China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 486

Japan, "Taken" crew

In the hotel, Cao Xuan killed the last big villain with one shot, and Liu Tianxian broke free from the "dead body" and rushed over with tears in his eyes.

"elder brother!"

Cao Xuan holds a gun in his right hand, facing the door vigilantly, and caresses the hair of his younger sister with lingering fear with his left hand.

"Brother is here, it's all right."

"Good!"

Lin Chaoxian shouted from behind the monitor, announcing with a bright smile that the film was finished, and the actors and staff, whether they were Japanese or Chinese, all cheered for their success.

Afterwards, a wrap-up banquet was set up as usual, Cao Xuan showed his face, and hurried back to the hotel to pack his luggage.

The mother and daughter Liu Tianxian, who planned to return to China by private jet, were a little puzzled. They finally finished filming and had no other jobs. Even if they were not in Japan for a few days, there was no need to go back in such a hurry.

Hearing this, Cao Xuan shook his head and smiled wryly: "If you don't go back, it's time to fight."

Liu Tianxian was taken aback, his teacher was pregnant, at this time people would die in the Shura field.

When Cao Xuan saw her worried and worried expression, he knew that his thinking was wrong.

Zeng Li's pregnancy was a top secret, few people knew about it, and Fan Xing only had two hands on the entire company, apart from Yuan Quan and a few close friends, the rest of the circle didn't know much about it.

Liu Tianxian was the only insider in Class 02 of the Chinese Opera, and one of the few people who went to see Zeng Li. She knew the benefits and kept her mouth shut, even Liu Ma didn't know.

Seeing this, Cao Xuan hurriedly explained, otherwise he was afraid of this girl nurse, so he would go and hammer a wave of hardcore big honey in the East Palace first.

"Zhuge Liang's candidate has been uncertain for a long time, and there is a lot of quarrel within the crew. I will go back and preside over the overall situation."

"It's not decided yet?"

Mama Liu muttered, although she is not a qualified agent, she still has at least some news channels, such as Tianya, Blog, and Mtime.com.

As far as she knows, this has been arguing for almost a month, and it has not yet been decided.

"Not only is it uncertain, but it's getting more and more noisy."

Cao Xuan got a headache when he mentioned this. The character Zhuge Liang is too charming. Everyone has preconceived ideas and each other has their own opinions.

If it was just a quick knife to cut the mess before, and dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, then there is no way to change it.

But because I wanted to find a relatively suitable one, this hesitation gave everyone room to argue, and the tearing of that piece was in full swing.

Not to mention the outside, there are many hills just inside the crew.

Jiao Enjun is an artist of Fanxing, so he naturally received strong support from Fanxingji, the producer and the relevant team of the company are all its supporters.

Chen Kexin, one of the directors of Jincheng Wuyou, supported it, and also won the support of many Hong Kong and Taiwan personnel in the crew.

China Film also felt that Jincheng Wu was the most famous and had an ambiguous attitude towards box office growth.

Huang Haibing and Xin Baiqing, one wins because of their excellent ancient costumes, the other wins because of their acting skills and temperament, and they also have certain supporters, but considering their fame, they are obviously inferior to the first two.

There are also those who feel that these four are not suitable, and they have to mention other candidates, each has its own wishes, and several related meetings have caused real fire.

Let's put it this way, Cao Xuan listened to the reports of several confidantes, and felt that even if Tang Guoqiang was dragged here in 94, he would be criticized by these people for nothing.

It is precisely because of this that Cao Xuan decided to vote, which is relatively fair.

Voters, including himself, the three directors, some main creators, some staff leaders, and some investment shareholders, each have different votes according to the right to speak in the "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" crew, but the cumulative total of all people is about 300 Stand out.

Cao Xuan hurriedly returned to China this time to suppress the situation.

As the first person in charge of the crew + the biggest box office guarantee, Cao Xuan is the well-deserved C position of the crew of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", and Han Sanye must be ranked behind him.

It was precisely because of waiting for him that Zhuge Liang's vote was delayed for half a month.

Now it's almost unstoppable, and Cao Xuan just finished filming, so he hurried back to China and got the votes, otherwise the crew would have to do something inside the crew before filming.

.........

Flying back to the capital, Cao Xuan didn't even go to the Empress of the West Palace, and rushed directly to the Fanxing Building, and directly summoned Zhuge Liang to vote for the casting of "Three Kingdoms·Chibi".

