This director is vindictive.

Chapter 302 From Remake Feud to Nationwide Crime Solving: All It Takes is Chen Mo

The entertainment industry is never short of news headlines.

The Spring Festival box office battle has come to an end, with "The Battle at Lake Changjin" unsurprisingly taking the top spot at the 2022 Spring Festival box office.

However, what suddenly sparked discussion was not "The Battle at Lake Changjin", but "The Killer Is Not Calm" which took second place at the Spring Festival box office!
In fact, overall, it has a lot to do with the reputation of the film "The Professional".

Compared to the box office success of patriotic films like "The Battle at Lake Changjin," the polarized box office performance and critical reception of "The Killer" is what sparked the new wave of heated discussions.

Actually, this topic isn't new; it's about "remaking" films!
Hollywood film critics and media professionals often say that Hollywood filmmakers lack ambition, and that Hollywood originals are almost dead, with the big screen filled with nothing but sequels!

This trend is also emerging domestically.

The difference is that in recent years, it has become common practice for domestic films to remake foreign films.

Every year, a large number of remakes are released. There is nothing wrong with remakes in themselves, but the problem is that remakes are often the most controversial in terms of reputation.

Take "The Professional" as an example. As the runner-up at the Spring Festival box office, its box office performance contrasted sharply with its critical reception. While remakes can garner market attention, they often spark controversy among audiences regarding the film's quality.

An investigative report reveals that the number of remakes in China has surged in recent years, driven by capital's pursuit of "low risk and high returns"—buying established IPs is more time-saving and labor-saving than developing original scripts.

An anonymous producer admitted: "Many remake projects go from initiation to release in just a few months, with the scripts merely mechanically replacing cultural symbols. Yet, they manage to achieve good box office results, creating a vicious cycle that makes original content a high-risk project. Capital is profit-driven, leading to the current prevalence of remakes in Chinese films!"
What the public actually dislikes isn't remakes, but remakes lacking sincerity!

As negative reviews of "The Professional" spread, viewers began spontaneously comparing the original and the remake. A video criticizing the film, titled "Top 10 Terrible Remake Memes," created by a Bilibili (Bilibili is a Chinese video sharing website) content creator, garnered over 10 million views, with comments urging viewers to "Reject perfunctory remakes and support original content!"

At the same time, many people believe that: "Remakes are not the original sin, but perfunctory work is!"
The article also listed the strengths and weaknesses of domestically produced remakes, such as "Hello Mr. Billionaire," "Sheep Without a Shepherd," and "12 Citizens," which, although remakes, were made with sincerity.

Suddenly, this topic became a hot topic.

This is actually a very old topic.

It has absolutely no connection with Chen Mo.

Because he has rarely remade overseas films in the past, even "Dying to Survive" is not really a remake of the overseas film "Dallas Buyers Club".

Then, suddenly people started taking Chen Mo as a role model.

"@ChenMo, filmmakers should learn from ChenMo. Looking at the films and television works ChenMo has made since his debut, there are very few remakes! Even though 'Dying to Survive' and 'Dallas Buyers Club' have some similarities, if 'Dying to Survive' is considered a remake, then I suggest that directors who like to make remakes should learn from him!"

"Wow, it seems that's really true! Although many of Chen Mo's movies are adapted from novels and other IPs, he hasn't really remade any foreign films, has he?"

"Haha, Chen Mo's first TV series, 'Let's Watch the Meteor Shower,' seems to be a remake of 'Meteor Garden,' or rather, the Japanese drama 'Boys Over Flowers,' right? But in terms of movies, he's definitely a breath of fresh air!"

Many movie fans immediately gave it a thumbs up and left comments on Chen Mo's Weibo.

But Chen Mo felt inexplicably awkward. Why?
The story structure of "Gone Girl" can't really be called original, so this film can be considered a remake!

However, people regarded him as a representative of insisting on originality.

Chen Mo knew he had to clarify things. If he didn't, and this trend of public opinion took hold, then when "The Vanished She" was dug up as a "remake," it would definitely be met with backlash.

