Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 395 Bullets, The Most Beautiful Wife
No. 11, Neiwubu Street.

The brick walls are mottled, the vermilion wooden door has long since faded, and the old jujube tree at the entrance has witnessed countless springs and autumns, now only sparse branches remain, swaying in the wind.

The fallen leaves, piled up in a thick layer by the autumn wind, rustled underfoot.
The afternoon sun slanted down from the eaves as Jiang Wen and Wu Chen passed by in the alley.

“Look, I used to live here.” Jiang Wen stood in front of the courtyard gate and pointed casually.

“It’s an old courtyard house, so you really like filming stories from there,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

"Hey, this feels familiar, it's all from memories."

Jiang Wen grinned, but a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes. "Back in the day, I used to say I was quite artistic."

"Oh, so 'to make the best movies and marry the most beautiful wife' is considered artistic?" Wu Chen suddenly chuckled and teased, making Jiang Wen's face immediately fall.

"Damn, when did you find out?"

“You said it yourself, during the filming of ‘The Martian’.” Wu Chen shrugged.

"Dark history, dark history, absolutely dark history!"

Jiang Wen shouted as he quickened his pace.

A few minutes later, the two walked through the alley and arrived at the house that Jiang Wen had temporarily rented. As soon as the door was opened, the house was already bustling with activity.

Zhu Sujin, Shuping, Guo Junli, Wei Xiao, and Li Bukong were gathered around a wooden table. On the table was a printed copy of the script, the ashtray was full of cigarette butts, the edges of the papers were curled up, and some were covered with black marks.

In Jiang Wen's words, you have to be here to truly feel the right atmosphere when writing this kind of script.

"Director Wu is here."

Zhu Sujin greeted them with a smile, and the others nodded in response, clearly indicating that Jiang Wen had already informed them.

Wu Chen walked over, casually picked up a script, sat down, and read a couple of pages before his brows furrowed involuntarily.

This isn't some kind of problem; it's clearly a messy, disorganized first draft.

Jiang Wen had already noticed Wu Chen's expression and quickly said, "Director Wu, since we're already here, could you please help us out?"

"Damn it, I got scammed," Wu Chen cursed.

"Hahaha"

Everyone laughed.

"Your style is conflicting. Violence, absurdity, and humor are unbalanced. If you were to film this, it would definitely cause problems." Wu Chen noticed the obvious issue after just one glance.

"Then what do you suggest?" Jiang Wen shamelessly stared at Wu Chen with wide eyes, demanding a solution.

"When you're revising, try to find a balance by combining 'oral writing with on-site dialogue rehearsals.' Of course, I'm speaking from a director's perspective."

Wu Chen wasn't entirely sure either, as these screenwriters not only spanned a wide age range but were also all highly skilled screenwriters.

It has to be said that Jiang Wen brought over a pretty good group of people.

Jiang Wen immediately replied, "That works, it has to be you, Director Wu."

"Stop with the flattery," Wu Chen said, rolling his eyes at him.

Everyone laughed.

"Director Wu, you're right. We were all tricked into coming here by Director Jiang in the first place. He was so full of boasting at the beginning."

Several people spoke up one after another.

"It's over, it's over," Jiang Wen quickly said in his defense.

The script for "Let the Bullets Fly" was very complicated, and the root cause was Jiang Wen, who wanted to express too much, and almost everything had a metaphor.

"Let's use ten white horses to pull the train."

"why?"

“Because the white horse represents ideals and hope.” Wu Chen was used to Jiang Wen’s persistent questioning and answered casually.

"Then why ten horses?"

"Damn it, because it symbolizes the Russian October Revolution!"

Why is there billowing white smoke?

"That's steam rising from a hot pot, a symbol of feudal hedonism."

"."

The dialogue was quite amusing, especially since it came from Wu Chen and Jiang Wen. The screenwriters were used to it and wrote it down with great enthusiasm, because it made the script flow much more smoothly.

When Wu Chen returned to the villa, he unconsciously touched the top of his head and looked at it in his hand.

