Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 510 Yang Rong strives to improve, the two Zhangs want to organize a 'murder mystery game'

"He wants the adaptation rights? And a share of the profits?"

"There's also casting, but he doesn't seem to care that much about casting."

Why doesn't he just say he'll be the director?

"Oh, this? Then it should be..."

"What do you mean 'should'!"

After listening to Jiang Zhiqiang's account, Zhang Weiping was furious.

What is Ma Xun up to?
How could they offer such outrageous conditions!

It's simply too much!

However, Jiang Zhiqiang remained much calmer, perhaps because he had already been shocked by Ma Xun's conditions.

Perhaps it's for other reasons.

In short, seeing Jiang Zhiqiang so calm, Zhang Weiping's anger gradually subsided.

Jiang Zhiqiang did this on purpose. Seeing that Zhang Weiping's face was about the same, he smiled and said, "Boss, we don't have any good ideas right now. Ma Xun has the resources we need. We can only listen to whatever price he asks for. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to make this movie."

His words make sense, but there are many details hidden within them.

Currently, cultural tourism and film and television real estate is booming across the country, meaning that many places are launching film and television cities. As a result, film crews have become the target of everyone's pursuit, and the film crews of famous director Zhang Yimou are the number one target that film and television project managers in various places must pursue.

So nowadays, when a well-known film crew goes to a certain film and television city to shoot a movie, it's basically free.

In some film studios, they even have to give up some 'things' themselves.

And this is also in order to catch up with and surpass Hengdian.

But in reality, it's really difficult to surpass Hengdian, just like the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Many film studios cannot build on such a large scale, and anyone can replicate the Forbidden City.

Most importantly, even if it's copied, it won't match the original scenic area.

Hengdian has this advantage: it already has a very good foundation, and everyone knows that it's a filming location, so projects don't need to worry about whether they match the local scenery.

This time, Zhang Yimou plans to put on a very large-scale event.

It is estimated that at least 10,000 people will need to perform at the same time.

How big does this venue need to be?
Actually, it's not just ten thousand, it might be twenty thousand.

Therefore, as things stand, Hengdian is practically the only option for the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Even if we exclude all hardware requirements, such as the scale of a film studio or the size of a palace complex, we don't care about any of them.

But how do we deal with the problem of having 10,000 or 20,000 extras?

Even setting aside the issue of attracting these people, just solving their basic needs like food, drink, and sanitation is already quite difficult.

Currently, Hengdian is the most mature film and television city in China.

Unexpectedly, Ma Xun used this as a bargaining chip.

They really got Zhang Weiping under their thumb.

If you agree...

Jiang Zhiqiang said, "Isn't it just like paying a relatively large venue fee?"

His point is valid and makes some sense.

But Zhang Weiping couldn't get over it.

"Ma Xun is getting more and more dishonest! We used to be brothers, but now he's doing this to us."

Jiang Zhiqiang smiled at these words, saying, "These kinds of grudges are hard to sort out. Why don't we start from a practical point of view?"

Clearly, Jiang Zhiqiang has no intention of playing peacemaker. He doesn't care about your grudges and conflicts; he just wants to make this movie.

However, Zhang Weiping still had one concern.

"Brother Jiang, you know how important the script is. It's the foundation of a play. How can a director as great as Teacher Zhang easily change his script?"

This is the key.

Jiang Zhiqiang's conversation with Zhang Weiping was actually aimed at getting Zhang Weiping to help him win over Zhang Yimou.

After going through many detours, we've finally gotten to the point.

“But these are Ma Xun’s conditions, and I can also tell that Ma Xun’s words are not as absolute as they seem.”

That's right, this is actually quite rare, or rather, Ma Xun had considered that Zhang Yimou wouldn't easily accept script suggestions from others.

In particular, Ma Xun had previously criticized him.

Is Zhang Weiping saying he can't handle it?
But this guy came up with a plan. "Hey bro, how about this? Ma Xun's going to write a script, right? Why don't we ask some industry experts, like professors from some college, to take a look and compare them? If the professors say one script is better, then we'll use that one..."

Before Zhang Weiping could finish speaking, Jiang Zhiqiang interrupted, "This method is very good, but I can't guarantee that it will be able to persuade Ma Xun."

Yes, you're willing to do this kind of script comparison... Oh, wait a minute, could this script-to-script comparison be called 'murder mystery game'?

Because the script that was outcompeted is useless, it's practically dead.

That's a good idea, but Ma Xun has to be willing to compete, right?

