Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 186: "Stone" Candidate

"It's really well written. Did you write it?"

The person asking the questions was Zhang Guoli. He considered himself a veteran, but he had never seen such a script before.

The three thieves Dao Ge, Mike, a professional thief from Hong Kong, Bao Shihong and San Bao, the security team of the crafts director, Si Yan, the black-hearted real estate developer Feng Dong, the stubborn factory director and his scheming son Xie Xiaomeng...

There are many characters, but each one is vivid.

So many characters are interspersed together, with all kinds of coincidences and funny things.

It was as if there was a thread running through them, weaving their destinies together.

This places too much demand on the screenwriter.

The screenwriter is like God, arbitrarily deciding everyone's fate.

If similar plots are concentrated in a serious drama, they will seem fake and too deliberate, but if they are concentrated in a comedy, they are just right and can achieve the effect of one plus one being greater than two.

The point is, it's really fun.

Zhang Guoli is stunningly beautiful!
Don’t be surprised. If you are not a professional screenwriter, many people don’t know about the multi-line narrative model.

Zhang Chen shook his head: "No, it was written by several screenwriters in our company, and the chief writer was his wife..."

Speaking of this, Ning Hao nodded embarrassedly.

Feng Xiaogang is better than Zhang Guoli and saw the clue: "Did it draw inspiration from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?"

Ning Hao nodded again.

College students are probably the group in the world that is most prompt in pursuing advanced techniques. Many of them have watched more films than many professional directors.

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is actually quite popular in China, but only among college students. It has been recommended in various forums because it has not been officially released in China.

"Who do you want me to play a guest role?" Feng Xiaogang asked.

"Mr. Feng, do you think it's okay? My last name happens to be Feng, so it can be used as a joke."

Feng Xiaogang burst out laughing.

"can."

Zhang Guoli suggested: "Has anyone chosen the role of Dao Ge? I think you can consider Sun Honglei."

Zhang Chen thought to himself that someone had indeed recommended Sun Honglei.

Liu Huaqiang, played by Sun Honglei, is so deeply rooted in people's hearts that when people talk about villains, they subconsciously think of him.

In later generations, Liu Huaqiang buying melons and Gao Qiqiang selling fish became a meme.

"We have a better candidate, Liu Hua, mainly because he is more humorous~"

Zhang Chen refused in disguise, and Feng Xiaogang tried to smooth things over: "Yes, it is important for an actor to have a sense of humor. I know Liu Hua, and he is indeed suitable. Which role do you want Guo Li to play?"

Seeing Feng Xiaogang helping to pass on the message, Zhang Chen immediately said, "I want Uncle Guoli to help me play the role of the curator. Does Uncle Guoli have time?"

Zhang Guoli smiled and said, "Of course, it's such a good script. If you don't let me act, I will have to beg you. It's so fun."

At their level, they are very picky about the scripts they choose to act in.

Many scripts are too similar and boring to perform, so I basically don’t accept them.

But "Crazy Stone" really amazed him, and what he just said was not just a compliment.

"That's great." Zhang Chen was very happy that he had dealt with the two of them in just a few words.

Feng Xiaogang joked, "Since you've already recruited Guo Li and I, why don't you consider recruiting Uncle Ge and Uncle Dao Ming as well?"

Zhang Chen laughed and said, "Forget it. Uncle Ge doesn't fit in with the atmosphere of this play. I'm afraid if he comes, it will turn into a Feng-style comedy. Uncle Daoming is too serious. If I let him play a comedy, people all over the country will scold me."

Zhang Chen was just joking, and the two didn't continue the topic. They just mentioned it casually.

If Ge You were really brought here, it might really become a Feng-style comedy.

Zhang Chen would definitely not be happy about that.

At this time, Zhang Guoli suddenly asked: "Zhang Chen, has Xie Xiaomeng's role been decided?"

Seeing Zhang Guoli's hesitant tone, Zhang Chen asked in confusion: "Why, Uncle Guoli has any suitable actors to recommend?"

Zhang Guoli felt even more embarrassed when Zhang Chen said this. He rubbed his hands, not knowing what to say. However, Feng Xiaogang next to him understood him.

"He must be trying to get a role for his Zhang Mo."

Seeing his old friend open up, Zhang Guoli stopped being pretentious: "Yes, it's not a good thing for Zhang Mo to stay at home every day since he was expelled from school. I was thinking, can I..."

It turned out to be the case.

"No problem, I think it's suitable for the youngest brother to come, just let him come." This favor must be done.

Xie Xiaomeng is not an important character, so just give her the role.

With Zhang Guoli around, there will definitely be no problem with Zhang Mo’s acting skills.

"Then thank you, uncle."

After discussing the roles, the few people talked about schedule issues.

"By the way, our new project has been launched, it's called "Night Banquet", do you want to invest in it?"

The person who spoke was Feng Xiaogang, and this was what he and Zhang Guoli had discussed.

If they want to get involved in Zhang Chen's movie, they must offer equal resources in exchange.

Who knew that Zhang Chen frowned and said, "The Banquet? A costume film?"

He never saw this movie later, but he only remembered that it seemed to be a costume blockbuster made by Feng Xiaogang.

After Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, it seemed like the door to costume films was suddenly opened.

A lot of big directors followed suit and made costume blockbusters.

Zhang Yimou made "Hero".

Poet Chen created "The Promise".

Feng Xiaogang made "The Night Banquet".

Xu Ke is "Seven Swords"...

During those two years, one or two costume blockbusters were released every year, which made people aesthetically fatigued.

To be honest, the audience is getting a little tired of it.

