Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

The crew's preparations are proceeding smoothly.

Huang Wenbin, Xu Xiaoming, and Wu Tianming are also polishing the script to the last detail.

The original script of "The Cotton Robe" was quite rough, with many plot points lacking logic and containing obvious loopholes.

However, at that time, there was a real shortage of films in China, and this film was quite entertaining, so it achieved a very sensational effect.

However, throughout the film, most of the characters were rather unrealistic and lacked any outstanding moments, resulting in only the villain played by Yu Rongguang becoming a hit.

For example, in one scene, the protagonist Huineng is being chased by the villain Qi Tianyuan, and they fight near Shaolin Temple. Huineng is no match for him and jumps off a cliff. Then the scene changes, and he is unconscious on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

The cliffs of Shaolin Temple became a teleportation portal, directly transporting him there. Later, when Qi Tianyuan went from Shaolin to Wudang and back from Wudang, it was almost like teleportation.

The original story is set in the late Ming Dynasty, a time of frequent natural disasters. The Eastern Depot seized power and exploited the people, leading to widespread suffering. Righteous figures from various regions, under the banner of Shaolin, opposed Wang Cheng, the minister in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Wang Cheng, deeply dissatisfied, planned to destroy Shaolin, sending Qi Tianyuan to steal the cotton cassock from the temple and seize control, thus triggering a series of events.

The background of this story is actually okay, but it has several flaws that made Huang Wenbin unable to help but complain.

First, the Eastern Depot seized power, but the main villain turned out to be the minister in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which made the hatred level a bit off. Moreover, Wang Cheng basically didn't appear much after that, so he was just a tool.

Secondly, the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was called the Commander, not the Minister in charge.

The film is titled "The Kapok Robe," but in reality, this item has almost no presence in the drama. Several fight scenes are ostensibly about the robe, but during the fights, the robe simply falls to the ground and nobody cares.

There are many other minor flaws like this. For example, the four daughters of the Mongolian uncle are somewhat superfluous. Apart from the female lead, the others don't have much screen time and can't even be considered as plot devices.

Huang Wenbin had already made changes to these minor issues when he rewrote the script.

For example, since it was the Eastern Depot that usurped power, the main villain should naturally be someone from the Eastern Depot. So Wang Cheng became the supervisor of the Eastern Depot. He heard that the secret treasure of Shaolin Temple, the "Cotton Kasaya," recorded the secret method of Bodhidharma, which could regenerate severed limbs. So he sent his assassin Qi Tianyuan to infiltrate Shaolin Temple, seize the opportunity to take control of Shaolin Temple.

When Shaolin Temple was in dire straits, the abbot found several trusted martial monks, including Qi Tianyuan, and ordered them to protect the brocade box containing the cassock and go to seek refuge with a senior monk who had returned to secular life. On the way, Qi Tianyuan ambushed Huineng, kicked him off a cliff, and took the cassock back with him.

However, the robe was actually a fake. Wang Cheng was furious and demanded that Qi Tianyuan obtain the genuine article, or he would be killed. Qi Tianyuan had no choice but to lead his men in pursuit, eventually reaching the grasslands. The martial uncle, who claimed to be the leader of the Shaolin lay disciples, possessed extremely high martial arts skills, but he was killed by Qi Tianyuan in a single exchange.

Based on what the Grand Alliance Leader's daughter said, Huineng deduced that the real cotton cassock might be kept at Wudang. Another great battle broke out at Wudang, and Qi Tianyuan was defeated and returned to Shaolin.

Wang Cheng planned to use the lives of all the monks in the temple to force Huineng and his group to return the cotton cassock. Huineng and his group, along with the Wudang Taoist priests, returned to attack. Seeing the situation was dire, Wang Cheng wanted to make Qi Tianyuan take the blame so he could escape. Qi Tianyuan stabbed him to death, then claimed that Huineng and his group had killed him, temporarily seizing control of the Eastern Depot's agents and engaging in a major battle with Huineng and his group.

In the end, Qi Tianyuan was killed by several people working together. Huineng became the abbot of Shaolin Temple, betraying the deep affection of the female lead.

How can one find a way to have it all, to be true to both the Buddha and the beloved?