"What's wrong? Is your head itchy?" Liu Yifei looked at the scene with confusion. "No, I'm checking if I'm losing any hair. Jiang Wen's scripts are too brain-taxing." Wu Chen shook his head violently.

"Ha, it can't be that exaggerated."

Liu Yifei couldn't help but chuckle.

As they chatted, Liu Yifei lay down on his lap and began to talk about Jiang Wen's dream of "making the best movies and marrying the most beautiful wives".

"Hehe, do you think Director Jiang feels he has achieved his dream?"

"Who knows?" Wu Chen shook his head, gently stroking Liu Yifei's hair.

A sly glint flashed in the latter's eyes, and he suddenly asked, "And what about you?"

"Huh?" Wu Chen was taken aback. "No, I don't think so."

"Didn't they make the best film?"

"No, not at all. For me, every single one is the best." Wu Chen chuckled, immediately drawing Liu Yifei's fierce gaze. Her eyes widened, her innocent expression replaced by a cute yet fierce look.

"Hmph, so you mean you didn't marry the most beautiful wife?"

Wu Chen nodded seriously: "That's true."

"Ah, I'm going to bite you to death!"

Liu Yifei immediately sat up, a wide grin on her face, her white teeth gleaming under the light, exuding a charmingly fierce energy.

Just as he was about to bite the arm, Wu Chen said calmly:
"What are you saying? You haven't even married me."

Liu Yifei froze in mid-air, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat flustered. A blush quickly rose to her cheeks like the evening glow, spreading from her cheeks to her ears, turning them bright red.

She lowered her head, gently buried her face in Wu Chen's chest, and whispered, "Couldn't you just say it all at once?"

"You can ask all your questions at once next time," Wu Chen couldn't help but chuckle.

"."

Late autumn and early winter are separated by only a thin line, at least in Beijing, this line is clearly and sharply drawn by the wind.

As the chill of winter approaches, the competition for the Lunar New Year film season intensifies.

Inside the Starry Sky Pictures office building, the heating was on full blast. Wu Chen had just come out of the conference room when he received an elegant envelope from the receptionist.

"Mr. Wu, an invitation to the premiere of 'Mei Lanfang'"

"it is good!"

Wu Chen casually opened the package and found two invitations inside.

The invitation was of high quality and came with a beautifully printed booklet that read: "This film is dedicated to Mr. Mei Lanfang, and to all those who use art to fight against the vicissitudes of time."

This style perfectly matches Chen Kaige's vibe.

The industry has been waiting for Ning Hao to speak out, and it has finally come.

In an interview with Enlight Media, Ning Hao expressed his expectations for "Bad Genius":

"Personally, I hope 'Bad Genius' will break 300 million."

Wang Changtian immediately chimed in, "If Director Ning says 300 million, then Enlight Media will only strive for over 300 million in distribution."

The news caused an uproar in the media.

The box office targets for all four films have been set, and each one is just as impressive as the others.

Of course, being sandwiched in the middle, "Ip Man" seemed less confident, only asking for 100 million, but this was the first time that several films had simultaneously asked for more than 100 million.

A few years ago, I wouldn't have dared to even think about it.

Three hundred million!

Han Sanping felt a pang of heartache as he looked at the numbers Ning Hao called out; China Film Group hadn't even made the cut this time.
Based on his understanding of Ning Hao, this figure is not something he would casually claim; he must have the confidence to aim for at least 200 million, and the production cost is the lowest among these films.

On Huayi's side, Wang Zhonglei was somewhat relieved.

Regardless of its box office success, just comparing this level of confidence, "Ip Man" is indeed an easy target.

"They talk about 300 million so easily, they really have a big mouth," Feng Xiaogang said with a hint of sourness. He was still uncertain about the 300 million box office of "If You Are the One".

If he hadn't succeeded, but Ning Hao had, wouldn't Ning Hao have surpassed him?

It's worth noting that currently, only Wu Chen and Wu Yusen are in the "300 million club" in China.

At this time, the cold wind was biting, but the entire Chinese-language film industry was enveloped by an unprecedented heat wave.
December has quietly arrived.
(End of this chapter)