Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 514: "Fuse" and "SPL 2"

In late September, "9" was finally completed and entered the intense post-production stage.

Zhang Chen returned to the mainland just in time for the celebration party of "Ip Man".

In fact, it was not a coincidence that he arrived, but the company waited for him to arrive at this time.

Most movie celebration parties are for publicity purposes, hoping to increase the box office by attracting more attention.

But the celebration banquet for "Ip Man" was a real celebration banquet.

Just to celebrate.

Because the movie has already been taken off the screen.

The final box office was 1.2 million!
A box office number that was not surprising.

For Star Entertainment, a box office of less than 200 million is no longer enough to impress them.

For Golden Harvest, this is a rare good result.

In fact, the previous film, “The Man from Nowhere”, had a higher box office, but this “Ip Man” is more important to Golden Harvest.

Although "The Man from Nowhere" is produced by Golden Harvest, it is after all the sequel to "Taken" and cannot be considered a biological son.

Moreover, the whole movie "The Man from Nowhere" is good to watch, but it doesn't have any Hong Kong flavor at all.

In terms of Hong Kong identity, it is even worse than "Kowloon Walled City".

But "Ip Man" is different.

"Ip Man" is a project led by Golden Harvest, a project incubated from scratch by the company.

And he has Hong Kong flavor.

The actors are Hong Kong actors, the director is a Hong Kong director, the behind-the-scenes is Hong Kong, the company is a Hong Kong company, and the story is also about Hong Kong people.

Yes, even though Ip Man is from Foshan, Guangdong, everyone here considers him a Hong Konger.

Ip Man’s story is also the story of Hong Kong.

Although the first part has nothing to do with Hong Kong from beginning to end.

Chen Xi is in high spirits today. The success of "The Man from Lonely Planet" is not considered a success. The success of "Ip Man" is the real success.

Zhang Chen, Chen Xi, and Zhen Zidan were standing together, congratulating the latter: "Danny, congratulations, now you finally have a masterpiece..."

Danny is Zhen Zidan.

It is not appropriate to call Zhang Chen Danny considering his age.

But who can blame him for his high status?

Don't mention Danny, even Hua Zai, he calls him that~
"I have to thank Director Zhang and President Chen Xi for giving me the opportunity..."

Zhen Zidan was very sensible at this time.

Zhang Chen raised his glass to Andy On next to him: "Zhijie, you performed well in Jinshan this time. My vision is right..."

Andy On also raised his glass sensibly: "Thank you Director Zhang, thank you Sister Chen Xi..."

He also became popular this time.

Although Jin Shan didn't have many scenes, his role was very outstanding and Andy On also performed very well.

This was his first time playing such a funny role, and he did an unexpectedly good job.

As everyone was chatting, Huo Wenxi and Peter Lam came over.

"Congratulations, Director Zhang. Golden Harvest has finally regained its former glory under your leadership..."

Zhang Chen waved his hand and pointed at Chen Xi: "Boss Huo is wrong. This time, the biggest contributor is our Boss Chen Xi..."

"Yes, congratulations to President Chen Xi..."

"Boss Chen Xi is truly a heroine..."

Chen Xi smiled and clinked glasses with everyone: "Not at all, it's all thanks to the support of all my colleagues..."

Hearing this, the two of them laughed and agreed: "Why do we need your help? It was Mr. Chen who helped us make a fortune..."

This time, Eagle King and Media Asia are both investors in "Ip Man".

Although the amount was not high, he did make a lot from "Ip Man".

Eagle King undertook part of the film's distribution work, while the disc copyright was handed over to Media Asia for agency.

Before they knew it, Golden Harvest already had a group of allies in Hong Kong.

As long as Jiahe can make money and help them make money, this friendship will not fade away.

A group of industry bigwigs gathered together to chat and laugh, and of course other people at the party wanted to get closer. As long as they could leave an impression on these people, it might be a chance to rise to prominence.

But if you're not a big enough star, forcing yourself to get in might end up having the opposite effect.

Since they were all in the same industry, as they chatted, the topic naturally turned back to film and television.

"At the Venice Film Festival, Jiang Wen said, 'I plan and I succeed', thinking that with his relationship with Zhang Yimou, the Golden Lion would be easy to win. But he didn't expect that Zhang Yimou would give the Golden Lion to Ang Lee's Lust, Caution..."

Zhang Chen had been filming outside for the past two months and had no idea about the various domestic news and gossip, so everyone simply told these stories as anecdotes.

It's good to be a person with a high status. Others will pay attention to you all the time, and even chat with you about topics that interest you.

"Director Zhang, we are looking forward to your Pacific Rim. We really want to see what China's first science fiction film is like."

This statement was undoubtedly flattery, but it was a good start. Someone immediately said, "I'm more curious, I wonder if Director Zhang's Pacific Rim can break the box office of Transformers?"

Zhang Chen was now interested: "Who can tell me how much the box office of Transformers is?"

