Chapter 207: He Sui's Slot

The filming budget for *Crazy Stone* was 15 million. Cao Yang symbolically collected a fee of 3 million; the remaining 12 million could all be used for actors, staff, and filming.

As for how much would be spent in the end, it would depend on Ning Hao's ability to spend money.

In the original trajectory, in 2005, Andy Lau launched the "Focus: First Cuts" initiative, investing 12.5 million HKD to support the works of 6 young Asian directors.

Ning Hao's *Crazy Stone* was one of them, with an investment of about 3 million.

Because of funding limitations, Ning Hao could only choose to shoot with DV and then transfer to film in post-production.

Because of current technical limitations, doing this was indeed very cost-effective. If watched on a computer, it might not be very noticeable, but on the big screen in a theater, the lack of film texture was very obvious.

Of course, this "Focus: First Cuts" initiative was not free support.

Andy Lau's Focus Films was the investor, selecting six films by young directors from across Asia to invest in; they were doing this as investors.

Furthermore, there was a requirement: all the films they invested in had to be narrative films, not too artsy, and couldn't make the audience feel too dull.

To put it bluntly, they were afraid of losing money.

But this matter, whether viewed then or now, was considered a very remarkable initiative.

Even globally, very few people were willing to invest in the films of young directors. Compared to those famous directors, the uncertainty of young directors was too great, and the success rate was not high.

Ning Hao was extremely excited now. He was grateful that Cao Yang could personally rewrite the script for him, launch the project, and let him be the director.

It also made Ning Hao feel that his choice to study as Tian Zhuangzhuang's graduate student was truly correct.

Ning Hao knew very well that the starting budget was 18 million. If Cao Dao hadn't taken the lead, just based on his own films like *Incense*, how could he have gotten so much budget?

No one dared to invest in him either.

The difficulties when preparing to film *Incense* were still vivid in his mind. Later, if it hadn't been for Cao Dao's help, he wouldn't have sold the rights for over 100,000 USD...

In short, for Ning Hao, Cao Yang was his benefactor.

In the eyes of outsiders, he had long been a person in Cao Yang's camp.

"Little Junior Uncle, do you have any suggestions for the casting?"

Ning Hao asked directly.

Cao Yang was shocked inside. Damn, you really dare to call me that.

"Don't call me that randomly. Just call me Cao Dao like before. We aren't discussing that right now."

Ning Hao laughed and touched his head. "You and my teacher are senior and junior brothers, brought up by the same teacher. It's very normal for me to call you Little Junior Uncle."

"Don't, don't. Old Situ has brought up many students. Do you have to call them Junior Uncle when you see them?"

"That's different..."

"Alright, just call me Cao Dao. Don't argue." Cao Yang waved his hand, stopping Ning Hao's subsequent words.

Ning Hao looked a bit reluctant, but still muttered, "In any case, in my heart, you are the Little Junior Uncle who has the grace of knowing me."

Cao Yang pretended not to hear and said, "As for actors, you and Old Tian can discuss it. I won't intervene."

"Okay, I'll first tentatively decide on a few candidates with the teacher, and then I'll find you to confirm the final candidates."

Ning Hao seemed not to have heard Cao Yang's words and said without hesitation.

Afterward, Ning Hao touched his head a bit embarrassedly and asked cautiously, "Little Junior... Cao Dao, there are a few female roles in the film, and the screen time isn't much. I want to find a few stars to make cameos. What do you think..."

"Who do you want to find?"

"Li Xiaoran, Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Bingbing, and Dong Xuan, any of them are fine."

You really have a thick skin.

Cao Yang then looked at Ning Hao suspiciously. This guy was very smart and had been on a few films with him; he definitely knew his relationship with these women.

Was this both showing favor to him and being able to invite big stars? Killing two birds with one stone.

"Once you confirm the candidates, I'll ask about their schedules."

"Alright, thank you, Cao Dao."

Ning Hao left happily.

In the following time, every once in a while, Ning Hao would come to report to Cao Yang. Every time, he wouldn't talk about difficulties, just simply chat about the crew's preparation progress, which actors had auditioned, and ask Cao Yang which actor he thought was suitable, etc.

Even though Cao Yang didn't ask and told him that as long as he thought the role was suitable, he could decide himself, he still insisted on doing so.

Therefore, although Cao Yang didn't participate in the preparation of *Crazy Stone* and was still busy with the post-production of *District 9*, he still knew almost everything about the preparation of *Crazy Stone*.

Perhaps influenced by Cao Yang, Ning Hao also chose many acquaintances for the lead roles.

For the security section chief Bao Shihong, he chose Duan Yihong.

