Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 67 The system is revitalized

Seeing Director Zhang Mou's troubled expression, Lin Yuan took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything difficult?"

Director Zhang Mou said: "Given your current status in Hollywood and your financial contribution to this film, you should have played the leading role. However, I have already contacted relevant actors for the important roles in this film.

It would be awkward to switch roles at this point, but it’s manageable.”

Lin Yuan nodded, he knew that Director Zhang Mou was telling the truth.

Before a film is launched and investment is sought, the script is often completed first, and the actors' schedules for important roles are arranged. This way, a mature plan can be made and investment can be discussed with various financiers.

After all, the profit expectations for the same script can vary greatly depending on who plays it.

According to director Zhang Mou, he should have reached a preliminary agreement with big-name stars such as Li Renjie, Liang Chaowei, and Zhang Manyu, and the only thing left is to formally sign the contract.

If director Zhang Mou were to squeeze someone out and give the role to Lin Yuan now, he would definitely feel embarrassed.

But as he said, it's not something that can't be dealt with.

After all, there are such huge benefits in front of us. Some things are a bit troublesome, but they still have to be done.

As for whether doing so would offend anyone, Lin Yuan didn't take it to heart.

Anyone who wants to stand out in any industry will inevitably have to compete for resources, and being hesitant is not his style.

"Have you read the script?" asked director Zhang Mou.

"I've seen it." Lin Yuan nodded.

Simply put, "Hero" tells a story about assassinating Qin Shi Huang.

The assassin Wuming has mastered an invincible sword technique within ten steps. As long as he can get within ten steps of King Ying Zheng of Qin, he will be able to take his life.

However, the King of Qin was heavily guarded. If Wuming wanted to qualify to get close to him, he had to make meritorious contributions and win his trust.

The way to make merit is to kill the three Zhao assassins wanted by the King of Qin: Changkong, Canjian, and Feixue.

Bringing back their weapons and proving that he had completed the mission was Wuming's goal.

The three assassins used their lives to endorse Wuming, and finally gave him the opportunity to meet the King of Qin up close.

At the last moment of the assassination, Wuming realized through the conversation with the King of Qin that the King of Qin was the hero who cared about the world and ended the troubled times.

So Wuming chose to give up the assassination and die bravely.

"Hero" has a high score of 7.9 on IMDB, which is comparable to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It was even ranked first among the top ten best films in the world in 2004 by Time magazine.

However, it has been controversial in China. Its initial score on Douban Movies was only 6.4 points. Even though its reputation gradually improved and rose to 7.5 points, there are still many people who firmly believe that this is a bad movie with only a good appearance.

Lin Yuan was not surprised at this result, because the root of everything lies in the script of "Hero".

IMDB gave it a score of 7.9, but it’s not because of how good the story of "Hero" is or how successful its value output is.

On the contrary, these were ignored by foreigners. They were just shocked by the strong color narrative and the gorgeous visual expression.

As for the core values, according to Lin Yuan's observation, not many people can understand and agree with them.

The negative reviews given in China are even simpler and clearer: they violate common sense and output overly subjective values.

In the movie, Ying Zheng is portrayed as a benevolent monarch who wants to end the chaotic world and create a peaceful and prosperous era for the sake of the people of the world.

The unified dynasty created by Ying Zheng had a unified writing system, a standardized wheel gauge, and unified weights and measures. This is his indelible achievement.

However, the Qin Dynasty was eager for quick results and abused the people's power, and there were indeed areas that needed adjustment. That is why the later Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system after learning from the lessons.

Director Zhang Mou's desire to portray Ying Zheng as a benevolent monarch who fought for peace goes against common sense.

It is said that when the movie premiered in China, the audience burst into laughter when Ying Zheng said the line: "I have realized that the highest realm of using a sword is not to kill, but to achieve peace!"

In short, the script of "Hero" has serious problems. To win over foreign audiences, director Zhang Mou's unique visuals are enough, and the script is not important.

If you want to improve your domestic reputation, you need to make major adjustments to the script.

If we say that the script of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" at least impressed foreigners.

"Hero" is completely caught between two sides.

"Since you have read the script, which role have you taken a fancy to?" Director Zhang Mou made up his mind and asked decisively.

"A broken sword."

"A broken sword?"

Director Zhang Mou was a little surprised. At first he thought Lin Yuan would choose Li Renjie's role, Wuming.

Because judging from the amount of screen time he has, Wuming should be the leading male role.

But if you think about it carefully, the character of Canjian is obviously more profound and more outstanding.

But... this makes it even more difficult.

Because Canjian was originally scheduled to be played by Liang Chaowei, his co-starring role of Feixue was Zhang Manyu.

If the actor who plays Canjian is replaced by Lin Yuan, the actor who plays Feixue must also be replaced at the same time.

After all, the age gap between Lin Yuan and Zhang Manyu is too big, so it is impossible for them to play lovers.

Although Liang Chaowei and Zhang Manyu have to be replaced, this is Lin Yuan's path and some things must be done.

However, if you want to replace these two actors at the same time, there will be a big problem: the production staff will be gone.

Seeing the difficulty on Director Zhang Mou's face, Lin Yuan immediately guessed what he was thinking.

Around the millennium, there was still an extreme shortage of film and television production personnel in China, especially professionals who could produce this type of commercial blockbusters, who were really in short supply in China.

Therefore, the film and television capital in Hong Kong and Taiwan at that time was extremely arrogant and powerful.

They covet the domestic funds and market size, and come to the mainland to co-produce movies. Not only do they want to snatch away most of the main roles, they even discriminate against the actors' income.

The income of actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan is much higher than that of mainland actors in the same crew. Even a supporting role from Hong Kong can earn several times more than the leading actor from the mainland.

There was no way. At that time, they had the advantages of stars and production team, and it was very easy for them to control the mainland team.

This is exactly what director Zhang Mou is worried about now. If Liang Chaowei and Zhang Manyu are replaced, the originally agreed Hong Kong production team will certainly not be used.

Lin Yuan said, "Director Zhang Mou, don't worry about the production team. My studio has enough people to complete this part of the work."

"Really? I'm relieved then." Hearing that Lin Yuan had resolved his worries, Director Zhang Mou said without hesitation, "Then it's confirmed that you'll play Canjian. The actress for Feixue needs to be re-screened."

"Let Sister Ziyu play Feixue. Pairing her with me will make it easier to promote in the European and American markets." Lin Yuan expressed his idea.

"That's certainly possible. You have the influence of your previous collaboration on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But since Ziyu is playing Feixue, the role of Ruyue is vacant again," Director Zhang Mou replied.

In "Hero", Canjian and Feixue are a couple, and Ruyue is Canjian's maid. There is a love-hate love triangle between them.

The original actress who played Ruyue was Zhang Ziyu. If she is to play Feixue now, then a replacement actress will indeed be needed.

As far as Lin Yuan knows, Canjian and Ruyue have a sex scene.

Another sex scene!

Just as Lin Yuan thought of this, the system immediately popped up a golden prompt:
[Host, please choose a Type A girl to complete this sex scene. Skill rewards will be given based on the completion.]

(End of this chapter)