This director is so innocent.

Chapter 351 Under Immense Pressure, Li Lianhua Engages in Cosplay

"I know this tree."

"Under this tree, countless heroes of the War of Resistance against Japan sacrificed their lives."

This passage is from the movie "Under the Hawthorn Tree," where Teacher Luo introduces the origin of the hawthorn tree to her students.

Su Jin finally gave in to Liu Yifei's wish and came to see a movie with her.

He frowned as he watched the movie, and the original author, Amy, was right to criticize him.

Changing the character "Huanhuan" from a boy to a girl wouldn't cause much of a problem and wouldn't affect the plot development.

But this line is so ridiculously wrong!

Those who have graduated from nine years of compulsory education know that "one after another" means "when the person in front falls, the person behind continues to rush forward."

It's obviously inappropriate to put it here. I don't know how Zhang Yimou's team reviews scripts; they can make such a basic mistake.

Zhang Weiping is a complete idiot; all he does is criticize and complain, he doesn't even bother to check the script.

Furthermore, the fact that Teacher Luo, played by Cheng Taishen, repeatedly interrupts Captain Zhang is also unrealistic.

You must understand, Teacher Luo was an intellectual; how could he dare to so brazenly interrupt Captain Zhang, a poor and lower-middle peasant?

As an intellectual, Professor Luo wouldn't be so rude as to interrupt and steal the conversation several times.

The props were also simple and perfunctory. When Jingqiu and the others went to Xiping, they rode in a very modern and clean car.

This is not a product of the early 1970s at all. Throughout the entire film, no matter where a bus appears, it is always the same one, which seems very misleading.

Overall, there are too many things to criticize. It doesn't seem like Zhang Yimou's work at all; it feels like a product rushed out to make money.

Su Jin frowned as he watched, and Liu Yifei beside him was in no better shape.

Although she didn't find any errors in the dialogue, she did find that the English translation at the beginning of the movie was full of mistakes and was simply misleading foreigners.

Liu Yifei didn't want to watch the rest of the plot anymore. She turned to look at Su Jin and found that he was also distracted, probably just like her.

"Su Jin, shall we go?"

"Leave? Isn't it a bad look?"

"It's not good. There are too many common sense errors. I can't stand watching it."

"Let's go then!" Su Jin stood up, looked around, and found that the occupancy rate was not high, with a large number of empty seats, less than 50%.

After the two left the movie theater, Liu Yifei asked curiously, "Su Jin, I heard that 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' cost 7000 million yuan. Is that really true?"

"You're listening to Zhang Weiping's nonsense. Apart from Zhang Yimou, there isn't a single big star in the movie; it's all newcomers."

There were no special effects or large-scale scenes, so why would it cost 70 million? If you deduct Zhang Yimou's salary, it could have been filmed for 5 million.

"So little?" Liu Yifei was taken aback. She didn't believe that "Under the Hawthorn Tree" had a budget of 7000 million, but she didn't expect it to be so little.

"Of course, you can calculate it yourself. Zhou Dongyu and Dou Xiao probably don't even have 50,000 yuan. The other actors are all veteran actors who aren't very famous. Their combined pay is probably only around one million yuan."

The production team consists of Zhang Yimou's old acquaintances, so it won't cost much—five million should be about right, maybe two million more at most.

Su Jin paused for a moment, then continued, "Let me tell you some inside information: Zhang Weiping's New Pictures didn't contribute any money; all the funding came from Universal Pictures, Meijin Films, and IDG."

He felt that this statement was somewhat imprecise, so he added, "To be precise, Zhang Weiping provided the money, but his money was not used."

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Before the two fell out, Zhang Yimou had contributed a small amount of money to all his films except for "Keep Cool" and "The Flowers of War." He hadn't contributed a single penny to the rest of his films, essentially playing a game of getting something for nothing.

"My Father and Mother" was funded by Columbia Pictures Asia.

"Happy Times" was invested in by a Mr. Yang from Zhuhai Zhenrong Company and was produced under the logo of Guangxi Film Studio.

The money for five films, including "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers," and "Curse of the Golden Flower," was raised by Jiang Zhiqiang.

Zhang Weiping can play like this because Zhang Yimou spoils him too much.

Others who want to collaborate with Zhang Yimou have two conditions: first, domestic distribution must be handled by New Pictures; second, New Pictures must be one of the producers and must be credited.

It can be said that Zhang Yimou treats Zhang Weiping even better than his own son.

Liu Yifei was amazed; she never expected Zhang Weiping to be so shrewd.

She asked curiously, "Why is Director Zhang Yimou so good to Zhang Weiping?"

