Chapter 155

Recently, several news flashes about Wenjie Culture, which have attracted much attention in the industry, have been rampant.

First: *Thief Family* was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Cannes Film Festival; Lu Kuan will lead the crew members to this coastal city in early May 2003 to participate in the screening.

The distribution of the film was handed over to China Film Group, and the release date was undecided.

Second: Another signed director of Wenjie Culture, Ning Hao's work *Crazy Stone*, will be distributed by Shanghai Film Group, with a release date in July.

Third: Wenjie Culture's newly signed director Xue Xiaolu has initiated a youth film project, expected to start filming within the year.

Fourth: The Xianxia drama *Chinese Paladin*, a collaboration between Xiangtai and Wenjie Culture, has officially wrapped up and will be aired on satellite TV within the year to meet all the fans of the *Chinese Paladin* game.

After *Crazy Stone* wrapped up, the bald Xu Zheng found Lu Kuan and recommended himself, wanting to follow him to film, swearing that he could start from being a field manager to learn.

Boss Lu knew his character, didn't deny his ability, and decided to let him finish filming this movie with Teacher Xue from the Beijing Film Academy before discussing anything else.

At that time, he could just throw something like *Nightclub* to him to test the waters; if it worked, he would use him with conditions, if not, he would reject him.

Between March and May, because of the rampage of the boiling point, the fate of many people and many industries was changed.

The entertainment industry in the mainland seemed a bit slow to react, but it still came to an abrupt end under the harsh situation.

The TV series *Passion Burning Years 2* was forced to stop filming after only one day;

The TV series *Sui and Tang Heroes*, originally intended to invite Zhao Wenzhuo to play Qin Shubao, but after the postponement, Zhao Wenzhuo didn't have the schedule, so he was replaced by Huang Haibing.

Take the *Cell Phone* crew, for example; because the situation in Beiping was serious, they moved to Qingdao, just to catch the New Year's slot.

After being exposed by the media, local residents protested collectively, demanding the crew be quarantined on the spot for 14 days.

For safety's sake, after the crew arrived in Qingdao, they immediately went to the Center for Disease Control for a physical examination, and usually filmed in a closed 18-story hotel.

By the way, Fan Bingbing's original role was replaced by Huo Siyan.

And *The Noble Family*, very luckily, grabbed the hot airing at this golden node; the three main leads, Chen Kun, Dong Jie, and Liu Yifei, became popular quietly.

Dong Jie issued a statement signing with Xiangjiang Zhedong, becoming an artist under Wong Kar-wai.

And Liu Yifei, who had already gone out of the circle under Lu Kuan's packaging, saw her popularity soar with the big sales of her record and the birth of her first classic role, Bai Xiuzhu.

A large number of fans emerged on websites like Blog, Tianya, and Maopu, and some fans even spontaneously organized to establish theme websites.

With the successive broadcasts of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* and *Chinese Paladin* within the year, soon the audience would find that no matter how they changed channels, she was the one appearing on TV.

Lu Kuan was buried in the courtyard house, not going out, rushing to work on two scripts.

One was a national disaster film inviting Ms. Zhang Zhang Chunru as a consultant; Lu Kuan was hesitating whether to describe the painful history from the front, warning future generations.

Or directly film an autobiography and experience of Ms. Zhang Zhang Chunru, describing this history that cannot be slandered from the side.

There was also a giant sci-fi film he was about to launch.

This was a big gamble, and also a test.

If successful, the main capital to enter Golden Harvest next year would be there;

If failed, the entire Wenjie would have to start all over again!

Lu Kuan considered the choice of the sci-fi film carefully and still chose to adapt the acquired sci-fi novels himself.

Finally, he faced two choices.

He Xi's *Exotic Realm* and Liu Cixin's *Chaotic Butterfly* were both works that hadn't been adapted in later generations.

