Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 330 All I need to do is gently adjust the world lines!
The female lead in a movie!
Gu Bei offered a very generous reward, far exceeding Fan Bingbing's expectations.

If it weren't for Gu Bei on the other end of the phone, Fan Bingbing might have been more worried, since he might be aiming for something bigger or just making empty promises.

But what can you do when the person on the other side is Gu Bei?
Gu Bei's Linlang Entertainment is known in the industry for its generosity. Zhang Ziyi previously received two film lead roles from Gu Bei in one go.

Moreover, at the opening ceremony of Linlang Entertainment, Fan Bingbing
She had already clearly sensed that Gu Bei was truly not interested in her.
It's unclear whether he truly loves Liu Yifei as rumored, or whether Gu Bei is a workaholic as another rumor suggests.

Fan Bingbing thought for only a moment before agreeing: "Thank you for your kindness, Director Gu. I will definitely do my best in the upcoming roadshow activities."

"That's good."

Gu Bei didn't actually lose out.

After all, Fan Bingbing is already on the path to becoming "Fan Ye" (a powerful and influential figure in the entertainment industry), and Linlang Entertainment's collaboration with her on an urban romantic comedy is almost guaranteed to be profitable.

Moreover, matters like online arguments should be left to professionals.

Gu Bei personally took to the field.

Not only did it cause a lot of trouble,

They might even be perceived by the public as an oppressive force, which would be counterproductive.

As for his true reaction to Zhang Ziyi, that will be revealed elsewhere!

"Director Gu~"

Fan Bingbing's tone became sweet and cloying once again.
This time, she wasn't as tactful as before, and was testing Gu Bei's reaction, "As an Oscar-winning screenwriter, after I discuss the script with Director Kim, could I ask you to give it your feedback?"

"Supporting... I'm afraid it refers to other places?"

"hehe!"

Hearing the reply from the other end,
Fan Bingbing was slightly taken aback.
Without the aid of facial expressions to confirm,

She was still unable to immediately ascertain Gu Bei's meaning.

However, just a few seconds later, the phone went dead, completely conveying Gu Bei's very clear message.

"What a rude man!"

Fan Bingbing's face turned bright red with anger.

Responding to her advances in this way is tantamount to completely denying her charm.

But the more Gu Bei acted this way, the more interested she became in him; no one likes something that comes too easily.

Gu Bei, who had just hung up the phone, had already put her out of his mind.

Fan Bingbing is indeed very beautiful, but Gu Bei is a person who hates trouble, and Fan Bingbing happens to be the biggest trouble.

So don't even mention that Gu Bei already has Liu Yifei.

Even if he is single,

She won't have anything to do with Fan Bingbing either, as their personalities are naturally incompatible.

Subsequently,

Gu Bei picked up his phone.
He dialed another number: "Hey, Director Wang, long time no see!"

Wang Jiawei glanced at the caller ID and said with a slight smile, "Director Gu, I didn't expect to receive your call two years after we parted in Cannes."

"I can't compare to Director Wang's carefree life. He has a lot of people to support at his company, and he's either making a movie or preparing for one."

Gu Bei replied with a smile, but what he said was a bit Versailles-like.

Even Wong Kar-wai was a little envious.

It is now common knowledge in the industry that Gu Beiguang has become a billionaire through his royalties and games, and in US dollars at that.

Even for a renowned director like him,

They still have to struggle to find investment everywhere.

They can't compare to a billionaire like Gu Bei.

Just as Wang Jiawei was feeling envious, Gu Bei spoke up, revealing his purpose: "I heard that your Grandmaster is still lacking a bit of investment?"

Wang Jiawei immediately became alert: "Director Gu, you didn't come here for Zhang Ziyi, did you?"

Of course!

Gu Bei came specifically for Zhang Ziyi's role as Gong Er in "The Grandmaster".
As a classic role after Zhang Ziyi experienced the Triple Gate, it brought Zhang Ziyi ten trophies, including two Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress, plus a Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress and a Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress nomination.

This can be considered Zhang Ziyi's work that brought her back into the public eye.

This was also the peak of Zhang Ziyi's career.
After that, she continued to move between Hollywood and China, but never had a truly successful work of her own. Instead, she became a performance mentor in various variety shows.

but,

Gu Bei naturally wouldn't say it directly.
Directors don't like investors interfering with their work.

In particular, the female lead is Zhang Ziyi, whom Wong Kar-wai greatly admires and has worked with before.

and,

Gu Bei, as a reborn person,
He only needs to subtly manipulate the world lines to achieve his goal.

