Chapter 373: Next, a mythological blockbuster

The situation indeed turned out as the Weibo person in charge said, Jiang Heng's latest Weibo post quickly rose to the top of the hot search.

Many netizens left comments, saying they would continue to support Jiang Heng's works as always, hoping he could stay in China and contribute to the development of Chinese-language cinema.

Moreover, many people left comments under the post asking what his next work would be.

Jiang Heng didn't reply right away because he hadn't decided yet, but it was likely to be a mythological story.

Not a love story with few characters like Nie Xiaoqian or Legend of the White Snake, and with a simple background.

This time, Jiang Heng was preparing to choose one of three subjects: Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods, or the Primordial era.

However, speaking in detail, the Journey to the West theme has already been filmed enough—there's the exciting "Lion Camel Ridge", the visually impressive "Great Havoc in Heaven", and the love story "Daughter Country".

So Jiang Heng merely gave it a little thought and ruled out Journey to the West.

As for Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Heng has only filmed one work, "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother", which he directed and starred in himself.

And in his original plan, he wanted to make individual movies for popular characters in the story like Nezha and Leizhenzi, while filming the tale of King Wu's overthrow of the Shang in the Investiture of the Gods.

If he chose Investiture of the Gods, he should film Nezha!

Speaking of classic adaptations of Nezha, they are nothing more than the animated versions "Nezha Conquers the Sea" and "Demonic Child Descends".

If adapted into a live-action version, it would certainly require casting a child, most likely a girl in a cameo.

At this time, Song Zhu'er, who had just played Nezha in the "Lotus Lantern Prequel", would be relatively suitable.

If he chose the Primordial subject, it would basically have to start from the "War of Witches and Demons".

As for which one he would ultimately pick, he hadn't thought it through yet.

However, he could still leak something to the media; that night, Jiang Heng updated another Weibo post.

"Important things said three times: not going back to Hollywood, not going back to Hollywood, not going back to Hollywood; the next work is a Chinese mythological story, funding not in place, cast not set, script not yet available!"

Jiang Heng was borrowing the line from Lu Zijiao in "Love Apartment" that goes "Currently lacking funds, cast not set, script not available", but he didn't expect many fans to see it and flood him with praise, expressing their willingness to support his filmmaking.

Seeing this, Jiang Heng was startled and quickly turned off the praise function.

Joking aside, he is immensely wealthy and doesn't need anyone to give him tips.

As for the praise function, it had just been launched for the summer and needs to be manually turned off.

Netizens seeing that the tip route was blocked, many expressed willingness to work as unpaid extras to support Jiang Heng's film career.

Jiang Heng found it both laughable and exasperating—he wasn't short of money and truly didn't need free extras—but many actors in the industry flocked to his Weibo to leave messages, saying they'd accept ultra-low pay to appear in his new film.

Moreover, a relatively famous actress said her biggest regret over the years was never having worked with director Jiang Heng, and she would be willing to do so without pay if the chance arose.

After seeing it, Jiang Heng thought for a moment and replied that he had always admired her acting skills and would consider collaborating if a suitable role came up.

Jing Tian beside him suddenly said, "You're smiling so happily!"

"Really?"

"Quite the thing—again, who is volunteering to share a pillow?"

Jiang Heng gave an embarrassed laugh, put down his phone, and said, "Look what you're saying—even if someone did that, I'd remain unmoved!"

The young lady wore a mischievous smile, her beautiful eyes curved like a crescent moon, she leaned in and cooed, "Really not tempted?"

"Absolutely—I'm not one of those old lechers in the industry who can't hold themselves back; I'm an internationally renowned director famous for over a decade, having seen all the world's beauty, a iron-willed tough guy forged amidst the flowers!"

Jing Tian couldn't stop laughing and fell over on the sofa.

She murmured, "Iron-willed, tough guy!"

"Hey, you want to rebel!"

Jiang Heng reached out to tickle her, and the young lady hurriedly begged for mercy...

By late night, both were a bit hungry, got up and went out to eat barbecue.

Jing Tian asked, "Have you decided what to film?" Jiang Heng shook his head, took a sip of beer, and said, "These few days we'll first settle the story, then gather people to revise the script!" The young lady replied, "No need to rush—we haven't really rested lately!"

Jiang Heng said, "If we don't decide soon, we might miss next summer's schedule!"

"Oh, but you already have plenty of money—you can't spend it all!"

Jiang Heng hesitated a few seconds, then said, "Actually, it's not that much; I still don't have enough to do some big things!"

The young lady curiously asked, "What big things?"

"For example, building houses, selling water, making cars—all require a lot of money!"

"Selling water, making cars?"

The young lady gave an expression that said, "I'm not well educated, don't try to fool me."

Jiang Heng laughed loudly, "Just teasing you, but I'm definitely going to enter the internet industry!"

"Now?"

"Of course not, I still have to wait a few years!"

"Oh, will it cost a lot of money?"

"Of course!"

"Oh, although I don't have much money, I'll be able to chip in some to help you then!"

Jiang Heng laughed and couldn't resist rubbing Jing Tian's head, saying, "Hey, little rich lady, how much have you saved up?"

"It's over a hundred million anyway!"

Speaking of which, Jing Tian's career has been developing well these past few years, she's earned plenty, and having a net worth over a hundred million is natural.

Jiang Heng couldn't help but praise, "Not bad, not bad—if one day I stop making films, you'll support me!"

Da Tian Tian heard this, her eyes lighting up somewhat frighteningly, "Great, great, spoken well—any day you don't go filming, I'll support you!"

Jiang Heng was stunned by the words, Da Tian Tian however extended her right pinky, "Pinky promise!"

"Okay, pinky promise!"

The next day, Jiang Heng went to the Outstanding Rising Film Company; Du Huan and Li Xiaoping arrived together, both looking like they hadn't rested well.

Sitting in the boss's chair, Jiang Heng laughed and said, "What's up, you two?"

Du Huan couldn't help but yawn, "Director Jiang, have you forgotten how great your influence is? These past few days, too many people have been calling me, and some have even invited me to meals."

Of course, most of the time I didn't answer or turned down the dinner invitations, but there are also many that I simply couldn't get out of!"

Li Xiaoping also complained, "All they do is call and ask if you'll go to Haolaiwu, what your next film will be about, and if you don't take a salary, whether you can play the lead! Director Jiang, I think you could post a status asking who would be willing to pay to appear, and I bet there would be a ton of sign‑ups!"

Jiang Heng chuckled; although he knew their words were largely exaggerated, who wouldn't enjoy hearing that?

"Not that much, not that much!"

Li Xiaoping's personality is more straightforward; she asked Jiang Heng what he planned to film.

"Now that I think about it, Ne Zha or the primordial myths!"

Upon hearing that, Du Huan frowned slightly, "If it's Ne Zha, we'd have to cast a child as the lead, which would be rather difficult!"

Li Xiaoping said, "There's a young actor in the circle, a girl, who played Ne Zha in last year's Prequel to the Lotus Lantern and received great praise for her performance!"

Jiang Heng nodded slightly; if they were to film Ne Zha, he would also lean toward choosing Song Zhu'er.

But if they were to film the primordial myths, they'd first have to settle on the story!

(End of chapter)