Chapter 357

Speaking of Jiang Heng's Weibo post, not only did he himself top the hot search, but even the military action film 'Wolf Warrior', which originally didn't attract much attention, also topped the hot search—showing just how great the influence of a top-tier star is!

Of course, the hottest was still Jiang Heng's post; its views, likes, and replies refreshed Weibo's existing record within twenty-four hours.

It's exaggerated, yet also true.

Because the remark sounds domineering and also a bit controversial!

Is Jiang Heng a master?

If we talk about the director profession, he's a master among masters; in terms of box office for commercial films, the only one worldwide who can match Jiang Heng is James Cameron.

In terms of awards, he has also won an Oscar; Director Zhang Yimou has gone for the Oscar many times but still hasn't succeeded! From a kung fu angle, Jiang Heng also seems quite strong.

Cheng Long, Li Lianjie, Wu Jing and other action stars have mentioned more than once that Jiang Heng's kung fu is formidable; if he starred in an action film, he would become a new kung fu superstar, but Jiang Heng seems not very interested in that.

Besides, in literature there's no first, in martial arts no second; Jiang Heng saying he's a master will always have someone unconvinced.

What's more, someone directly left a comment on his Weibo asking if Jiang Heng dared to step onto the stage, and was then drowned out by countless comments.

Joking aside, how could a Neidi billionaire ranked among the wealthy possibly go on stage to fight for a laugh? Nevertheless, the impact of this matter is still quite far-reaching.

Broad Sodium Film Industry, inside the president's office.

Yu Dong was discussing the preparation details of a new film with someone—not Xu Ke, but the long-unseen old monster Xu.

His collaboration with Huayi on 'Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings' grossed over 400 million in Neidi, counting as a comeback.

However, the new film plans to cooperate with Broad Sodium Film Industry.

The reason is simple: whoever offers the higher price gets it.

Like him, an independent director usually doesn't tie deeply with any company; he goes with whoever offers better terms.

Even if Jiang Heng is a major shareholder of Broad Sodium Film Industry, even if Xu Ke's relationship with Jiang Heng isn't very harmonious, what of it?

They still cooperate, make money—no problem!

To say Huayi isn't investing in Xu Ke's new film is because they're not making a sequel to 'Detective Dee', but rather remaking 'The New Dragon Gate Inn', and also making a 3D version.

This made the Wang brothers nervous; old monster Xu has a track record! The investment requires two hundred million—who wouldn't be uneasy? After finally making a profit, Wang Zhonglei's final reply was: to film the 'Detective Dee' sequel, any amount of investment is negotiable; other projects are out.

Old monster Xu wasn't discouraged; he's now made a comeback, and investors can still be found.

The most capable and sincere party is naturally Broad Sodium Film Industry's Yu Dong; the two have discussed many times, researching various details of cooperation.

Old monster Xu also stated his demand: the male lead must be Li Lianjie, with a salary of about eighty million! Yu Dong said he'd consider it, then turned around and called Jiang Heng, and naturally agreed.

Afterward, they also discussed the other roles in the film.

For the major villain Yu Huatian, Xu Ke originally thought of Chen Kun, but after seeing the 'Jiang Heng Weibo incident', he had a brainwave: 'What do you think, having Director Jiang play this role?'

Yu Dong wore an expression of disbelief: 'How is that possible, you want Director Jiang to play the second male lead, or the Western Depot eunuch?'

A secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonies, imperial envoy and superintendent of the Western Depot's office, an eunuch.

That's still a eunuch! Yu Dong retorted angrily.

Xu Ke laughed, 'We're not actually asking him to really perform!'

Yu Dong then understood: 'You mean, first leak the news that Director Jiang will participate, acting opposite Li Lianjie?'

Exactly, wait until the hype dies down, then debunk the rumor!

After hearing that, Yu Dong pondered and indeed found the idea feasible.

To do well in the entertainment circle, being too honest definitely won't work.

Especially in promotion, you have to hype all kinds of things! Some films clearly only invite big names for cameos, but during promotion they can hype the big name into the lead; some even after the film's release, the audience still thinks the big star is the lead.

Speaking of 'Dragon Gate Flying Armor', its total investment reaches up to two hundred million; Yu Dong also feels apprehensive, for this is not a small-investment film like Lost in Thailand—if it loses money, it will hurt a lot.

No need to trouble Jiang Heng to make a cameo; just use his name for hype. Broad Sodium Film Industry—you're the major shareholder, I'm just working for you! Yu Dong thought more and more that this was a good idea, and immediately agreed to Xu Ke.

Turning around, he called Jiang Heng to tell him about this.

Yu Huatian?

Not really acting, just borrowing your name for hype, and we'll clarify once the hype rises! Yu Dong hurriedly explained.

Jiang Heng chuckled, not really minding.

That's because his films are too strong; he doesn't need these tricks.

Others like Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, etc., also have to consider traffic when filming; after agreeing, Jiang Heng casually asked whether he had recently been in touch with Xu Zheng.

Yu Dong was somewhat puzzled, not knowing why Jiang Heng would pay special attention to this person.

'Lost in Thailand' is a good film; maybe he has other ideas?

Upon hearing that, Yu Dong said domineeringly: 'Can he even make a sequel himself?'

Jiang Heng laughed, 'Hard to say, but I think you can talk to him and support him in directing.'

In the previous life, the film Lost in Thailand was produced by Bright Media.

Before that, Xu Zheng had taken the script around to many investors, but all were turned away.

Finally he found Bright Media, took the script to the company, and told the story to Wang Changtian.

He spoke and acted simultaneously; after finishing the story, Wang Changtian was pleased and then decided to participate.

In this life, the rights to Lost in Thailand belong to Broad Sodium Film Industry, backed by the big tree iQiyi; Xu Zheng may not dare to do that, but it's hard to say.

In Jiang Heng's view, this person's approach is rather wild.

In the previous life, he dared to risk offending all theater chains by selling 'Lost in Mother' to ByteDance—just say how big his guts are!

If he really were to take the script and cooperate with another company, Broad Sodium Film Industry and iQiyi would become a laughingstock.

Actually, in the previous life when filming Lost in Thailand, Xu Zheng didn't earn especially much; the lion's share was taken by Bright Media.

……

However, after that call, the entertainment industry suddenly saw a rumor: Broad Sodium Film Industry will invest in Xu Ke's new film, the 3D version of 'Dragon Gate Flying Armor', with total investment reaching up to two hundred million RMB, the male lead Li Lianjie, and the second male lead Jiang Heng.

One is a former kung fu emperor, the other is a self-proclaimed 'master' on Weibo.

They will have a showdown at the peak in the film, giving the audience an unparalleled visual experience.

As soon as the news broke, it sent shockwaves through the Chinese-language entertainment circle!

Is Broad Sodium Film Industry really that powerful? It actually managed to get Jiang Heng and Li Lianjie to co-star in a 3D martial arts film, with Jiang Heng as the second male lead.

If this is true, it would be really worth looking forward to.

For a moment, all kinds of media scrambled to use connections to interview the parties involved in the incident; as a result, Li Lianjie kept silent, and Jiang Heng's phone was unreachable, so the reporters roughly figured out what was going on! The problem is, with such overwhelming traffic, who would really refuse! Print media were still reporting in a vague, half-hearted way, while online media were basically in a state of frenzy!

(End of chapter)