However, everything has two sides.

This could be another opportunity.

For this reason, Chen Mo gave an exclusive interview to Sina Weibo.

"Director Chen, hello, can we begin?" asked Yao Tongtong, the reporter in charge of this interview.

“Let’s begin!” Chen Mo nodded.

Yao Tongtong made a gesture towards the photographer.

The interview began quickly; opportunities to interview Chen Mo are rare, let alone an exclusive one.

Therefore, Yao Tongtong attaches great importance to it.

"Director Chen, have you been paying attention to the recent online discussions about 'remakes'?" Yao Tongtong asked.

"Of course!" Chen Mo nodded.

"Many netizens regard you as a benchmark for insisting on original content, believing that almost all of your film and television works since your debut have been original content, except for a very small number. So how do you view 'remakes' and 'adaptations' of overseas film and television works?" Yao Tongtong asked again.

Chen Mo laughed and said, "I have no opinion! In fact, I think that the increase in remakes and adaptations is an inevitable trend in the future!"

"What does that mean?" Yao Tongtong's eyes lit up, and then she asked with some curiosity.

"Film has been around for over a century, and it can be said that it is very mature! We can see that whether it is an 'original' or a 'remake', it is actually very difficult for film and television works to be unique! Almost all of them can be found to have a sense of déjà vu!"
The reason is simple: the content is repetitive and repetitive.

Of course, this doesn't mean there are no original works at all, but rather that truly original works or story structures that are refreshing and original are becoming increasingly rare.

"I looked at the netizens' proposal, which said, 'Reject perfunctory remakes and support original content!' It's not hard to see from this statement that the vast majority of netizens are not against remakes or adaptations, but against 'perfunctory' productions!"
As for people regarding me as a benchmark for upholding original content, I dare not accept that title. My very first film was a remake, and my later film, "Dying to Survive," also had the suspicion of being a remake!
Even my current film, "The Vanished Woman," can be said to be an adaptation of an old Soviet film, "The Bachelor's Trap."
"Of course, the initial idea to make this movie was based on a real case, but after the script was written, we found that the script structure had already been used by someone else. So, does this count as a remake?" Chen Mo said with a smile.

Now it was Yao Tongtong's turn to be taken aback.

She really didn't expect that Chen Mo's new film "The Vanished She" was also a remake!

Suddenly she understood why Chen Mo, who rarely gave media interviews, had suddenly agreed to her interview.

It turns out the problem lies here.

"Is 'The Vanished' a remake?" Yao Tongtong asked again, somewhat uncertainly.

Chen Mo nodded and said, "You could say that!"

"I still maintain that remakes are not the original sin; perfunctory work is! There are only good and bad films and television shows; whether or not they are remade is not the point!"

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then revealed his signature calm smile: "The difference between bad movies. Remakes are just one form of creation; the key is whether they give the work a new soul."

For example, in *Gone Girl*, although the story framework references *The Bachelor's Trap*, we completely localized the background, incorporating current social issues of women's safety and real-life cases—even the 'marketing events' that audiences are currently discussing might become part of the film's deconstruction of reality in the future.

Yao Tongtong quickly grasped the key point: "So you think remakes can also become classics?"

"of course."

Chen Mo leaned forward slightly and said with certainty, "Akira Kurosawa's 'Ran' is adapted from Shakespeare's 'King Lear,' and Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' is derived from 'Heart of Darkness.' Who would think these works are perfunctory?"
What audiences dislike is never the label "remake," but rather the lack of basic sincerity in cultural translation by some creators—simply changing place names in a foreign script to Beijing and character names to Zhang San and Li Si, and then calling it "localization."

He casually picked up a teacup on the table as an example: "Like this cup of tea, the original is English black tea, which we can completely re-brew with West Lake Longjing tea, but some people insist on pouring the tea leaves directly into cola and call it 'innovation'." This scathing analogy made the staff on site burst into laughter.

