Chapter 298

In a luxurious residence in Jingcheng, Feng Xiaogang sat on the sofa, watching television with a solemn expression.

The program being aired was the News Broadcast, which was reporting that Three Body had earned 11.39 billion US dollars in global box office.

After the related report ended, Xu Fan sighed in his distinctive tone, "I never expected he would get even more impressive—look at all this!"

Feng Xiaogang said solemnly, "Director Jiang, of course, is no empty reputation!"

After pondering for a few seconds, he said happily, "I said we couldn't match them by force, insisting on setting The Assembly Call for the Spring Festival; if we had followed their ideas, could we have gotten over two hundred million in box office?"

Xu Fan widened his eyes and said in an exaggerated tone, "How could that be possible? If we had done it their way, we would have lost money. Fortunately, you helped oversee things; if we had let those two brothers run wild, this Splendid Arts Company might have gone under!"

Feng Xiaogang, hearing this, became even more pleased.

At this moment, with his career successful and his wife obedient, he felt quite content.

But compared to Jiang Heng's achievements, it seemed somewhat dim, and he kept wondering what film he could make to also earn a box office of one or two billion.

At Outstanding Rising Film Company, Guo Fan also had a similar dilemma, wondering what would be good to film.

After the filming of Heroic Legion wrapped up, he had little else to do there, giving him more time to consider this problem.

He naturally wanted to shoot a sci-fi film, but he didn't have a good script in hand.

He therefore turned his attention to mythology; Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods were too grand, he feared he couldn't handle them, and naturally thought of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

The story he initially favored was Painted Skin; as a child he had seen the version directed by Bao Fang, which almost scared him into wetting himself, leaving a truly deep impression.

By the way, the 1966 version of Painted Skin was China's first horror film and also the first horror film shown in the mainland.

It is said that when it was introduced to the mainland in 1979, the frightening visuals scared many people and even frightened an elderly woman to death, so the film was banned and locked away in the China Film Archive.

Guo Fan prepared to film this movie, but upon inquiring he learned that Ningxia Film Company and Shanghai Film Studio had already filed for registration and begun casting actors.

Historically, Ningxia Film Company's production of Painted Skin had already been released in September 2008.

In this world, because the joint production of Investiture of the Gods with Splendid Arts lost money, many investors do not believe that directors other than Jiang Heng, Zhang Yimou, Zhou Xingxing, etc., can make money from special-effects blockbusters.

Consequently, fundraising for the Painted Skin project proceeded very slowly, and Ningxia Film Company dared not produce it independently, so it was delayed until now before they began casting.

Seeing this, Guo Fan naturally could not film Painted Skin; he immediately turned his attention to another classic story—A Chinese Ghost Story—and immediately felt enormous pressure.

The 1987 version of A Chinese Ghost Story is truly classic; he really couldn't make up his mind, so he went to the Olympic venue to find Jiang Heng.

"A Chinese Ghost Story? Why not give it a try!" Jiang Heng chuckled.

"Can we?"

"Of course we can!"

Jiang Heng himself would not touch A Chinese Ghost Story, given that Leslie Cheung's Ning Cai Chen and Wang Zu Zion's Nie Xiaoqian are classics beyond compare; if he were to adapt it, fans would inevitably compare his version to theirs.

Some would say it's good, some would say it's bad, which would inevitably diminish the value of his "brand."

Guo Fan, however, is different; he counts as his student, so if he does well it shows Jiang Heng's teaching is effective—a master producing an outstanding disciple.

Even if the film turns out merely average, it wouldn't lose much money, and it would still give Guo Fan some experience.

Even if we know he can do well on The Wandering Earth, shouldn't we first let him practice on something else?

So Jiang Heng is very supportive!

"Speak up with any ideas you have!"

"Um, I hope Miss Liu Yifei plays the role of Nie Xiaoqian."

Liu Yifei beside him said, "I, I'm not suitable, am I?"

At this moment she remembered her mother's teachings, to stay by Jiang Heng's side, accompany him well, and do some assistant work; she truly hadn't considered acting.

Guo Fan, however, said, "Although Nie Xiaoqian in the 1987 version is a female ghost, she looks very spirited and ethereal; I believe the only person in the mainland who can reach that standard is you!"

He knew Liu Yifei's relationship with Jiang Heng, but it would be awkward to call her "madam teacher"; still, he was very respectful in his address and sincerely praised her.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei also felt a bit moved, but she said, "That wouldn't be right—I still need to be his assistant here!"

Jiang Heng laughed and said, "Ah, saying that, you're just contributing a bit of strength for the Olympic cause; your main duty and main business still can't be neglected."

Furthermore, the role of Nie Xiaoqian is also a very precious resource; if you don't play it—

"I'll play it!" Liu Yifei declared firmly.

What a joke; the special-effects blockbusters produced by Outstanding Rising Film Company still have a budget of one or two hundred million, even if Guo Fan's direction doesn't have such a high budget.

You should know that the upcoming The Monkey King 2, set to release in May, cost only 150 million in total!

The release date is set for May, naturally because they considered that the 3D version of Havoc in Heaven is scheduled for summer.

Both films are of the Journey to the West type; The Monkey King 2 is a 2D version with low production costs, and if it weren't released first, arranging the later schedule would be difficult.

Here, after deciding on the project investment and the female lead, Guo Fan went back to gather the screenwriting team to write the script.

Actually, Outstanding Rising Film Company had a screenwriting team for several years already; it's just that Jiang Heng doesn't use them much, and this group has always served the company's TV dramas and the films it invests in.

That's not unusual either; in a few years, some big-name actors will even have their own "screenwriting teams," called "retainer writers," who join the crew to help actors revise the script.

After all, in this industry, it's always been whoever has the clout gets listened to.

Unless the director is strong enough, actors wouldn't dare have all kinds of chaotic ideas.

On Guo Fan's side, he first drafted a script outline to submit for registration, then began casting.

The female lead, Nie Xiaoqian, had already been set as Liu Yifei; the male lead, Ning Cai Chen, thus became the key.

For a time, many male actors in the industry came to compete.

Huang Xiaoming also wanted the role, and he went to the Olympic venue to "visit" Jiang Heng.

"Forget about that role; you've already appeared in plenty of Outstanding Rising Film Company's movies—if you do it again, the audience will suffer aesthetic fatigue!"

Huang Xiaoming understood this reasoning, and inevitably felt regret in his heart.

"It's all thanks to Director Jiang's promotion; whatever you say, I'll do—then I won't keep thinking about it!"

Chen Kun, on the other hand, wanted to play Ning Cai Chen, but having already taken a role in Painted Skin, he could only regretfully miss out.

Hu Ge also naturally wanted the role; he flew together with Jolin Tsai, rushing over in a hurry, and Jiang Heng only said he would consider it.

The reason is simple: Hu Ge has already played Ning Cai Chen.

In the "Xiaoqian" chapter of the 05-year broadcast of New Liao Zhai Zhi Yi, Hu Hu played Ning Caichen, and Yang Mi played Nie Xiaoqian.

Perhaps it was due to the crew's level, but this version of Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian by the two received little response, and many people didn't even know they had played these roles.

After several days, Guo Fan still hadn't found a satisfactory male actor, and he couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.

Then, a screenwriter suggested, "Why not have Director Jiang play the role?"

(End of chapter)