All those who are eligible to participate in the voting come, and those who can't make it will call to participate in the meeting.

Anyway, Cao Xuan, who had suffered enough procrastination, just said, this matter must be done today.

After the relevant personnel were almost all present, and those who didn't show up were connected through the phone, Cao Xuan, who presided over the meeting, nodded to Han Sanye and several senior advisors, and then spoke.

"During this period of time, I have been busy filming in Japan, and the preparations for the crew have worked hard for everyone."

Everyone hurriedly gave in and exchanged a few words, and Cao Xuan also brought the topic to serious business.

"I have also read some of the opinions discussed by everyone, some of which are indeed meaningful, and some are not realistic, so I will not discuss them one by one here.

Zhuge Liang is a historical celebrity, and it is impossible for any actor to play it perfectly. What can be done is to make up for and optimize as much as possible in the subsequent shooting..."

Cao Xuan said a lot, because he knew that no matter who was selected in the end, there would be people who would be dissatisfied, so he was getting a vaccination.

Anyway, the rules were stated in advance, and even more than half a month of canvassing time was set aside.

The one with the highest vote wins, and what he says counts.

Be happy when you win, and don't hold back when you lose.

This is also the reason why we have to wait until Cao Xuan comes back to press the field. It is decided that we will not change it. If Cao Xuan, the decision maker, does not come, it means uncertainty. overthrow.

But today Cao Xuan is here, and consultants, directors, investors, screenwriters, and producers are basically present, and there are even videos.

There was no anonymity, Ding Ying, the producer who wrote the votes and counted the votes, checked the tickets on the spot and announced on the spot.

Cao Xuan had the most votes, 10 in total, 5 for Jiao Enjun, he is his own artist after all, the boss can't take the initiative to dismantle the stage, and the remaining 5 were for Xin Baiqing who is his favorite.

But Cao Xuan knew in his heart that Xin Baiqing's chances of becoming a leader were too small.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" was able to ignore those Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, and hired a large number of mainland actors. On the one hand, the stars have risen in the past two years, and the signs have accumulated a lot of prestige, and there are also a group of popular stars. On the other hand, it is all thanks to Cao Xuan held on.

As the only superstar who has just broken the box office record in film history and the only movie starring in the mainland with a cumulative box office of over 10 billion, Cao Xuan's current box office appeal can be called No. 1 in Chinese.

In contrast, he alone can withstand the sum of Liang Chaowei, Jin Chengwu, Zhang Zhen and a certain Zhao in the original "Red Cliff".

After all, although Liang Chaowei has a high status in the film industry, his box office appeal has not been strong. In fact, it is difficult for Jin Chengwu to compare with the top movie stars.

Not to mention Zhang Zhen, he may still be famous in the literary and art circles. Before the commercial films "The Great Master" and "Embroidered Spring Knife", not many people knew him at all.

A certain Zhao is very popular and well-known, but in terms of making achievements in the movie, it must be reflected after "Painted Skin".

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" may not be the top lineup of Chinese-language movies, but it is definitely a big production that can be counted.

The combination of Cao Xuan + Lao Mouzi alone can make countless people flock to it, and with an investment of 3-5 million yuan, they can play supporting roles/guest appearances with many popular mainland artists.

I dare not say that those big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan can be completely ignored, but from a commercial point of view, "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" has the confidence to refuse.

In fact, although the previous "Night Banquet" had a mediocre reputation, the box office was really not bad.

And this movie is also one of the few major productions where big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan do not account for a high proportion. Wu Yanzu, the only Hong Kong actor in the starring role, barely counts three times in the play, ranking behind the international chapter and Uncle Ge, and even Mr. Zhou is faintly better than him. .

The box office success of "The Banquet" actually proves that big productions don't have to be big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

No matter how you evaluate Feng Xiaogang, among the early commercial directors in the mainland, he is indeed one of the few big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Except for "A World Without Thieves", in many other movies, there are only a few big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan who can really talk about a hero and heroine, and most of them are actresses who don't do much at the box office.

Now, in addition to "The Banquet", there is also "Painted Skin" with a box office of more than 5 million yuan, and the previous "Embroidered Spring Knife" series, which are basically purely mainland actors.

Cao Xuan has proved that without big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan, he can still carry the box office, so China Film and investors are willing to let him arrange the casting of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" willfully.

