Chapter 229: Huayi Brothers

"After finishing A World Without Thieves, we actually had The Aristocrats in hand."

Xiaogang developed it into a tear-jerking love story based on a report about a police officer."

We also really liked several more mature topics: a comedy about paparazzi, a war film, and others."

Of course, compared to the others, The Aristocrats was the most mature."

Zhongjun was more insistent on shooting The Aristocrats first."

Because this style of film was something Huayi could handle effortlessly, both in operation and execution."

But for Xiaogang, he was deeply confused."

A while ago, Xiaogang suddenly told me he felt disappointed in himself and didn't know if he could still make films."

I knew he was doubting his judgment and at that moment he desperately needed a team to help him decide."

We've collaborated with Xiaogang for so many years; there's mutual tolerance and dependence between us."

If Xiaogang doesn't release a film within two or three years, it won't just be his loss—it will be Huayi's loss too."

When he finished reading The Prince's Sword script and told me he felt ready to shoot now,"

I knew he had regained his creative desire, so we supported him in going all out."

But this shift in subject matter doesn't mean Xiaogang will abandon his previous style…"

In mid-April 2005, Cheng Chen sat in Huayi Group's reception lounge."

Bored, he spotted an interview with Wang Zhonglei on the bookshelf."

Looking at the triumphant Wang Zhonglei in the newspaper, Cheng Chen muttered under his breath:"

"2005… hey, why does it have to be 2005?"

The Wang Brothers' fame in the entertainment industry is known to many."

Huayi Brothers was founded by the Wang Brothers in 1994."

In 1998, they invested in Feng Xiaogang's Mei Wan Mei Liao and Jiang Wen's Ghosts Crossing the River, officially entering the film industry."

Originally, Huayi wasn't a film and television company—it was an advertising agency."

With one hundred thousand U. S. dollars in hand, the two brothers began their entrepreneurial journey."

The brothers weren't delicate people; they were extremely hardworking and, through sheer effort,"

turned the company into a roaring success—even enterprises like Sinopec and Bank of China became their clients—imagine how powerful their influence was."

Three years after founding the company, a man entered their field of vision: Feng Xiaogang."

That year, Feng Xiaogang, thanks to his powerful sucking-up skills, finally gained some fame with support from Beijing's circle."

Though not yet a top-tier famous director, his film The Dream Factory caught the Wang brothers' attention, and they offered him a sky-high price of four million to poach him."

With a director on board, they naturally had to shift into film and television—after all, that's where the real money was!"

But the two brothers were unfamiliar with the film industry; though they'd made money in advertising, in film it was barely a drop in the bucket."

So they mortgaged their assets and poured massive funds into shooting three films."

But Jiang Wen's Ghosts Crossing the River, Chen Kaige's Assassins of Qin, and Feng Xiaogang's Mei Wan Mei Liao…"

Thinking of this, Cheng Chen couldn't help but admire the Wang Brothers' boldness for daring to hire those two directors."

Jiang Wen as a director was definitely an artsy type; a single line like 'What budget do I need for filming?' could bankrupt a mid-sized film company or severely wound a large one."

As for Big Director Chen, well, one sentence:"

As long as he didn't get involved in screenwriting and just stayed quietly as a director, his films basically wouldn't lose money."

Unfortunately, during this period, Big Director Chen had moved from directing to screenwriting."

Full of ambition, he prepared to make a big splash in screenwriting, personally writing a brand-new script in just over ten days."

Although the film featured powerhouse actors like Gong Huang, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, and Wang Zhiwen, the result…"

Just two films left the Wang Brothers completely bankrupt—a pure 'teaching people a lesson' series."

Fortunately, Feng Xiaogang was there; with Mei Wan Mei Liao, he earned fifty million in box office revenue,"

directly saving Huayi Brothers."

Seeing the situation clearly, the two brothers shifted their focus to Feng Xiaogang."

Because Feng Xiaogang's films differed greatly from Big Director Chen's and Jiang Wen's."

Jiang Wen's films favored exaggeration and amplified expressiveness, with a theatrical flavor that made them hard to understand."

Big Director Chen had too much to express; his films were highly philosophical and symbolic, leaning toward art."

But Feng Xiaogang was different from both—he came from the grassroots and understood better than anyone what the masses wanted, what they wanted to see, what they wanted to know; his empathy was strong."

That's why he later made Big Shot's Funeral, A World Without Thieves, and The Tangshan Earthquake."

