Chapter 637: Dare to Act Boldly

The office fell silent for a moment as Liu Tianxian watched Fang Hong lowering his head, lost in thought.

Fang Hong was considering feasibility—Liu Tianwang was such a big name it was hard to assign him a role, because no matter how you arranged it, his fans would complain.

Those fans wouldn't just complain—they'd rage that their idol's status was being reduced to a supporting role for Liu Tianxian, demanding justice for Liu Tianwang, possibly triggering public backlash.

This kind of thing easily gets manipulated by narratives.

Just look at The Great Wall—when Liu Tianwang played a supporting role to Jing Tian, his fans protested over the ranking issue, and it got really loud.

Some fans are so obsessed they'll protest and obsess over whether their idol's name comes before or after others'.

Also, Liu Tianwang's status is so high it's hard to assign a role—too little screen time is definitely unacceptable.

As for foreign fans, just ignore them—they're behind the wall anyway, so you won't see them or be bothered, and he doesn't even know English.

Of course, if you expect Liu Tianwang to carry the box office, that's unrealistic—he can't carry any box office at all.

Jiang Zhiqiang sat with his leg crossed, saying nothing, letting them talk first; he'd step in if they couldn't reach an agreement.

"To be honest, Liu Tianwang, the risks of taking you on are still very high," Fang Hong said, looking up.

"I understand that, but don't worry—I'll handle it," Liu Tianwang knew his fans were numerous, and some believed he was being "wronged" and would demand "justice" for him.

"Alright then, since you think you can handle it, I'll give General Manager Jiang some face—you wait for the assignment," Fang Hong decided to take him on.

We can still slot in a role; there are plenty of characters in this movie—just need to decide which one.

He didn't know how Han Jia_nv's side had arranged things.

"Thank you, Principal," Liu Tianwang relaxed.

Landing a role in the Principal's film was like brushing up against the edge of the Neidi entertainment circle.

Deep down, he'd always wanted to enter the Neidi film and TV circle, but never had the chance, never found anyone willing to accept him.

Everyone had their own circles—why would they accept him? His status meant his fee was beyond what ordinary productions could afford.

Hiring him alone costs more than hiring many other actors.

That's the awkwardness of being too big a name without box office power—almost no one wants him; only his own Hong Kong circle can collaborate with him.

"I really owe the Principal a huge favor, hahaha," Jiang Zhiqiang thought the Principal was brilliant.

Saying it that way on purpose gave him face, forcing him to owe a favor in return.

"What favor or not favor—it's all helping each other," Fang Hong said again.

"Exactly, mutual help," Liu Tianxian chimed in.

"Haha, true enough," Jiang Zhiqiang dropped the topic—he'd introduced him, so the favor was his to owe.

Liu Tianwang also looked slightly embarrassed, resolving to repay the favor someday.

The main discussion ended here; Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian needed to return to Beijing to handle some matters.

Back in Beijing, they met Han Jia_nv and Zhang Hongsen, plus two consultants—one was the Director of the Mars Research Institute.

The other was an Expert from the National Space Science Center, specializing in deep-space exploration missions.

Both were introduced by Zhang Hongsen to assist them in filming this international blockbuster.

Ordinary people couldn't normally reach such researchers—they could only seek help.

This film isn't like The Martian with its low-Earth orbit scenes—those details are publicly available, but Mars deep space is about another planet entirely.

The temperature, climate, and seasons of Mars all require expert answers; also, Mars' low-Earth orbit differs from Earth's rotation cycle—how do you mark time?

For example, Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun, while Mars takes 687 days.

Inviting consultant experts avoids basic factual errors—if you shoot everything based on Earth's logic and spatial rules, it's unacceptable and will be criticized.

This is a hard sci-fi film—many details must be precise.

"Thank you both—this film will still need your strong support," Fang Hong shook their hands.

Liu Tianxian was also very polite beside him.

"It's our duty—supporting our country's cultural arts is also a validation of our profession," said a middle-aged man.

After meeting and chatting with the two experts, the group saw them off—they'd join the crew later.