Now that Ma Xun has a super bargaining chip in his hands, does Zhang Yimou really want to wait for another film city to replicate the Forbidden City complex?
Wouldn't it take forever to make this film?

In fact, there was another very important reason that forced Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping to agree to Ma Xun's conditions, and that was time.

The Olympics will be held in 08, and Zhang Yimou has been confirmed as the chief director. This means that "Curse of the Golden Flower" will be his last film before the Olympics.

If it can't be filmed this year, then it's all over.

The earliest this movie can be released is 09.

Three years have passed in a flash. What might happen after three years?
That's right, Zhang Weiping also wants to go public.

Who would refuse to take their company public?

Therefore, "Curse of the Golden Flower" must be released this year!
So this method...

"Brother Jiang, it's all up to you. If you can persuade Ma Xun, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Having made such a promise, Jiang Zhiqiang had no choice but to agree immediately.

But he wasn't actually confident he could persuade Ma Xun. ...

Palm Springs.

After that night, Yang Rong's entire demeanor changed.

She seems to have a more open-minded view of many things.

This is, of course, because of Ma Xun.

This man led Yang Rong through many cycles of life and death, allowing her to experience the greatest joy in life.

Therefore, Yang Rong wanted to experience it more.

"Boss, there's something else I don't understand. Will Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou really accept your conditions willingly?"

Yang Rong, whose body and face were covered in fine sweat, still hadn't had time to brush the strands of hair from the corners of her mouth.

She couldn't wait to ask that question.

In her view, this is actually a form of learning.

Ma Xun didn't rush to answer, but instead helped her brush the strand of hair away.

Then he said, "Of course not. Even if they realize they have to accept my conditions, they'll still cause trouble."

"Well... if they cause any trouble, boss, do you have a plan?"

"You haven't forgotten, have you? We need to start with our abilities."

"strength?"

Yang Rong was genuinely puzzled.

Ma Xun didn't explain anything, he just wanted to do it again.

This girl's taste is indeed...

Just then, Ma Xun's phone rang.

Upon picking it up, it turned out to be Jiang Zhiqiang.

"Brother Jiang, is there anything I can help you with?"

In fact, Ma Xun's words had a subtext: he knew things had changed.

"Oh dear, this matter is really... You know Brother Ma, Zhang Weiping is a very proud person, and Director Zhang Yimou is also very proud of his script. How about this, let's compare your script with theirs? What do you say?"

"Let's have a competition?" Ma Xun gestured to Yang Rong while talking on the phone.

It means she guessed correctly.

it is as expected!
But does this mean that I have also improved...? Yang Rong was even happier.

Her skin was very fair, but now it turned slightly pink from happiness.

But she didn't dare to speak.

Jiang Zhiqiang continued, "We're looking for some well-known scriptwriters in the industry..."

He simply relayed Zhang Weiping's idea.

Ma Xun was equally straightforward, replying, "No problem."

"Oh! This is wonderful!"

Jiang Zhiqiang was very happy.

At this moment, Ma Xun spoke again, "Brother Jiang, I hope you can help me convey my true attitude, which is that my original intention was simply to make the script of this movie more perfect, I am..."

Jiang Zhiqiang interrupted Ma Xun this time, "Brother! Don't worry, I understand you! I'll definitely help you get everything through!"

That's right, Ma Xun only wanted to make some modifications; he didn't want to start from scratch.

Actually, from the very beginning, we did give Zhang Yimou a little face.

Now that he has reiterated this stance, Ma Xun is at least in the right.

After a few more words, the two of them settled on the matter.

Ma Xun only made minor changes to the script and then compared it with the original script.

Let's see how those professional teachers evaluate it.

Of course, this judgment is made under a 'double-blind' approach.

That's right, neither script is credited, so nobody knows who wrote it.

I don't know which teacher was invited to be the judge.

This ensures fairness; it's a method used in medical experiments.

It can be said that this is already the best method.

Then they hung up the phone, and at that moment...

"Boss, you seem very confident?"

Yes, isn't this a fair competition?

However, in Yang Rong's view, it seemed that Ma Xun had already secured victory.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "What did I say before?"

"Based on strength... could it be..."

"You'd better say less."

That's right, talk less and do more.

But what exactly are Ma Xun's methods in terms of 'strength'?
Yang Rong was really curious.

Not only her, but also Zhang Weiping was curious about what methods Ma Xun would use.

If it's just a matter of comparing scripts... actually, Ma Xun isn't afraid of this script comparison.

Because he was very clear about the problems with the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Actually, the biggest problem is... where is Lu Dahai?
For now, let's just enjoy this fair and smooth skin...

(End of this chapter)