground, escaping Lu Ze's clutches.

Time always flies when you're focused. Eventually, Lu Ze was jolted awake by the lame man's shouts, pulling him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the time; it was already six in the afternoon. His notebook was filled with five or six more pages of his handwriting.

Seeing how hungry the cripple was, Lu Ze had no choice but to get up and prepare dinner for himself and the cripple. While the rice was steaming, Lu Ze called Shen Jinghan back.

"Aunt Han, could you contact Director Xiao? I need an interview slot. Has the time been set yet?"

As Shen Jinghan expected, Lu Ze called her back and asked her to attend an interview. She knew this would be the result because she was also impressed by the screenwriter's ingenious ideas when she was reading the script.

"I'm sorry, Aze, I'm not particularly close to Director Xiao Fengying, and because it's a romance film, I haven't focused on this genre before, so I don't have much time to give you to study the script. The audition period is from April 27th to 29th, a total of three days. I've scheduled your audition for the 29th to give you as much time as possible to familiarize yourself with the script, so you won't be able to fly to Hong Kong on the 29th. I've rebooked you a ticket for the 30th, so how about you go there on the day of the awards ceremony?"

The timing was perfect; what could Lu Ze say? Looking at the date, today was April 17th, so Lu Ze only had twelve days left, which was indeed a bit tight.

"Okay, going to Hong Kong on the 30th is fine with me, no problem."

After receiving the audition invitation, Lu Ze breathed a sigh of relief. The cripple was watching him, so he gave it a flick on the forehead. Finally, he had temporarily resolved his biggest worry, and the pressure on Lu Ze was relieved. The rice cooker beeped twice, indicating that the rice was cooked. He patted his knees, got up to cook, and then rushed to finish writing the script!

"."

I had a few drinks last night and got really sleepy, so I couldn't stay awake. I apologize to everyone! I'll make up for the two chapters I mentioned yesterday today, and there will be three more later. Happy New Year, and I wish everyone success in both love and career.

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(End of this chapter)