From collapsed house idol to entertainment superstar

Speaking of which, people in the industry are very realistic. Zhang Wenqiang, as a famous director both in Hong Kong and in the mainland, flew to Kyoto to visit Ding Zhi twice. He must have some agenda.

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Although Wen Qiang looks like a frail scholar in this picture, apart from being a bit talkative, he actually reveals a bit of literary talent inside and out.

In fact, in the Vanity Fair in Hong Kong, whoever was able to get ahead more than ten years ago is not a ghost.

After all, honest people can't get ahead in the vanity fair.

The last time he came to see Ding Zhi, the vague information revealed at that time was that the film would be produced by Bona.

At that time, Ding Zhi didn't think much about it.

After all, not to mention, among the producers of Bald Lin's "Operation Red Sea", this company also invested the most.

It is considered to be one of the few influential film and television media companies left in Hong Kong. Coupled with Bald Lin's intervention, it naturally did not arouse Ding Zhi's suspicion.

In fact, Zhang Wenqiang started writing the script "Wushuang" ten years ago, but there is a reason why it has not been produced for so many years.

First, of course, the subject matter involves making counterfeit banknotes, which is considered a sensitive subject.

Therefore, while the theme of the story remains unchanged, the scale is slightly larger, and investors must first consider the risks.

On the other hand, there is the production cost.

Zhang Wenqiang really planned to film the entire "process" of making counterfeit banknotes.

In addition, there are also the slightly "retro" gun battles in the storyboard, the reproduction of the "Little Ma" style violent aesthetics, and other various things, and the funds will definitely burn up.

In addition, the story of the script has a certain degree of "trick" color in the suspense film, which will also affect its market audience to a certain extent.

Now that the film and television industry is tightening across the board, even if the Bona family has a great business, they really weren't very optimistic about this film at first.

But after getting Ding Zhi's intention to star, Zhang Wenqiang turned around and told Bona that the new drama would star Ding Zhi and Fa Ge.

Then, with a bang, the investment was obtained.

If you say that Zhang Mazi made this dumpling because of a little jealousy.

Zhang Wenqiang can be regarded as "taking this dish of vinegar and buying dumplings on credit."

No wonder at that time, when Brother Zhi was starring again and wanted to co-direct, Zhang Wenqiang agreed so easily.

Guess Ding Zhi is the dish of vinegar he gave "on credit".

Nowadays, Ding Zhi's value has been fully reflected in the entire film and television industry.

Not to mention "The God of Medicine" which is currently charging towards the 4 billion mark.

It's different from the previous time when I even had supporting roles like "Knife" in "Eight Hundred" and He Guozheng in "Cold War 2" to get enough tickets for the "Ten Billion Club".

When "The God of Medicine" is officially released in the future, Ding Zhiguang will be able to enter the "Ten Billion Club" with the films he has played "some" roles in these years.

At that time, Ding Zhike was a real man with a box office of tens of billions without any water.

There are very few artists in China who can achieve this, and he is the only one under the age of 40 who has achieved this.

This is also the reason why Ding Zhi put a lot of effort into "The God of Medicine" before.

It not only gave Jiuyao Media a representative work that could serve as a brand, but it was also a crucial step for him personally.

This is true whether it is as a director or as an actor.

There is even a saying circulating among capital circles in the market: "If a movie wins Ding Zhi, it means it is the first to win a market with a box office of nearly 1 billion."

Nowadays, the market for film and television works is basically in a state of being out of reach for Ding Zhi.

This is a reputation that Ding Zhi has built up by relying on his cheating achievements over the years without ever failing.

After "The God of Medicine", it is no exaggeration to say that Ding Zhi is recognized as the first person of the young generation.

This person is recognized as the number one in all aspects and in all aspects, not some "data number one" who only works at the level of fans.

As for Fa Ge, let alone that. Although the glory of Double Weekend is now far away, its residual power is still there. In the Greater Bay Area, Fa Ge's face is the guarantee of box office.

This is also the reason why the King of Bad Movies Wong Chi Hung's "Macau" series is still making a lot of money every year even though it is scolded every year.

With the two of them carrying the cauldron, it's no wonder Bonasher has to pay for it.

But the problem is...

"So, even if the investment is in place now, I'm still worried that I won't be able to hire Fa Ge?"

Ding Zhi squinted his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

Zhang Wenqiang nodded helplessly.

Indeed, it goes without saying that Ding Zhi's salary on the market has reached the 50 million range, and this is still the lowest.

Of course, this is the salary for a movie. If it is really a TV series...

Theoretically, I'm afraid we have to use small targets as measurement units.

Of course, except for some special circumstances such as gift dramas, it is basically impossible for Ding Zhi to accept TV dramas not produced by himself.

Fa Ge, on the other hand, had a career in Hollywood in the 1990s. After his career failed, his net worth and salary have remained among the top in the country for more than ten to twenty years.