Why resort to such a crude method as throwing money around?
"It's just a small matter between women, I didn't take it to heart at all."

Gu Bei said calmly, "Rather than saying that Zhang Ziyi should leave this project, I think Xiao Fengtian is really not suitable for this project. His master is one thing, but 'Returning to One's Roots' is indeed a good work."

But is Xiao Fengtian, who has only been performing crosstalk for a few years, really better than other performers?

Director Gu understands me!

Wang Jiawei suddenly felt that Gu Bei on the other end of the phone had become much more approachable.

He lowered his guard and couldn't help but complain, "There's nothing I can do. This year, Xiao Fengtian is the hottest guy, and the investors insisted that I add him."

Gu Bei was very clear that

The next few years will see Fengtian become a veritable test of bad movies.
With him in it, it's highly likely to be a bad movie. If you add his master Zhao's troupe, it's 100% a bad movie!

However, he did not immediately express his intention to invest. Instead, he talked with Wong Kar-wai about the script, the characters, and martial arts, and the two of them came up with countless ideas together.

At last,
Gu Beicai said, "Director Wang, how about giving this film to Linlang Entertainment?"

"it is good!"

Wang Jiawei did not refuse.

Gu Bei's Linlang Entertainment is both wealthy and knowledgeable about film, making it arguably the best investor.

However, there are many details in the things I just talked about with Gu Bei that need to be changed: "But this show may not be able to start filming in the second half of the year, so I still have some things to change."

"How about at the end of the year?"

Gu Bei casually suggested a specific timeframe.

Wang Jiawei thought about it and agreed.

In the following days, Linlang Entertainment took over the half-finished project, The Grandmaster, and Wong Kar-wai began to reschedule with the main actors.

The other actors, including Tony Leung, had a smooth start, but when Zhang Ziyi received a call from Wong Kar-wai, she was puzzled: "Director Wong, the film has enough funding, why is the start date being postponed?"

Wang Jiawei casually said, "Some details need to be changed, and a few actors need to be replaced. Is there no problem starting filming at the end of the year?"

Zhang Ziyi fell silent.

Her worst fears have come true!

After receiving Wong Ka-wai's call, she felt that things might be going in a bad direction, as The Grandmaster clashed with the release schedule of Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, which she was preparing for!
Based on her understanding of Wong Kar-wai, six months would definitely not be enough to film "The Grandmaster."

But the good thing about Wong Kar-wai is that although the filming took a long time...
However, there will be a break in the middle to let them go out and shoot other movies, which is also to let Wong Kar-wai refresh his mind and rethink things.

Therefore, after succeeding the next generation of grandmasters
She then began pushing forward with the Snowflake and Secret Fan project.

The release date is between January and April of this year.

It's perfect timing to film a few months of The Grandmaster in the second half of the year, then Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, and then return to The Grandmaster for a while longer – a very ideal schedule rotation.

But now Snow Flower and the Secret Fan are only one month apart from Grandmaster.

Even if Wang Jiawei is very easygoing
They also wouldn't allow the female lead to film multiple projects simultaneously after only one month on set.

"When did you take on another role?"

Wang Jiawei inquired, also wondering if he could try to adjust the schedule.

"January to April."

Zhang Ziyi said somewhat shyly.

This timing suggests that she originally intended to film multiple projects simultaneously.

"We can't adjust the timing."

Wang Jiawei was slightly dissatisfied, but there was really nothing he could do unless The Grandmaster was postponed for another six months.

Zhang Ziyi had a fierce internal struggle.

Wong Kar-wai's 2046 helped her win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress. Judging from the production values, this film, The Grandmaster, is no less impressive than 2046, and its story is even better.

but,

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan were products she had cultivated in Hollywood for several years.

And he spent a lot of time and energy dealing with Wendy Deng before finally getting the opportunity.

She was not only the lead actress in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but also the producer of the film. This movie can be said to be her best opportunity to establish herself in Hollywood.

The scales swayed back and forth in Zhang Ziyi's mind.

Ultimately, Zhang Ziyi recalled the scene of Liu Yifei receiving the MTV Best Female Performance Award, which completely tipped the scales in her heart towards Snow Flower and The Secret Fan.

"Sorry……"

"Sigh!" Wang Jiawei sighed. "Anyway, there are still six months left, we still have time to select new people."

Although the Gong Er in his heart is Zhang Ziyi, he can't stop Zhang Ziyi from moving towards a better future, can he?
Upon hearing the news that Zhang Ziyi had chosen to withdraw from The Grandmaster...

