Huayu has been doing one good deed a day since 2001

Chapter 265 Do you think I can get to the other side?
It was decided that we would try to get a role for Gulnazar in (A Chinese Ghost Story IV).

Old Li made two cups of tea and said with a smile, "Sister Xian, would you be interested in playing the lead role in the movie project 'The Assassin' that Chen Kexin is pushing?"

"The performance of the female lead in this film was limited and not particularly exciting."

"However, in the years since your comeback, you have lacked any outstanding representative works."

"It still has some added value."

The "Assassin" he mentioned refers to the film "The Warlords," which was invested in by China Film Group and Media Asia in the original storyline.

Old Chen originally drafted the basic script and secured investment in 06 to push the project forward.

It was released at the end of 2007.

Results? They didn't make investors jump off buildings from losses; China Film Group is a large and powerful company, after all.

In this movie, Jet Li's salary was 100 million, even after a discount.

The high salaries of actors have driven up costs to an insane level.

The total investment for the feature film is a little over 3 million RMB.

One person, A-Jie, accounts for more than 25% of the total investment.

Did it gross 1.99 million yuan at the Chinese box office after its release?
The taxes and theater revenue he receives aren't enough to cover Ah Jie's salary.

Moreover, it received very poor reviews and was heavily criticized in the early stages of its release.

Ten years after its release, it only received a score of 6 on Douban.

In another ten years, mainland audiences will have consumed countless amounts of excrement.

Watching movies became a process of searching through piles of garbage, and only slowly did the Douban rating rise back to 7.9.

This is due to a variety of reasons.

One difference is between the theatrical version and the full version.

Similar to the original 104-minute version of (Fearless), which was released more than ten years later, a 140-minute version was used to recover its losses and regain its reputation.

The initial release of (The Warlords) was also a 110-minute version.

It wasn't until countless netizens watched the 126-minute version that the situation began to improve.

In addition, there are also factors related to the era and environment.

For example, in the post-pandemic era, countless people are trapped in a midlife crisis.

Stuck in the "lying down" phase, I no longer believe that hard work can lead to financial freedom.

The lines from Ah Jie's Warlords became a hit more than a decade late.

"My whole life has been like walking on thin ice. Do you think I can ever reach the other side?"

This is in response to the widespread anxiety and stress in society, particularly in life and at work.

Reaching the other side essentially means achieving financial freedom or fulfilling life goals.

However, in this world, Chen Kexin didn't go to Media Asia after writing the script; instead, she went to Time Entertainment to secure investment.

Fat Bing started the selection process for good voices more than half a month ago.

The script was handed to Lao Li, and after reading it, he still intended to push it forward.

When the film was released, the 110-minute version was not chosen in order to get one more screening per day.

Old Chen's "The Warlords" is really not a bad movie!

This is also a high-quality war, political intrigue, and action blockbuster.

In the mid-to-late 00s.

The historical war drama "The Warlords" is a prime example of a group of skilled fighters who are among the best.

Even if you go see it in 2025, you'll still find it stronger than many big-grossing movies from the 10s.

The same applies to storytelling.

This story is tragic, with a depressing ending.

But if you understand the core story, you'll realize that this was the inevitable dark end for normal people in the late Qing Dynasty who wanted to reach the other side.

The core story revolves around the protagonist, Pang Qingyun, leading his Green Standard Army soldiers in a bloody battle against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebels.

The agreement was to attack together with the Eight Banners elders.

As a result, the Eight Banners troops retreated many miles to see your entire army wiped out and suffer a defeat.

Pang Qingyun, the sole survivor, crawled out of a pile of corpses, dazed and confused, not knowing where to go, and encountered the bandit gang led by Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang.

This bandit gang was located in a war zone between the Qing government and the Taiping army; they couldn't survive by simply trying to live.

People who had no choice but to desperately search for food banded together.

Pang Qingyun was coerced into helping Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang seize a batch of military rations from the Taiping Army.

They returned to the village with great joy, as if it were New Year's Day, slaughtering a pig and steaming buns for a good meal.

Just after we finished eating, the Eight Banners elders arrived.

