Entertainment 2000: Supporting female stars will bring you a hundredfold return

Chapter 325 Targeting Marvel, A Historical Masterpiece, Consort Jia's Surprise
Alyssa Chia is currently working with Taiwan's CTS (China Television System) as a partner and producer to prepare for the television series "A Chinese Ghost Story" (also known as "The Mysterious Decision of the Mysterious Heart").
The classic status of this project needs no further explanation.

Boys born in the late 85s and early 90s who are still young and have watched TV dramas will often chant and gesture a few times during school fight scenes: "Heaven and earth are boundless, the universe is all law."

This project is considered a Class A project by CTS, but it doesn't receive much attention.

The powerful figure behind Su Youpeng used control of the project to exchange with Tang Wen for the opportunity to make Su Youpeng the male lead in "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre".

In their view, this was a sure-fire way to make money.

After all, the plot of "Mysterious Heart Technique" can be considered original, and the investment was not too large.

Whether it will succeed remains to be seen.

As for "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre," a major project spearheaded by Blue Star, its broadcast on satellite TV is inevitable.

It's based on a novel by Jin Yong, so it might get featured on CCTV.

After the broadcast, Alec Su has a high probability of opening up the mainland market and becoming a top-tier star.

His company in Taiwan has a leading actor.

Then, whether it's taking on business deals, endorsements, or singing gigs, it can bring in a lot of profits.

What they didn't know was...

If they weren't so impatient, they could have waited patiently for a month or two.

Without any effort on his part, Tang Wen would hand over the male lead role in this project to Su Youpeng.

There are actually very few actors who can portray Zhang Wuji well, a character who is "kind, weak, and indecisive".

With his good looks and non-threatening appearance, Alec Su is almost the most suitable candidate.

The drama "Mysterious Mind and Secrets" was a great success after its release.

Within Taiwan alone, CTS's 8 PM primetime premiere ratings surpassed those of other major satellite channels, becoming the ratings champion.

The rights to broadcast the TV series were resold multiple times.

In the following years, a long-tail effect was formed.

It opened up the mainland market for the female lead, Xu Xiyuan.

Currently, Alyssa Chia is in charge of the project, and Hsu Hsi-yuan is still a highly recommended actress from Taiwan.

They're willing to play the second female lead if they can't get the lead role.

However, the final decision rests with Tang Wen.

Tang Wen delegated authority to Jia Jingwen.

Consort Jia was hesitating.

Someone in Hong Kong recommended Jessica Hsuan, who was also eyeing the role of the second female lead.

The second female lead, "Yan Hongye," was portrayed very well.

With white hair and a red dress, her look was stunning.

The action scenes were spectacular and full of dedication.

As long as your acting skills and appearance aren't too bad, you'll attract a lot of fans.

After carefully reading the script, Alyssa Chia was also somewhat tempted.

Her main role in this production was as a producer.

They were after greater profits.

I don't really care about the amount of screen time.

One book, "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," is enough to sustain us for several years.

Even if they wanted to make a breakthrough, they should have asked Tang Wen for help in finding the film resources.

She wasn't in a hurry, even though the role hadn't been decided yet, as SARS had delayed the project's launch.

Since even script readings can't be held, I might as well take some time to go to the United States.

only--

Alyssa Chia rested her chin on her hand.

Who should I bring? Ugh, what gift should I bring?
Jingchu?

Alyssa Chia looked down at the photo.

In the photo, Zhang Jingchu is auditioning for the second female lead. She is dressed in red with white hair. She is pretty, but nothing special.

She judged in her heart that she was not as good as herself, nor as good as Gao Yuanyuan.

Then I turned to the second photo.

The image above is of Hong Kong celebrity Jessica Hsuan.

This woman, born in the 1970s and in her early thirties, has not lost her beauty and is full of charm.

Her stunning and captivating appearance is no less impressive than Dong Xuan's "Goddess Dragon".

Zhang Jingchu has never been in a relationship, which is a unique advantage.

Which one will he like?

A smile reminiscent of Zhao Min appeared on Alyssa Chia's lips...

slap slap slap, slap slap

Tang Wen's fingers tapped rhythmically on the laptop.

Lines of Chinese characters lined up and jumped onto the screen.

Behind her, Olivia's eyes first widened in shock, then became numb. When Lin Zhiling approached, she lowered her voice and asked, "You just said that Tang is writing a book."

"Hmm. It seems to be a Chinese historical novel, the kind that's a bit serious." After saying that, Lin Zhiling leaned closer to look at the screen.

Just happened to see—

Is saying this a bit too hurtful to him...?

"You son of a bitch!" Yan Shifan roared, grabbing the desk...

Sister Lin looked slightly surprised.

These two sentences don't sound like something from a serious historical novel.

But she knew Yan Shifan.

He seems to be a famous figure from the Ming Dynasty.

"Is it a novel?" Olivia asked in a low voice, afraid of disturbing Tang Wen's writing.