"2.73 million~"

Due to the intervention of the Film Bureau, the box office of "Transformers" did not reach the astonishing 2.81 million as in history, but it was not far off.

"That should be no problem."

"Director Zhang is really confident~"

"Of course. Director Zhang's Pacific Rim originally targeted the 3.6 ​​million yuan of the big ship..."

Peter Lam hadn't said a word yet. In order for Pacific Rim to break the big ship's record, Han Sanping had so madly cleared out the entire Lunar New Year period for him.

"The Warlords" was invested by Media Asia, but China Film Group did not even notify him and directly announced that the film would be withdrawn to October. He was somewhat unhappy about this.

But it's just an unpleasant feeling.

There is no need to offend Zhang Chen or even Jiahe for such a small matter.

"Then we wish Director Zhang success~"

"I wish you success~"

At Chen Xi's suggestion, everyone raised their glasses.

Seeing that the atmosphere was good, Huang Baiming started talking about another topic.

"Director Zhang, President Chen Xi, Ip Man is a big hit, when will the sequel be released?"

"Sequel?" Zhang Chen and Chen Xi looked at each other.

Huang Baiming thought the other party had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained: "I don't mean anything else, I just want to confirm Danny's schedule. I want to invite him to play the leading role in one of my movies..."

When Chen Xi heard that Zhen Zidan was invited to play the leading male role, he immediately became alert: "Boss Huang, can I ask what movie it is? Let me make it clear that Danny and I have an agreement. During the contract period, except for the company's "Ip Man" series, he cannot play any movie roles related to Ip Man..."

Hmm? There is such a thing?

Everyone looked at Zhen Zidan, who then smiled awkwardly: "There is indeed this clause in the contract~"

Chen Xi made this agreement in the first place in order to prevent someone from taking advantage of the situation.

It’s just like director Yang Jie and the main creators of "Journey to the West" back then.

She doesn't want to become the second Yang Jie.

"Mr. Chen has misunderstood. What I want to shoot is a modern Kung Fu film called "Po Jun", which is about police and gangsters fighting. It has nothing to do with "Ip Man"..."

Only then did Chen Xi realize that he had been overthinking.

"If it's a modern film, no problem. Danny has plenty of time recently..."

Now it was the others' turn to be surprised, "Why, Golden Harvest isn't planning to start filming Ip Man 2?" Chen Xi was even more puzzled than them, "Why, should I start filming Ip Man 2 right away?"

The different reactions of the two people were entirely caused by the cultural differences between the two places.

Hong Kong has always been a fast food culture. In Hong Kong, the concept of cultivating the market does not exist.

Everyone is seizing the opportunity to make a profit.

Once a movie makes money, a sequel will be filmed immediately.

Because if you don't take the photo, your competitors will.

Following the trend is not a derogatory term in Hong Kong at all.

"Young and Dangerous" was filmed in 3 parts in 5 years.

"Happy Ghost" is also released once a year.

The "Mr. Zombie" series' "Mr. Zombie", "Mr. Vampire", "Mr. Spirit" and "Mr. One-Eyebrowed Taoist" are also released one per year.

Everyone thought that Chen Xi was crazy as he was actually thinking of waiting a year to shoot the sequel.

Even eating shit can't keep up with the heat.

However, Chen Xi followed Zhang Chen's advice. The plot of a film like "Ip Man" is actually very simple, which is to fight foreigners and stir up nationalist sentiments.

However, this kind of transfer cannot be too frequent, otherwise everyone will soon get bored.

If a sequel is made after two years, people won't feel bored and it will still be fresh enough.

The group was chatting, some left and some joined.

A cocktail party is a social place, and the purpose of coming here is to get to know more people.

Zhang Chen followed Chen Xi around the cocktail party, occasionally clinking glasses with others, and then he saw Huang Baiming talking to Zhen Zidan and Ye Weixin in the corner.

I couldn't help but think of the film project he just mentioned.

what do you say that is?

"Po Jun"!
Originally, Zhang Chen was quite unfamiliar with this name, but when he saw Wilson Yip and Zhen Zidan, he suddenly remembered it - "Po Jun" is "Flash Point".

It is said that the original name of "Flash Point" was "Po Jun". Later, due to various accidents and injuries to various actors during the filming, the producers felt it was unlucky, so they changed it to "Flash Point".

Unexpectedly, this change actually became famous, and "Flash Point" was praised abroad as the best Hong Kong film with the best fighting style.

The action scenes are really great!
The fight scene between Zhen Zidan and Zou Zhaolong is called a textbook example of hand-to-hand combat.

Of course, there are also some unreasonable aspects.

They were all put on the guillotine, but they got up and were still alive and kicking.

Another feature of this film is that the lines are particularly memorable:

"I asked you to deliver goods to Vietnam, and it's either windy or rainy for two months, brother! Do you think you can go to the moon?"

"Strong winds and waves are common. I haven't said anything about you yet, you jinx. If the ship sinks, it's all your fault!"

'You'd better get out of the way, I'm afraid I'll beat you to death!'