You lowly lackeys fought a bloody battle with the Taiping Army, suffering many casualties. You only managed to steal enough military rations for one meal, and you want more?

That's certainly not possible.

The Eight Banners killed and looted grain, and in public, they whipped Zhao Erhu, the bandit leader, in the face.

You worthless life, if you dare to resist, you'll die.

It was only at this point that Pang Qingyun truly joined the group.

He wanted to lead Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang's bandit team to become soldiers and continue fighting against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The suppression of uprisings led to the rise of the new regime.

Jiang Wuyang, the third brother, proposed to randomly kill someone to pay a blood oath and become brothers.

Only then would we dare to follow you and risk our lives fighting the Taiping Army.

Throughout the story, Pang Qingyun starts from the lower middle class and desperately tries to rise above his circumstances, eventually being appointed Governor-General of Liangjiang.

This is the opening scene, featuring a mid-to-lower-ranking officer who led a battalion of 1600 men in a bloody battle against the Taiping Army.

The biggest landing.

Before taking up his post, the Qing court ordered him to kill Zhao Erhu to curb the rise of warlords.

The Taiping Rebellion lasted for more than a decade, and the Xiang Army was the most ruthless in suppressing it. As the Taiping Rebellion neared its end, the Xiang Army became somewhat too powerful to control.

When Zhao Erhu followed Pang Qingyun in his campaigns across various regions, there were clearly instances of mutiny.

The act of trying to bring people home, and the act of disobeying government orders and privately distributing military funds.

The higher-ups questioned whether these were Pang Qingyun's men or Zhao Erhu's.

Pang Qingyun killed Zhao Erhu while crying.

This was because he had come ashore as the Governor-General of Liangjiang and had to follow the rules set by his superiors; he dared not disobey orders in 1864.

But Zhao Erhu went from being sworn brothers to being seen as courting death by his elder brother Pang Qingyun.
Actually, he's not stupid. This is Zhao Erhu's question: "Can I reach the other side?" His other side isn't becoming a high-ranking official.

He was leading a group of former bandits and current Green Standard Army soldiers who had followed him into the army to survive.

From the first bandit attack to the capture of Nandu, Zhao Erhu lost far too many of his fellow villagers.

Whether it was a mutiny to try to take a large number of people away or to pay military salaries.

Zhao Erhu was paving the way for his ideals.

He risked his life his whole life, his biggest goal being to bring his fellow villagers, both alive and dead, home after the war so they could have food to eat.

Even the deceased should have their ashes or compensation taken home to their families.

Everyone fought desperately, charging forward against the Taiping Army's arquebus formations.

Even if it means dying, one should still strive to earn a pension for their family.

All along the way, there was a war, with Pang as the eldest, Zhao as the second, and Jiang as the third.

The three brothers' soldiers charged desperately time and time again to attack the city.

The Eight Banners soldiers then seized the opportunity to loot money, grain, and women.

You risk your lives while we reap the rewards.

Of the three brothers, Jiang Wuyang's "other side" began after he paid his blood oath.

The three brothers are born together, and they will die together!

When Jiang Wuyang realized that his elder brother was right, he was willing to break ties with Zhao Erhu.

He ordered the massacre of surrendered Taiping soldiers.

After Pang Qingyun dared not disobey the Qing court's orders and killed Zhao Erhu.

Jiang Wuyang then risked his life to assassinate Pang Qingyun.

In the end, he was no match for Pang Qingyun, but there were musketeers stealing chickens in the attic behind Pang.

This resulted in the soldiers firing salutes to cheer on Pang Qingyun as he walked toward his inauguration ceremony as Governor-General of Liangjiang.

Pang Qingyun was ostensibly killed by Jiang Wuyang's bayonet.

He was actually assassinated with a musket during a cannon salute.

Then Jiang Wuyang was executed by slow slicing for assassinating a high-ranking official, becoming a scapegoat in the power struggles.

Whether you're looking at it from the director's, actor's, or audience's perspective.

Old Li noticed that the script Chen Kexin sent was quite complete, and it was a high-quality blockbuster.

From war and political intrigue to brotherhood.

This includes the plot where Zhao Erhu's wife cheats on him and sleeps with Pang Qingyun on their first meeting.

