Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 427 Even a Big Flower Returning to China Will Be Suppressed
The project Ikeno was approached with three projects: two war films, each centered around a sensitive era, and two large-scale projects divided into two parts, which are currently unnamed.

Rumor has it that the project originally intended to hire Wu Jing, one of the leading figures in the Chinese film industry and a frequent guest in patriotic blockbusters, as well as Chi Ye's "good brother".

Besides Wu Jing, other big names from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong also seemed to be lined up for selection.

But now an unexpected thing has happened.

Ikeno was called out.

Besides these two blockbusters, there is another special effects blockbuster directed by a "newcomer" with an investment of over a billion yuan, which also gathers numerous big names and top stars in the industry.

Of course, the director of this film said he was a newcomer, but the newcomer here does not refer to a single person, but to a team.

Yes, this film adopts the same strategy as "The Battle at Lake Changjin," assembling a directing team of three renowned directors. Some of these directors excel at visual effects, others at storytelling, and still others at action...

In short, although it is not a major project at the national mission level, it is definitely the first major move made by the Chinese entertainment industry in nearly ten years, and it has attracted a lot of attention.

Like the previous two films, the lead actor for this movie was originally intended to be a popular actor in the film industry in recent years, and the cast was even somewhat similar to the previous two films.

They are all top-tier celebrities, with a large number of award-winning actors, actresses, and TV stars.

—Some people are very dissatisfied.

Leaving aside the big names in the film industry who were supposed to play supporting roles to Ikeno, just talking about the few core main characters who were replaced makes me feel mentally shattered.

This was the first time Wu Jing had realized that even a young, popular male celebrity could become her rival.

Considering his advanced age, why is he still competing with someone who generates a lot of traffic?
When I was young, I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, but I found the competition too fierce and it wasn't feasible. So I started pursuing a career in the military, and it wasn't until I was over forty that I finally made it to my comfort zone.

To be honest, he has long been used to the adoration he receives from people in the industry. After all, as one of the top actors in the Chinese entertainment industry with box office appeal, he also has his own pride deep down.

From a previously unknown actor to a leading figure in the Chinese film industry, a patriotic film propelled him to stardom, even leading him to Hollywood… Zhang Ziyi had to play a supporting role for him without any objection.

Now, you want him to carry the sedan chair for Chi Ye?

"To be honest, I didn't really want to play this second male lead."

Wu Jing shook her head, stubbed out her cigarette, and frowned, looking somewhat depressed.

To compensate themselves, China Film Group gave him a supporting role, but since the other roles had already been decided and were all big names with powerful backgrounds, not only him, but everyone else, as long as they weren't too unsuitable, got a role.

Just like him, we all took a step back.

From this perspective, the female characters are actually more comfortable. For example, the original female lead who co-starred with Wu Jing, who competed with Ling Bingbing and Xu Yingying in her early years but has been an international film queen who has been retired for many years, is not upset at all, and is even a little curious.

"It's not a bad deal to help an Oscar-winning actor, haha."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jing retorted, "It's just a nomination."

"Are you alright? Aren't you going to act anymore?"

Sister Xun is a veteran actress. Although she has gradually retired from acting in recent years and was replaced by Xu Yingying in the "Four Dan Actresses" list, in terms of influence and status, she is no less than Teacher Zhang.

So even when facing Wu Jing, she could remain very calm, with a hint of self-satisfaction: "Then I'll let A-Kun do it; he's quite interested in this role."

Wu Jing remained silent: "I would like to, but I already promised Lao Wang. What can I do now? I'll just have to accept it."

Old Wang is the newest high-ranking executive at China Film Group. He and Wu Jing have known each other for a long time, and since they are both Manchus and have ancestral ties, they have an extra layer of relationship that others don't.

"It's good to know."

Sister Xun smiled and said, "But you're not the most unlucky one. I heard that Sister Zhang's team... that is, Director Chen's film, also sent a press release to Chi Ye. You know her personality. Seeing Chi Ye nominated for an Oscar, she's probably the one who's feeling the most upset right now. And now she has to work with Chi Ye."

"Director Chen has approached him for his new film? Are you sure? Qian Rui seems to be in that film too, aren't you worried they might fight?"

