Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 405 A Call to Arms? (34)

"American Dreams in China" was filmed in Beijing...

There are just too many messages to be blocked!
"The Big Shot" achieved a box office miracle, and Shen Yan is a particularly flamboyant person. Many people are expecting him to satirize "Tai Chi" or other films released in the same period...

Ten days have passed, and he hasn't posted a single Weibo post.

He did not refuse many media interviews.

It's all to thank the audience!

Not a single word was mentioned about other movies.

The same applies to this interview with "China Movie Report".

"Congratulations Shen Yan, 'The Big Shot' has grossed over 11.5 billion yuan. What are your thoughts?"

Shen Yan smiled and said, "Thank you for your support, audience..."

"Could you analyze why 'The Big Shot' did so well at the box office?"

"I think audiences love popcorn action movies..."

"Popcorn action movie?"

"Yes, if we add a bit more depth, the audience will love watching it even more..."

"I've heard there are many copycat works..."

"As a crime action film, I hope that 'The Big Shot' can be replicated and continued. Such excitement and allure are good for investors, the market, and industry professionals, but I hope we don't just blindly follow suit. Replication is fine, but please put your heart into it..."

"The box office record for 'The Big Shot' will soon be broken; this is determined by market size..."

"Our total box office this year should be close to 200 billion. With a growth rate of 40%, it will be over 400 billion in three years... The box office of that leading film will definitely exceed 30 billion... I hope it's a domestic film!"

After chatting for about twenty minutes, the "China Movie Report" team left...

Shen Yan finished his tea before returning to the film set.

At this moment, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, and Tong Dawei are discussing something...

"What are you talking about?"

Deng Chao: "We are discussing whether 'The Big Shot' has a chance to break 'Avatar's' box office record!"

"Impossible!" Shen Yan said decisively. "At most, it'll be 12.5 billion...it won't exceed 13 billion!"

Huang Xiaoming was a little surprised: "Didn't people from China Film Group come looking for you a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah, they wanted me to spend some money... I didn't agree!"

"Why don't you agree?"

"The attention is too high. If we use underhanded tactics at this time, people will see through us... It will not be good for the subsequent films..." Shen Yan smiled: "We plan to make 'The Big Shot' into a trilogy!"

Who is the villain in the second movie?

"Still considering, but I'm guessing it'll be Xie Miao and Yu Rongguang..."

Who is Xie Miao?

Shen Yan was surprised: "Hong Wending from 'The New Legend of Shaolin' and Gong Gu from 'A Letter to Dad'... You haven't seen them?"

"...that child?"

"Yes, he's not good-looking now, but he's a good fighter... There's a childhood nostalgia factor, and his pairing with Yu Rongguang this time is already generating buzz!"

"...Will the second movie break a billion?"

"I doubt it..." Shen Yan waved his hand, "As long as the second film maintains its reputation, the box office won't be bad, and the third film will definitely break one billion..."

"What about our film, 'American Dreams in China'?"

"It's hard to say... but I estimate it will gross at least 600 million at the box office!"

A few people were a little disappointed…

Shen Yan was speechless: "No, this time we're focusing on entrepreneurship, which is a relatively small sector... and there's also a Stephen Chow movie in the Spring Festival lineup..."

Deng Chao immediately asked, "Is Stephen Chow's movie confirmed for the Spring Festival release?"

"The Legend of Exorcising Demons, huh?"

“It should be called ‘Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons’…” After a pause, Shen Yan added, “Stephen Chow can only reheat old dishes!” Regardless of the quality of “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons,” it is an indisputable fact that this project, from its inception to its promotion, has been closely tied to “A Chinese Odyssey”!
A Chinese Odyssey – I love you for ten thousand years;

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is about seizing every minute and second, as ten thousand years is too long!
They even said that 'Miss Duan's character was based on Stephen Chow's first love, Law Wai-kuen…'

That's bullshit! He didn't even give his ex-girlfriend Yu Wenfeng her share—he only gave her 7000 million out of the promised 1000 million!
Would this kind of person reminisce about their first love?
It's nothing more than publicity!
Huang Xiaoming asked, "...I heard from them that this movie was offered to you?"

"Hmm... but I don't really like Stephen Chow, so I didn't go..."

"You don't like Stephen Chow?"

Shen Yan didn't answer, but said, "...We signed a five-film contract with Ng Man-tat, and we have firsthand information about many things concerning Stephen Chow..."

"Really? Then why didn't Uncle Da appear in 'Kung Fu Hustle'?"

"Didn't you say you were filming another movie at the time?"

“…No,” Shen Yan waved his hand, “For ‘Shaolin Soccer,’ Ng Man-tat’s salary wasn’t high because the film was short on funds. But for ‘Kung Fu Hustle,’ the investors changed to Sony Columbia, and Uncle Tat was thinking about whether he could get a raise, and then he was kicked out of the crew…”

"I thought they were close friends..."

"Hong Kong is such a tiny place, we haven't seen each other for almost ten years, what kind of relationship do you have?"

Shen Yan sighed: "Uncle Da has been under a heavy financial burden these past few years, so he's taken on any kind of film... The fact that we haven't collaborated for so long is quite simple: either we can't agree on the price, or Stephen Chow would hire anyone but Uncle Da... I lean towards the latter!"

Tong Dawei sighed: "It's such a pity, I wonder if we'll ever have the chance to see them on stage together again..."

"It's probably unlikely..."

Deng Chao: "No wonder Stephen Chow said he wanted to see 'The Big Shot,' but you didn't respond!"

Shen Yan asked curiously, "Did he call out?"

"Hmm...Trending on Weibo!"

Shen Yan quickly took out his phone and checked. Sure enough, there was a trending topic—Stephen Chow called out to Shen Yan, saying that he would definitely watch "The Big Shot" three times when it was released in Hong Kong!
Tsk tsk…

A bunch of self-media outlets are also saying things like "Shen Yan responded quickly" and "A two-way trip!"

Nonsense…

Shen Yan had absolutely no idea about this!

After thinking for a moment, I posted a Weibo message: "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for supporting the movie 'The Big Shot.' Looking forward to Mr. Zhou's 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'..."

Then… he put his phone back in his pocket, changed the subject, and started talking about "Fame and Fortune": "Brother Xiaoming, Tianbao said she wants to act in 'Fame and Fortune,' so the Nightingale role will be given to her…"

"Thank you, director!"

"...mainly because Tianbao herself is very suitable; her appearance is youthful..."

Where was "Fame and Fortune" filmed?

"Let's go to Hengdian... We'll rehearse for a week first, then film in a week..."

Who did you cast for the role of Lu Ziye?

Shen Yan said mysteriously, "Guess!"

"Chen Daoming?"

"Chen Baoguo?"

Shen Yan shook his head, then said, "I went to see Uncle Ge..."

"Professor Ge You? He agreed to act in it?"

"Of course!"

Shen Yan nodded: "He read the script and immediately agreed... I heard that Professor Jiang Wen was also interested..."

"really?"

"...I did not agree."

"What?"

"Jiang Wen is too domineering. If he were to act, the movie would just become Jiang Wen's style... Let's just forget about it!"

After chatting for a while, Rao Xiaozhi came over to announce that filming could begin, and the group immediately got into shooting mode...

(End of this chapter)