Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 406 We can't let Jingwen become an older mother.
James Wan is indeed James Wan, who was the director of the film "Insidious".

Furthermore, it can be said that it pioneered this entire series.

It can be said that by such a fortunate encounter, Ma Xun had completed the last piece of the puzzle.

No, it's not just a simple jigsaw puzzle.

After Ma Xun discussed the concept of "The Shadow Room" with James Wan, Wan was naturally even more pleased.

Moreover, this guy is also a bit cautious.

“Mr. Ma, this movie is absolutely fantastic, but if I were to direct it, well, this…”

"What? Do you have some unspeakable secret?"

"No, no, I just feel that if I were to direct this kind of production, I... I'm a little..."

Are you worried that you won't be able to take good photos?

"That's right, that's it."

“Brother Wen, you are far too modest. But I have every reason to believe in you.”

"Huh? This reason..."

"As you can see, this film, Insidious, is full of Chinese ghost and spirit elements. Nobody in Hollywood understands these things, and even among the Chinese in Hollywood, hardly anyone understands them."

However, regarding what you just told me about your "Saw" project, I found the concept to be excellent. Moreover, I can see that you are good at learning, discovering, and innovating. Therefore, I have entrusted this "Insidious Room" project to you.

I'm very relieved.

These words brought unprecedented warmth to the confused young man, Wen Ziren!
Yes, he felt a warm glow inside; he had never tasted such a sophisticated dose of inspirational wisdom before.

Ever since they decided to make their own "Saw" series, they and their friend Leigh Whannell have faced a lot of rejection from Hollywood film studios.

Now, finally someone appreciates us!

James Wan was practically begging Ma Xun to kneel down and swear allegiance.

"Mr. Ma, I will definitely not let you down!"

Ma Xun saw these words and the fire in his eyes, and smiled inwardly.

Clearly, these Chinese Americans are too easily fooled.

What I just said was nothing more than a few nice words, which wouldn't even qualify as a basic act of deception in China.

Just look at how this thing performs, hehe...

It's obvious that Americans are indeed easier to fool.

Thinking back to the so-called telecom fraud perpetrated by those Indians later on, their methods were actually far from being considered low-level.

That's completely devoid of any technical skill; it's just relying on their accents. Also, the Indians aren't supposed to be "global offices," they're actually just taking on "customer service" work for many large European and American companies, and these "customer service" staff are openly selling the personal privacy information of Europeans and Americans.

These are fraudulent methods that can no longer be called advantageous; they are simply cheating!

In other words, a customer service representative who calls Europeans and Americans during the day might become an Indian telecom fraudster at night.

Therefore, these Americans are really bad at avoiding scams. They have never experienced more sophisticated methods and were easily fooled.

Ma Xun's few words have already achieved results beyond expectations.

So... needless to say, we must continue to vigorously deceive people!

"We trust each other, which is the best thing. In that case, why don't you give me your Saw movie too?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Ziren's eyes were naturally still very excited, but something different also appeared.

Ma Xun then smiled and said, "My plan is this: I will recommend this movie to Columbia Pictures. They are such a big company with tremendous strength, and they will also be of great help to you in terms of future release. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Ziren's eyes instantly lit up with excitement.

“Mr. Ma! This is wonderful! My gratitude to you… How about this, if this movie is ever made, I’ll add your name to the screenwriter credits, okay?”

"Haha...that's easy to discuss. Let's first study the details of the movie 'Insidious'."

"well!"

Wen Ziren happily left with Ma Xun.

But in reality, Ma Xun still felt a little regretful.

They were unable to completely take advantage of Wen Ziren.

Okay, actually, they've already made a huge profit.

Brothers who frequently travel through time will definitely be very familiar with "Saw". Once they see it, they will definitely try every means to get their hands on it.

But in reality, judging from James Wan's behavior, he's not a fool. He definitely wouldn't easily give this film project to someone else unless absolutely necessary.

The key point is that this isn't just his 'creation'; the film itself is a collaboration between him and Leigh Whannell, and Whannell is even playing the lead role.

Such a project is beyond the control of James Wan alone.

Furthermore, neither of them were the type to rush into anything out of desperation; they were clearly waiting for a major Hollywood studio to discover them.

In other words, unless it's a major Hollywood studio, they simply won't submit the project.

Some people will surely say, didn't the original "Saw" movie go to Lionsgate?

That's true, but don't underestimate Lionsgate. They're a very powerful company, and in terms of the Sundance Film Festival, Lionsgate is definitely a big name. They even discovered "American Psycho" before.

It's normal for James Wan and Leigh Whannell to hand over "Saw" to Lionsgate.

But they certainly won't hand this movie over to Ma Xun.

Even if Ma Xun is a big boss in the Chinese film and television industry, and even if James Wan and Leigh Whannell are very aware of this, they certainly wouldn't do that.

On the contrary, look at the effect when Ma Xun mentions Columbia Company!
Simply put, those big Hollywood studios do have a strong brand effect.

Just like that guy.

Baleno! That's the brand!

However, Ma Xun naturally had his own methods and eventually made "Saw" his own.

For example, just follow the same steps as in "The Infernal Affairs," and that will do.

Of course, many changes are bound to occur in the future.

But it doesn't matter, since Columbia Pictures paid for both of these movies anyway.