"In the early years, no one invested in Zhang Yimou's films, but Zhang Weiping invested in them and lost a lot of money. Zhang Yimou felt very guilty towards him."

Furthermore, Zhang Weiping secretly obtained the birth certificates for Zhang Yimou's three children.

Su Jin chuckled twice, then changed the subject, saying, "However, this birth certificate is fake."

"Fake?" Liu Yifei's eyes widened, her face full of surprise.

Su Jin nodded and instructed, "Yes, this is something only you should know. Don't tell anyone else."

Liu Yifei suddenly asked, "Does Liu Shishi know?"

Su Jin was stunned. Liu Yifei changed the subject too quickly, leaving him no time to react.

"What are you standing there for? Say something!"

"Why are you asking this again? What's the point of comparing these things?"

"You don't understand." Liu Yifei smiled and continued to press.

"I don't know, I didn't tell Shishi." Su Jin shook his head, mainly because his sister hadn't asked him either, so he didn't tell her.

When will filming begin for your "The Flowers of War"?

"The exact time hasn't been set yet, but I'll be joining the training group in December."

"Keep it up, and strive to make 'The Flowers of War' another representative work of yours."

"Thanks."

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was cloudless.

Today is a good day for the start of filming.

Su Jin stood at the head, holding three incense sticks, and led the creators of "Original Code" and the heads of various departments of the crew in worshipping the gods.

The novel "Source Code" features five main characters: Li Xiu (male protagonist), Chen Chen (female protagonist), Xu Jing (female military officer), Yu Hetong (professor), and Pang Hong (terrorist).

The first three characters are important roles with a lot of screen time; the female officer Xu Jing even has more screen time than the female lead Chen Chen.

For these three roles, the male lead Li Xiu and Su Jin played themselves, the female lead Chen Chen was played by Tang Tang, and the female officer was played by Li Lianhua.

Initially, Li Lianhua was reluctant, as even with more screen time, she wasn't the female lead, and it seemed like she was just trying to elevate Tangtang's status.

But because the director was Su Jin, I thought it over and agreed.

Professor Yu Hetong and terrorist Pang Hong have very few scenes, especially the latter, who is basically just a cameo, with a total screen time of less than ten minutes.

Uncle Dong, also known as Wang Jinsong, volunteered to play the role of Yu Hetong, the terrorist Pang Hong, while Lu Fangsheng made a cameo appearance.

The production cost was 80 million, and the publicity cost was 100 million.

There are six investors: Jianmu Media, China Film Group, Yinghuang Entertainment, Yida Film & Television, Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary, and Shanghai Media Group.

Jianmu Media held a 50% stake in the investment, of which 20% was sold to a coal mine owner through Shenmu Film and Television at a premium of two times.

In other words, they earned 4000 million without spending a single penny.

Don't think the coal bosses lost out; they didn't lose anything at all, they actually made a profit because they divided that 20% into ten parts and sold them off.

To this day, Su Jin's project is the hottest project on the market; as soon as it is released, it is snapped up.

剩下50%投资份额，中影12%、英湟20%、亿达13%、电广传媒和文广传媒平分剩下的5%。

Yinghuang did not keep all of its 20% share; it sold 5% to Media Asia Entertainment.

The other four companies did not sell and kept them all.

Regarding the salaries, Su Jin, the director, producer, screenwriter, and lead actor, received a base salary of 2000 million yuan and a 15% share of the box office profits.

Li Lianhua's performance in "The Message" was a huge hit, and she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress. Her salary increased to 300 million yuan, placing her among the top actresses in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Above them are even higher tiers, like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.

Although Tangtang is popular, she only has one film, "Bouquet," and has not won any awards. Her film salary was only 70 yuan.

In order to elevate her status, Su Jin raised her salary to 100 million yuan, since it was just a matter of passing the buck.

He owns 40% of Tangtang's studio.

Uncle Dong didn't have many scenes and wasn't very popular, so he was given 500,000.

Lu Fangsheng has some popularity, but the role is a cameo, and he was paid 500,000.

The product placement in the drama, being a modern production and featuring three big names—Su Jin, Li Lianhua, and Tangtang—generated 4000 million yuan in revenue.

After the opening ceremony, it was time for the press interviews. I answered a few questions and that was it.

The first scene, like before, was a simple one, filming the scene between Li Lianhua and Wang Jinsong.

It was Li Lianhua reporting on the male lead's situation to Wang Jinsong. Both of them are excellent actors and performed very well.

"Click, perfect." Su Jin picked up the coffee Liu Yifei had bought, took a sip, picked up the director's manuscript, and began to arrange things.

While "Source Code" is described as a science fiction film, it's actually more of a suspense thriller. The large-scale scenes rely entirely on special effects, making the filming process quite simple.