In *Crazy Stone*, Bao Shihong was indeed the protagonist. The three people in the theft group were actually supporting roles, but their roles were too brilliant, giving people the feeling of being protagonists.

After considering it, Cao Yang still gave Ning Hao a suggestion: let him shoot in Shancheng and use the local dialect. This was also a brilliant point; there was no reason not to use it.

In the three-person theft group, the leader was finally chosen to be Liu Hua.

Originally, Ning Hao wanted to use the Beijing Film Academy acting teacher Wang Jinsong, but Liu Hua had a flat-top haircut, and when he wore a big gold chain, that feeling of being a rogue was something Wang Jinsong couldn't give.

So, he let Wang Jinsong play the factory manager.

For Heipi, he chose Huang Bo. This role was actually just a small supporting role. No one could have expected that Huang Bo could become famous because of this; it could only be said that the actor and the role were too suitable.

For the other person in the three-person group, Xiaojun, he used Zhou Yiwei; he was also an old acquaintance of Ning Hao.

For the big thief Mike, he just let Wu Qihua make a cameo.

For the role of Chairman Feng, Ning Hao pestered Old Tian, and Old Tian had no choice but to agree to make a cameo.

The two female roles that could be considered important actually didn't have much screen time.

Cao Yang considered it; for Bao's wife, he let Li Xiaoran make a cameo, which could also create a gimmick for continued collaboration after *The Nine-Tailed Fox*.

For the role of Daoge's girlfriend, Cao Yang told Fan Bingbing. Letting Fan Bingbing play this role was not bad; it was somewhat similar to the type of role she played in *Cell Phone*.

The reason Old Tian and Ning Hao "saw eye to eye" was initially because their views were similar. By following Cao Yang to film, they both considered themselves to have mastered the "trick." So, when Ning Hao and Old Tian prepared *Crazy Stone* together, they both moved out the things that could be seen on the surface of Cao Yang's set.

Ning Hao gathered the main characters together, preparing to spend one to two months specifically explaining the script and roles to them so that they could achieve better performance effects.

Perhaps afraid that his understanding of the script and roles was not in place, before he explained the scenes to the actors, Ning Hao pestered Cao Yang to explain the scenes to him and the main actors for two days.

In the following two months, Ning Hao explained the scenes to the actors while preparing the crew with Old Tian. Two months was enough to prepare everything.

By December, Ning Hao felt everything was ready and prepared to start filming. At this time, Cao Yang's *District 9* post-production was basically finished.

At the end of October, after discussing with Columbia and China Film Group, Cao Yang said that *District 9* was expected to finish post-production by the end of November, and asked them what plans they had and when they intended to release it.

Whether to wait for next year's summer slot to release.

Actually, it wasn't called a discussion; it was Columbia's executive director Tang Mu Rothman, who was also the producer of *District 9*, who, after checking the films for next year's summer slot, decisively chickened out.

Next year's summer slot was crowded with blockbusters.

There was George Lucas's *Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith*;

The sci-fi film *War of the Worlds*, directed by Spielberg and starring Tang Mu Cruise;

The 140 million USD investment *Kingdom of Heaven*;

*Batman Begins*, directed by Nolan and starring Bale;

And the 130 million USD investment *The Island* by Explosion Bay...

!

Compared to these A-list big productions, *District 9*, which claimed an investment of 70 million USD but was actually only 48 million, was a bit lacking.

Tang Mu Rothman didn't mean to look down on Cao Yang; on the contrary, he thought Cao Yang was a director who combined artistry and commerciality very well.

But investment doesn't lie, money doesn't lie. Although there were many big productions with investments of over 100 million that flopped, by comparison, the probability of films with smaller investments flopping was greater and more frequent.

Especially when clashing with big productions.

Then Tang Mu Rothman firmly believed that Christmas Eve in December was also a good slot.

In the slot of Christmas Eve and Christmas, except for *Meet the Fockers* starring De Niro and Ben Stiller, which was a threat, others were either like *Ocean's Twelve*, which had already been released and exhausted its box office potential, or were not worth mentioning.

At least Tang Mu Rothman believed that there were not many threatening films this Christmas.

Cao Yang looked at that slot, and it was indeed not bad. Although sci-fi blockbusters usually chose the summer slot, *District 9* had a special nature, and choosing Christmas was actually not bad.

After China Film Group considered it, they had no opinion on the North American release time and didn't want to touch the many blockbusters in the summer slot, but they were a bit worried domestically.

Feng Xiaogang's *A World Without Thieves*, under the guise of being his second experimental film, chose to release on December 9th. This film gathered many big names like Andy Lau, Ge You, and Li Xiaoran, and the box office should be good.

