Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 337 made me doze off.

In Wu Zhuo's memory, Huayi Brothers might even go public next year.

In the years following its listing, Huayi Brothers was even hailed as the number one film company in China.

If it weren't for the Wang brothers' excessive greed and overreaching ambitions, venturing into industries like automobiles...

Huayi Brothers is unlikely to decline.

Even so, in the time period that Wu Zhuo traveled through in the future, Huayi Brothers was still one of the top film companies in China.

Of course, no matter how strong Huayi Brothers becomes in the future, it will have nothing to do with Wu Zhuo.

Wu Zhuo mainly valued the projects that Huayi Brothers invested in over the next two years.

For a long time, Huayi Brothers never lost money on any of its films.

At most, I'll just earn less.

"We at Huayi Brothers look forward to cooperating with your company."

Collaborating with you, Wu Zhuo, has always been something we've hoped for.

Wang Zhonglei smiled, clearly looking forward to collaborating with Legendary Films.

Huayi Brothers is set to go public next year, and prior to that, it is willing to cooperate with any company with potential.

Legendary Films was founded with substantial funding.

More importantly, there's Wu Zhuo, a currently popular celebrity, involved.

Wang Zhonglei believed that cooperating with them would definitely boost Huayi Brothers' stock price.

Wang Zhonglei and Wu Zhuo agreed to discuss cooperation details after the premiere of "Red Cliff".

Wang Zhonglei then left satisfied and returned to his seat.

Meanwhile, the premiere of "Red Cliff" had already begun.

John Woo and other key members of the creative team have already taken the stage to give speeches.

You wouldn't believe it until you see it; once you do, Wu Zhuo realizes that this lousy movie has a truly luxurious cast.

Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chang Chen, Lin Chi-ling, Zhang Fengyi, Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, Tong Dawei, Song Jia...

A group of actors who were somewhat well-known in the industry lined up on the stage, almost filling up the space.

"Wow, I took a quick look, and this cast alone must cost a hundred or two hundred million in salaries..."

Ah-Chao, I wish your company could make a movie with this kind of cast someday.

Calvin Chen spent some time with the Day Day Up brothers and got a pretty good idea of ​​the actors from mainland China.

Looking at the lineup on stage, he exclaimed, "Wow!"

"A strong lineup certainly has many advantages, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee profits."

Wu Zhuo shook his head as he looked at the massive lineup on stage.

In recent years, Chinese-language films have begun to feature blockbusters with all-star casts.

It seems to have started with the movie "Hero" back then.

A large roster can certainly attract attention.

But these actors are all restless and ambitious, so when they all came together, the resulting footage was... well, let's just say it was a mixed bag.

Wu Zhuo is reluctant to make this kind of film unless absolutely necessary.

If you make ten films, you'll lose money on eight of them.

"I am very grateful to my colleagues and journalist friends for their support of our film 'Red Cliff'."

I'm confident that our film will not disappoint you.

Now we will begin the screening.

John Woo talked on and on on stage for a long time before announcing the start of the movie.

There was a reason why Wu Zhuo didn't want to attend this premiere.

He genuinely disliked the movie.

In his opinion, the most noteworthy aspect of this film is probably its decent war scenes; it's a rare film that depicts battle formations.

Then there are just too many things worth complaining about.

The biggest flaw of "Red Cliff" is undoubtedly its comedic dialogue. As a cultural product, the primary goal of a film is to sell it and sell it well. Although John Woo intentionally designed it this way to differentiate it from his previous works and create a unique product, the film's dialogue is flawed.

Since almost everyone is familiar with the story of the Three Kingdoms, just like before, I have no interest in reading it.

Based on the characteristics of the cultural industry, its basic features are entertainment, fashion, and experience. To succeed in the cultural industry, we must focus on these three aspects.

While the film satisfies the need for humor, it loses its seriousness, and the dialogue is so ridiculously funny that it leaves viewers speechless.

At the same time, the casting of this film is also a big problem.

Because it had to cater to international film distributors, from the very beginning of casting, this film was destined to choose only the most expensive actors, not the most suitable ones.

Tony Leung is a good actor. He plays both the undercover cop in "Infernal Affairs" and the old-fashioned gentleman in "In the Mood for Love" with great skill.

However, he portrayed Zhou Yu, a perfect man, in a way that felt awkward and out of place. It wasn't that he didn't put in the effort, but rather that his temperament simply didn't match the character, and he lacked charisma.

As for his fellow student Takeshi Kaneshiro, it's not that Wu Zhuo dislikes him; his portrayal of Zhuge Liang is genuinely a purely comedic character.

The comedic lines the director gave Zhuge Liang were a complete failure.

In the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhuge Liang was a strategist, but in the play, he is portrayed as a heartthrob.

He not only captivated Zhou Yu, but also all the female viewers. As soon as his mesmerizing eyes appeared, the female viewers were satisfied. As for his acting skills, they didn't care. At least he was very funny.

As for Lin Chi-ling...

Xiao Qiao is rarely mentioned in historical records, but in order to make the film more in line with modern aesthetics, John Woo devoted a lot of attention to her love with Zhou Yu in the movie, and even sent her to infiltrate Cao Cao's camp alone, making her a key figure.

This doesn't look like something from the Three Kingdoms period.

Furthermore, Lin Chi-ling is a model; she doesn't rely on acting skills for a living, so it's understandable how she acts. Her job is simply to be a beautiful vase.

In this respect, Lin Chi-ling did a good job; at the very least, she became a more memorable character in "Red Cliff".

The only problem is that Lin Chi-ling always looks like she's waiting to be kissed, which is really unbearable. All the close-ups show the same unchanging face, and after seeing it so many times, it does get a bit tiresome.

Throughout the entire film, Wu Zhuo only watched the scene where Hu Jun makes his seven entries and exits at Changban Slope.

As he looked at the others, he began to feel sleepy.

In the end, all they could do was hold on.

Two hours passed quickly, and the movie finally ended amidst Wu Zhuo's agonizing wait.

Scattered applause rang out in the theater.

Because only the first part was broadcast, the plot was incomplete.

It even felt like the plot was completely nonsensical.

So the guests and reporters present were all a bit bewildered.

Only after someone started clapping did everyone else clap in response.

"Don't you all like it?"

John Woo walked onto the stage, looking rather grim.

To think of him as a renowned international director.

There were so many people in the audience who didn't give me any face.

"Great, well done, truly a classic."

"Great, as expected of Director Wu, this is the best movie I've seen this year."

"This movie is going to be a huge hit! Congratulations in advance to Director Wu!"

Several reporters loudly flattered John Woo.

It's just that I seem to be running out of words to praise them.

It's like listening to a wise man's words, which is like listening to a profound conversation.

In short, the movie is good, but people will point out exactly why.

However, there were still some people who knew how to flatter those who were present today.

Within seconds, professionals immediately stood up to praise it.

"This film has a grand scale, and its battlefield scenes are absolutely the best in the industry."

Tony Leung's acting skills are still so good...

(End of this chapter)