This means that if we decide on Ding Zhi and add Fa Ge, then for the small film "Wushuang", our Qiangzi brother will have to invite two Crouching Dragons and Phoenix Chus... ah

Phew! Here are two big money-burning crocodiles.

After all, if all are calculated according to market prices, the salary of the two "two heroes" Ding Zhi and Fa Ge is almost a small target.

Coupled with the expensive special effects and the "counterfeiting coin assembly line" and other specially customized props, the total production cost will definitely be 200 million, at least 250 million and upwards.

Don't look at the past few years. Any movie can boast an investment of over 100 million. If the budget is slightly lower, it can be as high as 300 to 500 million.

But in fact, there are very few that are as real as the advertised figures and have no trace of moisture.

What's more, it's no longer the time when Hong Kong films were once glorious. All domestic box office records are basically broken by the mainland.

In the category of pure Hong Kong films, even if the final box office can exceed 1 billion, it will be among the best in the box office data of Hong Kong film history.

Of course, things like Bald Lin's "Operation Red Sea" released during last year's Spring Festival and Star Wars' series of films in recent years are not included in this list.

Apart from the fact that the director is from Hong Kong, those films are in no way different from mainland films in terms of actors and content. They cannot be called Hong Kong films at all.

This is undoubtedly a symbol of those directors' "Southern films going north", or the "fusion of North and South".

Unlike Lin Guangtou and other great commercial film directors who have "became northernized", Zhang Wenqiang doesn't know whether he is "stubborn" or has some persistence.

Most of his works contain a relatively authentic Hong Kong Island flavor.

The same is true for "Wushuang" in terms of story structure or its element composition.

To a certain extent, Hong Kong films do have a box office ceiling.

As of now, there has never been a Hong Kong film with a box office of more than 1.5 billion.

Therefore, the production cost is as high as more than 200 million, which is definitely rare in the Hong Kong film circle.

"Hey, actually it's not possible, I can only consider other artists."

Zhang Wenqiang said with regret, but his little eyes couldn't help but glance in Ding Zhi's direction.

Okay, it's installed.

Ding Zhi is a little funny.

Ding Zhi didn't know Zhang Wenqiang's purpose at this time.

Isn't this just thinking that Fa Ge's side won't work, and thinking of trying harder on Ding Zhi's side?

The most important thing is that Jiuyao Media, owned by Ding Zhi, is a newly emerging media company, and the recent "Drug God" has further demonstrated its strength.

Ding Zhi, who has been promoted to half a "big water pipe", is naturally Zhang Wenqiang's investment target.

When I contacted him at the end of last year, Ding Zhi really appreciated the book "Wushuang", and he really had a soft spot for this kind of "trick" style reversal of the plot.

Only then did I readily accept Zhang Wenqiang’s invitation.

But when it comes to interests, it still needs to be considered.

He didn't really take advantage of him, he just accepted it casually when his brain got hot.

After a session of Tai Chi with Zhang Wenqiang, and with some hope and room left, I found Liang Qiong behind to discuss it.

After all, although he is optimistic about the story of "Wushuang", Ding Zhi still has to consider its benefits.

As mentioned before, Hong Kong films have their own natural performance ceiling, and the risks involved in investing in this film also require Ding Zhi to consider many aspects.

After all, Jiuyao seems to have won many battles in the past two years, with sparks and lightning all the way, but after all, its foundation is too shallow and weak. Even if it loses investment in a movie, it will be painful for a while.

In addition to discussing with Liang Qiong, Ding Zhi also made a phone call and asked about Liang Jiahui.

"Oh? It seems that the news is true. Zhang Wenqiang really found you to play the role of Li Wen. In fact, you are really suitable, even more suitable than Guo Qiongcheng."

When talking about this matter with Ding Zhi, Ding Zhi's old friend was quite interested.

After a detailed chat, the two discovered that Zhang Wenqiang had also approached Liang Jiahui to play the role of "painter" Wu Fusheng.

But in the end it came to nothing.

There are many reasons. The first is that the character is not very consistent with me.

Wu Fusheng in the script is domineering and suave. He is the kind of person Li Wen subconsciously wants to be.

With Ding Zhi playing the role of Li Wen, there is no doubt that Fa Ge is the best choice in terms of temperament and actor qualities.

After all, even though Fa Ge and Liang Jiahui are both in their sixties, Fa Ge is even three years older than Liang Jiahui.

But in fact, Fa Ge's condition is much better than that of Liang Jiahui.

Ignoring their popularity, the two of them just stood there and let others judge them. I am afraid that there are more people who think that Liang Jiahui is older.

According to Tony Leung Ka-fai's ability as the actor with a thousand faces, these are actually not insurmountable.

But in the end, Liang Jiahui chose to refuse. The reason was simple.

