Chapter 483

In the Chinese-language entertainment circle, a director's stature is judged first by awards, second by box office.

Xu Zheng is an actor turning director; international awards of that sort were something he never dared to dream of.

All this fuss is just to get more box office and make more money.

While it's fine to win big with small stakes, more often the larger the investment, the more money earned and the greater the influence.

After all, an investment of over a hundred million dollars and a crew of thousands prove a director's scheduling ability, and that is something anyone can do.

Doesn't he want to shoot effects blockbusters? He does, but the problem is he can't raise that much money, and capital doesn't trust him.

Looking across the entire Chinese-language entertainment circle, the directors capable of helming effects blockbusters with investments of hundreds of millions are just a handful.

Now, however, we need one more Ning Hao.

Although the two have always gotten along well, Xu Zheng still feels uncomfortable.

"What subject, and how much investment?"

"Mythology, there's still several tens of millions of dollars available; Director Jiang's idea means I have to go into seclusion for a while first to write the script!"

Upon hearing that, Xu Zheng felt even more bitter: "Congratulations, if there's a suitable role, don't forget your brother!"

"Can't do that!"

After hanging up, Xu Zheng felt even worse; his own efforts seemed to have just helped his brother succeed.

Fortunately, the profits from Lost in Hong Kong had already been realized in advance, so even if the box office is a bit lower, there won't be a loss.

Then, in the blink of an eye it was October; Lost in Hong Kong, billed as a sequel to Lost on Journey and Lost in Thailand, opened nationwide, and its first-day box office came out at a shocking 212 million.

It can be said to have broken the opening-day box office record for mid-low-budget films, though it's still a bit short of Director Jiang's effects blockbuster.

As for reputation, however, it plummeted utterly.

On the day of release, its Douban opening score was 6.3, but it fell to 5.7 the next day and kept sliding to 4.9 by the third, already entering the realm of bad films.

Amid criticism from major media and netizens, the film's daily box office also fell rapidly, making a ten-figure gross obviously impossible.

Worse still, because their performances in Lost in Hong Kong were unpopular, Xu Zheng and Bao Bei'er's popular appeal fell quickly.

The former is still okay; he just hasn't had any recent work.

Bao Bei'er, however, fared worse; his film One Way to Crazy, co-made with Chen Sicheng, suffered an undeserved disaster, and its already modest box office is about to disappear.

During the National Day holiday slot, films piled up for release, and all kinds of eye-catching news kept emerging.

But if we had to say what drew the most audience attention in the National Day slot, it was still Director Zhang Yimou's new film The Great Wall.

A 150-million-dollar effects blockbuster, besides having TV drama queen Yang Mi, also features powerhouse actors like Andy Lau and Zhang Hanyu.

Moreover, Fu Dalong, who plays Qin Shi Huang in the film, was recommended by Director Jiang.

On the Hengdian set, Director Zhang Yimou wore a red garment symbolizing auspiciousness, lit incense and offered sacrifices, and the surrounding reporters and spectators all snapped photos.

"Director Zhang, say a few words?" a reporter asked.

"Well, thanks to Director Jiang for giving me the chance to direct a genuine effects blockbuster; my original intention in making this film is to combine monsters and history to expand the expressive space for Chinese stories and values, letting the world better understand China's history, China's past…."

Zhang Yimou's answer was still rather official.

Yang Mi, meanwhile, was somewhat excited; after years of struggle, she had finally become the female lead of an effects blockbuster.

Although it's not a Jiang Heng film, which she slightly regrets, Zhang Yimou is also a renowned director, and after all it's a effects blockbuster with over a hundred million dollar investment: "In the film I play a genius maiden of the Mohist school who loves designing various mechanisms, and I'm a lover with Crown Prince Fusu…."

Out of consideration for film secrecy, Yang Mi didn't say much, and she left the reporters and spectators present with considerable suspense.

"Lovers, is it because of the status difference that you couldn't become a consort?" asked a quick-witted reporter.

Yang Mi smiled and said, "All I can say is that the timing isn't ripe yet!"

After a simple groundbreaking ceremony and press conference, the Great Qin version of The Great Wall produced by Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company officially began shooting.

Because they were far apart, Director Jiang didn't attend in person; he just made a phone call.

"Everything going smoothly?"

"Yeah, the audience is still quite looking forward to it!"

Zhang Yimou gave a simple smile; as the domestic first effects blockbuster combining monsters and history, he is very optimistic about this film The Great Wall.

At the start of shooting, he showed strong confidence.

Director Jiang also thought it was not bad, praised it a few times, then hung up.

At the China Film Digital Base, the shooting of Alien Routes was still relatively smooth.

After all, Director Jiang has also been making effects blockbusters for over a decade; in terms of sheer experience shooting effects films, even those few big Hollywood directors don't have as much as he does.

Moreover, the film's funds are self-owned, so no actor dares to throw his weight around or cause trouble; the usual messes seen elsewhere on set are absent here, making shooting naturally smooth.

Consequently, in his spare time, Director Jiang not only wrote an outline for Don't Worry, King, but also produced a draft script.

Ning Hao, upon receiving it, was extremely delighted; the more he read it, the more he admired it.

"You're so busy filming, yet you can still find time to produce a script?"

Director Jiang laughed, "What's the big deal? You know, in the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, they really could shoot a film and at the same time write a script; the most amazing part is that you could still sell it and make a classic!"

Ning Hao gave an embarrassed smile, "The golden age!"

Director Jiang said, "All right, I'm still busy, so I won't keep you; take it back and revise it! Whenever you feel it's ready to finalize, come find me again!"

Ning Hao nodded to leave, and Director Jiang added, "By the way, before you go revise the script, you can first see Du Zong; the production preparation can be done ahead of time—actors, props, materials, and so on!"

Ning Hao said, "Understood, I'll go see him now!"

Leaving the set, Ning Hao returned to his car, flipped through the printed script draft once more, and sighed, "This is too complete!"

Everyone says Director Jiang is a genius, but he hadn't felt it that deeply before.

Now, seeing a spur-of-the-moment idea turn into a fully formed script in just a few days—and a script that looks promising—Ning Hao truly feels envious.

If we go back a few years, he too had bursts of inspiration and all sorts of ideas.

But of those, only a few ever become scripts, and even fewer of those look promising.

Now his situation is that he's hit a creative bottleneck; he feels he ought to shoot something, but when he actually puts pen to paper, there's nothing! "Director Jiang, you've kept creating for how many years? Fifteen—amazing, amazing!"

Ning Hao sighed for a while, then started the car and headed back to Jingcheng, going straight to the Love Outstanding Rising Film Company building.

Because they had made an appointment by phone in advance, Du Huan was waiting for him in the boss's office.

Seeing Ning Hao enter, he laughed and said, "The script was written so quickly? Let me take a look!" (End of chapter)