Fang Hong told Han Jia_nv that Liu Tianwang wanted to join The Martian.

This surprised Han Jia_nv: "How will he be arranged?"

"The plot and each character's screen time remain unchanged—see if there's a more significant role you can assign him," Fang Hong said.

"The Mars mission commander—that's the second most important role. The Space Administration's Mars mission director was given to Chen Daoming. There's also the Space Administration Director, but his screen time is minimal."

Han Jia_nv added, "I recommend the Mars commander role—it has heavy screen time and fits his age and image."

"Fine," Fang Hong had no objection—he didn't care about role size, as long as it could be arranged, since he'd already promised.

In the original film, this role was played by Jessica Chastain; here it's changed to Liu Tianwang, with gender swapped.

Having all major supporting roles as female isn't good.

Jessica Chastain's character is the NASA representative—minimal screen time, just a cooperating rescue party.

Zhang Hongsen didn't care who played the role but was concerned about another matter: "How do you plan to handle the political elements in this film?"

The Martian involves political elements—he came just to ask, to have a sense of it.

In the original version, the United States hesitated to seek cooperation due to technology secrecy concerns.

There was also the public opinion issue—media questioned: "The United States relying on foreign aid!"

Their excuse was ridiculous: "Cooperating for a shared human goal!"

In this version, the U. S. side applied pressure and made unreasonable demands, portraying America as a villain indifferent to human life.

There's also a character who engages in political maneuvering—breaking down national barriers for multilateral cooperation, somewhat idealized.

But it's a movie—there must be some fantasy!

It's not good to have just one country—it takes multiple nations to make the film feel grand.

This role is played by Chen Daoming—just portray that kind of negotiation vibe like in My 1919.

And they actively coordinated rescue efforts, responsible for organizing ground forces to formulate rescue plans, seeking funding from multiple sources despite lack of funds.

Break through political difficulties under politically difficult circumstances.

"We can only downplay the politics and focus on humanized storytelling, amplifying the theme of 'a shared future for humanity'—all rescue difficulties are explained through this. Of course, this might be overly idealistic, but there's still room to portray the other side negatively," Fang Hong explained.

The story's setting will definitely be China, but we must still depict the sinister intentions of imperialism.

There must be a villain—some difficulty is necessary; too smooth a plot is boring and lacks challenge. Besides, since this film is a domestic production in the United States, a little negativity won't hurt.

Don't they themselves blow up the White House all the time?

Jiang Zhiqiang and Universal will handle it later—Jiang Zhiqiang specializes in this.

"As long as it doesn't involve high-level leaders, it's fine to go a bit overboard. The theme of 'a shared future for humanity' is excellent," Zhang Hongsen praised, encouraging him.

As long as it doesn't involve presidents or anything like that, a little negativity doesn't matter.

Later, The Crazy Alien treated the other side so harshly—and yet it still got released; it was just banned in the United States.

Nezha 2 so obviously satirized American hegemony—and yet it still premiered in North America.

"Aren't you afraid my film will be banned across the Pacific and can't be screened?" Fang Hong chuckled.

"Don't be afraid. Shoot boldly. They can enter our market—we can enter theirs. If they're too sensitive, we have countermeasures too. Their films still do great box office here," Zhang Hongsen smiled, giving him confidence.

Hollywood films still pull in huge box office here—they haven't declined like they would later.

"Good, good. With your word, Zhang Ju, I'll shoot boldly now," Fang Hong slapped his thigh.

Others just smiled. All preliminary preparations for The Martian, along with its uncertainties, had been settled.

As long as the higher-ups let him shoot boldly, he had confidence—after all, they constantly portray us negatively too.

Afterwards, Fang Hong met with the film's main creative team.

Aside from the behind-the-scenes crew remaining mostly unchanged, the cast was quite large.

Liu Tianxian was naturally the female lead, specializing as a botanist and mechanical engineer; the commander—the team leader in the film—was played by Liu Tianwang.

Matt Damon played the European space representative, a minor role.