At this moment, the other person who hadn't spoken until now, who was originally the third male lead in the project but is now the fourth male lead, the good-for-nothing movie star, exclaimed in surprise: "This is really strange!"

She called me this morning, don't you think?

Sister Xun waved her phone and said, "Qianrui is not on the same level as Chi Ye now, it's okay."

Upon hearing the sound, the group was momentarily confused, but then they understood.

Indeed, Lin Yangqianrui and Zhu Yaolin were Chi Ye's most direct and biggest competitors in the film industry at the time, but since that incident involving the staffing, the three parties have hardly had any further conflicts.

why?
At first, both the four-character and Zhu Yaolin's teams were busy with their own affairs and were in a mess. Then... then Chi Ye's growth rate was too fast. Now, Yeguo has become a top company in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Ikeno's identity has long since changed from a simple artist to a combination of capital and artist, with capital taking precedence over artist.

If people didn't really feel this before, then the fact that Mango TV recently banned four or five of its most popular celebrities from the Beijing entertainment circle because of a single sentence from Chi Ye shows just how serious it is.

"To be honest, I'm really curious about who this Chi Ye is. He's been a new face in the years I've been away."

Sister Xun patted the big-headed movie star on the shoulder in a pretentious manner.

The big-headed actor gave a wry smile: "He fucking stole my role from another project!"

That's right, the big-headed movie star was originally slated to be the male lead in that special effects blockbuster, but now the production team prefers Ikeno.

The only consolation is that although these projects are not being carried out simultaneously, there will definitely be overlaps in filming schedules, as several are scheduled for release at the same time.

Therefore... Ikeno can probably only take on a maximum of two roles.

But if it were Lei Jun's choice, he thinks he would definitely choose a patriotic blockbuster with special effects, all big investments, and so many big names who were previously unattainable to support him, which would be great.

……

Teacher Zhang wasn't feeling particularly pleased at the moment. As Sister Xun had said, her feelings had indeed become very complicated after Chi Ye won the Oscar, not because she had any major issues with Chi Ye.

On the contrary, she herself had participated in the recording of a program with Chi Ye, making her the only one among the four leading actresses, besides Ling Bingbing, who had had contact with Chi Ye.

If we really consider the collaboration time, Ling Bingbing should be ranked slightly later. She was the first of the four leading actresses to collaborate with Chi Ye and even obtain his contact information.

However, she didn't take it too seriously back then, which is definitely different from her attitude now.

What saddens Ms. Zhang is her status in the Chinese entertainment industry, which may be affected by this and drop in status again. When Wu Jing became a sensation, she suffered for a long time and it took her almost ten years to accept the fact.

Not long after, another one, Ikeno, appeared...

This time... of course, we'll stick to her and cooperate. After all, we have a "feeling connection," so Ikeno can't possibly refuse her, right?
"Teacher Ziyi, Qianrui is here."

The assistant beside him pushed open the door, walked in, and said to Teacher Zhang.

"What is he here for?"

Teacher Zhang was taken aback.

"He...he came to say goodbye to you."

The assistant lowered his voice: "If Chi Ye joins the cast, the second male lead isn't a good fit for him. They're not compatible enough. Plus... you know about their past conflicts. If he's put under Chi Ye's thumb, he probably won't be able to handle it."

Teacher Zhang suddenly got angry, inexplicably: "No way, I wasn't even afraid of being pinned down, but he's afraid of being pinned down by Chi Ye?"

Who does he think he is?!

The assistant opened her mouth, clearly startled: "Ziyi... Teacher Ziyi, you..."

Teacher Zhang paused for a moment before regaining her composure and said calmly, "There's no need to meet. Tell them I'm not feeling well today, and let's get together another day."

She was also a little upset. The appearance of the four characters seemed to remind her of something, and there was indeed no need to be as close to the other person as before.

……

The industry upheaval, with top-tier film opportunities practically being offered to Chi Ye, and the news that various top film stars, including the six leading actors and international film queens, would be playing supporting roles for him, ultimately caused the anticipated "earthquake" in the industry.

Some are resentful, some are anxious, some are curious, and some are expectant.

