Reborn in the Entertainment Industry: This Top Star Has Real Achievements

The two were not surprised at all when they saw Zhang Yimou come in.

Unsure how much he actually listened to, I decided not to hide anything from him.

Uncle Wang went even further, saying, "It's Xiao Xiang; she's planning to work with me on another film."

"We just discussed a script, and it sounds pretty good. We'll start preparing for it in advance, and filming will begin next year when he has free time."

Li Xiang nodded in agreement and added, "It's an art film. Uncle Wang is quite picky; he insisted on something warm, healing, and with a redemptive theme."

Zhang Yimou laughed upon hearing this and defended his friend, saying, "How is this being picky? A heartwarming film is quite good; it's very rare in the market right now."

He had a general idea of ​​the scope and implications of this new project.

However, this made it difficult for him to ask Li Xiang for a collaboration.

After all, including the one Xiao Lie has, this kid already has three films in his hands.

Although "Coming Home" is not finished filming yet, he always likes to prepare in advance and it is impossible for him to waste more than a year waiting for Li Xiang's schedule.

Rather than doing that, it's better not to mention it at all.

To avoid making it seem like I'm taking advantage of someone's kindness and demanding something in return.

Besides, Li Xiang has no shortage of good projects, and the two I have might not be able to arouse much interest in the other party.

It was a rare opportunity to meet, and there were no outsiders around, so he wanted Li Xiang to give him some advice, since everyone knew that Li Xiang had a famously good eye for talent.

"You must have heard from Mr. Zhao that a Hollywood script has been handed to me."

His words reminded Li Xiang of his earlier plan to discuss with Zhang Yimou the choice between the two scripts.

Right now, Zhang Yimou is a real cash cow for Huace Media, especially given their dire financial straits. Naturally, everyone hopes his next film will be a huge hit.

As for that "The Great Wall" thing, it's best to get as far away from it as possible.

Moreover, as the art director of Huace and a director with a ten-year contract, if he takes on an outside project, will the company invest or not?

Even if investing money in this lousy film doesn't result in a huge loss, it won't generate much profit either.

Not only will this be a waste of time and effort, but it will also likely affect the stock price. How can this be allowed...?

But if they don't invest, Zhang Yimou's precious year will be wasted on foreign films, which is equivalent to the company paying a year's signing fee for nothing. No matter how you look at it, it's a huge loss.

Therefore, Li Xiang had long wanted to find an opportunity to have a good talk with Zhang Yimou about this matter.

But now that my status is different, if I talk about these things again, it will seem like I'm using my shareholder status to pressure people, which could easily damage our personal relationship.

His mind raced, and he didn't miss a single word Zhang Yimou said, quickly figuring out the whole story.

To put it bluntly, Universal and Legendary's motives are very pure: to make money.

On one hand, they leveraged Zhang Yimou's fame to capture the mainland market, and on the other hand, they inserted a big-name Hollywood actor to capture the overseas market, making a killing on both ends.

Just as he predicted, Zhang Yimou still preferred that nonsensical film, "The Great Wall."

As for the better "The First Qin Empire," I don't know if I'm blind or what, but I always feel like I want to avoid this project.

Li Xiang absolutely cannot allow things to develop in this direction.

Zhang Yimou's true strength lies in his art direction, color scheme, and ability to handle grand, real-life scenes.

Is The Great Wall grand? Yes, it is, but its grandeur is entirely built upon special effects.

What are they doing? It's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—a complete waste of resources.

He simply interrupted Zhang Yimou without waiting for him to finish speaking.

"The Qin Dynasty is clearly in better condition and has more depth. Uncle Zhang, do you have any concerns?"

Li Xiang's words brought it to a close, and Uncle Wang, who had been listening in, finally understood.

Yes, Zhang Yimou was objectively introducing the two projects, but anyone with eyes could see the bias in his words.

His mind was clearly more focused on "The Great Wall".

This is quite different from the Zhang Yimou he remembered.

Is this monster movie, which sounds like it's all about special effects, really that tempting?

If it were him, he would absolutely not accept this kind of script.

The plot lacks any depth or substance; as a director who has won the Golden Lion Award, he can't afford to lose face like this.

Zhang Yimou hadn't expected Li Xiang to be so perceptive, able to spot even the subtle inclinations hidden in his words at a glance.

But now that the truth has been revealed, an explanation must be given: he is not a completely unrestrained free director after all.

"As you know, the story of the First Qin Empire cannot be separated from the character of the First Emperor."

"But when I made 'Hero,' I was already bombarded with criticism, so I don't really want to touch similar themes again."

"Furthermore, Legendary Pictures is more optimistic about monster blockbusters. This movie could even be linked with their other works to create a monster universe."

Li Xiang was genuinely surprised. It's been so long since "Hero," yet Zhang Yimou still holds a grudge about it, and even remembers it now.

The second point is also easy to understand: amidst the wave of special effects, Legendary has placed all its bets on the MonsterVerse, which is almost common knowledge in Hollywood.

The idea was wonderful, but reality was cruel. Li Xiang knew exactly what kind of mess this movie would turn out to be.

That resulted in a direct loss of nearly 100 million US dollars.

If Zhang Yimou really directed this film, it wouldn't be far off from being another masterpiece.

Even if he tried his best to win the Cannes Best Actress award for "Coming Home", he couldn't withstand Zhang Yimou's antics.

"What is the approximate budget for the film?"

"120 million US dollars, Legend gave me a rough figure."

"Haha, that's quite a big spender. It's impressive that they're willing to spend 120 million to make a film about Westerners saving the Great Wall."

"Uncle, don't take offense, but I'm afraid you're not going to care about your reputation anymore. Are you planning to immigrate to the United States with your whole family?"

Not only was Uncle Wang stunned, but even Zhang Yimou was surprised that Li Xiang's words were so barbed.

They practically pointed their fingers at him and accused him of being a traitor and selling out his country. Even though Zhang Yimou is usually very composed, his face turned bright red.

"It's just a plot device in a movie..."

"I know," Li Xiang said, not backing down an inch.

"Art is art, and people are people. Art may be innocent, but what about the people who photograph art?"

"You've even earned the title of Imperial Advisor, and this is what you film for us? A foreigner travels all the way to save the Great Wall?"

"...What exactly are you thinking? Do you hate this country?"