Even before Zhao Erhu formally met Pang Qingyun, he was already being cuckolded by Pang. During the time the three brothers were sworn brothers, and again during the war to suppress the Taiping Rebellion, he was still being cuckolded.

Including the capture of Nanjing, the Taiping Army was wiped out.

Pang Qingyun was still having a secret rendezvous with Zhao Erhu's wife, which was witnessed by Jiang Wuyang.

So when Jiang Wuyang learned that Pang Qingyun wanted to kill Zhao Erhu?
The bizarre thing is that the eldest brother wanted to kill the second brother because of his sister-in-law.

Brother, don't do anything yet, wait for me, I'll be right back.

After he killed his second or eldest sister-in-law, he discovered that Zhao Erhu was still dead.

Only then did he finally realize that his dream of "the other side" was shattered and was gone forever, so he assassinated Pang Qingyun.

Throughout the entire story, Pang Qingyun remained a mid-to-lower-ranking officer, climbing the ranks in order to fight and quell the rebellion.

His most glorious moment was when he met Empress Dowager Cixi and asked her to exempt the two rivers region from taxes for three years.

In the early stages, Pang Qingyun's "other side" was about coming ashore from the lower and middle classes, washing away his identity as a pawn in the chaotic world, and becoming the one who wielded the chess pieces.

His ideal is that many people can die in this process.

One will be a million bones.

But now that I'm on land, I can advocate for the people, such as exempting them from taxes so they can recuperate and thrive.

This would give the people who suffered greatly in the war zones during the Taiping Rebellion a chance to recover.

That's what he did too.

But after the petition was made, with countless court officials listening and watching, Empress Dowager Cixi granted the request.

Turning to the ceremony of taking office, Jiang Wuyang's various desperate attempts were easily defeated by Pang Qingyun, who easily beat him with one hand.

A matchlock gun arrived not far behind.

Using Jiang Wuyang's assassination attempt, they took Pang Qingyun's life.

This script is definitely worth making into a film; it's already a masterpiece of war, intrigue, drama, and historical epic, even among the most mediocre works of its time.

They didn't need Jet Li to play the male lead, and the other party didn't ask for a salary of 100 million.

This is about producing high-quality content and generating profits, including enriching the Time Video streaming copyright library.

Ah Jie won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor with the help of Pang Ching-wan in "The Warlords".

He was also nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor.

This can be considered his biggest prize-winning streak.

But with such a large system, finding a cheap, talented actor to play the lead role shouldn't be a problem.

We've fixed some bugs and addressed areas that received a lot of complaints.

Even if the box office doesn't reach a peak, winning awards and accumulating positive word-of-mouth are still win-win situations.

The original female lead was Xu Jinglei.

It would only be better if Joey Wong and Ho Ching were cast in the role now.

At this stage (79/100), Joey Wong's acting skills are so poor that she can't even play a pretty face.

She could also be nominated for Best Actress, though it would be a bit less impressive.

She is currently inferior to He Qing (81/100).

As for the female lead Zhao Erhu's wife, she is portrayed as someone who repeatedly cheats on Zhao Erhu.

This is a matter of setting and era.

The female lead isn't bad.

She was raised with feudal ethics and didn't want to be a bandit's wife; she wanted to be a lady from a respectable family.

Even if it's being a concubine, as long as there's peace and stability, that's enough.

The female protagonist repeatedly tried to escape alone when Zhao Erhu led his bandit gang out to rob.

Ultimately, they had nowhere to go.

After all, the Taiping Rebellion lasted for fourteen years.

The combat zone has become a living hell.

Where could a frail woman from the late Qing Dynasty go on foot after escaping a mountain village occupied by bandits?
She was raised as a "slender horse" in Yangzhou from a young age, and she was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs.

When she was about to be sold as a concubine, she agreed without objection.

Zhao Erhu, who she played with as a child, kidnapped her and made her a bandit's wife for many years.

The female protagonist and Zhao Erhu have been estranged for many years, and she has tried to escape many times but has nowhere to go.

She fell in love with Pang Qingyun the first time they met.

Whether Pang Qingyun is a military officer or wants to go ashore to become a governor or viceroy, he is determined to achieve his goals.