But as the core and protagonist of all this, Ikeno himself is in a completely different state of mind, and his emotions are far from the ecstatic feeling that the outside world imagines at this moment.

It could even be said that it's somewhat the opposite.

Ikeno doesn't really like any of these projects.

He received these scripts as soon as he returned to China. At his current level, he can basically read a complete script if he wants to.

But precisely because the complete script was seen, the two main-theme films were alright, with the first one being a standard, conventional main-theme film.

However, the mainstream theme emerged in 2017, and about ten years have passed since then. Audiences and movie fans have long been somewhat aesthetically fatigued.

It's fair to say that the name sounds impressive, but in reality, although China Film Group was involved in the production, it wasn't a real "target task".

The old leader had already told him this. The reason for choosing him was that for similar films, they always only cast the best. Although Ikeno was good before, he hadn't broken through that barrier.

Ikeno has now broken through the barriers entirely through sheer strength. In addition, someone heard that the higher-ups were very satisfied with Ikeno's performance this time, which led to this large-scale press release campaign.

As for that special effects blockbuster, Ikeno had high expectations for it, but after reading the script, he was completely dumbfounded—because in his opinion, the movie didn't seem to tell a complete story at all.

Looking at the lineup of directors, he suddenly realized why so many big-name directors were working together.

Finally, there was the script for the big-budget suspense film called "Jiangyuan Lane," which Director Chen himself had just handed to him.

It's definitely a big production. Director Chen is a well-known director in China. Rumor has it that this film has a huge budget and uses the most commonly used people in the film industry. The female lead is even Zhang Ziyi…

The script was indeed a bit confusing. What surprised Ikeno even more was that the script he received seemed incomplete, but the other party said that it was complete. That could only mean that the story might not be finished.

Well, it doesn't really matter, he's not that interested.

"Were they all rejected?"

Coco was shocked when she learned of Ikeno's decision: "Not a single one left?"

"I can't change my schedule."

Chi Ye glanced at her: "We can consider the patriotic ones, but they do clash with the release schedule. The others don't have any scheduling conflicts, I'm just not interested in them."

"Brother Chi, shouldn't we reconsider? After all, these are offers from the very top people in the film industry, and we're just going to refuse them like this..."

Coco didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear: this was the first time the mainstream film industry had been so proactive, even to the point of being obsequious, in "accepting" Ikeno. Regardless of the quality of the script, there was at least goodwill involved.

Ikeno isn't insane; he can't just mindlessly offend people, can he?

Therefore, Chi Ye was also very honest: "Then let's be more tactful. Let's talk about the main theme again. You can handle the rest. Anyway, I won't have another relapse during this period, so don't worry."

"……call."

Coco breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing what Ikeno said, she felt less uneasy.

It seems that Brother Chi has really grown up... He himself said that he won't have any more episodes, so there's no need for her to keep nagging. After all, Brother Chi is actually a very rational person, and once he says something, he will do it.

As for how to politely and "without hurting feelings" reject the few notebooks she didn't like... Coco had her own methods.

There are many examples in the industry of people handing out scripts and then not wanting to take them due to scheduling conflicts or other reasons. You can't just say that if someone specifically asks me to go, I have to go, right?

Apart from the mainstream films, the others mentioned above are all from private enterprises, and we don't have the authority to name them!
In fact, Coco now suspects that if the main theme hadn't actually been named, Ikeno probably would have left no one alive.

But it's good this way; at least it proves that Ikeno isn't putting on airs and that he really does have other projects in mind.

As a result, neither Coco nor Ikeno's management team gave a clear answer that day. It wasn't until three days later that Coco began to reply to those big names in the film industry.

then…

The reactions varied from party to party.

The big-headed movie star burst into tears of joy, Wu Jing looked utterly dejected, and as for Teacher Zhang from Director Chen's film, his mood became even more unpleasant.

—See, you're unhappy if I really don't come.

She was indeed unhappy. She had finally managed to convince herself and was even starting to look forward to acting opposite Ikeno, hoping that she could use Ikeno to get a connection to the Oscars.

So now... you're telling me Ikeno isn't coming? What about before...?

I suspect this is just Chun Chun teasing me!

(End of this chapter)