Huayu: Everyone's been reborn, who's still going to be an actor?

Has Jiang Wen gone mad?

Cheng Yuan didn't know.

If this is all there is to it, then if "Let the Bullets Fly" breaks box office records like the original timeline, then it'll be soaring to the heavens.

"Let the Bullets Fly" won Best Director, "The Hidden One" won the Silver Lion, and "Still Life," like the original, won the Golden Lion.

However, whether abroad or in China, the popularity of the movie "Let the Bullets Fly" far surpasses that of "Still Life".

After the awards ceremony, Cheng Yuan ignored the online reactions and went straight to sleep.

The next day, I got up early as usual, practiced boxing for a while, and then went to the company.

Not long after, Jiang Wen called.

"Let the Bullets Fly won an award, aren't you even paying attention?"

"I watched the awards ceremony live."

"So you didn't even react? You could at least send a congratulatory text message."

"What, you want me to say you're even more awesome?" Cheng Yuan replied with a laugh. "I'm just afraid you'll get arrogant."

"I can float?"

"You're not getting cocky?"

"How could I possibly drift?"

"But you seem pretty cocky, you were shouting 'You're awesome' on the podium."

"Isn't that awesome?"

"Awesome!"

"That settles it."

"Actually, I'm more interested in how much the overseas rights to 'Let the Bullets Fly' have been sold?"

"Still under negotiation."

......

"Let the Bullets Fly" generated a lot of buzz overseas, not to mention in China.

Even though "Still Life" won the Golden Lion Award, its popularity paled in comparison to "Let the Bullets Fly".

The topic of "Let the Bullets Fly" has exploded.

Jiang Wen's acceptance speech has sparked much discussion.

He won Best Actor for the film he starred in, and Best Director for the film he directed.

So, who is more awesome, Jiang Wen or Cheng Yuan?

This topic has generated an astonishing amount of buzz online.

It is also very controversial.

Some people think Jiang Wen is even more impressive, as he has won awards for both acting and directing.

Some people think Cheng Yuan is even more impressive.

After all, he created the script, and the script is the foundation of a play.

Without a script, what's the point of Jiang Wen acting or directing?

Moreover, Cheng Yuan is not just a screenwriter; he is also a great director.

Of course, many people also think they are all awesome.

What's there to argue about?

Jiang Wen had no intention of competing with Cheng Yuan.

However, the controversy was intense, which led to the film's high popularity.

Unfortunately, this movie is still a long way from being released.

That evening, Jiang Wen led the main cast back to China from Venice. Although Cheng Yuan had stayed up late the night before and had been busy all day, he still went to pick them up at the airport.

"Wow, they actually came to pick you up from the airport? That's rare!"

When Jiang Wen saw Cheng Yuan, he smiled and made a joke.

"I just wanted to see if you'd gotten too cocky," Cheng Yuan said with a smile. "That's all."

"Just a Best Director award, what's there for me to get cocky about?" Jiang Wen said. "Maybe I'll get a little cocky when I've collected all three major film awards. You've already won the Best Actor awards at the three major European film festivals, and you haven't gotten cocky at all!"

"It's not like I won the award," Cheng Yuan said with a smile. "If I won the Best Actor award at one of the three major European film festivals, I would definitely be arrogant."

"Do you even have acting skills? What makes you think you can win the Best Actor awards at the three major European film festivals?" Jiang Wen said. "But can you help me win them? I have acting skills. As long as there's a good script, I don't even need you to direct. I can do it myself."

"Even though it's nighttime, this is still daydreaming," Cheng Yuan said. "By the way, how much did you sell the overseas rights for?"

"Over ten million US dollars in total," Jiang Wen said with a smile. "Tsk tsk, that's a lot more than your 'The Distinguished Citizen.' This movie made money. Isn't that amazing?"

More than ten million?

Cheng Yuan was not as surprised as he had imagined.

This film is not simply a low-budget art film.

Do foreign filmmakers not see the commercial elements in it?

"How much did you make?" Cheng Yuan laughed. "Don't you know that 'The Distinguished Citizen' earned tens of millions just from its overseas copyrights?"

Jiang Wen fell silent.

The production cost of "Let the Bullets Fly" was much higher than that of "Distinguished Citizen".

There is indeed no comparison in terms of profitability.

But it's already good enough if my movies don't lose money; this time they even made a lot of money. Shouldn't I be proud of myself?

"I have to admit, your name played a part in the fact that the overseas rights to 'Let the Bullets Fly' sold for such a high price," Jiang Wen said. "Your name is much more effective abroad than mine now."

He participated in the copyright negotiations and actually used Cheng Yuan's name to raise the price, and people actually bought into it.

"Should I let myself float around a bit?"

Cheng Yuan replied with a smile.

"You can certainly get a little cocky," Jiang Wen said. "That film that won the Golden Lion Award, it seems, only has half of our overseas rights, maybe even less."

"The difference in domestic box office revenue will probably be even greater," Cheng Yuan said. "You can get a little cocky then. But think about how much their movie cost."

Cheng Yuan dropped Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun off at home and then left. As for the celebration, it was naturally not going to happen tonight.

It will take some time.

"Let the Bullets Fly" made money solely from its overseas copyright, which instantly relieved the pressure on the investors.

The domestic box office should be pretty good.

Whether it's director Jiang Wen, screenwriter Cheng Yuan, or actors, they all have considerable box office appeal.

Moreover, Jiang Wen's directorial debut after a five-year ban, which won him the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival, naturally garnered significant attention.

The key point is that this movie also generates a lot of buzz.

Cheng Yuan paid Jiang Wen for his role in "Buried Alive".

We can certainly look forward to the box office performance of this movie.

Jiang Wen was busy with something after he came back, and it took him a week to organize a gathering and celebrate privately.

Besides him, there were also Han Sanping, Yang Shoucheng, and others.

They are mostly investors.

"The reception of 'The Banquet' doesn't seem to be very good?"

During the meal, movies were naturally a topic of conversation.

"The Banquet" has been released for two days and the box office is still quite good, but it did not meet expectations. The word-of-mouth is really not good.

Judging from the current box office performance, it seems that the domestic box office alone is far from breaking even, while the overseas rights seem to be selling poorly.

"The plot has many loopholes, lacks persuasiveness, and lacks compelling logic. It's too theatrical and feels fake."

Jiang Wen gave his own evaluation.

He and Han Sanping both attended the premiere.

Cheng Yuan was also there, so the others looked at him, wanting to hear his opinion as the director, since he had previously stated that he didn't have a high opinion of this kind of big-budget production.

"The combination of Chinese and Western classics feels a bit forced. The dialogue is also problematic, feeling somewhat incongruous. The relationships between the characters lack logical coherence," Cheng Yuan said. "However, I think the biggest failure lies in the dragging and weak narrative. This film is actually trying to please Western audiences, but I estimate it will please neither."

"I wonder how 'Project Baby' is being received?" Han Sanping asked, looking at Cheng Yuan. "Are you feeling any pressure?"

"Taken" had a much larger budget than "Rob-B-Hood".

If "The Myth" doesn't break 100 million yuan at the mainland box office, and "Rob-B-Hood" also doesn't break 100 million yuan at the mainland box office, then Cheng Long's box office appeal will likely be questioned.

"The chances of losing money are slim," Cheng Yuan said. "The only question is how much we'll make."