Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 350 Female Lead Selection

The Olympic Games continue in full swing, and domestic news reports are almost entirely focused on Olympic-related news.

Just as all public opinion was giving way to the Olympics, on the 13th, Legendary Pictures, Enlight Media, and Huayi Brothers officially reached a cooperation agreement on the film "Fleet of Time".

The "Fleet of Time" project was officially established, and the production team began to be assembled.

The total investment for "Fleet of Time" was 3600 million RMB.

It's not a particularly large project at this stage, but it's still considered mid-range.

Of the $36 million investment, Legendary Pictures, as the initiator, held a 60% stake, contributing $21.6 million.

Lighting accounts for 25%, with an investment of 9 million.

The remaining 15% was borne by Huayi Brothers, with an investment of 5.4 million.

After the three parties reached an agreement, the funds from the other two companies arrived quickly, and the production team immediately began inviting actors for auditions.

"Fleet of Time" is a youth film, and the main actors used are young actors.

Using young actors also has its advantages. First, their salaries are not high.

This allows the production team to have more funds available for venue setup and post-production.

Throughout the entire film, Wu Zhuo was the highest-paid actor.

He is, after all, a popular singer, and has a successful precedent like "Keep Talking".

Meanwhile, the long-awaited film "Painted Skin" has yet to be released.

Therefore, his salary for this film was as high as 1500 million RMB, which accounted for almost half of the total investment.

Many people might say that since this drama is produced by Wu Zhuo's own company, why shouldn't he receive a smaller share of the salary?

If anyone actually thinks that way, then they are being incredibly naive.

To put it bluntly, the company is the company, and Wu Zhuo is his personal person.

Whether in the entertainment industry or other business sectors, the biggest taboo is blurring the lines between public and private matters.

If one truly fails to distinguish between public and private interests, there will only be one outcome: bankruptcy.

Distinguishing between company and private matters is actually beneficial to both the company and Wu Zhuo personally.

At the very least, if this film flops, Wu Zhuo personally will not be affected.

Conversely, if Wu Zhuo is too closely tied to the company, and the movie flops, Wu Zhuo might suffer losses twice.

It's not uncommon in the entertainment industry for actors like Wu Zhuo to set up their own companies, star in their own productions, and receive a fee for each role.

Almost every actor or director who starts a company does this.

Just like Stephen Chow, when he made Kung Fu Hustle, the company planned the investment budget first, and then he himself acted in and directed the film, so he needed to be paid accordingly.

At most, he wouldn't use cash, but instead convert his portion of the money into an investment.

However, under normal circumstances, film companies are not willing to let actors pay their salaries in exchange for investment.

Unless there are special circumstances.

After all, the investment is limited. If actors convert their salaries into investment funds, it will definitely squeeze out the share of other investors...

Aside from Wu Zhuo, Deng Chao was the highest-paid actor in the entire film.

He will play the role of Zhao Ye.

Because he had the film "Assembly" which grossed over 100 million yuan at the box office as a foundation, he received a salary of three million yuan for this project.

Then there's Calvin Chen, who has a relatively high salary.

Calvin Chen will play the role of Qiao Ran, originally played by Wei Chen.

"Huayi Brothers recommended Sun Li to play Fang Hui, but I don't think her image is suitable for the role."

On the 15th, after the production team had finalized most of the cast, they met at Legendary Pictures for further discussions.

The main focus of this discussion is the female lead.

The role has not been finalized yet.

Huayi Brothers recommended their actress Sun Li for the role.

But director Zhang Yibai felt he wasn't suitable for the role. "Have you considered using actresses from Hong Kong and Taiwan? That would be more in line with the trends of recent years."

The speaker was Yip Wai-man, who is now fully signed with Legendary Pictures and holds a certain number of shares. Therefore, although he is not the director of this film, he attaches great importance to it as one of the owners.

However, everyone has selfish desires.

As a director from Hong Kong, Yip Wai-man certainly wanted to cultivate Hong Kong actors to a certain extent.

To the best of my ability, I will recommend Hong Kong actors.

Who do you think is suitable?

Wu Zhuo is also having a headache over the female lead.

There are actually many suitable actors at this stage, but Legendary Pictures also has many considerations, and some actors simply cannot be used.

"Actually, Shu Qi is quite good. You've worked with Abel before, haven't you? Her acting skills are undeniable, so she should be able to handle this role."

Ye Weimin offered his suggestions.

However, after hearing his advice, Wu Zhuo immediately shook his head.

"Shu Qi is indeed very suitable, but we need to consider one thing, which is that her salary is too high."

Her salary for starring in "Connected" was no less than 400 million. After the film was released, her character received excellent reviews, and some people even said that she might be the Best Actress at next year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

"To hire her now, you simply can't get her for less than five or six million."

Five or six million is obviously very low compared to Wu Zhuo's 15 million salary.

But that's not how you compare salaries.

The female lead is an important part of the film.

But this film isn't an art film, so it doesn't necessarily require good acting skills.

In other words, the female lead could simply be a pretty face.

Spending millions on a mere decorative role doesn't align with the production team's interests.

"What about Barbie Hsu? She has starred in many campus dramas. Meteor Garden made her very popular all over the country, and her salary is not particularly high."

Ye Weimin proposed a new candidate.

Everyone nodded subconsciously, thinking that Barbie Hsu was alright, but no one immediately made a decision.

"Personally, I think it's better to find actors from mainland China. Our film is not a co-production, so we don't have the problem of having staff from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong."

Furthermore, casting mainland actors is actually a better fit for the roles. Our drama depicts the campus life of mainland Chinese born in the 1980s, and casting mainland actors will make filming much easier.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Jianfeng shared his thoughts.

Wu Zhuo immediately agreed to the idea.

The compatibility of the actors' backgrounds is definitely an important element of a play.

It's not that Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors can't act.

Rather, it's because they grew up in different environments, even if they were capable of learning.

But those childhood habits can't be changed.

Not to mention the accent issue.

Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors generally have accent problems, which may not be noticeable in everyday life, but can affect the quality of a film at crucial moments.

"Actually, I think there is someone who would be quite suitable."

Just as everyone was at a stalemate, Xiao An, who was next to Wu Zhuo, suddenly raised his hand timidly.

Seeing everyone looking at her, she became a little nervous and stammered:

“Abel and Liu Shishi have a good relationship. I’ve met with her a few times and found that she is actually quite suitable for this role.”

As a new actress, her salary wouldn't even need to be a million; a few hundred thousand would suffice for her to act.

I believe she wouldn't refuse this opportunity.

"Who is Liu Shishi?" Ye Weimin and Zheng Jianfeng didn't know Liu Shishi, but when Xiao An said that she was good friends with Wu Zhuo, they both turned their attention to Wu Zhuo.

(End of this chapter)