China Entertainment’s Born Protagonist

Chapter 238 Substitute to put out the fire
It wasn't until the car stopped at the entrance of Jinhao Hotel that Yan Danchen came back to his senses and understood what Zhang Nanyi had just said about the secretary being very busy.

She blushed and said, "If that is also the secretary's duty, then I can do it too."

Zhang Nanyi laughed loudly, handed the key to the handsome guy who helped park the car, took Yan Danchen's soft little hand and said: "The night is long, don't worry,
Let's deal with this bar first. "

Under the guidance of the waiter, the two came to the private room, where three men and two women were sitting.

They are Wu Weidong of Ciwen Film and Television, Hong Kong's great director Xu Ke, Oriental Pictures' boss Huang Baiming, as well as Xu Ke's wife Shi Nansheng and Hong Kong actress Yang Caini.

After everyone got to know each other, Zhang Nanyi and Yan Danchen were arranged to sit next to Xu Ke and his wife.

Shi Nansheng has a relatively straightforward personality. After sitting down, she said straightforwardly: "Teacher Zhang, I'm inviting you to dinner this time. I think you can guess our purpose.

I just want to ask you to star in the movie Seven Swords.

Seven Swords is adapted from Mr. Liang Yusheng’s famous work, Seven Swords Down Tianshan.

We would like to ask you to play the role of Chu Zhaonan, the wandering dragon sword in Seven Swords.

This role is very important, and we need to find a big-name star with weight. We thought of you immediately. "

Before Zhang Nanyi could speak, Wu Weidong, who had already received hints from Zhang Jizong, continued to introduce: "Mr. Zhang, you should have heard some reports about the movie Seven Swords.

Our movie has an investment of 1.4 million yuan, and the cast is very strong. It brings together major stars from Hong Kong Island and mainland China, as well as actors from Korea. It is definitely a martial arts blockbuster just like a hero.

For this movie, our goal is definitely not limited to domestic, but to go international, and strive to create a benchmark for Chinese martial arts blockbusters. "

Ever since Li An's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a success at home and abroad, domestic commercial blockbusters were ready to take off. After Zhang Yimou's Heroes became a hit at the box office, this trend became even more obvious. Everyone saw the profit model of commercial blockbusters, so they started to Follow suit.

No matter what the core is, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero are both martial arts films in terms of subject matter.

Therefore, the martial arts theme has not only become popular in the field of TV series in recent years, but is also the first choice for blockbuster investment in the film industry.

In the past two years, blockbusters such as "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" and "House of Flying Daggers" have appeared one after another. The themes are all martial arts, and the formats are all co-productions with actors from China, Korea, or Japan. There is more or less overseas capital behind them, such as Cheng Kaige. I am rather proud of myself and do not play martial arts or fantasy, but my essence is still that of martial arts, and the film I made was a terrible movie.

When it comes to making martial arts movies, Xu Ke is definitely the best in the country, and can even be said to be the best, so his Seven Swords has indeed received widespread expectations and attention.

Various media outlets have made various reports on this movie.

The movie Seven Swords is jointly invested by Ciwen Film and Television and Oriental Pictures. They have high confidence in Xu Ke. The investment of 1.4 million may be insufficient, but the total investment is definitely not low.

After hearing what Shi Nansheng and Wu Weidong said, Zhang Nanyi said politely: "Of course I have heard of Seven Swords, an epoch-making martial arts blockbuster. This is the best resource in the industry. It is my honor that Mr. Wu and Director Xu found me.

In fact, I have always liked the martial arts films directed by Xu Ke, especially the film "The Legend of Shushan" made by Xu Ke in 01. The special effects really amazed me.

Shushan Fax is very good, but unfortunately it was not released at the right time. Maybe it would be released two years later and the box office would be much better. "

Xu Ke's last movie, "The Legend of Shushan", although the plot was weak, the special effects were really top-notch at the time, and this movie was full of strange imagination. It was a really good work.

It's a pity that it failed at the box office. The total revenue in mainland China and Hong Kong Island was only more than 3000 million, which was a serious loss.

When Xu Ke heard Zhang Nanyi's words, a smile suddenly appeared on his face. If Zhang Nanyi had praised him for being proud of the world, he would have been tired of hearing it, but his praise of "The Legend of Shushan" immediately won Xu Ke's favor.