This is the ultimate fate of the female protagonist, which was determined by the brainwashing education she received from childhood, leading her to become a concubine.

Zhao Erhu, who took her as his wife, was an illiterate bandit.

We're really from different worlds.

To put it another way, let's set aside the premise that we knew each other since childhood.

The vast majority of those who were abducted as wives were literate women skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

The vast majority of those who commit suicide are those who want to escape.

You can't apply 21st-century moral values ​​to the Yangzhou "slender horses" of around 1860.

Just like the third brother, Jiang Wuyang, who suspected that his second sister-in-law was having an affair with his eldest brother behind his second brother's back.

The eldest brother wants to kill the second brother? Does that mean killing the sister-in-law will solve everything?
That's what he thought, and that's what he did.

Even if the female lead cries and says, "You've been with me since I was a child, we've known each other for over ten years, you won't kill me."

He was still killed by Jiang Wuyang.

This book is not only highly complete and will likely receive a good rating, but the main characters are also very well-developed.

They all had exceptional performances.

Jet Li won the Best Actor award, and Andy Lau's Zhao Erhu was also nominated for Best Actor.

However, his character was not as good as the male lead's, and his performance lacked depth and nuance, so he only received a nomination.

Wang Zuxian readily agreed, saying, "Mr. Li, you can arrange it. As long as my acting skills are good enough, I'm not afraid of any role or image."

Old Li sipped his tea and chuckled, "Your acting skills are good enough now, I'm planning to invite Brother Hua to play the second male lead."

"Wait until he finishes filming (Protégé), then I'll have to do a cameo role in Protégé."

"Deng Chao is the male lead? He needs makeup to look older."

"During the preparation period, it didn't delay Deng Chao from continuing to learn Japanese in order to pursue the Li Gou Hi project."

Wang Zuxian was drinking tea when she almost spat it out. "Wait, Mr. Li, Li Gouhai? Isn't Deng Chao's Japanese drama 'The Winner Takes All'?"

Huang Xiaoming's salary for The Hangover Part II was also 1000 million US dollars.

Deng Chao was in pursuit.

If we accept films for internal company use, we'll definitely get a discount.

Old Li chuckled, "The English name for 'The Winner is Justice' is a transliteration of 'Li Gou Hai' (李狗嗨)."

"Third brother Jiang Wuyang, try Hu Ge, Wang Kai or Jin Dong, they are all promising young actors."

Hu Ge's Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 wrapped up filming in the last few days.

After filming (The Lone Agent), Jin Dong and Wang Kai have been working on stage plays to continue honing their acting skills.

Just like Liu Shishi, after filming "Hearing Girl" last August or September, there have been no new projects.

Time will also pull China Film Group into the investment.

Director Chen, aside from creating an incredibly baffling array of trenches during the filming of the battle scene depicting the attack on Suzhou, has a lot of questionable talent.

Suzhou city didn't have many guns and cannons, so digging trenches was really bizarre.

Most of the battle scenes were far more exciting than those at Red Cliff.

You're saying Cheng Xiaodong was in charge of the action scenes? Fix some bugs, then continue using Cheng Xiaodong.

Wang Zuxian was both amused and exasperated, saying, "This name is so down-to-earth."

…………

On July 10, Deng Chao returned to Beijing.

He read the script with great interest, along with Wang Kai, Hu Ge, and others.

After watching it, he excitedly exclaimed, "Thank you so much, boss! The male lead's character design, personality, experiences, and ending are truly amazing..."

He was speechless, unsure how to describe it.

I feel like they're aiming for the Best Actor award.

Aside from being the second male lead in (Rob-B-Hood), Deng has hardly acted in any major movies.

For award-winning films, it's worth a try even if they flop at the box office.

In order to reach the other side, he could be ruthless, even at the cost of countless lives, including the massacre of surrendered soldiers.

But his ideal was to bring people from chaotic times back to a peaceful and prosperous environment.

Unfortunately, he encountered the environment of the late Qing Dynasty.

When the male protagonist first landed, what was his relationship with Empress Dowager Cixi and the entire court?

It's like a little white flower encountering a bunch of old silver coins.

(End of this chapter)