The story seems much more polished, but to make it truly captivating, it still requires the meticulous cooperation of the entire crew of over a hundred people.

Huang Wenbin initially wanted to cut the grassland scenes, but the scene of thousands of horses galloping was so captivating that he kept it.

Over the next two days, the three leaders of the production team began to discuss and decide on the main roles.

Although they selected several martial arts athletes together last time, they still need to hold a meeting to confirm who will play whom.

Currently, Zhao Changjun is the most suitable candidate for the role of Huineng, and there is not much controversy about this.

The main villain, Qi Tianyuan, has also been confirmed to be played by Yu Rongguang.

Besides Huang Qiuyan, Coach Wu Bin later recommended Chen Yongxia, a 17-year-old martial arts athlete from Guangdong, who is skilled in Tai Chi sword.

After careful consideration, Huang Wenbin, Xu Xiaoming, and Wu Tianming still felt that Huang Qiuyan's image was the most suitable.

However, Chen Yongxia was also retained and was given the role of the female lead's sister.

She later married Hong Kong actor Kao Hsiung. Kao Hsiung is the actor who played Huo Yuanjia in the TV series "Fist of Fury" starring Zhen Zidan, and Shangguan Jin Hong, the leader of the Money Gang, in the TV series "Little Li Flying Dagger" starring Jiao Enjun.

The next important figures above them were indeed Wang Cheng and his four top lieutenants.

Wang Cheng was a grand eunuch and the head of the Eastern Depot. He needed to have an imposing appearance, but also be full of sinister energy.

This character was inspired by Cao Shaoqin from Tsui Hark's "New Dragon Gate Inn," the villain played by Zhen Zidan.

However, Zhen Zidan is too young to play this role.

After much deliberation, Huang Wenbin brought in Coach Wu Bin and asked him to play the role.

Coach Wu Bin initially wanted to refuse, but Huang Wenbin directly threatened him that if he didn't agree, he would take all the athletes in the team to act in a movie, leaving him as a lone commander for several months.

Hearing this, Wu Bin had no choice but to agree.

Then there are the four bosses, which is also a setting borrowed from "New Dragon Gate Inn".

Lu Xiaochuan, originally played by Ng Kai-wah, is now played by Yen Tsz-dan, who is the youngest of the four gang leaders.

The eldest leader, Jia Ting, will still be played by Liu Xun. In addition, Liu Xun will also play Xuanji Zhenren of Wudang after donning a long white beard.

The third leader, Cao Tian, ​​is also played by Xiong Xinxin. He must have a black mole on his forehead to make it more authentic.

The last leader, He Hu, was played by Qiu Jianguo, also from the Guangdong team. He was recommended by teacher Wu Bin and was a five-time champion of Southern Fist. His most famous movie is "The King of Southern Fist," but his most famous role is the leader of the Shahe Gang in the first "Once Upon a Time in China" film starring Li Lianjie.

This man has dark skin and a fierce face; he looks like a villain.

The abbot of Shaolin Temple is played by Ma Zhenbang, who is the head coach of the Shaanxi team. He is very angry when he hears that his disciple Zhao Changjun has been brought in to act, so he comes to confront Huang Wenbin and the others.

The theoretical result was that he himself was also pulled in to play the abbot of Shaolin Temple.

Another rather special character is Guo Da, an actor from the Shaanxi Drama Troupe. He was recruited by Wu Tianming to act in the play, and with his bald head, he could easily pass for a Shaolin disciple without even needing to shave it.

The cast is pretty much finalized.

On the third day, the actors arrived at the Beijing Film Studio one after another.

Factory Director Wang specially set aside a large area from the photography studio to facilitate their training.

In addition to acting classes, physical training classes, and martial arts routine classes, the training also includes daily script reading sessions.

Although many people at the Beijing Film Studio had reservations about the production team, especially about Huang Wenbin, who was so young yet had taken on such a big role, making some of the older employees so jealous that they couldn't eat or sleep.

Huang Wenbin didn't bother with these mediocre people at all and continued to carry out his scheduled work in an orderly manner.

Just when the training was almost over and they felt ready to head to Henan, bad news suddenly arrived, making Huang Wenbin nervous.