Paying millions of U. S. dollars to have these two famous Hollywood actors play minor roles was no small feat—this was a demotion in status, so money had to be used to make it right.

The two Hollywood actors didn't attend the meeting; they'd join the production later.

The other four astronauts were: the systems operator, also the computer expert, played by Zhao Xiaodao.

She was the youngest female member of the team, responsible for spacecraft systems and communication technology.

After all, she'd been with the company this long—good film opportunities naturally went to her.

Zhao Xiaodao also had ambitions—she wanted to act in films!

"Xiaodao, lose some weight. Slim down your face—you look like a steamed bun," Fang Hong said during the meeting.

This made everyone in the meeting want to laugh but dare not—they just pressed their lips shut, silent—the Principal had spoken seriously.

Liu Tianxian turned to look at Zhao Xiaodao—her face really was quite round.

At this time, Zhao Xiaodao hadn't dieted and had indeed gained some weight. She muttered silently to herself: "You're like a stick!"

She only thought it—didn't say it aloud.

This was just a small aside. The medical officer and biologist role went to Zhang Yi, responsible for the team's health management, with a calm personality.

The pilot-chemist role went to Lei Datou—this character was humorous and lighthearted, meant to lighten the mood.

He was naturally suited for such roles, so he was perfect.

Finally, the engineer and physicist role went to Bai Yu—minimal screen time, just a cameo.

But he wasn't famous yet—even starring in The Martian hadn't raised his status much.

The six astronauts were: Liu Tianxian, Liu Tianwang, Zhao Xiaodao, Zhang Yi, Lei Datou, and Bai Yu.

The other ground crew was Chen Daoming as the Mars mission director, breaking international stalemates and securing high-level support—a crucial role.

But this character isn't on "Mars," so he won't film with Liu Tianxian.

The film would be shot in two groups: one on "Mars," depicting the protagonist played by Liu Tianxian's survival on "Mars."

This part would be directed by Fang Hong, of course with his assistant director Shen Ao accompanying him.

The other group would film on "Earth" or aboard the "spaceship"—this could be shot in Beijing or in a studio, no need to go to the Western Regions.

This part would be independently directed by Wen Muye, though the central vision would still be guided by Fang Hong.

Wen Muye had directed several films already—he was capable of independent shooting, and Fang Hong would review his footage.

So except for the few scenes where the astronauts interacted with Liu Tianxian, the other actors had no contact with her.

Any interaction would be via long-distance Earth-Mars communication.

And essentially, it was just Liu Tianxian alone in the Western Regions—a solo performance!

After all arrangements were made, a few days passed, and Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian reported the situation to their mothers, then prepared to depart for the Western Regions.

Liu Xiaoli was fine—she'd been through this many times; Xu Liyun still wasn't used to it, and kept giving endless instructions.

"Be careful over there. I heard it gets very cold at night—stay warm!"

"I will, Mom. We're a big team—not just one or two people. It'll be safe. Don't worry!" Liu Tianxian reassured her.

Xu Liyun nodded and said no more.

All filming equipment for The Martian had been shipped to the Western Regions.

A "Mars" base had to be built there.

Like the base in the movie—a spacecraft-like structure—with a massive amount of construction work.

Most of this film would be shot on location; no matter how realistic the special effects, they couldn't match real scenery—and China already had such environments.

The filming location was in the Gobi desert near HM City's Yizhou District, named: Hongliuxia Mars Base!

This area had a Mars research institute under the Academy of Sciences, though the core zone was off-limits; the outer areas were open as science education bases and tourist attractions, operated by local government and aerospace technology.

The production team had communicated with them—they could freely choose any outer area, and whichever they picked would be assigned to them for filming.

After all, this place has tourist attractions, so as long as they don't go to the core area, other places should be fine.

The terrain here is also very peculiar — the soil and rocks are reddish-brown, dominated by black gobi and arid climate, highly similar to the surface environment of Mars.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian need to go to the Western Regions first to check out the filming location and get acclimated; otherwise, going in completely blind wouldn't do.

(End of chapter)