Lin Chih-ling nodded, her tone as usual: "No need to speak so softly. When he's creating, he's immersed in his own world and has a strong ability to resist distractions."

Olivia exclaimed in surprise, "But even for the first draft, his speed is too fast!"

clap clap clap...

The frequency of typing on the keyboard is too fast.

Lin Chih-ling smiled and shrugged: "That's what genius is all about."

She couldn't think of any other explanation.

"The Ming Dynasty 1566" is a novel being written by Tang Wenzheng.

He doesn't plan to change his name.

After the story was filmed, it was hailed by netizens as the "number one political intrigue drama".

Now, he needs to focus on creating content.

If I don't write it now, it will be too late.

This year is 03, so it will probably be around the end of the year.

The original author, Master Liu Heping, will receive a task: "Write the story of Hai Rui."

This marked the beginning of a three-year period of collecting information, brainstorming, and creating.

Finally, a masterpiece was born.

Tang Wenxin was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see Master Liu working so hard.

He might as well take the trouble and write it out in advance.

Anyway, this drama, which was filmed in 07, was a flop.

Master Liu Heping will also lose money.

With that thought, Tang Wen felt at ease and typed away like the wind.

The TV series "Da Ming Dynasty 1566" achieved a viewership rating of 0.5% on its premiere.

That's right, it's that low.

As a result, there was no opportunity to broadcast it again after the initial broadcast.

With such poor results, which TV station would buy it?
It was kept in the freezer for about ten years.

The original young audience, after experiencing a series of beatings, and having watched many political intrigue dramas, have become a part of the audience.

Revisiting "Ming Dynasty 1566" again, I was struck by its extraordinary nature, and felt a chill run down my spine!

It turns out that China already had such amazing dramas!

But that happened ten years later.

In 07, a number of high-quality domestic TV dramas were produced, but online film and television platforms were not yet fully established.

This drama was simply buried.

The original author, Liu Heping, also went into seclusion for a long time until 2014, seven years later, when he returned with "No War in Beiping".

During the filming of "Da Ming", Liu Heping put in a lot of effort. All the actors joined the crew two months in advance to study the history of the Ming Dynasty and learn the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. No one was allowed to play other roles in the same production.

He spent three years on the project, including custom-made props, set construction, and actor salaries, with the total investment for the entire production around 5000 million yuan.

I only bought it once, and it was a complete loss.

Tang Wen didn't know if his intervention could turn around the ratings.

But whether it's fifty million or one hundred million, he can afford to lose it.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are taking turns contacting Lin Chih-ling, hoping to secure Tang Wen as their brand ambassador.

They're aiming to have their cake and eat it too, but they're not in a hurry.

She plans to wait until her new album is released and her fame increases further before accepting endorsement deals.

However, even at the current price.

One "Ming Dynasty" film a year would be enough.

Speaking of which, he has two hundred million US dollars in his account that he hasn't spent.

They only paid a deposit of a few million dollars when they bought the plane recently. Galaxy Entertainment also has a lot of money in its accounts, more than two hundred million US dollars.

Tang Wen plans to spend several million yuan to hold a script competition.

I'll collect a bunch of scripts and stockpile them.

Lin Chih-ling is currently busy with this matter and is preparing to make an announcement next week.

Speaking of which, he has several scripts ready for filming—

Underworld

National Treasure

Chainsaw 4 and its sequels

50 First Dates

The Butterfly Effect 2

None of these are urgent.

He has his sights set on a new series: animated film adaptations.

DC and Marvel.

In 2003, Marvel was far from the giant it would become.

Currently, they are heavily indebted, struggling to survive after bankruptcy and restructuring.

Its current total market value is less than 2 million US dollars.

And hardly anyone is interested.

The two leaders' philosophies clashed dramatically.

One person felt they should sell and cash out.

Another person believes that they should take a gamble and raise funds themselves to turn the anime into a movie.

Therefore, now is a great opportunity to devour Marvel.

Tang Wen contacted Robert and asked him to organize a negotiation team to make contact with Marvel.

In comparison, DC Comics is in a much better position.

They were sold to Warner Bros. a long time ago.

Although the path to adapting it into a film has not been smooth.

But it's good to have a big tree to lean on for shade.

Warner Bros. has signed director Christopher Nolan.

Preparing to reboot the Batman series.

However, previous attempts to adapt it into a film have failed multiple times.

Within Warner Bros., there is a lack of optimism regarding superhero movies.

Especially with such a large investment, there is considerable internal resistance.

I didn't make up my mind to film until the middle of this year.

Tang Wen wanted to get involved, and the time was just right.

He suspended the writing of "The Ming Dynasty".

I spent a day and a night writing out the outline of Nolan's Batman trilogy script.

Robert was instructed to find someone to expedite the copyright registration.

Logically speaking, the copyright office's procedures are very slow.

