Chapter 381

The film 'Love Saint' is actually quite vulgar.

On Douban it also only has a score of 6, barely passing the passing line.

However, when it was released that year, its box office performance was quite good, actually taking in 660 million RMB in the New Year slot.

For a low-to-mid budget comedy film, that is already quite successful.

But if we talk about the most classic, most eye-catching scene in the film, it is none other than Youyou learning Marilyn Monroe's pose in the underground parking lot and then dancing.

Accompanied by the song 'I Eat Fried Chicken at People's Square', the atmosphere was instantly lifted.

Some male viewers later ended up watching it dozens of times over.

The script naturally wasn't that detailed, but there were storyboard sketches, one of which showed Clara in a skirt learning Marilyn Monroe's pose in the underground parking lot.

"Director Jiang, you even drew illustrations?"

Du Huan nodded, "Director Jiang really values this film, you must shoot it well!"

Clara nodded eagerly, again expressing that she would put her heart into shooting this film well.

Du Huan then began discussing the film's preparations; the male lead is Xiao Yang, one of the members of the Chopstick Brothers, already contacted.

Speaking of Xiao Yang, when he just received the call, he still thought the other party was a scammer.

Because Outstanding Rising Film Company is the largest film and TV company in the country, while he is merely an unknown small singer and small actor.

Outstanding Rising Film Company invited him to act in the film as the male lead—no joke! He came to the Outstanding Rising Film Company building half-believing, half-doubting, and only after signing the contract did he dare believe it was real.

Naturally, the pay was relatively low.

Including Clara, the pay for this film was similarly not high.

Because their fame wasn't big enough to carry the box office.

In this film, the biggest star is Xiao Shenyang; although past his peak, he's still very popular.

Upon learning he was invited to play a supporting role, Xiao Shenyang was still somewhat unhappy.

He complained to his master Zhao Benshan, who almost hit him, telling him to honestly go shoot the film, after which Xiao Shenyang had no problem.

Besides these few, the other actors in the film are mainly signed artists of Outstanding Rising Film Company.

For example, in the original version Xiao Shenyang played Liu Lei, whose girlfriend was played by Che Xiao.

But in this film, it is Gao Yuanyuan.

It is estimated that after the film's release, audiences will complain that finding Gao Yuanyuan as a girlfriend and still going out to fool around makes this 'Liu Lei' truly a scumbag!

Because it is a low-to-mid budget urban film, no special props or costumes needed to be custom-made, so the film went into production quickly.

The director is Tian Yusheng, who in another time and space directed the 'Ex-Files' series, and is now signed with Outstanding Rising Film Company.

Speaking of which, before filming began, he went to the China Film Digital Base to ask for advice in person.

Jiang Heng's request was also simple: the underground parking lot scenes must be done according to his requirements, while the rest was left to Tian Yusheng to freely improvise.

Immediately, he received a stack of storyboard drawings, seeing that the sketches specially noted it was a 'red skirt'.

Upon seeing this, Tian Yusheng was truly both surprised and delighted.

Of course, he on the spot expressed that he would definitely shoot according to Jiang Heng's intention.

After all, the screenplay of this film wasn't written by him, and he didn't intend to express any ideas through this movie, so he simply faithfully shot it according to Jiang Heng's intention.

Because the film's cast wasn't very strong, the start of production for 'Love Saint' was very low-key.

By contrast, Broad Sodium Film Industry has finished production and is preparing to release Lost in Thailand during the New Year slot; it is now much more high-profile, claiming to be the best Chinese-language comedy film in recent years, with very strong promotion.

And besides Broad Sodium Film Industry, the other several film companies have also begun active promotion, preparing for the upcoming New Year slot battle.

Because Jiang Heng's film was moved to the Spring Festival slot, most domestic film companies have set the release dates of their important films to the New Year slot.

As for the 2011 slot, so far no company has announced that it will release its film on the same schedule as Jiang Heng's One Person Under.

It's simply that the box office results of 'Little Soldier Legend' are too shocking: 1.8 billion yuan in mainland China, 3 billion US dollars worldwide—who could compete with that!

Although from a genre perspective, One Person Under cannot replicate the success of Little Soldier Legend, mainland film companies still have a psychological shadow.

They would rather crowd together in the New Year slot to compete for box office, rather than face Jiang Heng's effects-heavy blockbuster.

Thus, the New Year slot at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, due to the excessive number of announced release dates, actually earned the title of 'the hottest New Year slot in history'.

Broad Sodium Film Industry alone has three films scheduled for release: Dragon Gate Flying Armor, Lost in Thailand, and Space Chase Girls.

Outstanding Rising Film Company also has two films scheduled for release, including Wolf Warrior.

The slot is hot, as can be seen.

That is, Zhang Yimou's 'The Love of the Hawthorn Tree' was filmed a bit slower; otherwise, it would likely have also tried to squeeze in.

At the China Film Digital Base, on the set of 'The War of the Witches', Fu Dalong, who plays Emperor Jun, together with several actors portraying ancestral witches, were suspended on wires and performing action shots in front of the green screen.

Jiang Heng, meanwhile, sat behind the monitor, observing the filming effect.

"CUT!"

Assistant director Yuan De shouted 'stop', glanced at Jiang Heng, and only after he nodded did he speak.

At noon break, the actors queued to collect their boxed meals; Jiang Heng's side had an assistant handle it, and the food was somewhat better.

"Director Jiang, for this One Person Under premiere, should we make a trip to Xianggang?" Yuan De, who was eating his boxed meal nearby, suddenly said.

Jiang Heng froze upon hearing this; although Yuan De gets along well with him and occasionally jokes, he rarely initiates suggestions.

Seeing Jiang Heng look at him, Yuan De actually became a bit bashful.

"Um, actually it's an old friend from Xianggang, feeling that you haven't gone back in a long time. Isn't Little Soldier Legend the global box office champion? The box office in Xianggang also broke records! Everyone just wonders when you'll return to properly celebrate."

Jiang Heng startled upon hearing this, thought it over, and indeed it's been a long time since he last went to Xianggang.

After thinking, he said, "Then let's arrange one in Xianggang; it's time to go back and take a look."

Yuan De was very pleased upon hearing this, after all it was his own suggestion; then Jiang Heng agreed, and upon returning to tell the old friends, his face lit up! He took a few bites of rice, then went aside to make a phone call.

"Well, Director Jiang has agreed to hold a premiere in Xianggang, and at that time he'll call up the old friends and anyone who can come."

"That's for sure—Director Jiang has achieved such results; every Xianggang film person feels proud!"

"That's for sure, making history!"

However, as the Lunar New Year film slot approached day by day, the activities inviting Jiang Heng to attend also grew more numerous.

But he basically used filming as an excuse and politely declined.

However, there was a movie premiere event where Jiang Heng made an appearance—that was the film 'War Wolf'.

After all, it was a film produced by Outstanding Rising Film Company; he had done a cameo during filming, and at the crucial publicity stage, his support was definitely needed.

At the event, Jiang Heng rarely praised director Wu Jing and the film 'War Wolf' before the media.

The reporters were somewhat doubtful and curious—could it really be that good? (End of chapter)