It seems that the first selling point of this movie is the Three Kingdoms IP, and the second selling point is Cao Xuan, but in fact, the second selling point is the real core.

After all, anyone can develop the IP of the Three Kingdoms, whether it can be sold or not, it still depends on Cao Xuan to attract traffic.

But even so, Zhuge Liang is the protagonist of the second round after all, and there is a limit to self-will. Xin Baiqing's reputation is too low, even if Cao Xuan fully supports it, many people will not agree.

In contrast, Jiao Enjun has been participating in popular star dramas for the past two years, such as Erlang Shen in "The Lotus Lantern", Zhuo Yihang in "The Legend of the White-haired Witch", Yang Xiao in "The Legend of the Dragon Slaying the Dragon", etc. Although his popularity and popularity have not gone out of the circle, but It's barely a line.

Even if the famous coffee position is far from being tied with Cao Xuan, at least he is barely qualified to be the protagonist.

More importantly, he is a star entertainer.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" has stars as the main control, and more than 70% of the crew are stars. In terms of voting, he is very advantageous.

It was originally one of the big favorites, and it took advantage of the home vote, so the outcome was naturally as expected.

Among the more than 300 tickets, Jiao Enjun won almost half of them by himself, winning strongly.

Some people may think that it is unfair to be shady, but there is no way, whoever made these people not join Fanxing, several players have their own advantages, and Jiao Enjun's biggest advantage happens to be Fanxing artist.

After the voting was over, Cao Xuan didn't talk nonsense, and directly finalized the candidate. Some people were dissatisfied, but there was nothing they could do.

Cao Xuan took a few high-level and big bosses to his office to chat, and the people below were doing their own things, and the news of today's meeting spread quickly.

.........

Suburbs of Beijing, "Magic Phone" crew

This drama is a crew invested by Guolan, created by the original crew of "Lotus Lantern", and Jiao Enjun plays the role of the second male lead.

Originally, Jiao Enjun didn't want to take on this drama. He has risen in popularity in the past two years, and even the super-popular Xiaohua's Fan Xiaopang "The White-haired Witch".

However, he happened to owe a favor to the producer of the film crew. He couldn't hold back several invitations, and most of the actors were acquaintances of "Lotus Lantern", so he finally accepted this book.

Today's filming is the trapeze man fighting the bull devil, and the person who plays the bull devil is also an acquaintance, Chen Minghao from Class 96 of the Chinese Opera.

Since he starred in "Xiu Chun Knife 2", his fame has soared. In the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang" starring Hu Jun, he played the role of general Tang He, and his role is still very important.

However, he prefers dramas. He used to want to get ahead, but when he really became famous and had a way out, he began to think about his dreams again.

I shoot when there is a play, as long as the script is suitable, I don’t choose roles too much, and I go back to acting in dramas when there is no play, and my life is very comfortable.

He found the book "Magic Phone" interesting, and he knew the director and screenwriter, and he didn't dislike the lack of roles, so he acted it quickly.

The other roles have also been changed, the silly girl is still Shu Chang, the yellow-browed king is still the roaring dog, but the male lead has changed and has become the star artist Qiao Zhenyu.

It is precisely because of his presence that Jiao Enjun's management team did not care too much about the position, and it is not uncommon for Fanxing's internal artists to cooperate with each other.

Today Jiao Enjun played Qiao Zhenyu the second male lead, maybe one day Qiao Zhenyu would have to praise Jiao Enjun, as long as the two are not in direct competition, it is not considered a loss of position.

Hanging the wire, several people played several rounds in the wild, until the director called the card and greeted for lunch, and several actors took off the wire, stretched their muscles, talked and laughed, and came to the rest area to prepare for dinner.

Before Jiao Enjun sat down, he saw his assistant running over in a panic and almost fell over.

"Brother, Mr. Jiang is on the phone."

"Which President Jiang?"

"Our immediate boss, Jiang Yue."

Although Jiao Enjun has a good status in Fanxing, there are too many Fanxing artists, and Jiao Enjun is really not particularly outstanding.

Jiang Yue is in charge of the artist brokerage business and is very busy with work. Except for those sharp-minded people, it is difficult for others to make a phone call a month.

The two of them had an average personal relationship, most of the work was directly handled by Jiao Enjun's agent, and Jiang Yue suddenly called.

