Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

In a public secondary school in Yuen Long,

"Detachment" is currently being filmed in full swing.

Just as the students in Hong Kong were starting their summer vacation, Zhuang Huai'an brought his film crew to the school.

He was running out of time and had to hurry up and catch up.

Fortunately, the actors were all veteran actors. The only challenge was Zheng Xinyi, who had never acted before. Surprisingly, her father, Zheng Shaoqiu, came to teach her personally.

Zhuang Huai'an clicked his tongue in amazement. It seemed that the father and daughter were not as distant as the rumors suggested.

While he was rushing to meet deadlines here, "Gone Girl" was finally released in mainland China.

The reason it's been shelved isn't because Han Sanping isn't in a hurry, but because the situation was indeed special recently, and Han felt that the box office was likely to flop, so it was better to release it for a while.

The film had already won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and with Zhuang Huai'an's recent Palme d'Or win, it was riding high.

It's also possible that people had some thoughts of revenge spending, which led to the success of "Gone Girl," which grossed 940 million on its opening day.

This film is more of a commercial film, but it also has artistic merit. The concept of marriage in the plot is considered unconventional in today's era, which has led to various debates.

The widespread public discussion fueled the film's soaring box office, with it grossing over 10 million yuan on its second day alone. At this rate, it should easily surpass 100 million yuan before its run ends.

Seeing that Liu Yifei had no intention of returning to Beijing even after ten days or half a month, Aunt Liu eventually followed her to Hong Kong.

During a break from filming "Detachment," Aunt Liu watched Xiaobaicai clinging to Zhuang Huai'an behind the monitor and sighed helplessly. Although she didn't object to the two being close, she didn't want her daughter to be so cheap and eager to be with him.

Moreover, they are still too young, so we need to keep an eye on them and prevent them from making mistakes.

"Wow, Jia Ling's performance was absolutely amazing!"

Watching the playback on the monitor, Liu Yifei was amazed.

Filming for the male lead is nearing its end. Today's main scene is the one where Liu Jialing, who plays a psychologist, has an emotional outburst towards a female student who comes for counseling.

The long monologue showcased the veteran actor's skill.

"Director," Liu Jialing walked over carrying a thermos, "How's it going? Should we do another take?"

Zhuang Huai'an didn't answer immediately. He turned the monitor screen around, dragged the progress bar back to the beginning, and let Liu Jialing watch it herself before speaking.

"The delivery of the lines was well-paced, but the emotion was lacking, especially with those swear words. I need to emphasize them more."

Seeing Liu Jialing's thoughtful expression, Zhuang Huai'an continued, "It's right to be disappointed in students, but this statement is not only criticizing the students, but also the education system and the realities of society."

"I understand," Liu Jialing nodded after thinking for a moment. "Give me ten minutes, I'll think about it some more."

"No rush."

Zhuang Huai'an turned to the production assistant and said, "Just let them know that the crew will be taking a half-hour break."

"Okay, director."

Although "Detachment" is a co-production between mainland China and Hong Kong, it is actually mainly based on Hong Kong. The production team and main actors were all handled by Yinghuang.

Zhuang Huai'an made one request: the film must be shot in Mandarin, and actors who cannot speak Mandarin well should not be accepted.

Because of this, most of Yinghuang's artists were eliminated, which angered Boss Yang so much that he had Huo Wenxi bring in several language teachers from the mainland overnight to force his artists to practice Mandarin every day.

Zhuang Huai'an dismissed this, saying, "You're all so spoiled!"

"Boss, President Dong is here." Du Hua led Dong Ping over.

"Director Zhuang, congratulations!"

Dong Ping was all smiles, which puzzled Zhuang Huai'an, who asked, "Mr. Dong, what's the matter?"

"Director Zhuang doesn't know yet?" Dong Ping asked in surprise, "The box office of 'Gone Girl' has exceeded 100 million."

Zhuang Huai'an looked at Du Hua, who had been responsible for reporting on outside news during this period.

"Yes, boss," Du Hua nodded and explained, "China Film Group issued the announcement half an hour ago. At that time, you were filming, and I received a call from President Dong. I went out to pick him up and bring him to the set, so I couldn't report to you in time."

"It's alright."

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand, "I guess Chairman Han should have sent me a message. I haven't checked my phone yet."

Liu Yifei, who was standing nearby, was happy for him. Upon hearing this, she quickly took his phone out of the pocket next to the director's chair and handed it over like a treasure.

"Private First Class Akane, well done, you have a good eye."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and praised her, then took the phone and saw that, sure enough, his inbox was overflowing with congratulatory text messages.

"It was indeed sent," Zhuang Huai'an quickly replied to Han Sanping with a message he had received, then tossed the phone to Liu Yifei and continued, "Private First Class Qian, the organization has given you a task: reply to these messages for me. Can you do it?"

"Yes, sir!" The little girl raised her hand to her forehead in a strange salute.

"Great, that's very enthusiastic. I'll write you a promotion report right away!"

The people around them were already used to the two's intermittent eccentricities, and just watched with smiles on their faces, but a hint of surprise flashed in Dong Ping's eyes.

"Mr. Dong, would you like to sit down next door?"

"That is exactly what I wish for!"

The two went to the office next door that had been specially reserved for them. Zhuang Huai'an handed them a Seven Stars cigarette and sat down to prepare tea.

"Director Zhuang," Dong Ping lit a cigarette for him and said, "Is this film almost finished filming?"

"That's about it. The male lead's solo scenes are basically finished. There are still a few group scenes to film. If all goes well, we should wrap up filming in about a week."

"I heard this film really put Li Ming through a lot of trouble?"

"King Li is indeed dedicated," Zhuang Huai'an handed him a cup of tea and said with a smile, "To be honest, when I first invited him, I didn't expect him to show such emotion. I can only say that I was narrow-minded."

After tapping his fingers on the table to express his gratitude, Dong Ping teased, "Do you know what outsiders call you these days?"

"What did they say about me?" Zhuang Huai'an asked curiously, as he rarely paid attention to such matters.

"You're better than Wong Kar-wai, better at directing, and better at tormenting actors."

"Ha, I don't want to compete with him."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled faintly: "To say that I torment the actors because the role requires it is simply perverted. A person who only has cinematic language but no expressive ability is best suited for the position of art director, not director."

Dong Ping nodded in agreement. He wasn't flattering Zhuang Huai'an; he had genuinely worked with Sunglasses Wong and knew the man's true nature.

Zhuang Huai'an said this not as a director, but as a pure audience member.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dong Ping got down to business.

"To be honest, I came here this time to buy the Asian rights to 'Gone Girl.' I heard that you sold your previous films one by one, which is a bit of a pity."

Dong Ping observed Zhuang Huai'an's expression and said frankly, "Perhaps you don't know, but Huayi's distribution channels in Southeast Asian countries are quite excellent. I know you don't care much about box office revenue sharing, but unified distribution and individual efforts have different influences."

"That's all?"

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand dismissively, "Given our brotherly relationship, is it really worth you coming all this way to discuss such a trivial matter? I could have just made a phone call and had someone handle it."

"I've made the decision. As long as the price is the same as other companies, you can have the distribution rights."

"Alright, that's enough for me, brother. Huayi isn't short of money!"

Seeing the joy on Dong Ping's face, Zhuang Huai'an smiled inwardly.

Judging by the timeline, Poly and Wanda will be entering the fray next year. Zhuang Huai'an is also envious of such large capital.

Behind Huayi is Baoli.