But with the US dollar paving the way, it went through an expedited process, and in just three days, the procedures were completed, the filing was finished, and the legal effect took hold.

Meanwhile, director Nolan was discussing the creative process with the screenwriter and comic book artist.

At the beginning of their creative process, they only had one general idea—

[Adopting a dark style and giving the villains plausible motivations]

Unlike before, the villains are not purely evil.

Robert and Tang Wen then came to their door.

Warner has its own arrogance.

Upon hearing that the two of them wanted to get involved in the Batman series, they flatly refused!

Warner has many ways to raise funds.

There's no need to let outsiders get a share of the pie.

Of course, this is not the final decision.

Warner was simply expressing their stance, urging Robert and Donald to continue visiting them and begging for cooperation.

Firstly, it allows us to take the initiative.

Secondly, they lowered the price!
They hope to spend the most money and get the least return.

Under normal circumstances, the two of them would really have no way to resolve this.

If they don't want to cooperate, either give up or make concessions and try to win them over, going along with Warner's ideas.

However, Tang Wen came prepared.

Although Robert didn't know why Tang Wen was so confident.

He wouldn't show any weakness in front of outsiders, and coldly threw the script in front of Warner executives:

"We've already written the plot outline and character designs for the Batman story and registered them! If you're going to make a film, please don't infringe on our copyright!"

Anyone can create the story of Batman.

Writing an unpublished script is not considered copyright infringement at all.

However, once the copyright of the script is established, if the story you produce is similar to my script, then it is a real infringement!

Warner executives scoffed: Who are you trying to fool?
What a coincidence that our cars collided!

After the two left.

They didn't even look at it, and just tossed the script to Nolan's trio.

The three, who were brainstorming plot ideas and had a headache, watched the whole thing carefully and it was like a revelation!

The three stormed into the office of the bald executive, Jeff Robinoff, and excitedly asked him where the script came from.

Seeing the three of them looking at him with such delight, Jeff's heart skipped a beat...

Tang Wen and Robert returned to Galaxy Entertainment and began researching Marvel's equity stake.

In 1996, Marvel went public for the first time, issuing 40% of its shares to the public.

At its lowest point, a share was $2.37.

Now that the company is undergoing bankruptcy reorganization, these tradable shares are still held by retail investors and some institutions.

Tang Wen plans to start by acquiring a stake in the organization before confronting Marvel's management.

The acquisition was funded jointly by his overseas company and Galaxy Entertainment.

They aim to acquire a majority stake in Marvel.

The current Marvel is Karami.

In 2020, Marvel Studios, whose potential had been fully realized, had a market value of $5000 billion.

This is a business that can make a fortune.

Tang Wen and Robert have prepared two hundred million US dollars, but whether they can take it, and how much they can take, depends on their operations and luck.

They assembled a professional team overnight and began operations.

Currently, neither institutions nor the market are optimistic about Marvel's future.

Because they've already sold off the famous characters "Spider-Man" and "X-Men".

Moreover, they were sold to two giants, Sony and Fox, respectively, making it almost impossible to get them back.

The profit-sharing agreement they signed was outrageously low.

Blade grossed $7000 million, but Marvel only earned $2.5.

They're practically treating Marvel like a 17th-century "black slave" society!

Marvel is furious, but there's nothing they can do.

Thanks to this, the acquisition proceeded very smoothly.

They found institutions like the Merrill Lynch regime, raised the price slightly, and obtained a large number of circulating shares.

They stopped acquiring the stake when it reached the critical point of 4.9%.

If it were just 0.1% more, it would have to be disclosed to the public.

It could easily cause trouble.

Tang Wen and his colleague arranged a meeting with the two leaders of Marvel on behalf of Galaxy Entertainment.

the other side.

When Alyssa Chia traveled to Hong Kong, she met Jessica Hsuan, one of TVB's pillars.

She became famous in mainland China for her role in "A Step into the Past".

After some probing...

Jia Jingwen learned about Xuanxuan's current situation: her relationships were not going well, and she had broken up with her boyfriend multiple times.

So he took the opportunity to invite her, "Want to come to Hollywood with me to relax?"

"Hollywood?" Xuanxuan was surprised. She was a TVB drama actress and only played minor supporting roles in Hong Kong movies.

I never thought I'd go to Hollywood.

“It’s a visit to Director Tang Wen.” Jia Jingwen’s tone was full of implications: “When you come back, no matter what, the role of the second female lead in ‘A Chinese Ghost Story’ is yours. I’ll offer you the highest salary.”

Hearing the last sentence, I thought of Tang Wen's face and Wang Zuxian, whom he made famous again.

Xuanxuan couldn't bring herself to refuse.

She took a deep breath: "Do I have a chance to get a role in Hollywood?"

"To be honest, it's unlikely. I haven't even received it yet," Jia Jingwen said frankly.

"This……"

"No rush, just let me know before the day after tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)