Summarized in one sentence:

*Exotic Realm* tells the story of the male and female leads, in order to maintain human evolutionary advantages, ignoring the global food crisis, destroying the Ximai farm built on "time-scale conservation."

*Chaotic Butterfly* tells the story of a patriot who mastered the power of chaos using the butterfly effect to protect the motherland; it is a short story with an anti-war theme.

In short, he had completed the adaptation of both film scripts.

Which one to film would depend on the gains at the film festival and the revenue of *Paranormal Activity* from Emile's side.

The cost of sci-fi films is very high, and box office revenue is crucial; it is impossible to break even relying solely on the domestic and Asian markets.

Therefore, this film must use Hollywood stars, use Hollywood's completion guarantee system to raise funds, and the main ticket warehouse in the future must still be the North American market.

This way, even if it flops, it won't constitute a devastating blow to himself and Wenjie.

On May 15, 2003, the *Thief Family* crew arrived in Nice by plane after layers of quarantine.

Then took a half-hour car ride to arrive at the Carlton InterContinental, the hotel where they stayed during the Cannes Film Festival.

This time, Wenjie and China Film Group sent many staff members in advance to create momentum for the film in terms of publicity, so it wouldn't be as embarrassed as in Venice last year.

"Zhou Xun!"

Just as Lu Kuan and others got off the car and walked to the lobby, a hometown accent suddenly came from behind.

Everyone turned their heads; it was the *Purple Butterfly* crew, who were also shortlisted for the main competition unit this year.

"Director Lou, long time no see!"

The one greeting was Lou Ye; Zhou Xun had collaborated with him in her breakout work *Suzhou River*.

It was also in that drama that she met her boyfriend Jia Hongsheng; counting it up...

Mm, it was the brother-in-law of the previous previous previous predecessor of Yapeng, and between them were Pu Shu and Song Ning.

Feng Yuanzheng also greeted Lou Ye familiarly; he also had scenes in *Purple Butterfly*, but not many.

"Director Lou, let me introduce you, this is Director Lu Kuan."

Lou Ye wasn't a person particularly good at socializing; among the Sixth Generation, he was considered the one with the least background and wasn't purely from a professional background.

But meeting an insider like Lu Kuan, Lou Ye still didn't hesitate to release his goodwill, and the expression on his face became more lively.

"Director Lu, long heard of your name, hope to communicate more."

Lu Kuan was also very easygoing: "Hello Director Lou, want to have a drink tonight?"

Lou Ye laughed loudly: "You and Zhou Xun are really worthy of being good friends, both love wine?"

"I have an appointment with Jiang Wen tonight, let's get together then!"

Boss Lu couldn't help but look him up and down again; this old boy wouldn't be trying to walk his path, leaving him with no path to walk, right?

He was still thinking about making an appointment with Jiang Wen in advance through Han Sanping!

That's right, if you need to deal, you still have to deal; the head of the over-budget gate, Jiang Wen, was one of the nine judges of the Cannes jury this time.

"Alright, a thousand cups are too few when meeting a bosom friend, let's get together properly tonight."

"No problem!"

After a long journey, Zhang Ziyi also got off the car listlessly, her brother Zhang Zinan following closely with the luggage.

"Oh, hello Director Lu, first time meeting, nice to meet you!"

"Hello, Ziyi."

Lu Kuan smiled and shook hands with her, observing at close range this "Mou Girl" who could best represent Chinese actresses after Gong Li.

Have to say, Old Mou's vision was top-notch.

Zhang Ziyi couldn't be called stunningly beautiful, but from the professional perspective of film photography, her skin and bone structure were the most "compliant."

Zhang Ziyi's cheekbones were slightly high, and her apple muscles weren't full enough, slightly flat.

These were originally small flaws in her appearance, but once placed under the camera lights, these small flaws became advantages.

Whether it was top light or direct light, the lines presented by the whole person in the lens would be very smooth.

In the words of foreigners, it's called an advanced face.

Zhang Ziyi smiled and greeted others: "Teacher Feng, Zhou Xun."