He spoke a little too fast, "I didn't expect to meet someone who understands me today. I have always felt that special effects are the future of movies. Combining martial arts and special effects will definitely have shocking visual effects, allowing people to enter the real world." The world of martial arts.

In my opinion, martial arts is actually a better world than the real world, an ideal world with romantic beliefs. "

In 2004, the evaluation of the movie "The Legend of Shushan" was still mostly derogatory and rarely praised. The initial Douban score of this movie was very low.

It was only after the Internet emerged and many people saw The Legend of Shushan that they gave this movie a fair evaluation.

Everyone's bad comments about Shushan Zhuan made Xu Ke feel very unconvinced, so Zhang Nanyi's affirmation of Shushan Zhuan made Xu Ke's mood very high and the conversation was very interesting. He kept talking: "Shushan Zhuan" The failure was not because my concept was wrong, but perhaps because my concept was too advanced and everyone could not accept it.

So this time Seven Swords, I will prove that I am right.

For this reason, I put a lot of effort into this movie.

I spent three years repeatedly polishing the script of Seven Swords, striving to outline a realistic and romantic martial arts world.

I also made full preparations for the shooting. Just to choose the location, I went to Xingjiang four times and inspected the Tianshan Mountains, Urumqi, Shanshan and other places.

The magnificent scenery of Tianshan Mountain also gave me more inspiration.

So I am very confident in the movie Seven Swords. "

When Zhang Nanyi heard Xu Ke's words, he knew why this guy made Seven Swords into a mess. What the director fears most is to prove his concept.

After three years of polishing the script, in the end the plot of Seven Swords was even worse than The Legend of Shushan. It might as well have been filmed directly according to the original work. Moreover, compared with The Legend of Shushan, the top-notch special effects were missing.

There are also some viewers with unique tastes who say Seven Swords is an underrated martial arts masterpiece. Zhang Nanyi disagrees.

As for some people making excuses, they said that the original edited version of Seven Swords was 4 hours long, but was edited down to 153 minutes, which resulted in the plot becoming incoherent, so the plot seemed weak.

Zhang Nanyi said that you should learn from the great director Sergio. The 4-hour film "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​was cut by Warner Bros. to only 139 minutes, which resulted in a flood of bad reviews. As a result, Sergio later released the 4-hour version of "Once Upon a Time in America". Directly canonizing gods and creating classics.

It's a pity that Seven Swords does not have a 4-hour version, which cannot change the bad nature of it.

Anyway, the movie Seven Swords was a huge loss in the end, and its reputation was worse than The Legend of Shushan, so Xu Ke went silent for five years.

There is no way, even if you are Xu Ke and have lost money on two movies in a row, both of which are large-scale productions, investors will weigh the situation. The reality is so cruel.

After Xu Ke finished speaking, Zhang Nanyi said with a smile: "Congratulations to Director Xu, I wish you success in advance."

Xu Ke didn't seem to hear the politeness in Zhang Nanyi's words, and began to introduce the plot and characteristics of Chu Zhaonan to Zhang Nanyi.

After listening, Zhang Nanyi asked: "I have read the novel Seven Swords Down the Tianshan Mountains. Chu Zhaonan is a villain. He is double-dealing, forgetful of injustice, and finally surrendered to the Qing army.

Director Xu, you changed him into a positive character. I think it's good. I just have a question, why should Chu Zhaonan be a Goryeo noble?Have the Han people become Koreans?

After all, Tianshan and Korea are thousands of kilometers apart. "When this question came up, the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Wu Weidong took over the topic and explained: "Mr. Zhang, your uncle, Producer Zhang, and I are also old friends, so I won't hide it from you.

The role of Chu So-nam was originally planned to be played by Korean actor Song Seung-heon. However, the Koreans showed no integrity and broke the contract temporarily, so we had to find another actor.

As the saying goes, good and evil depend on each other, and Song Seung-heon's breaking of the contract is also a good thing. We found you, Mr. Zhang, to play the role, which is [-] times better than that Korean stickman. "

In the past two years, any big production by a big director must have Korean or Japanese actors to co-star, as if this will make the movie more awesome.

Seven Swords approached Song Seung-heon, but he failed. Two weeks before filming started, he suddenly stopped acting.

The crew was in a hurry to find another actor, and they also wanted to find an actor who was as famous as Song Seung-heon.

Wu Weidong happened to be familiar with Zhang Jizong, so he immediately thought of Zhang Nanyi.

