Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 356 Everyone has his own way

The closest major city to Industrial Light & Magic is San Francisco.

Later, Industrial Light & Magic's headquarters moved from the old warehouse to San Francisco.

So, Gu Ming is now eating, drinking and having fun with his friends in San Francisco.

Earn money in the United States and spend it in the United States, don't take a penny home.

A bar in San Francisco,
A few people were sitting in the card room chatting, eating and drinking, and no one brought girls with them. It was very clean.

Zhen Zidan was only seventeen years old, and according to the rules he was not allowed to go out and drink, but he spoke English well, and if no one checked, no one would tell that he was underage.

He didn't quite understand why Gu Ming brought him along when he went out to play.

But Zhen Zidan was also quite happy about this.

Low EQ does not mean no EQ, he just doesn't have high EQ. But at least he knows that Cheng Long is popular in Hong Kong, and Gu Ming can speak in front of Americans, and they are not ordinary people. So he just sipped his wine and watched the two of them talk.

Cheng Long drank the cold beer in his glass and complained to Gu Ming in a low voice about the filming process.

"I don't know if this movie of mine will work. That white director sounded very confident, but I felt really bad about filming this movie!"

In fact, this period of time in the United States was not in vain. The efficiency of American filming and various meticulous regulations opened Cheng Long's eyes, but the director's autocratic behavior also made Cheng Long extremely annoyed.

Gu Ming responded: "Don't worry."

Seeing Cheng Long's hopeful eyes, Gu Ming said, "Your movie is definitely a failure."

Cheng Long:?!

Gu Ming spread his hands and said, "You're the one who acted in this movie. You definitely know it better than me. Your acting style is completely unattainable, and the action sequences can't be filmed well. This movie might be popular in America, but in your base, oh, in Hong Kong, it will definitely be panned. What's worse is that if you want to make a breakthrough in the American market with this movie, forget it!"

"Killer Trench" is not a completely bad movie, but it has one thing in common.

Not good looking.

The script is quite ordinary and does not reflect Jackie Chan's style. In the field of American action movies, macho men like Schwarzenegger and Stallone are more popular, and Jackie Chan is still far behind.

After listening to Gu Ming, Cheng Long became even more depressed.

I made a lot of money during my trip to the United States, but I was in a very bad mood.

"I might as well go back to Hong Kong! But my adoptive father made it very clear that I have to cooperate with the development of Golden Harvest."

"Jia He is taking too big a step and is about to get into trouble!"

Gu Ming said confidently: "In fact, it is difficult for us Asians to enter the European and American markets. Why not try to start with what Americans like, such as comic book adaptations?"

Specifically, it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

That’s right, Golden Harvest participated in the investment and filming of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Of course, Cheng Long did not play the role of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The movie was very popular and made a lot of money.

Gu Ming just said it casually, and Cheng Long didn't take it too seriously. He just made a note of it and talked about it later when he had time.

After a few drinks, Cheng Long said with a bit of joking, but also pretending to be serious: "It is said that Gu Sheng has written many scripts in Japan. Those works are all tailored to your own needs. How about Gu Sheng also write a script for me? I can pay you according to the market price over there!"

Gu Ming smiled and said, "My fees are very high."

"That's okay, just go with the more expensive one!"

Gu Ming put down his wine glass and stared at Cheng Long's eyes for a while. Cheng Long also looked back at him with a very serious expression.

"Do you really want it?"

"If Gu Sheng wants to write, of course I want to."

"Well...actually, I'm not that good at writing scripts. I just have some stories. If you want a script, I have to go back and find some friends I know to help me improve them."

Gu Ming smiled and said nothing.

In theory, Jackie Chan will stay in the United States for a while, and he will soon collaborate with Sam Hui to shoot a movie called "Cannonball Run".

The two movies, Cannonball Run and The Lost Ark, did okay at the box office in the United States, but their reputations were terrible and they did not help Jackie Chan's personal development at all, so he later returned to Hong Kong to start his career again.

But the movies he acted in in the past few years were not very good. During this period, Lo Wei used the materials of old movies to edit a movie called "Dragon and Tiger Leap", which made Cheng Long very angry but he could do nothing about it.