As for Ma Xun, he received real benefits and resources.

So, keep fooling around, keep fooling around!
……

The Spring Festival has passed, but the Sundance Film Festival continues.

Today, we finally reached another climax.

"Everyone! I've said this many times before, this movie is simply perfect!"

The person who said this was Quentin Tarantino.

And for him to say something like that, it's not an ordinary movie.

It's *Hero*!
That's right, this Chinese blockbuster has finally arrived in the United States.

It finally revealed its true colors to the Americans.

After so much time has passed, many movie fans have actually heard of the movie's fame.

But this is not enough.

It needs a big-name director to promote it!
Quentin Tarantino, that's him!

It has to be him, absolutely, because this guy really loves Chinese martial arts films.

The key point is that the film *Hero* truly deserves recognition. Of course, given such a valuable opportunity, Zhang Yimou, Zhang Weiping, Li Lianjie, and others who could attend all came.

Although the Sundance Film Festival is indeed quite amateurish, in the eyes of these people, it is also very prestigious.

Ma Xun was also at a loss; perhaps, he was the purest person in this situation.

Because Ma Xun is here to make money.

He made quite a few copyright deals this time.

Currently, the best performing film is "The Terror Live".

After the screening, it wasn't just James Wan who planned to borrow some plot elements.

There are also film companies from Japan that are very interested in collaborating with Ma Xun.

That is to say, filming the Japanese version.

They also mentioned Toho... Clearly, they want to poach talent from Toho.

Of course, American film distributors are also involved.

For example, Lionsgate is very optimistic about this movie, but they have also said that the chances of it being released in the United States are relatively low.

They are quite interested in adapting it.

Interestingly, these guys also mentioned Columbia Pictures.

In other words, they also want to poach talent.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "This is all negotiable, no problem."

But in reality, he has already accomplished an epic poaching of Lionsgate's players.

So it seems like this is a world where everyone is poaching each other's talent.

And returning to the film "Hero," let's not forget that Yuanyuan made an appearance.

"Ms. Gao, there are rumors that you had some conflicts with Zhang Ziyi because of this movie?"

"Those are just rumors. Let's focus on the movie 'Hero' instead."

Yuanyuan has grown a lot; at least she's much better at dealing with reporters than before.

However, while answering the reporter's questions, she kept glancing towards Ma Xun.

What does it mean?

……

Today's screening of "Hero" was a great success.

Quentin Tarantino's blatant hype was definitely paid for by Gloucester, but the effect was indeed very good.

Especially when the film is screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

These foreigners were completely dumbfounded.

Even Ma Xun's newly recruited underlings were amazed after watching it, repeatedly calling the movie "Emei Spirit".

Deep down, Ma Xun just enjoys seeing how naive and unsophisticated you all are.

Indeed, when it comes to martial arts action movies, we still have to look to ours.

But after watching the movie, there were still some procedures to go through.

Should Ma Xun go back to the hotel?
But this time at the hotel...

"Brother Ma!"

"boss!"

Good heavens, Jingwen and Yuanyuan have clearly been waiting for him for a long time.

"Ahem, this..."

Ma Xun knew this situation would be difficult to handle.

Jingwen and Yuanyuan immediately moved in and restrained him to prevent him from leaving.

"Have you been spending time with that foreign woman these days?"

"Cough cough..."

"That foreign woman is pretty sexy, right? Otherwise, our Brother Ma wouldn't have lingered there so long."

"I'm not……"

"No? That foreign woman isn't sexy? Well, that makes sense, she's a princess, after all."

"This one……"

"We know, her clitoris is really something, sigh~"

"You two aren't bad either..."

"Nonsense! How could Yuanyuan and I compare to them, ha..."

Good guy, really good guy.

Jingwen and Yuanyuan's back-and-forth banter left Ma Xun struggling to keep up.

However, Ma Xun does have something to offer.

"You guys are overthinking it. Actually, the reason I had such an in-depth conversation with her this time was to plan something big."

Ma Xun then talked about the movie "Insidious," with Anne Hathaway talking less and James Wan talking more.

But even more important is... resources.

"Because this film incorporates many Chinese concepts of ghosts and gods, I plan to include a Chinese exorcist in it, preferably a woman."

Listen to this!

Jingwen and Yuanyuan wouldn't say anything more.

"Boss, we misunderstood you."

"Brother Ma, what about this exorcist..."

Jingwen and Yuanyuan looked at each other.

I must say that Yuanyuan is very sensible.

“I already have ‘Hero’ here, so it’s better if my sister stars in it.”

That's right, this is an opportunity to act in a Hollywood movie. Although it won't be as the female lead, this is still an opportunity that not everyone can get.

Jingwen then looked at Ma Xun.

"Cough cough..." Ma Xun coughed and started to tremble.

Jingwen was straightforward, "Brother Ma~ I'm not young anymore."

What does this mean?
Wait a minute, a quick calculation shows that Jingwen will be turning thirty soon.

Wouldn't I be considered an elderly mother in a few years?
"That depends on your performance."

Ma Xun really knows how to manipulate people.

Jingwen smiled and nodded, then squatted down and untied Ma Xun's belt.

Yuanyuan came up behind him and helped Ma Xun take off his coat.

This... hiss~
Ma Xun couldn't help but run his ten fingers through Jingwen's hair...

(End of this chapter)