That is this character. Zhang Wenqiang did not lie. It was indeed tailor-made for Brother Fa from the beginning. Or to put it another way, the author was writing this story and designed "Li Fusheng" according to the image of "Brother Xiao Ma"

To design.

In this aspect, Liang Jiahui still has something unique to him, something that is not enough to be proud of outsiders.

He doesn't have this habit of acting just to be a "stand-in".

"Hey! I hope I still want to have a showdown with you, the boss. It seems that there won't be any chance in a short time."

"Demon! Please tell me, you think I don't know that you have come up with a lot of good scripts. If you really wanted to make a comeback with me, you wouldn't have stopped doing anything until now."

Nowadays, Ding Zhi's reputation as a "genius screenwriter" in the industry is actually not much worse than his reputation as an actor.

Some people even think that the reason why Ding Zhi is successful is crucially related to his ability to always come up with scripts that are extremely suitable in all aspects at the right time as content output.

To a certain extent, this aspect is even more rare for knowledgeable insiders than Ding Zhi's incredible career as an actor.

After all, as long as an actor can prove his appeal, someone will give him a chance, even more than once.

But if the screenwriter fails once, there will basically be no room for improvement in the future.

"Hey! Do you really think that you can take out the script with just a tap of your head, as I said to the outside world?"

"I heard that you spent a week writing the script for "The Tuner"!"

"..."

"Okay, boss, I will think about it when I have time."

Ding Zhi's head came up with a few ideas for "Mohu", and he said this with a smile.

"Actually, when it comes to the film "Wushuang" and Bona, there are still some..."

Back to the topic, Ding Zhi approached Liang Jiahui this time because he really wanted to get opinions from multiple angles, collect information, and see if this film could be successful.

Finally, after combining the opinions and intelligence references of many friends on Hong Kong Island, Ding Zhi finally dialed Zhang Wenqiang's number again.

At this time, Zhang Wenqiang's hope for Ding Zhi had dropped a lot.

He is even considering raising funds from the public.

This situation is actually quite risky.

First of all, disclosing the ideas of social investors is equivalent to a fund-raising nature. This issue is already very sensitive.

Secondly, exposing the true situation of the crew's "lack of money" will also affect its progress in all aspects.

But in desperation, we can only go so far.

After all, don't look at what he suggested to Ding Zhi, such as changing Fa Ge.

But in fact, from the beginning of Zhang Wenqiang's novel, "Li Fusheng" could only be Fa Ge.

After all, in the split-shot drawings, especially the image of Li Fusheng holding two ▄︻┷┯═══ and bowing biubiubiu from left to right, the sense of déjà vu is too strong.

It can be said that this kind of character is almost a perfect replica of Fa Ge's "Little Ma".

So if nothing else, Zhang Wenqiang seems to be a die-hard fan of Fa Ge.

Just when Zhang Wenqiang was hesitating, Ding Zhi finally received a call for help.

"Okay, Brother Felix! I'll vote for this play."

"Wow! Really?"

Zhang Wenqiang seemed a little excited, paused, and was a little worried that Ding Zhi on the other end of the phone was acting on a whim, but he wanted to finalize it as soon as possible.

"Then I can rest assured and start preparations. When the time comes, I will ask Elas to pull up the entire framework as soon as possible, no later than the middle of next month..."

"Hey! Brother Felix, I also have a condition."

Ding Zhi interrupted.

Zhang Wenqiang did raise his eyebrows, making some guesses.

Maybe it’s the ratio of cooperation shares, or maybe it’s the length and importance of Li Wen’s role.

The former is a matter that Ding Zhi wants to argue with Bona.

The latter is something that he, the director + screenwriter, needs to coordinate even after he is about to hire Fa Ge.

"Um……"

Ding Zhi seemed to consider his speech for a moment.

"Brother Felix, to be honest, filming the film "Wushuang" was quite difficult, right?

Whether it’s the control of the overall rhythm or the in-depth exploration of large-scale sensitive topics, it needs to be weighed before weighing, right..."

If Xiaopang or Liang Qiong were here at this time, they would be able to hear something else.

Brother Zhi is going to buy the bottom again.

"Didn't we agree before that this film will be made by me and you and I will learn something from you, Felix?"

When we first met, we talked about this, and "Wushuang" would be co-directed by the two.

At that time, Zhang Wenqiang naturally felt that he would take priority.

Of course, Ding Zhi felt the same way at the time (putting himself first).

At this time, Ding Zhi wanted to take the opportunity to clarify everything.

"So, I think "Wushuang" still lacks a producer who can oversee the overall situation. What do you think of me?"

The configuration of producer + one of the two directors is combined in the same person.

Since Brother Zhi is such an awesome person that he “brings money into the group”, the first thing to do is to plan for the right to speak.

This is equivalent to him saying, "The water in this film is too deep. You may not be able to grasp Qiangzi, so let me grasp it!"

Tsk, Ding Zhi, old Yuan Shikai.