It was not until 1983, when Jackie Chan filmed Project A, that he regained his status in Hong Kong.

Plan A is really good.

But Gu Ming didn't tell him about Plan A.

"Rumble in the Bronx" is good, but it's too early to release it now. It needs to find a reliable American distributor for distribution. Gu Ming doesn't need to worry about Golden Harvest. "Hey, I heard Hong Kong is full of gangs and it's pretty chaotic. Why don't you make a police story? How about a police story?"

Gu Ming mentioned it casually, and Cheng Long laughed: "Okay, but wouldn't it be a little worse if I played a policeman?"

"No, you fit that image."

Everyone has a role that suits them, and Cheng Long has been playing a very unique role for many years.

That is, a small person with great abilities.

Aside from his role as Wong Fei-hung in the Drunken Master series, in most of his films, Jackie Chan plays a small-time character with great abilities but a low status, causing all sorts of hilarious moments. This is his comfort zone, and it's also the role he's best at.

Gu Ming was just saying it casually now. He would write a few words and give it to Cheng Long after he got back.

Cheng Long stopped talking and just lowered his head to drink.

By chance, a blonde girl with big curly hair walked by. Cheng Long raised his head and looked at her for a while.

This is good, he likes Big Bear!
Seeing that the two of them stopped talking, Zhen Zidan became a little interested. She looked at Gu Ming with some hope, wanting to say something, but was afraid that her words would sound unpleasant.

Gu Ming held the wine glass in his hand and said in a relaxed tone, "Why are you looking at me like that? If you have something to say, just say it."

"Well, that's what I mean, Mr. Furia. What do you think of my skills? They're pretty good, right? Do you think I can act in a movie?"

Gu Ming was happy.

That’s awesome!
But now it’s too bad!

Gu Ming put down his wine glass and pretended to be serious.

"I heard from Master Yuan that he's planning to promote you as an actor. You're telling me this again. This isn't going to go well."

"what?!"

Zhen Zidan was slightly startled and couldn't help but wonder in her heart.

I didn't expect Gu Minglian knew this?!
Yuen Woo-ping does have plans to make a movie to promote him, but the plan has not yet been realized.

——Zhen Zidan will have to wait a few more years before she can act in a movie.

Gu Ming looked Zhen Zidan up and down, and couldn't help but sigh in regret.

Japan's entertainment industry is very unique, open yet closed, and many things are not easily accessible.

Although the young Zhen Zidan had good skills, her acting ability and audience appeal were much worse than later.

Zhen Zidan didn't start to gain popularity with the audience until at least the 1990s, but she often played villains, with classic roles such as Cao Shaoqin and Nalan Yuanshu.

It wasn't until after the millennium, as he aged, his face calmed down, and his acting skills improved. Most importantly, with the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li no longer performing well, Zhen Zidan began to gain popularity with the audience. Later, it was the role of Ip Man that truly expanded his influence in mainland China.

It can be said that Zhen Zidan is the last influential action actor.

The others were almost there.

Hao Jing also made a name for himself by switching to military action films. Otherwise, the action films Hao Jing shot were all mediocre, or even bad.

But there is something special about Zhen Zidan.

The later generations of the Zhen family troupe were very popular in Japan.

Zhen Zidan's martial arts style is deeply loved by the Japanese.

Later, in the new Japanese swordplay film "Rurouni Kenshin", which was the pinnacle of fighting, its director Kenji Tanigaki was a younger brother of the Zhen family team.

Gu Ming's mind raced as he looked at Zhen Zidan.

It’s hard to say, maybe Master Ye will be liked by the Japanese!

Gu Ming tapped the table with his knuckles and thought for a long time before speaking.

"You know this is impossible. How can I take away someone's good intentions? But you are indeed quite skilled and you must have potential. If I have a chance, I will go and ask Master Yuan about it."

Zhen Zidan grinned, unable to suppress the smile at all.

Gu Ming could only shake his head.

Master Ye’s EQ is still too low. How can he ask such questions face to face?
"But speaking of which, where is that kid Kenji Tanigaki from?"

Kenji Tanigaki is from Nara!

This is a real fellow!

(End of this chapter)