Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 146 Kung Fu Emperor and Kung Fu Wasteland

Cheng Long was impressed by Cao Zhong's youth, and even more impressed by the influence of such a young director.

The moment Cao Zhong stood on the red carpet, even the Wang brothers seemed a little uneasy.

Moreover, in order to wait for Cao Zhong, the global premiere originally scheduled for April 17 was forcibly split into two celebrations by Huayi Brothers: the Hollywood premiere and the China premiere.

This also prompted the main creators to rush back to China from North America in the past few days.

Cheng Long naturally saw all of this.

The Forbidden Kingdom has been in theaters in North America for five days, and its opening weekend box office has reached $2090 million.
We are currently making steady progress toward our goal of $30 million.
In this situation, regardless of whether the film makes money or not, Huayi Brothers will far surpass Chengying in terms of reputation.

However, these two men showed Cao Zhong far more importance than Cheng Long had anticipated.

"Brother Jackie Chan, do you have any new movies you're joining the cast for recently?"

Cao Zhong thought of the recently released film "Taken" in China, and suddenly realized that there were some movies that could be made with Jackie Chan, so he asked.

He works behind the scenes, while Jiang Zhiqiang is in the spotlight.
But there are always some things that are difficult to do in Hollywood.
If Jackie Chan's image could be further integrated into Hollywood and he could become one of their own, it would be entirely beneficial for Cao Zhong's goal of making money through Hollywood.

The biggest problem is probably that Cheng Long is quite expensive.

But Cao Zhong knew that firstly, he wouldn't lack money for making movies, and secondly, if he wanted to make money, he wouldn't be in the entertainment industry.

Cao Zhong continues to delve into this field purely because he loves light and shadow and wants to change something.
Cao Zhong himself wouldn't go to Hollywood, but there would always be someone influential there.
Jiang Zhiqiang's influence, after all, is not enough.

Cao Zhong can leverage Jiang Zhiqiang to open up distribution channels, but for many overt matters, such as selecting directors to collaborate with and signing up emerging directors, Jiang Zhiqiang's influence may not be sufficient.

Jackie Chan, however, can.

In recent years, although Jackie Chan's films have encountered some problems to varying degrees, his appeal in Hollywood remains strong.

In 2000, after Taiwan electronics group Acer acquired a large number of shares in Golden Harvest, Jackie Chan's focus in Hollywood was forced to shift from overseas markets to Taiwan due to the change in capital.

Although Jackie Chan established a production company, "Jackie Chan Films Limited," in Hollywood...
However, starting from this period, apart from the minor success of "Rush Hour 2", the four films "Shanghai Noon", "Shanghai Noon 2", "The Medallion" and "Around the World in 80 Days" all dealt a significant blow to Jackie Chan's reputation in Hollywood.

These are all movies that don't make money at the box office.

After that, Jackie Chan had no choice but to retreat from the Chinese film industry.

But after a few years in the Chinese film industry, his new movies haven't been as successful at the box office.

Returning to Hollywood last year, "Rush Hour 3" had a production cost of $1.4 million, but only grossed $1.4 million at the North American box office and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.

This film was also banned in mainland China because it depicted a gangster story.

Jackie Chan found himself in a very awkward period.
But he remains the biggest star in China.

"I haven't received any new film offers in the past six months," Cheng Long said. "I've turned down some scripts that weren't good."

"Director Cao asked me if I had a new script to write for him," Jackie Chan asked with a smile, though he didn't really think much of it.

“I hadn’t thought too much about it before, but after meeting you, I realized that some of the scripts I wrote before would be very suitable for you,” Cao Zhongping said calmly.

These words surprised not only Liu Yifei, Zhang Liangying, Huang Xiaoming, and others, but even Cheng Long himself was taken aback.

“Some?” He suspected he was experiencing tinnitus. “If there’s time, we can discuss this in more detail later.” Cao Zhong nodded.

Cheng Long was unsure of Cao Zhong's intentions, and his mind was buzzing.

Li Lianjie also heard Cao Zhong's invitation, and with a smile in his eyes, he came over to greet Cao Zhong.

Cao Zhong remained noncommittal, his brow furrowing slightly.

"I won't ask you, Teacher Li. I heard that you have another movie that will be released after the Olympics this year."

Li Lianjie was quite happy and said with a smile, "Director Cao is indeed well-informed. This movie is the new film of Robert Cohen, the director of 'The Legend of Bruce Lee', and it is also a sequel to the previous Mummy movie. I play our First Emperor in the movie."

Cao Zhong feigned shock and exclaimed, "Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng? That must have showcased his exceptional martial arts skills, right? After all, the assessment of him back then was only that he was slightly inferior in literary talent. I highly regard Ying Zheng. Just considering his system of weights and measures and the centralized system of government, I think the title 'First Emperor' is well-deserved."

Li Lianjie suddenly stopped speaking.

He wanted to have a conversation with Cao Zhong, but Cao Zhong's statement that he acknowledged Ying Zheng left him speechless.

So all I could do was give a bleak smile.

Cao Zhong was dissatisfied with Li Lianjie. If Jackie Chan had carved out his own style in Hollywood, then Li Lianjie was also like the chosen one.

If Cao Zhong wanted to make a kung fu movie in Hollywood, Jackie Chan could do it, newcomers could do it, but Jet Li was not an option.

In this Olympic year, Jet Li starred in "The Mummy 3," portraying the First Emperor as an extremely cruel Eastern symbol who intended to rule the world and drag it into tyranny.

Moreover, the character he plays is utterly defeated by an adventurer who returns precious artifacts stolen from the Shanghai Museum in China.

It was directly converted into a roadside strip.

The film's narrative structure is brilliant. The West steals precious cultural relics from the East, but the protagonist is righteous and determined to return them, displaying high moral character.

The villain, played by Jet Li, is reawakened after being sealed away, and he wants to plunge the world into tyranny and moral depravity!
In the end, he will be completely defeated, and the Westerners will be glorious and righteous.

Moreover, this movie was scheduled to be released in North America on August 1, 2008.

At the cusp of the Olympics, when China is about to showcase its civilization and the Chinese spirit to the world, the screening of this film in North America and even globally is utterly despicable!
Cao Zhong didn't know if Li Lianjie understood.

But from Danny the Dog to The Mummy 3, whether he was an incomprehensible fool or a villain pretending to be incomprehensible, Cao Zhong looked down on him completely.

To be honest, even though Liu Yifei later starred in the movie "Mulan," Cao Zhong didn't have much of a problem with her.

After all, the metaphors in this film are buried very deep, hidden in the undercurrents that span decades.

The choice of Liu Yifei might be due to her good English or her fame.

But Jet Li is different; he's purely the one who hands over the knife.

He's not some kung fu emperor, but rather a kung fu wasteland.

After various preparations and procedures

Cao Zhong watched the premiere of "The Forbidden Kingdom" live, and to be honest, it was a very difficult experience.
(End of this chapter)