Chapter 272

However, the day after the new film's press conference, domestic entertainment media all reported the news that Jiang Heng's new work Three Body had started shooting.

The effect was significant, the industry was stirred, and the audience was exhilarated.

Director Jiang Heng is incredibly prolific—while post-production on The Havoc in Heaven is underway, post-production on Daughter Country is also underway, and he has already begun shooting this sci-fi film.

By comparison, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Wu Yusen and others are really inefficient.

Of course, they are not unwilling to work faster; Zhang Yimou is cautious by nature and dares not speed up.

Chen Kaige lacks the capital to dare invest, so even if he wanted to hurry, he cannot.

Wu Yusen is in a similar situation—after Red Cliff's reputation and box office both collapsed, his next film released during the New Year slot lacked competition from Jiang Heng's effects-heavy blockbuster, yet its box office still failed.

The two films together barely exceeded 400 million, which is about a hundred million less than in his previous life.

The only thing that can console Director Wu is that the film did very well in Japan, with high box office, allowing him to maintain at least some dignity as a top director.

But when it comes to starting a new film, raising investment is still difficult; it's impossible for them to just shoot whenever they want like Jiang Heng can.

From the audience's perspective, everyone was curious about what Three Body was about, so a publisher naturally sought out Liu Cixin and published the first volume of Three Body, which instantly became a bestseller domestically.

At the same time, Liu Cixin had finished writing the second volume of the Three Body novel, but instead of rushing it to publication, he first sent it to Jiang Heng.

"Director Jiang, thank you very much for your appreciation and care; that's why, while writing, I thought I would definitely bring this manuscript to you as soon as it was finished!"

Jiang Heng took the manuscript, smiling, and said, "Great! I've long wanted to know what happens next!"

He then had Liu Cixin stay on the set, and at the same time ordered the finance department to transfer the second copyright adaptation fee of one million yuan over.

When they initially purchased the rights, they agreed that the total film and television adaptation rights for the Three Body series would be three million.

Liu Cixin's submitted manuscript was clearly not finished, so naturally it was settled at one million.

Having received the money, the elder Liu was in good spirits; after staying a week with the crew he returned, and with Jiang Heng's help he signed a publishing contract with an American publisher.

They believed that with the prestige of Jiang Heng's new film as the original work, the novel would surely become popular.

Little did they know Jiang Heng's plan was to make Three Body take off in Europe and America ahead of time, letting the film ride the novel's wave.

The World Science Fiction Convention also helped nominate it for an award.

Given the strength of the first volume of Three Body, winning an award is not difficult.

Of course, shooting the film is not difficult either.

Having been reborn for ten years now, even without the aid of a Super Microcomputer, Jiang Heng's directing level stands out among domestic directors.

The reason is simple: he has shot too much.

Other directors may take several years to make a single big film, and over a decade many have only two or three good works.

Over these years, Jiang Heng has shot so much that he has honed his skills through practice.

The entire film was shot at breakneck speed while Jiang Wen looked on in astonishment; by early June the filming was nearly done, and it finally wrapped on June 8!

At the wrap party, Jiang Wen drank a lot of liquor.

He recited a Xin Qiji ci, "Drunk, I light the lamp to inspect my sword; dreaming, I hear the bugle and the camps..." and then got drunk.

Those who attended the wrap party together felt that Jiang Wen was probably stimulated—how could anyone produce excellent big films one after another so quickly!

That's unscientific!

As summer approached, Wang Zhonglei of Huayi grew increasingly anxious; the good news was that the company's first mythological-themed effects blockbuster, The Investiture of the Gods, was about to be released.

The bad news was that this summer slot also featured Jiang Heng's Daughter Country.

Although this film went from approval to shooting extremely quickly, it looks like a pure cash-grab no matter how you view it.

But a Jiang Heng production makes them dare not take it lightly!

"Any news from the Bureau?" Wang Zhonglei asked his secretary.

"Not yet, but it should come in these few days; his schedule is set for the second Friday of July, leaving a month's time—if it doesn't pass review soon, it will really be too late."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhonglei nodded slightly; he did not intend to make things difficult for Jiang Heng in the approval process, knowing that Jiang Heng has become a banner of Chinese-language cinema, and the Bureau would not easily give him trouble over approval.

He simply wanted to learn about Daughter Country's quality from the staff there.

Before the day was over, he received a call informing him that Daughter Country's quality was very good, its effects scenes not inferior to those of his previous work.

Of course, it certainly doesn't have as much fighting as Lion Camel Ridge, but it is still very enjoyable.

Moreover, there are tons of beautiful women.

Speaking of the approval process, everyone wondered where Jiang Heng had found so many beautiful women.

Each one looks no worse than a star—it's utterly unscientific.

Hearing this, Wang Zhonglei grew ever more gloomy; he first discussed it with his elder brother, then summoned company executives—the producer of The Investiture of the Gods, Chen Guofu, and director Liu Weiqiang.

After repeated discussion and deliberation, they decided to set the release date of The Investiture of the Gods for the end of July.

Previously, the first part of Red Cliff was released a week before Legend of the Sword, and after Legend of the Sword came out, its daily box office plummeted—what a miserable loss!

We chose to schedule it later, spacing it half a month apart, so the impact should surely be much smaller!

On Jiang Heng's side, after Daughter Country passed review and obtained the dragon standard, the company held an internal screening; senior executives, contracted artists, and the film's main creators all attended.

In the screening room, everyone looked at the beautiful women visible everywhere on the streets of Daughter Country in the film, and all were puzzled.

Especially the actresses Liu Yifei and Jing Tian, who recalled the rough appearance of the female extras—surely they weren't ugly, but they hadn't been filmed to look this good.

Liu Yifei clearly remembered that a girl playing an official in the film still had acne on her face, yet she appeared smooth as new, her skin looking especially good!

The girls just liked to focus on these details, paying little heed to the later plot or fights.

After the screening ended, the female staff and actresses gathered around, saying, "Director Jiang, how did you manage to make everyone look like beauties? Did we really hire that many beautiful extras in the first place?"

"Director Jiang, you wouldn't have used some new technology, would you?"

Jiang Heng thought to himself, "It's not really technology—at most it's some sort of sorcery."

In fact, during post-production he noticed that the officials and citizens of Daughter Country weren't particularly attractive, so he just gave them a slight beauty touch-up.

The result was that those with decent facial structure but slightly poorer skin saw their attractiveness jump several levels instantly, producing many "stunning glances" of beauties in the film.

"Well, indeed we used some new technology!"

Wow, Director Jiang is amazing!

When will this technology become available to the masses, Director Jiang!

Can ordinary cameras do that, Director Jiang!

I really want to take a photo!

The female staff chattered excitedly, while the female artists felt a mix of joy and worry, as their status and achievements today depend on their looks.

If one day an ordinary girl could easily be photographed into a great beauty, it would surely affect them!

Jiang Heng naturally knew what they were worried about, smiling as he said: "This technology is very difficult, so don't dwell on it—get back to work quickly!"

(End of chapter)