Jiao Enjun thought about the recent events, and his mood suddenly became hot, and at the same time, he was so nervous that he couldn't control it, so that after he was asked to answer the phone, the first two syllables trembled a little.

"Hey, President Jiang..."

"Okay, I see, I will prepare well..."

"Understood, you have bothered me, and please thank the boss for his support..."

"Well, I'll wait for your call..."

After hanging up the phone, the assistant looked at Jiao Enjun expectantly, and obviously knew the key to the call, otherwise he wouldn't have lost his composure just now.

Jiao Enjun nodded at him, the assistant immediately hugged him excitedly and shouted, the rest of the people were puzzled when they saw the movement, only Qiao Zhenyu probably knew something.

"Brother Jiao, is it done?"

Jiao Enjun smiled reservedly, nodded slightly, and Qiao Zhenyu immediately cupped his hands: "Congratulations, congratulations, this time you want to treat guests, and it's a high-end treat."

"Good talk, good talk."

Jiao Enjun is in good spirits when it comes to happy events, and he never refuses anyone who comes. This time, the others have also reacted. Although they don't know the specific situation, let's talk about it first after having a meal.

And the few people who knew the inside story didn't say much. Although the matter has been set, the crew has not made an official announcement. It is still necessary to keep a low profile to avoid side effects.

Looking at the smiling Jiao Enjun, Qiao Zhenyu couldn't hide his envy.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" is such a big production, which greatly benefits the actors. Don't you see that the sister Zhiling of "Red Cliff" in the original time and space, has become a well-known movie star from a model outside the mainstream film and television industry. movie heroine.

In the same way, if this Zhuge Liang plays well, he can directly lift Jiao Enjun to the ranks of first-line movie stars.

Even if he doesn't have a major financial backing and film resources are limited, but if he comes back to make TV dramas again, his net worth will probably have a qualitative leap.

It was previously joked that Qiao Zhenyu would have the opportunity to match Jiao Enjun in the future, but now it seems that it is not a joke, but it is very likely to become a reality.

As long as the performance of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" is outstanding, even if Jiao Enjun cannot be the first brother of Fanxing because of his age, he is definitely an existence that cannot be ignored.

Who would not envy the opportunity to reach the sky in one step and leap into the dragon's gate...

Of course, when competing in the same field, Jiao Enjun was happy, but others were sad.

Beijing, Mandarin Dormitory

Xin Baiqing put down the phone in his hand, and his wife Zhu Yuanyuan asked, "What do you say?"

Before he could open his mouth, he hurriedly added another sentence: "It's okay if it doesn't work, it's good for us to make dramas in a down-to-earth manner."

In fact, the couple knew that they had the lowest chance of winning.

Zhu Yuanyuan still had some fluke mentality, and Xin Baiqing, who had a more stable personality, had no hope from the beginning to the end.

The so-called smaller the hope, the smaller the disappointment. Even though I still feel a little lost, my mentality is generally quite good.

"Zhuge Liang is out of action, but given the role of Gu Yong, there are still a few scenes."

"Gu Yong, the prime minister of Soochow Wu, that's not bad."

Zhu Yuanyuan comforted, and Xin Baiqing nodded: "I heard that Cao Xuan helped me win this role. It is said that he is very optimistic about me and publicly supported me from the beginning to the end."

Although he couldn't get the role, Xin Baiqing felt warm in his heart when he was strongly recognized by an outstanding colleague.

He and Cao Xuan didn't meet each other on a daily basis, and they only collaborated once in "The Family of Gold Fans". He didn't expect to be remembered until now. For Xin Baiqing, who is not well-known, it is still something to be proud of.

Zhu Yuanyuan also nodded, and called out the seniority of the characters in "The Family of Gold Fans": "Lao Qi is good, he is very loyal to his friends, actors with good business are also willing to help, and they will help if they encounter any problems, except for the reputation. , everyone in the industry admires him."

"However, I also hold grudges. I heard that someone recommended Lu Yi, but because he offended him before, he was directly rejected."

"What is this? You don't have a good relationship with XX. Will you lend him money? The old seven pays for it on his own. Why let the enemy get rich? It's not generosity, it's a disease of the brain."

Zhu Yuanyuan had a good impression of Cao Xuan, and she directly defended and responded. Xin Baiqing thought about it for the same reason, and agreed with his wife.

"you're right."

