Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 139 Casting for "Run, Dad!"

After repeated delays, "Bad Genius" has finally reached its end of its run.

Before its run ended, the film grossed 223 million yuan, temporarily ranking as the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year and second in the annual box office chart.

Currently, the highest-grossing film of the year is the Hollywood blockbuster "Transformers," which is still showing in theaters and has already surpassed "Bad Genius" to reach 243.6 million.

It's hard to describe the excitement Chinese audiences, especially newcomers to the cinema for the first time, felt when they saw Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on the big screen.

Perhaps for this reason, Transformers became the first impression of Hollywood blockbusters for a generation of Chinese viewers.

If you were to ask which Hollywood blockbuster truly opened up the Chinese market, Zhang Jun wouldn't say "Titanic," but rather this film, "Transformers."

At the motion graphics studio, Zhang Jun and his colleagues also discussed the Transformers movie.

Bai Zhou, who serves as the director, said: "What amazes me most are some of the details. Many people have seen the animated version of Transformers, but it is different from the live-action version."

I believe one of the major changes made in Transformers was making the Autobots more anthropomorphic and more lifelike.

Another partner added, "I think the sound design is also very distinctive, with that metallic collision that also has a sense of vitality."

"These elements are very difficult for us to replicate."

After everyone had spoken at once, they all expressed the same idea: the technological gap was too large; there was no hope of catching up.

Zhang Jun sat at the head of the table and listened to everyone finish speaking before saying, "When I was studying at Tsinghua University, I attended a public lecture given by Academician Qian."

He recounted to us the vibrant, red-light district of the 1950s and 60s, when a senior student asked him, "Professor Qian, aren't you worried you won't be able to do it?"

Academician Qian's answer impressed me deeply. He said that we are all human beings living on Earth, and Westerners don't have two heads and four hands, so there's no reason why they can do what we can't.

Zhang Jun paused, his gaze sweeping over all the faces in the conference room—some confused, some determined, some resigned—and said firmly, “I have never thought that what we are doing is simple. If it were that simple, I wouldn’t have to do it myself.”

Everyone fears difficulties; no one is willing to face them head-on, to say "I can do it" like our predecessors did.

But today I want to tell you all that this will be very difficult, but I want to do it together with you all and get started together.

The hardest part is the beginning, which you may not realize today. But ten or even twenty years from now, you will find that you are among the pioneers and trailblazers of the Chinese film industry.

Zhang Jun's motivational speech immediately energized the young people who had recently graduated and joined the studio.

However, Zhang Jun has other methods for those old guys who can no longer be moved by dreams.

"Of course, it's good to talk about dreams, but you also need to make a living while pursuing them."

Zhang Jun smiled and said, "I guarantee that your treatment will be the best among our domestic peers, and I will also recruit top talents to join the studio one after another."

What you need to do is repay me with your talent and knowledge, proving that you deserve this treatment.

Zhang Jun's several visits to the studio to oversee the overall situation have demonstrated his high regard for the studio.

With ample financial investment and a constant stream of talented individuals joining, everyone felt that this studio was full of hope.

So whether they're old-timers or young people, everyone's full of energy these days. Even though it will take a long time to see results and the technology needs to be developed gradually, this enthusiasm is a good thing.

The motion effects science is currently in the early stages of technological research and development, where subsidies from Zhang Jun are insufficient to cover expenses.

In order to replenish the studio's funds, Zhang Jun also needs to work hard to achieve better results on his homepage.

However, he has already planned for next year's financial crisis. As long as he makes a fortune during the financial crisis, he won't have to worry about a shortage of funds in the short term.

Returning to the casting of "Run, Dad!", Jackie Chan flew directly from Hong Kong Island to Beijing to join the film crew after his vacation.

They also participated in the casting process.

Over the course of a week, Cheng Long and Zhang Jun reviewed over a hundred actor profiles and ultimately selected Wang Zhi.

Zhang Lanxin, Jiang Luxia, and Zhang Zilin play the adult versions of the daughters.

Wang Zhi studied martial arts and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. She can run and jump.

Zhang Zilin was a hurdler who competed in competitions during her teenage years. Later, she became a model and even became this year's Miss World.

She was recommended to audition. Although her acting skills were just average, she had good athletic talent.

The important thing is that he had a good attitude and was very serious, so he was unanimously recognized by Zhang Jun and Cheng Long.

Jiang Luxia and Zhang Lanxin both came from sports schools, and Zhang Jun recalls that they both later became actors.

Zhang Lanxin's long legs in "Chinese Zodiac" left a deep impression, while Jiang Luxia became a specialist in playing female soldiers.

They do have some talent as actresses, which is why Zhang Jun chose them to star in this movie.

In addition, there are scenes depicting the younger versions of the four characters, played by Meng Ziyi, Zhang Xueying, Chen Xi, and Xu Ran, all of whom were selected through auditions.