What's remarkable is the use of 3D technology, since only a few of Steven Quali's henchmen in the entire crew knew how to use it.

The rest were all greenhorns; even though they had filmed a short film before, they still had a lot to consider.

"director."

When Su Jin heard someone calling him, he looked up and saw Li Lianhua, who was wearing a military uniform and looked very dashing.

It must be said that Li Lianhua looks really handsome in military uniform; her appearance is particularly suitable for heroic roles.

For example, Shangguan Wan'er in "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" was so cool when she dismounted from her horse in the peach blossom forest.

"What's wrong?"

"I need to ask for leave in advance. 'Detective Dee' will be released on the 29th, and I need to go back next week for promotional activities."

"How many days?"

"One week."

"It's too long. There are so many big names in 'Detective Dee,' we don't need you. How about four days?" Su Jin bargained. Li Lianhua had a lot of scenes, and if they hired her for a week, what would they even film?

"Director, I also want to go for four days, but I can't make that decision myself. You have to talk to President Wang," Li Lianhua said helplessly.

She really didn't want to go for so long; roadshows are too tiring, and nobody likes to do them. But she had no choice; she had signed a contract and had to cooperate with the promotion.

"Okay, I'll call Xiao Wang." Su Jin didn't hesitate and immediately took out her phone to call Xiao Wang.

Xiao Wang rambled on for a while, but the main point was that he wouldn't agree unless Weibo allocated more promotional resources to "Detective Dee".

Su Jin scoffed at this and directly threatened that if they didn't agree, he wouldn't release them and would suppress the controversy on Weibo.

Xiao Wang was furious, but he couldn't do anything about Su Jin, so he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

However, the number of days has increased by one day, making it five days.

"All done, five days."

"Thank you, Director." Li Lianhua was overjoyed and said, "Director, you'll have to go back to Beijing then, won't you?"

"Yes, the premiere of 'Painted Skin 2' is on the 27th, I need to go back there."

Upon hearing this, Li Lianhua's eyes dimmed, and she felt a deep sense of unease.

Su Jin had sent her an audition invitation for "Painted Skin 1", but she wasn't too interested at the time and didn't persist.

If I had agreed back then, I wouldn't have ended up at the bottom of the "Four Dan and Two Bing" group.

Her arch-rival Fan Bingbing also couldn't take shortcuts and easily surpassed her, her popularity now rivaling that of Zhang Ziyi.

Fortunately, Fan Bingbing doesn't have any major awards to her name right now, otherwise she wouldn't just be rivaling Zhang Ziyi in popularity, but on equal footing.

In the dead of night, all was quiet.

After returning from her meeting with the department head of the production team, Su Jin continued to study the script.

He was under a lot of pressure, and he was nowhere near as carefree as he used to be when making movies.

After all, this is the first time 3D technology has been used in China, and the press releases have been spread all over the internet. If it turns out to be a pile of garbage when it's actually shown, it would be incredibly embarrassing.

Su Jin worked until after 11 p.m. before putting down her pen, stretching, and preparing to rest.

Suddenly, the room bell rang.

"Who is this? Why aren't they sleeping so late? Could it be Liu Yifei?" Su Jin muttered, getting up and walking towards the door.

Ya Huazi hasn't gone back yet; he's staying here, waiting for him to return to the capital so they can go back together.

He was overthinking it. It wasn't Ya Hua Zi outside the door, it was Li Lian Hua, still wearing the military uniform designed for her by the film crew.

Coming over in this outfit so late at night, the meaning couldn't be clearer.

Su Jin didn't even pretend and turned to let her in.

"Su Jin, why aren't you replying to my text messages?" Li Lianhua asked, puzzled. She had come to look for Su Jin around 10 o'clock, but she wasn't there.

"I was in a meeting and didn't see the message you sent me."

The two didn't exchange many words and went straight to the point. Su Jin was quite familiar with this, having discussed it once before.

Li Lianhua's cosplay aroused his great desire to conquer, which greatly increased his strength, causing him to defeat Li Lianhua and lose his armor.

Just as he was about to end the fight, the doorbell rang again.

Is it this lively here tonight?

Li Lianhua, who was immersed in the Western Paradise, also heard it. She opened her eyes abruptly and looked at Su Jin, as if asking what to do.

Su Jin did not respond to her, nor did she respond to the outside world.

You know what, it's actually quite exciting.

After an unknown amount of time, the battle ended.

By this time, the ringing outside had stopped, but the cell phone rang; it was Tangtang calling.

I pressed the answer button, told Tangtang that I wasn't feeling well today and that we'd try again later, and then hung up.

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