A slight smile curved Gu Bei's lips.
As expected, Zhang Ziyi made the choice that maximized her own interests, which was also the choice that Gu Bei wanted her to make.

He also told Fan Bingbing not to compete for the lead role in "The Grandmaster," saying there would be a better opportunity at the end of the year.

After all, "The Grandmaster" is now a project of Linlang Entertainment.
Urban light comedies like "Perfect Match" and "One Night Surprise" can simply disappear; they've already made money.

But if classic works like "The Message" or "The Grandmaster" were to disappear because of Fan Bingbing, then Gu Bei would be a sinner against Chinese cinema.

During the period of changes in the production team of "The Grandmaster",
After the premiere controversy, the opening week box office results for "Starship Troopers" have been released.
It achieved the best domestic record for a film directed by Gu Bei, a total of 6600 million yuan!

Converted to US dollars, that's a little over 900 million US dollars, a significant difference compared to the 9000 million US dollars in the first week in North America.

But that's normal.

The gap between the Chinese and North American film markets is more than tenfold.

Moreover, for a film that lacks visual stimulation and tells a simple story, achieving this level of success in China is quite remarkable.

In some ways, we should thank the premiere event.
Otherwise, people in third- and fourth-tier cities would probably be very reluctant to go to the cinema to watch their stars.

After the Starship's first week at the cinema,
The film that followed was "Sophie's Perfect" starring Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing.

The premiere had already attracted a large audience, and Fan Bingbing directly confronted Zhang Ziyi in front of everyone.

Fan Bingbing's statement, "I played Zhang Ziyi in the movie," immediately gave the media and the public, who were originally there to gossip, another chance to enjoy the gossip.

Simultaneously,

Fan Bingbing has essentially exposed a sore spot for Zhang Ziyi.
At the beginning of this year, Zhang Ziyi and her fiancé Ivy Nevo's beach scandal, although not as fatal as the later triple scandal, still caused Zhang Ziyi to lose a lot of public goodwill.

The character Fan Bingbing plays in her movie is a vulgar female star. Isn't that a veiled criticism of herself?

The key is,

When Zhang Ziyi tried to refute...
Fan Bingbing countered with a seemingly innocent remark: "Wang Jingjing is portrayed as a top-tier female star in China, and aren't you the person in the crew who best fits that image?"

good good!
Is that how you play?
During her next roadshow event, Zhang Ziyi took the opportunity to criticize Fan Bingbing: "Bingbing, why don't you have a baby?"

One sentence almost made Fan Bingbing want to give up the following promotional activities.

The media has been reporting that Fan Bingbing has an illegitimate child for quite some time now, and Zhang Ziyi must know about it. Bringing it up at the roadshow event is just a counterattack against her, isn't it?
However, Fan Bingbing remembered Gu Bei's promise.
She gritted her teeth.
Not only did they not abandon the perfectly successful promotional campaign,
They even escalated their feud with Zhang Ziyi.

When two people have escalated to this point, they no longer need to maintain a facade of friendliness. They start fighting wherever they go, holding grudges against each other, just like two people from a movie have stepped into reality.

Under these circumstances, "Perfect Match" managed to achieve a first-week box office of 4500 million yuan, far exceeding everyone's expectations.

Zhang Ziyi, who is both the lead actress and producer,
Seeing this result, I am not happy.
As a producer, she only had a small share of the investment. Although the public feud boosted her box office, it came at the cost of her international prestige, making it a complete loss.

However, after several exchanges, Zhang Ziyi realized that Gu Bei was standing behind Fan Bingbing.

Gu Bei not only got revenge on her, but also reaped the rewards of box office success, making it a win-win situation.

Therefore,
After the promotional period ended,

Zhang Ziyi immediately broke free.

But even after Zhang Ziyi left, the turmoil she caused did not subside.

Although Linlang Entertainment and Zhang Ziyi released information immediately, most people only read the news reports and did not pay attention to these clarifications.

Fortunately, Weibo has strengthened its review team, and most of the content that deliberately smears Liu Yifei has been restricted by Weibo.

There are no restrictions on other platforms.

But they lack the naturally chaotic environment of social media.

In addition, the news of Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing's public feud was more sensational than the previously ignored Liu Yifei story, so everyone's attention was gradually drawn to it.

Until this matter began to return to the public eye in another way!

[I've discovered something terrifying: the Weibo account belongs to Gu Bei! No wonder they don't allow discussions about Gu Bei and Liu Yifei on Weibo!]

(End of this chapter)