It was precisely because of Feng Xiaogang's films that Huayi Brothers truly established themselves in the entertainment industry."

There's a saying:"

Half of the entertainment industry belongs to Huayi, and half of Huayi belongs to Feng Xiaogang."

From then on, Huayi Brothers began to flourish and signed many famous movie stars…"

However, 'Success comes through Xiao He, failure comes through Xiao He'—Feng Xiaogang made Huayi, but also made Huayi overly dependent on him."

This year, Feng Xiaogang registered his own company outside Huayi; the moment this trend emerged, the Wang Brothers noticed it immediately."

That's why the above quote from Wang Zhonglei's interview came about: Feng Xiaogang's so-called 'confusion' and 'can't make films' were merely signals of his departure."

And in the interview, Wang Zhonglei played the emotional card—talking about how long he'd known Feng Xiaogang, how much they trusted, depended on, and tolerated each other."

All those words are worth less than real, tangible benefits."

After Feng Xiaogang's move to start his own company, the Wang Brothers had come to terms with it—how can you stop someone who wants to leave?"

Shares!"

The Wang Brothers persuaded Feng Xiaogang, who was preparing to 'run away from home.'

The two brothers no longer treated him as an employee; without a word, they handed over shares and regarded him as a partner.

"All under heaven bustle for profit," Feng Dapao transformed himself into Director Feng.

Huayi used a small portion of equity to bind him completely.

Of course, at this point the Wang Brothers were still debating whether to retain him with shares.

That's why Wang Zhonglei appeared so humble and respectful in the interview, treating Feng Xiaogang with warmth, even subservience.

The film he referred to as "The Sword Prince" was the movie Feng Xiaogang was preparing, later renamed "The Banquet."

This film fused Chinese and Western masterpieces: Cao Yu's "Thunderstorm" and Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

In genre, it was a palace drama, not a wuxia film; action accounted for only a minor portion.

In terms of sets, costumes, props, and overall visual effects, it surpassed previous historical films—"Hero," "House of Flying Daggers," and "The Promise"—with outstanding production quality.

Of course, after its release, this film was also savaged.

Some said "The Banquet"'s greatest failure lay in its sluggish, hollow narrative and unnatural dialogue.

The complex, profound human story rooted in "Hamlet" was entirely erased by excessive, uncontrolled superficial mood-setting.

It was reduced to mere formalistic notions of "darkness" and "gloom."

The repetitive stacking of these single, identical elements left audiences exhausted, making it hard to invest personal emotion into the film's atmosphere.

Others said it was riddled with plot holes, depriving the entire film of credibility.

It also lacked profound, moving logical depth.

Everything felt too theatrical—we were merely watching something artificially staged.

But regardless of what the media and critics said, the results were real.

Released in September, "The Banquet" earned nearly 30 million yuan during the National Day holiday, reaching 130 million yuan, the studio's original box office target.

This performance not only broke Feng Xiaogang's previous box office records but also became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year as of October…

"Chengzi, waited long, huh? Hahaha, I had something to handle—Zhonglei was just too slow."

As the living room door opened, Feng Xiaogang walked in laughing loudly.

Beside him was a man in his thirties, dressed in a well-tailored suit.

The CEO of Huayi, Wang Zhonglei.

He was quite good-looking, especially standing beside Feng Dapao, who wore casual clothes and looked like a grizzled old ruffian with crooked teeth.

In contrast, Wang Zhonglei looked like a refined gentleman.

"Hello, Cheng Chen, I'm Wang Zhonglei. I've listened to your songs often—I'm a fan."

Smiling slightly at Feng Xiaogang's teasing, Wang Zhonglei extended his hand to introduce himself.

"Hello, Director Wang, thank you for your attention."

Cheng Chen extended his hand and smiled.

"Come on, don't stand—sit down. Oh, you saw that article too?"

"Chengzi, let me tell you, none of those media people are good."

"They're always looking for trouble. Just read their reports, but don't believe everything."

Feng Xiaogang gestured for them to sit, noticing the newspaper in Cheng Chen's hand—clearly the one featuring Wang Zhonglei's interview.

Wang Zhonglei sat aside, rubbed his nose, and smiled:

"Xiaogang, that's unfair. They're also promoting us."

Feng Xiaogang grinned and said:

"It's because this time the article's star is you, Director Wang, hahaha. Fine, let's drop that—let's get to the point…"

Cheng Chen had come this time because of a phone call Feng Xiaogang made two days ago.