Fan Bingbing was arranging luggage with her back to them, not knowing if Zhang Ziyi didn't see her, or didn't think of her at all.

Feng Yuanzheng was a Golden Lion Award Best Actor, a senior actor at the People's Art Theater, and Zhou Xun was also a first-tier actress in the domestic entertainment industry.

This group could be said to be the stars in the domestic entertainment industry who currently possessed both strength and idol status, especially Liu Ye and Zhang Ziyi, who had long become film actors.

From this perspective, Fan Bingbing was the most inconspicuous one in this group.

But the big flower now had a backer!

Not knowing if she was angry in her heart, or if she had always been this confident, Fan Bingbing also turned around with a beautiful face and greeted generously.

"Ziyi, Liu Ye, hello!"

Not a bit of embarrassment from being ignored.

Liu Ye really didn't see her, and very gentlemanly stepped forward to help her with her luggage.

Zhang Zinan was impatient: "Hurry in, standing here in the big sun, sun-baked to death."

Zhang Ziyi gave him a look, signaling him to be quiet and not restless.

Liu Ye envied: "Director Lu, you are still the one with money and power, staying at the Carlton InterContinental?"

The Carlton InterContinental was built in 1911 and was the first choice for European and Hollywood stars to stay in Cannes.

Going out from here, one could almost seamlessly connect to the red carpet in front of the film palace, the main venue of the Cannes Film Festival!

This was precious for a group of female stars with high requirements for clothing, makeup, and props, providing great convenience.

It was equivalent to finishing up in the room and being able to show off directly when going out.

The three major European festivals generally only cover the airfare and accommodation for the director of the main competition unit, and they are all economy class.

Unless it's a world-class director and Hollywood star, the conditions can be relaxed.

Foreigners also look at people to serve dishes.

"Haha, the crew's cost control is good, there's still some budget."

Boss Lu had always not treated himself badly; as soon as he made some money, he mortgaged shares to get a loan to buy a courtyard house. Which time did the crew following him not eat well and drink well!

Buying people's hearts with small favors, these were all routine operations.

Zhang Ziyi's brother had always been brainless; seeing Fan Bingbing, such an unranked second-tier, staying at the Carlton InterContinental, he also shouted loudly.

"Director Lou, Ziyi and I will stay here tonight, the weather is too hot, too lazy to run."

Speaking, he didn't care about Zhang Ziyi's darkened face, directly threw the luggage to the white boy who stepped forward, and walked in with a thick face.

Lou Ye shook his head helplessly; he had already witnessed this person's arrogance when Zhang Ziyi was filming, not surprised at all.

Family members acting as agents was the norm when the domestic entertainment industry started; at that time, stars hadn't seen much big money, so how could they rest assured to hand over such a fat job to outsiders.

Zhang Zinan could be called the "leader" among family agents.

Zhang Ziyi had a scandal with Jackie Chan at a banquet, which was the matter of picking grapes and sitting on his lap; Zhang Zinan bombarded the big brother through the media, saying he was sponging off his sister's popularity, and as a result, the latter's Hong Kong circle resources vanished.

Zhang Ziyi attended the charity dinner of the Monaco royal family, which was also an event gathered with celebrities.

Before the dance began, the staff came to inform Zhang Ziyi that the Prince of Monaco would come to invite her to dance the first opening dance later.

As a result, this brother gave a scolding, and finally said it wasn't written in the contract.

Want to dance? Add money!

The host that day was Jin Xing, and this matter was exposed by her big mouth.

Until the day the leather pants guy proposed to Zhang Ziyi, originally the sister could find someone to take over, but he still couldn't help his big mouth, belittling the leather pants guy, making everyone unable to step down.

Boss Lu watched the excitement and didn't think it was too big, but he couldn't keep Lou Ye hanging here all the time.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while to relieve the embarrassment, then parted ways, agreeing to meet again at night.

(End of chapter)