'We do things, that's it!'

"Eat breakfast, you bought it but didn't eat it, aren't you being disrespectful?"

Even twenty years later, there are still people who are making trouble.

"Should we invest in this film, Broken Army?"

Chen Xi sought Zhang Chen's opinion, but Zhang Chen shook his head: "Forget about the investment. By the way, how did you sign the contract with Zhen Zidan?"

"There weren't too many restrictions. We only agreed that the price of each of the Ip Man trilogy would increase by a maximum of 30%. Also, during this period, he was not allowed to participate in any film projects related to Wing Chun and Ip Man..."

"That's perfect. I guess after we finish filming 'Po Jun', we won't even need to mention 30%..."

"Why, you don't like this movie?"

Naturally, she understood the meaning of Zhang Chen's words.

If "Ip Man" becomes a huge success and the second part starts filming immediately, it is impossible for Zhen Zidan's value not to increase, so there is an agreement that the increase cannot exceed 30%.

This is also a common practice in Hollywood.

But if his new work after "Ip Man" flopped, then his net worth naturally could not be calculated based on that at the time of "Ip Man", and there would be no question of increasing his pay.

"It's not that I don't think highly of him, but Wilson Yip's greatest strength is his ability to execute. If there's a good script, he can do a good job, but if the script isn't good, it's hard to say what the final effect will be~"

Among Hong Kong directors, Wilson Yip is not really considered talented.

Obviously, they can shoot any kind of film, but the results are all just passing level.

The original version of "Flash Point" is useless except for the fighting scenes.

Especially in that gunfight scene, Zhen Zidan actually charged with a sniper rifle. Maybe the Hong Kong audience didn't have much military literacy, but many mainland audiences found it out of place after watching it...

In the original time and space, the greatest contribution of this movie is to defend the last dignity of Hong Kong action movies.

Around 2006, Thai Kung Fu movies featuring Tony Jaa became popular.

In the Southeast Asian market during those two years, Thai Kung Fu films sold better than Hong Kong Kung Fu films.

It wasn't until "Flash Point" came out that it was proved that Hong Kong kung fu movies still had something to offer.

Although the movie didn't do well at the box office, no one can deny the excitement of the action scenes.

The biggest highlight of this drama is the modern fighting.

This is also what Zhen Zidan has always insisted on.

Since his debut, he has always wanted to promote free fighting in the film industry.

Unfortunately, he never achieved anything famous, but became famous thanks to the Republic of China Kung Fu film "Ip Man".

But after "Ip Man", his modern kung fu films are not good anymore.

Some people think that he is too old and can no longer fight.

But Zhang Chen felt that it was Zhen Zidan who gave up.

I worked so hard to promote free fighting in the past ten years but it still didn’t become popular.

Then he casually filmed a movie called "Ip Man" and became famous!

Where are you going to make sense?
It feels totally illogical.

Since hard work is useless, what's the point of working hard?
"I don't think it's necessary to invest in 'SPL'. On the contrary, I think you can start your own movie. I've already thought of a name for you, it's called 'SPL 2', and you can work with Wong Pak-ko. You can cast Andy On as the lead actor, and have him wear a shirt. You can cast Zhang Jin as the villain, a thug in a suit..."

Someone has done a selection and found that the three best Hong Kong action movies after 2000 are "Flash Point", "SPL 2" and "A Chinese Odyssey".

Now that "Flash Point" has come out, there is no reason for Zhang Chen to let go of the other two.

"A Man's Martial Arts" will definitely be left to Baoqiang, but "SPL 2" can be filmed first.

As for why Andy On wore a shirt~
Because he looks really handsome in a shirt!

Just like Zhang Chen wearing a suit.

Fashion action movies must be handsome and cool~
Regardless of whether you are a good guy or a bad guy, being good looking and able to fight is the most basic thing.

Zhang Chen thought very clearly that in the movie "SPL 2", the protagonist can be changed, but the villain cannot be changed.

Zhang Jin is the most outstanding character and the biggest card in the whole film. If the film wants to be a big hit, he must be there.

Not far away, Andy On vaguely heard his name and his ears immediately pricked up. If you look closely, you will find that his ears are moving up and down as if he is breathing.

Chen Xi was still struggling: "Why should it be called "SPL 2"? Wouldn't that mean we have to pay Huang Bo high copyright fees?"

Zhang Chen shrugged: "You can give it any name you want, I was just influenced by the "Po Jun" just now.

"Sha Po Lang" is a term in numerology. In Zi Wei Dou Shu, "Sha Po Lang" is a pattern composed of three stars: Qi Sha, Po Jun and Tan Lang. When these three stars are in the three directions and four directions of the life palace, it is called the "Sha, Po, Lang" pattern.

You can also make it yourself, and give it any name, like "Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight" or something like that. Anyway, as long as there are a few stars, the box office should not be too bad..."

"Too bad? How bad can it be? Can it exceed 100 million?"

Chen Xi's appetite has been spoiled now.

(End of this chapter)