Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 409 Two Big Explosions at the Start of the Year
Shortly after Variety's announcement, Warner Bros. released an official statement in the evening:
"We are pleased to confirm that Liu Yifei has officially joined the cast of Christopher Nolan's new film Inception, playing the role of the Dream Builder."

Liu Yifei has won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Her influence and talent in the international film industry are beyond doubt.

We believe that her involvement will infuse this cross-cultural and cross-reality science fiction work with a unique character and depth.
It will also deliver a surprising amount of energy in Inception.

The signature is from Warner Bros. Pictures, co-director Christopher Nolan, and producer Emma Thomas.

In the final paragraph of this statement, Warner Bros. specifically quoted an internal statement from Nolan:
"In 'Black Peony,' she possessed a calm yet intensely powerful acting style, making her, in my opinion, the actress best able to portray the multifaceted psychological layers of the 'Dream Builder' character."

Within thirty minutes, major Hollywood media outlets followed suit, and news of the casting of the second key creative personnel for "Inception" quickly spread throughout Hollywood.

9 p.m. that night, Los Angeles.

Inside a small, private Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, the atmosphere is warm and relaxed.

Jason Blum, the host, sat by the window, pouring drinks for Wu Chen and Liu Yifei while jokingly saying:

Congratulations, Crystal!

"Thank you, Jason."

Liu Yifei was very happy to get the role, but she was also a little puzzled. She turned her head to look at Wu Chen and said, "Junior brother, why do I feel like my character appears on screen more often than the female lead?"

Jason Blum was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this. Out of professional vigilance, he subconsciously glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief.

It's a private room.

“Crystal, you need to be careful while you're here. The paparazzi here can disguise themselves as waiters, and they might find out about you, which could easily make things complicated.”

"Someone was secretly filmed like this during the last 'X-Men' shoot, which threw the entire crew into chaos."

Jason Blum specifically reminded him of this.

Liu Yifei nodded immediately after hearing this, gently raised her hand to cover her lips, and said with a smile, "I understand. Then I'll speak Chinese."

"Oh no, don't do that, it's too embarrassing for me to not understand Chinese. I've checked, there's no one here." Jason quickly made a gesture.

"What if there's a bugging device?" Wu Chen joked, which immediately made Liu Yifei burst into laughter.

However, the two were still mindful of him, since he was the one who hosted the dinner, and it would be too awkward to talk like that.

"Your character constructs the dream and guides the audience to understand the dream's logic; it's a key functional role, a consequence of the script's character design."

Wu Chen didn't say much. Although he trusted Jason Blum, Inception was a Warner Bros. project. He could say a little about the more obvious information, but it was better to keep quiet about the deeper details.

Upon seeing this, Jason Blum immediately got down to business: "By the way, Wu, the director of 'Paranormal Activity' contacted me, hoping to develop a sequel."

Liu Yifei was also very interested in this movie that had created a global revenue miracle, and listened to Wu Chen and Jason Blum talking while resting her head on her hand.

Due to the previous acquisition, Blumhouse Pictures and Obsidian Pictures jointly own partial control of the IP, and the director also holds a certain share.

"He kicked out of CAA?"

Wu Chen couldn't help but wonder, since the director actually found Jason Blum, which meant he bypassed CAA, the agent.

"Of course, he can't let these vampires continue to suck his blood. I think we can continue to develop it. Even if the movie fails, the probability of losing money is very low thanks to the reputation of the first one."

The copyright IP is currently held by three parties, and they need to jointly decide whether to continue development.

"I think it's feasible, but you should try to convince him to find someone else to direct. He's not capable of handling a sequel, so you need to find a suitable director. Otherwise, I'm not optimistic about the sequel's prospects."

To create another miracle from a chance creation is no less than climbing to heaven.

Wu Chen naturally couldn't let this mistake happen here, so he quickly gave Jason Blum some advice.

"Understood, shall we have Wen come?"

Jason Blum immediately thought of James Wan.

In the horror film genre, the other party is one of the top names in Hollywood.

"This kind of temperature isn't suitable."

"Okay, I'll think about it some more." Unlike Wu Chen and his group, who were leisurely enjoying their dinner, the news was hotly debated in China early in the morning, with media outlets rushing to reprint and report on it.

The popularity of "Inception" quickly rose to its peak.

Wu Chen and Liu Yifei spotted at Warner Bros. headquarters, confirming their signing of the film *Inception*!

[Breaking News: Liu Yifei Confirmed to Join Nolan's New Film "Inception," Starring Alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in a Sci-Fi Blockbuster!]

[Liu Yifei has had two breakout hits this year. Following the box office success of "Bad Genius" (3.48 million yuan), she will join "Inception" to embark on a mainstream Hollywood path!]

【.】

The domestic entertainment industry is in an uproar, and online discussions have instantly ignited:
"Holy crap, what kind of treatment is this?"

"I feel like everyone else is going to be heartbroken. This is going to leave everyone else in the dust. Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' has already grossed over $10 billion, and this $1.6 million big-budget production is top-tier in Hollywood."

"Warner Bros. doesn't seem to use 'leading actor' to describe the cast. They clearly used 'leading actor' for Leonardo DiCaprio, so I guess it's not the female lead, but the second female lead, considering the main cast."

"."

The movie fans were extremely happy.

Of course, the most heartbroken are the top actresses in China; even the younger actresses of the same age aren't as distressed as they are.
Yang Mi only glanced at the set of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and then stopped thinking about it. After all, it was too far away. She could be envious of "Bad Genius" but not of this.

At that moment, the voice of a slightly younger girl on the other side caught her attention.

"Qinqin, you're not sending a message to congratulate me, are you? I'm so envious of you."

There were so many women in the "Dream of the Red Chamber" cast that they were clearly divided into several factions. Li Qin seemed to be a leader in one of them, and many people looked at her with envy.

"Just checking my phone."

Li Qin smiled, offered no further explanation, and quickly put her phone away.

It was here that she realized how complicated the film crew was, and it was nothing like the feeling she had when filming "Black Peony".

Back then, Wu Chen could handle everything on set by herself, and it was mainly just her and Liu Yifei who did it, so it was always very easy. But interpersonal relationships here are much more tiring.

It's impossible to tell who's genuinely laughing and who's faking it.
Li Shaohong walked over with a dark face: "What are you doing here? Hurry up and prepare your scenes."

The crowd that had gathered immediately dispersed.

"Li Qin, we'll be filming opera scenes soon, so please get ready."

"Okay, director."

"."

The night is deep.

But in a recently renovated detached house on the west side of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, the lights are soft and warm, and the wind outside the window blows silently across the manicured garden lawn, with vines swaying in the night.

Wu Chen pushed open the door, and a faint scent of pine and sandalwood wafted out.

The villa underwent simple renovations over three months, and now it's exactly the style Liu Yifei likes.

The interior space is spacious with high ceilings, large areas of white walls, and the color scheme is mainly beige and warm brown, with touches of low-saturation light pink and pine green.
Several black-and-white photographs are displayed on the fireplace in the living room.

"As expected, I have good taste." Liu Yifei lightly wrapped her arms around Wu Chen's neck from behind, pressed her whole body against him, rested her head on his back, smiled broadly, and glanced at the decoration, extremely satisfied.

"It's alright, but I feel it's not as good as the design scheme I chose."

"The design you chose is horribly ugly." Liu Yifei let go of his hand and walked around to face Wu Chen. "Why do you only like the gray industrial style? Can't you like some bright colors?"

"Aren't you radiant enough?"

"Ugh, how come you've become so good at talking now?"

(End of this chapter)