And Zhou Xingxing's *Kung Fu Hustle* chose to release on December 23rd. His box office appeal was unquestionable. If *District 9* were released globally simultaneously, although it would be one day later than Zhou Xingxing's, the current domestic market definitely couldn't accommodate two films exploding at the same time.

One film would definitely have its box office sucked away.

Han Zong was also in a difficult position.

Whether it was *A World Without Thieves* or *Kung Fu Hustle*, both had China Film Group involved. *District 9* was even more of a big-investment co-production that Han Zong valued. Both palms and the back of the hand were flesh; he couldn't hit himself.

Han Zong discussed it with Cao Yang, afraid Cao Yang would overthink it, and had to explain cautiously.

"Junior brother, it's not that I don't want to arrange a simultaneous global release on the 24th. We aren't afraid of Zhou Xingxing, who is releasing a day early. It's mainly because the domestic market is too small to accommodate two films with exploding box offices."

"*Kung Fu Hustle* was scheduled long ago, and various promotions have been done. It's impossible to advance or postpone it temporarily. Although our *District 9* promotion started long ago, the slot has always been kept secret and hasn't made its final push."

After speaking, he smiled at Cao Yang and continued to explain.

"When two tigers fight, one will definitely be injured. Zhou Xingxing's appeal in the country is still quite big. We don't need to fight hard; it's not good for anyone, right junior brother?"

Not only China Film Group, but Columbia also persuaded Cao Yang, afraid that Cao Yang would insist on a release on the 24th in order to pursue a simultaneous global release.

As one of the main investors in *Kung Fu Hustle*, Columbia, like China Film Group, didn't want to hit itself. They also persuaded Cao Yang that there was no need to engage in a simultaneous global release; the domestic release could be in next year's summer slot.

Feng Xiaogang also specifically called Cao Yang.

He told Cao Yang that Boss Wang knew he had a very good relationship with Cao Yang and specifically asked him to call and persuade Cao Yang that there was no need to end up both sides suffering for the gimmick of a simultaneous global release.

Huayi was also a main investor in *Kung Fu Hustle*, and they were also afraid.

Cao Yang's *The Nine-Tailed Fox* just took 213 million at the domestic box office during the National Day slot, breaking the box office record for the National Day slot.

This box office result surpassed the 150 million of *House of Flying Daggers*, which Zhang Yimou just released in the summer.

Although it still didn't break the domestic box office record held by *Hero*, one must know this was the National Day slot with a shorter holiday, not the summer slot or the He Sui's slot.

Many people believed that if *The Nine-Tailed Fox* were placed in the summer slot or the He Sui's slot, it would definitely have a high probability of surpassing *Hero*'s box office.

Up to now, looking only at domestic box office results, Cao Yang, like Zhang Yimou, had two films with box offices exceeding 100 million.

Cao Yang's *Milk*, although introduced as a Hollywood film, had a solid domestic box office result.

After China Film Group introduced it, it took 158 million in the first month, and China Film Group extended the screening for another month, ultimately just to break the 200 million box office.

The result was also taken off the screen at 203 million.

In other words, Cao Yang already had two films with box offices exceeding 200 million domestically, which was the only one among Chinese people; Zhang Yimou only had one.

Cao Yang debuted late and was a big director of art films, but in terms of box office, all his films added together were the highest domestic box office.

If global box office were counted, that went without saying; even among Chinese people, it was a cliff-like lead.

Zhou Xingxing had a lot of box office appeal, but that depended on who he was compared to.

Huayi was definitely also afraid that Cao Yang would place the slot for *District 9* in December.

On the contrary, Feng Xiaogang watched the fun and didn't think it was big enough, seemingly forgetting that his *A World Without Thieves* was also released in December.

After conveying Boss Wang's meaning, he smiled and instigated.

"Sigh, it's really a bit of a pity. If my *A World Without Thieves* had the chance, I would definitely do a simultaneous global release. If I had as much global influence as you, kid, I would definitely release it however I wanted."

Cao Yang could hear that Feng Xiaogang wasn't just gloating; this should be an opinion about the release time of *Kung Fu Hustle*, right?

*A World Without Thieves* lead actor Andy Lau accepted a media interview a while ago and was asked if he was worried about the box office since the slot was so close to *Kung Fu Hustle*.

Liu Dehua frankly admitted that in Xiangjiang, no one's box office could outsell Zhou Xingxing's during the same period, and the situation in the country shouldn't be any different; even if he lost to Zhou Xingxing at the box office, it would be a perfectly normal thing.

Did his words carry any other meaning?

Regardless, Xiao Gangpao was definitely unhappy hearing them.

(End of chapter)