"You mentioned before that 'The Vanished She' is based on a real event. Could you reveal what that real event was?" Yao Tongtong suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"Didn't I say before? This movie focuses on the issue of women's safety that is of concern to society today, and it's based on more than one real case, all of which have sparked widespread discussion. Can you guess what they are?" Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and said.

Yao Tongtong almost rolled her eyes. Good grief, she hated riddle tellers the most.

In particular, Chen Mo mentioned more than one real-life case, all of which had sparked widespread discussion. While it may seem like he had made some statements, in reality, it was too ambiguous.

"I can't guess, Director Chen, could you be more specific?" Yao Tongtong asked after thinking for a moment.

Chen Mo smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's no fun if you just say it directly! Actually, what I said is already quite obvious."

Helpless, Yao Tongtong had to change the question: "At the premieres of 'The Battle at Lake Changjin' and 'The Killer Is Not Calm,' Director Chen remained silent, which sparked a lot of discussion and was considered a 'silent marketing' strategy. Did Director Chen anticipate this? Or was it a carefully planned marketing campaign all along?"

This is a very sharp question, because Chen Mo had previously responded to it on Weibo.

The problem is, the audience doesn't believe it.

If we were to say now that it wasn't a marketing ploy, it would only make things worse.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "Indeed, it wasn't at the beginning! As for what happened afterward, to be honest, I didn't expect it either, so it wasn't a carefully planned scheme. It was more like going with the flow!"

Chen Mo neither admitted nor denied it!
Yao Tongtong couldn't help but glance at Chen Mo again; she hadn't expected Chen Mo to resolve this problem so easily.

At the end of the interview, Yao Tongtong asked one last question: "Aren't you worried that announcing now that 'The Vanished She' is a remake will affect the audience's expectations?"

"Quite the contrary."

Chen Mo straightened his cuffs and stood up: "The real suspense is never about whether it's a remake or not, but about..."

He paused deliberately for two seconds, looking directly at the camera with a professional air: "When you walk into the theater, you'll find that all the marketing hype, real-life cases, and even this interview right now—all of them could become the 'fourth wall' that this movie has carefully designed."

Yao Tongtong was completely bewildered! The main reason was that even she was captivated by the content of the film at this moment.

She could imagine the effect of releasing this interview report.

Chen Mo's influence is undeniable, and he is widely recognized by many industry professionals and netizens as a benchmark for "insisting on originality".

So when his interview video was released, the number of views skyrocketed.

#ChenMoAdmitsRemakeOf"TheMissingHer# immediately became a trending topic.

Many of his peers, seeing this trending topic, are waiting to see Chen Mo make a fool of himself, since it is indeed a bit embarrassing.

There's an awkward feeling, like "The general fought a bloody battle on the front lines, but why did His Majesty surrender first?"

After all, everyone regards you as a benchmark, and you directly betray them. The key point is that "The Vanished" is actually a remake, which makes it difficult to evaluate.

However, they suddenly became jealous!
Because the backlash they wanted to see did not materialize.

Instead, a large number of professional film critics emerged to analyze the creative methodology of "advanced remakes".

"Chen Mo's candor precisely proves his creative confidence—his willingness to publish his 'bibliography' demonstrates that his work is original enough to withstand comparison."

"A director who dares to publicly disclose their reference film list is truly confident! Does the fact that 'Ran' is adapted from 'King Lear' affect its status as a masterpiece? Chen Mo is using 'remake' to slap those perfunctory capitalist assembly lines in the face!"

"The three essential elements of a high-quality remake are: reconstruction of local issues, metaphors of reality, and authorial imprint. Chen Mo's analogy of 'West Lake Longjing tea vs. tea dregs' in the interview is brilliant. Some directors should learn what cultural translation is!"

"What's wrong with remakes? 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' and '12 Citizens' are also remakes, but everyone praises them. The key is sincerity! Chen Mo even incorporated real-life cases and marketing events into the script; this is truly groundbreaking!"