Meng Ziyi and Zhang Jun had previously collaborated on "About Time," where Meng Ziyi played the daughter of the male lead, played by Chen Kun.

Zhang Xueying started her career as a child star and has participated in many film and television dramas at a young age, making her very experienced.

The other two were non-professionals with no prior acting experience, but their audition performances were quite good.

Aside from actors who need to audition, Zhang Jun basically invites well-known actors to participate in other roles. Now, his films have become projects that many actors are willing to lower their fees to participate in.

The role of the mother is played by Sarina, who is a specialist in playing mothers in various films and television dramas. Surprisingly, she and Jackie Chan had great chemistry when they acted together.

Zhang Jun valued the resilience and strength she displayed, believing she was very suitable for the role.

For Sarina, collaborating on a film with a young but highly successful director like Zhang Jun was also an opportunity.

After reading the script, she turned down all her work with the theater troupe and focused on studying the role.

Fan Wei, Zhang Jun's old partner, has returned again. This is his fifth collaboration with Zhang Jun. Except for "Reign of Assassins", Fan Wei has appeared in all the other films.

In this game, Fan Wei plays the role of a coach at a sports school.

Fan Wei admitted, "I've experienced different roles in your dramas, and each one is different. This time it seems quite serious."

Zhang Jun laughed and said, "Your role as Lin Wei's father in 'Bad Genius' has already proven that you are not limited to comedy."

I believe you have the potential to become an actor with a wider range of roles.

For Zhang Jun, Fan Wei is like his Michael Caine. Michael Caine has appeared in many of Christopher Nolan's films, and Fan Wei might just become a part of the Easter eggs in Zhang Jun's movies in the future.

In addition, actors such as Jiang Wu, Xu Zheng, Liu Hua, Pu Cunxin, and Wang Yanhui, a fellow townsman of Zhang Jun, also participated in this film.

Of course, the story also includes a younger version of Li Dashan, played by Jackie Chan, but Zhang Jun did not force Jackie Chan to play the younger version of Li Dashan.

In another decade or so, with the advancement of AI technology, movies will be able to use AI to recreate the appearance of actors in their youth. "The Wandering Earth 2" is the first film to do this.

But nowadays, even Hollywood can't solve this problem, let alone Chinese-language films, whose special effects industry is practically non-existent.

Therefore, a young actor was needed to play the role of Li Dashan. Huang Xiaoming, Deng Chao, Chen Kun and others have expressed interest in the role.

However, Zhang Jun thought they were too old and ultimately chose Sun Yizhou, who performed well in the audition.

For Sun Yizhou, this is both an opportunity and a pressure. Although the role he plays has few scenes, it is very important, and he also has scenes of participating in a running race.

Therefore, although he was excited after getting the role, before Zhang Jun called on the actors to train, he paid for a running coach to guide him in running.

Upon learning of Sun Yizhou's preparations, Zhang Jun was very satisfied. As expected of Lu Xiaobu, his self-awareness was much stronger than that of many later actors.

No wonder he was able to participate in so many big projects later on; he was willing to work hard, and no director would dislike a hardworking person.

Of course, this is all predicated on the director actually seeing your efforts.

Otherwise, no matter how hard an extra tries, the director won't notice you. After all, the crew has so much work to do; the director doesn't have time to care whether an extra is trying or not.

The cast is basically finalized, and this lineup makes the entire film both visually appealing and highly capable.

However, the pressure is still immense for the young actors, since apart from Wang Zhi, none of them are from professional acting schools.

If they mess up the performance, they don't know what to do.

At the first meeting with the lead actors, Zhang Jun said, "We have many veteran actors participating this time. If you young actors don't understand something, you should consult these veterans more often. I believe they can help you."

Several young actors agreed.

Jackie Chan also laughed and said, "Don't be nervous, just relax and do your best in your performance."

Wang Zhi thought to himself, "This is a collaboration with Zhang Jun and Brother Cheng Long, how can I not be nervous?"

Sun Yizhou was also very nervous, as he plays the younger version of Li Dashan. Zhang Jun also emphasized that he needed to find a rhythm that resonated with Jackie Chan.

Although the two are not alike, Zhang Jun expects Sun Yizhou to resemble Cheng Long's character, which is a difficult requirement.

Therefore, Sun Yizhou constantly observed Cheng Long's expressions and movements, and then imitated them. Sometimes the two would also exchange their views on the characters to achieve a shared understanding.

Cheng Long said to Zhang Jun, "This young man has a good attitude and is willing to work hard to study the role."

Zhang Jun, however, said, "He was just doing his duty as an actor."

Jackie Chan shook his head: "You don't know, some young actors these days have really bad attitudes. If you criticize them, they get upset and think you're meddling."

Zhang Jun smiled but didn't say anything.

Cheng Long didn't know that in a few years, the attitudes of young actors would be even worse. They wouldn't even be considered actors anymore; they wouldn't be doing anything an actor should do.