The couple's expectations were limited, and they soon returned to normal. Huang Haibing was similar to them. Although he was more famous, he was not as good as Jin and Jiao.

Only Jin Chengwu was very emotionally depressed. He is a big favorite and has great hopes, hoping that he can become one of the top celebrities with his movies.

Jin Chengwu himself was born in 1973, debuted in 1991, and acted in his first movie in 1993. Although his debut was not particularly early, he would not be included in the new generation of Chef Xie.

His fame and popularity are not bad, but he has not been out of the circle on a large scale for a long time. It always makes people feel that there is a distance from top artists like the Four Heavenly Kings, and he is even slightly inferior to Zheng Yijian.

"House of Flying Daggers" in 2003 made him famous in the mainland, and he also wanted to participate in another big production and go further.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" is a big production that he has worked hard for a long time, but unfortunately it failed in the end.

Xiangjiang's internal competition is too great, Liu Tianwang and several people above are suppressing, and there are Chef Xie, Teacher Chen and others around.

This time it was rare to have a role of the right age, and the other party did not particularly value fame and fame. This made him show his face from among the artists in Xiangjiang. It will be difficult to get such an opportunity next time.

.........

Cao Xuan didn't know the complex psychology of the actors. After presiding over the meeting, he went to the Changping Villa of Niangniang Xigong.

One and two months later, he always thought about the two of them when he went to bed at night.

Of course, Cao Xuan didn't forget about the Empress of the East Palace. Due to the presence of the mother-in-law, Cao Xuan lived a life of running back and forth between the east and west palaces.

Fortunately, they are all in the capital, which is not too far away. If they live in two places, he will live on a private jet every day.

Before he was safe for two days, he received a bad news.

Grandma still hadn't survived the winter, and left without a sound one night in early December.

Cao Xuan hurried back to his hometown, ignoring his grief, and helped his uncle and others take care of the funeral. Hu Jing accompanied him all the way, and even Zeng Li, who was inconvenient, quietly came to pay respects, and then Cao Xuan sent someone to see him off. Back to the capital.

The old lady was almost an octogenarian when she passed away. Although she dare not say that she was free from illness and pain, she did not suffer much compared to being entangled in a serious illness.

In addition, everyone was mentally prepared before, and the handling afterward was fairly orderly.

After bidding farewell to her uncle, Cao Xuan took her parents back to Beijing. Sun Lan took out a jade pig the size of a thumbnail from her pocket and stuffed it to Cao Xuan.

"Next year in the Year of the Pig, this is the jade that your grandma asked your dad to buy from the coffin. I found it to be carved by a master at Jishang. I plan to give it to your child as a gift in the coming year..."

Speaking of this, Sun Lan burst into tears, choked with sobs and couldn't speak anymore. Cao Xuan didn't cry, but he felt sore while holding the piglet.

His grandparents left earlier since he was a child, and the older generation he gets along with the most is actually his grandma.

It will be Cao Xuan's eternal regret not to be able to see him for the last time, and not to let the old man see his great-grandson.

Grandma, and earlier Huo Lao, two respected elders passed away one after another, which also had a great impact on Cao Xuan, especially when he saw that his parents had a few white hairs on their heads and more wrinkles on their faces, it was even more reminiscent of the years ruthless.

Although he usually yells at the old couple in his heart, in fact, in his heart, his parents have always been in their 30s, and they are still at the age of beating him to death with a broom.

However, now he suddenly realized that his parents had passed the year of knowing their destiny.

Even though they have been pampered and pampered in recent years, it is not easy for the old couple to make up for the suffering they suffered in the early years.

Cao Shuangguo worked as a coolie when he was young, his waist was bad, and his leg was broken. It hurts badly when the weather is very cold.

It is said that Sun Lan went to work in the field during her confinement period, which caused sequelae. Moreover, Cao Xuan's family was poor when she was a child, and Sun Lan often ate one or two meals a day, and the food was not good, so she always had stomach problems.

The death of his grandma this time made Cao Xuan feel that he had "grown up" a lot, so he tried to set aside time to visit him every few days, and was planning to find an opportunity to take his parents out for a few rounds.

Grandma's regrets can no longer be made up, and he doesn't want to add new regrets.

----

ps: Friendship recommends the book "Top-level life starts from hitting the street", the great god Nanchao Chen Xinshu, if you are interested, you can go and read it

(End of this chapter)