Feng Xiaogang nodded, quite complacently: "The core is "Prince's Revenge", and the screenwriter is Mr. Qiu Gangjian." Zhang Chen nodded. He knew Qiu Gangjian, a well-known screenwriter in Hong Kong. "Ruan Lingyu", "Rouge", "To the Wrath of the Sea", "Youth in Flames" and "The Wild Girl of Tang Dynasty" are all his works.

I knew him because of "The Wild Girl of Tang Dynasty". Xia Wenxi in the drama was worshipped as a goddess on TikTok in later generations, so Zhang Chen took the opportunity to check who the screenwriter was.

But this guy writes art films, and none of his works do particularly well at the box office.

It’s strange to say, but the so-called domestic blockbusters at this stage, although they are all claimed to be commercial blockbusters, in Zhang Chen’s opinion, they are not actually pure commercial films.

Strictly speaking, it can be considered a commercial film in appearance, but at its core it is still an art film.

This is true whether it is Zhang Yimou or anyone else.

It is actually very easy to tell whether a film is a pure commercial film or not. The only thing is, is whether it is exciting or not?
Feng Xiaogang was very honest, and added: "This film will most likely make money, but it will definitely not be much, and it can't be compared with yours."

Zhang Chen has only two works released so far, but he has already become a well-known money-printing machine.

Although Xingchen Entertainment has not announced its profits publicly, other companies in the industry will certainly analyze them.

"Darkness" cost 200 million and grossed 6000 million.

"The Beach" cost 1000 million yuan and grossed 1 million yuan.

"The Dark Knight Rises" was not directed by him, but it is also considered his work. It cost 2 million and has not been taken off the screen yet, but the box office is conservatively estimated to be similar to the previous one.

This kind of profit ratio is simply impossible in the industry.

Not every film loses money, but not every film has a small cost and a big profit.

"Forget it, I won't get involved. I'm not interested in costume films. But if Uncle Feng is planning to shoot a modern film, please let me know and I'll give it a try..."

He never paid attention to "The Banquet" in later generations, and he didn't know whether the film made a profit or a loss.

I just don't want to participate.

Moreover, he always felt that such literary and artistic blockbusters were likely to lose money.

Now the audience has no choice, but when they have a choice, this kind of pseudo-blockbuster will be quickly abandoned.

Feng Xiaogang didn't expect Zhang Chen to refuse directly, so he was too embarrassed to say the rest.

At this stage, Zhang Chen’s films are very popular and the return on investment is very high.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

But so far, Zhang Chen has released very small shares, and most of the time he only cooperates with theaters. The only other film and television companies that can participate are China Film and Light Media.

Taihe Minzhong wants to be the third one.

I originally thought that I would take you out to play and you would take me out to play.

But now that Zhang Chen has refused, he doesn’t know what to say.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chen said, "The cost of making Stone is not high, and the pay is not much. Since the two uncles are making cameo appearances, I thought I would just not pay them. If you want to invest, you can take a share. Is that okay?"

They were both stunned; it was a complete surprise!
Zhang Chen did this for a purpose.

Feng Xiaogang’s works are still good. "Assembly" and "If You Are the One" are both good projects. Although "1942" lost money, Zhang Chen thinks it is actually well made. It’s just that the schedule chosen is too bad. Who would want to watch it during the New Year’s Day with the hardship of publicity?
Zhang Chen was not planning to rush to buy these works, but he knew it would be a pity to miss out on them because he knew it would be better to make money from them.

Then participate in the investment.

So you need to show goodwill.

To put it bluntly, he and Feng Xiaogang had the same idea: I'll take you out to play this time, and you'll take me out to play next time.

……

After coming out of Taihe People's Crowd, Zhang Chen immediately asked Ning Hao: "Haozi, I gave Xie Xiaomeng's role to you without even asking you. Don't blame me in your heart..."

Ning Hao patted his shoulder and said, "How could that be? I can't thank you enough. We got two big names to guest star at once. Thank you Xiaomeng. We don't have any suitable candidates anyway, so it's okay to use it as a favor."

Seeing that Ning Hao didn't mind, Zhang Chen felt relieved.

He has always advocated respecting directors. He does not advocate the director-centered system, but the director is indeed very important and cannot be simply treated as a tool.

The two returned to the company and informed Dong Jianqiang of the results of today's communication.

Dong Jianqiang also has things to explain.

"Didn't we invite King Liu through Golden Harvest yesterday? He declined on the grounds that his schedule was not suitable."

Before, Ning Hao wanted King Liu to play the international thief Mike. It seemed that he also thought so at the beginning, but later King Liu did not have the schedule, so he replaced him with another artist under his company.

Ning Hao still has this idea in his life, but unfortunately it has not yet taken shape.

As for the unsuitable schedule, that's just an excuse.

In my previous life, probably because I didn’t take it seriously and didn’t think “Stone” would be that successful, I quit the role.

This life is simpler.

Zhang Chen had offended Ma Chucheng, and considering King Liu's personality of being able to please everyone, he would definitely not agree to perform at this time.

Isn't that equivalent to taking sides?

King Liu would never make such a mistake.

Everyone also understood King Liu's concerns: "Since he refused, let's change someone. Haozi, do you have any other candidates?"

Ning Hao thought for a moment and said, "Wu Zhenyu, right?"

"Tsim Sha Tsui Liang Kun?"

Come to think of it, it seems quite appropriate.

Wu Zhenyu's neurotic performance style is very eye-catching.

Moreover, the role of Ni Yongxiao he portrayed last year was a big hit.

Using him will attract more traffic than using King Liu.

Zhang Chen has to be quite suitable too.

"Okay, I'll let Jiahe help us contact them." Dong Jianqiang held his breath.

Currently, the company that Star Entertainment cooperates most with in Hong Kong is Golden Harvest, so it is natural for them to ask Golden Harvest for help in such matters.

……

The candidate for Four Eyes has not been decided yet. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Asking for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)