"Hilarious! How much overlap is there between those who criticized the remake before and those who are praising Chen Mo now? Such double standards → But Chen Mo truly deserves it!"

Of course, some people also questioned: "What happened to the original benchmark? 'The Vanished Woman' was trending so much, but it turns out to be just an old Soviet film?"

"Then what do you expect Chen Mo to say? That 'The Vanished Woman' isn't a remake because Shakespeare also plagiarized 'Zuo Zhuan'? (Sarcasm intended)"

However, as public opinion fermented, people gradually stopped focusing on the topic of "remake" and many netizens instead shifted to guessing what the "real case" of "The Vanished She" was based on the clues revealed by Chen Mo in the interview.

"Women's safety, real cases, isn't that obvious? Let's assume the title of the movie is 'The Vanished She,' I guess the real case is the Hangzhou wife-killing case. The movie may incorporate internet memes such as 'septic tank warning' into the plot, making the murderer (husband) the 'perfect criminal,' while 'The Vanished She' is actually a counterattack set up by women."

"It might not be this, right? I'm guessing it could be a case of workplace PUA leading to death, and the movie might allude to the 'social disappearance' caused by gender oppression in the workplace. It would be a perfect match for the movie title, 'The Vanished Woman'!"

"It doesn't feel that simple. Chen Mo's previous film, 'All or Nothing,' focused on cross-border telecom fraud. Is it possible that this one is also cross-border? For example, the Thai cliff-falling case? The Thai swimming pool murder case?"

He also said it wasn't just one case; I bet five cents it's a Frankenstein's monster of cases like the "Hangzhou wife-murder case" and the "Thailand cliff-fall case"! The final twist reveals all the cases were committed by the same criminal gang!

However, some people feel that what Chen Mo said at the end was the key point.

"I read the interview several times, and Chen Mo pointed out one thing: the interview content is also part of the film design!"

It inexplicably reminded me of *The Truman Show*, where all the characters are actors, but the audience is unaware they are "extras" until the end credits pan across the theater seats—every audience member's face appears in a "missing persons file." Hahaha!

"A real case that sparked heated discussion. Chen Mo and his female confidantes also caused a stir before. So, is it possible that everyone guessed wrong this time, and that the male lead (Chen Mo in a cameo role?) actually deliberately staged the disappearance of a female actress for the sake of filming a movie, but ended up taking it too far, reflecting the 'cannibalistic' rules of the entertainment industry?"

"No problem, Chen Mo was already alluding to the entertainment industry in 'Make a Name for Yourself' back then!"

"Chen Mo is just marketing himself! The movie's ending might be that the audience realizes they are also being consumed off-screen—the real 'disappearance' is the intelligence of us bystanders!"

"The Soviet version is 'women deceive men,' but Chen Mo's version is definitely 'women kill men!' Judging from his knife skills in 'Dying to Survive,' this time he might make every male audience member check their wife's shopping records as soon as they leave the theater?"

Suddenly, a wave of speculation swept across the internet!
Chen Mo can honestly say that he never expected netizens to be so enthusiastic about participating.

But who can blame him when he's known as a "marketing genius"?
Therefore, it was inevitable that netizens discovered that the movie was full of "riddles" from its title to the interviews, and even suspected that the "remake controversy" was also designed!
"If the film receives poor reviews after its release, Chen Mo can easily shift the blame by saying, 'This is an experimental film that satirizes mindless remakes!'"

"Other directors' remakes are criticized, but Chen Mo's remakes are praised as 'high-class.' The difference is that he first lures the audience into his own 'murder mystery' game, making you feel that guessing the original is more exciting than watching the movie!"

But looking at these trending topics and comments, their peers were completely dumbfounded.

This isn't supposed to be a discussion about a remake, is it? Good grief, it's turned into a guessing game about "Gone Girl" without us even realizing it?

The key question is, what did Chen Mo do?
It seems he only gave one exclusive interview!
This seamless integration of trending topics left them all dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)