He was preparing "The Sword Prince"—no, now it should be called "The Banquet."

He wanted to invite Cheng Chen to act in this film; originally, during the "Kung Fu" set, Feng Xiaogang had already extended an olive branch to Cheng Chen.

But back then, Cheng Chen hadn't taken it seriously—until the premiere of "A World Without Thieves," when Feng Xiaogang invited him again.

But at that time, Feng Xiaogang hadn't revealed which film it was; a few days ago, he called Cheng Chen to come over…

As Wang Zhonglei said in the interview, internally at Huayi, the next film everyone expected from Feng Xiaogang was "The Aristocrats."

But now, with Feng Xiaogang forming his own company and wanting to "run away from home," the Wang Brothers had no choice but to let him do whatever he pleased—as long as he was happy.

Even Cheng Chen's visit for this screen test involved compromise from the Wang Brothers.

After all, what does Huayi do?

Today, Huayi is divided into two major divisions:

The film, television drama, and artist management sector;

The brand licensing and experiential entertainment sector, represented by film communes, cultural cities, and theme parks;

The internet entertainment sector, represented later by games, new media, and fan communities, wouldn't be established until after 2008.

Huayi today essentially covers every step required for film and television production. Actors?

Huayi has no shortage of them!

For every film's release, there are people waiting to carve up the profits at every stage.

This is especially true for actors.

Look elsewhere for actors? There are plenty inside the group's artist department—cheaper, and they can help promote new talents for the company.

Again, if Feng Xiaogang weren't at this critical juncture, Cheng Chen's screen test and meeting would never have been this simple.

Of course, as a director, even without this incident, Feng Xiaogang had the right to choose actors.

But using outside actors involved more procedures and was more cumbersome.

It was just that, relatively speaking, using external actor programs was used more often and was more cumbersome.

Cheng Chen took the script titled "The Prince of the Precious Sword," which was actually "The Banquet," and read it carefully.

In his past life, he had watched the movie "The Banquet" many times; some lines he could even recite by heart.

As someone once remarked, "The Banquet" really feels like a stage play.

Thus, the dialogue appears slightly theatrical.

"Chengzi, take the script for now. I'll find time in a few days, and we'll talk in detail—study all the roles, see which one interests you."

Feng Xiaogang patted Cheng Chen on the shoulder and smiled.

Hearing Feng Xiaogang say this, Wang Zhonglei, sitting beside him, felt his heart skip.

Did he mean Cheng Chen could choose any role he wanted?

Feng Xiaogang glanced at him; they had been longtime collaborators, and a single look was enough to convey much.

So Wang Zhonglei suppressed the question he wanted to ask.

"Yes, Director Feng."

The three chatted for a while longer; during the conversation, Feng Xiaogang remained his usual bombastic self, ranting about everything.

Whenever Feng Xiaogang brought up sensitive topics, Wang Zhonglei would skillfully steer the conversation elsewhere.

At such moments, Feng Xiaogang would sigh and say:

"You're just too timid—you're nothing like your brother."

Wang Zhonglei would shake his head with a bitter smile.

There were many public assessments of Wang Zhonglei, but the most talked-about were his romantic scandals.

After all, he was a handsome entertainment executive in his thirties.

If there was news about him, it was surely gossip.

He remembered how, in the future, his affair with a female star surnamed Huo had made headlines.

Wang Zhonglei's daughter had even publicly attacked the star on Weibo on her birthday:

"Forget your birthday—first learn how to be a human being!"

……

Cheng Chen spent the morning at Huayi Brothers; midway, Wang Zhonglei and Feng Xiaogang invited him to lunch.

But unfortunately, both suddenly had other matters.

Cheng Chen only heard the secretary tell Wang Zhonglei the three words: "Wang Jinghua."

Hearing those three words, Cheng Chen was struck with a sudden chill.

Was that event about to happen?

Earlier, when Cheng Chen had seen the triumphant Wang Zhonglei in the newspaper, he had sighed inwardly.

For Huayi Brothers, 2005 was unquestionably a year of "calamities."

Their star director, Feng Xiaogang, was about to walk out, and their other star, Wang Jinghua—who held many celebrity resources—was confirmed to leave.

Wang Jinghua, the "matriarch" of artist management, had reached the end of her five-year contract with Huayi Brothers.

The incident was then called an "earthquake"-level event; on a larger scale, it profoundly impacted China's entertainment agency industry.

Wang Jinghua's departure nearly emptied half of Huayi Brothers…