Regardless of popularity or strength, Zhang Nanyi is much stronger than Song Seung-hyun.

That’s why we have tonight’s dinner.

Zhang Nanyi actually knew about Song Chengxian's breach of contract. He deliberately asked this question to point out that he was being used as a substitute to put out the fire.

In this way, rejection will not be so rigid.

Zhang Nanyi said: "Kory Bangzi really doesn't understand integrity, he is so shameless. I am very interested in Seven Swords and would like to cooperate with Director Xu, but it is a pity that there is no schedule."

I will release an English single next, and the focus of my work will be on singing for the time being. I will also go to the United States next week, which is an itinerary planned in advance. "

Wu Weidong knew that Zhang Nanyi had schedules. Zhang Nanyi was free in August and September, but Zhang Nanyi had already said so, so he couldn't say anything more.

And Zhang Nanyi also gave them suggestions.

"You can look for Zhen Zidan. He has good skills and is very suitable for filming martial arts movies."

Hearing Zhang Nanyi's recommendation, others had no reaction. Huang Baiming, the boss of Oriental Pictures, nodded, obviously thinking that Zhen Zidan was good.

Zhang Nanyi’s recommendation is also based on the subsequent cast of Seven Swords.

He definitely doesn't know how to act in Seven Swords. He came today to give Wu Weidong face, and his words were more polite.

It's all done.

Zhang Nanyi didn't know what Wu Weidong was thinking. Anyway, the atmosphere at the dinner table was pretty good.

After the food and wine were served, the wine table became more lively after a few glasses of wine.

Xu Ke kept asking Zhang Nanyi to talk about his movie ideas, and he obviously regarded Zhang Nanyi as a confidant. Zhang Nanyi served as a good supporter, stimulating Xu Ke's desire to express himself.

Xu Ke is also one of the top special effects film makers in China. If Zhang Nanyi wants to make a blockbuster about monsters in the future, he would really be a good partner.

So it’s a good thing to build a good relationship and get to know each other now.

But acquaintance is acquaintance, Zhang Nanyi will not forget tonight's business.

He increased the intensity of his attacks on the wine table, and after a few rounds, Wu Weidong and Huang Baiming were drunk and confused.

So at 8:[-] in the evening, the wine party ended early.

Before leaving, Shi Nansheng looked at Yan Danchen, who was sitting next to Zhang Nanyi, who had been silent and just silently helped Zhang Nanyi pick up food and pour wine, and said: "In our movie, there is another character named Liu Yufang. She is considered the second female lead.

If Miss Yan Danchen is interested, she can come and act.

Your image is really good, elegant and generous, with the temperament of a classic beauty. "

Because he had been talking to Zhang Nanyi, Xu Ke didn't drink too much. He looked at Yan Danchen, who looked really good, and understood what his wife meant, so he said: "Mr. Zhang, you can't play Chu Zhaonan, I'm very sad It’s a pity, Miss Yan can always come.”

Huang Baiming wanted to give the role of Liu Yufang to Zhang Jingchu.

Because of her incident on the set of Peacock in 03, this woman was jointly banned by the wives of major mainland directors, so she took the initiative to join the Hong Kong industry.

It has something to do with Huang Baiming.

So Huang Baiming wanted Zhang Jing to play Liu Yufang for the first time.

But Shi Nansheng was also the director's wife. She also disliked Zhang Jingchu's reputation. When she saw Yan Danchen's image, she suddenly decided to let her play Liu Yufang, excluding Zhang Jingchu from the crew of Seven Swords.

Zhang Nanyi did not make his own decision, but quietly asked in Yan Danchen's ear: "Routou, do you want to act? This drama was shot in Xingjiang, and it is a martial arts action drama, which is quite difficult."

Yan Danchen turned his head, and his soft lips brushed across Zhang Nanyi's cheek and reached his ear: "I want to act in such a big production."

Seeing Zhang Nanyi and Yan Danchen biting their ears as if no one else was around, a trace of envy flashed in Shi Nansheng's eyes.

After knowing Yan Danchen's thoughts, Zhang Nanyi said: "There is no problem with the acting, but the remuneration cannot be less. Rourou is the beauty who plays Chang'e and Chen Yuanyuan. If you can hire her, Director Xu, you will take advantage."

After Xu Ke heard this, he laughed loudly and said proudly: "The pay will not be low. Originally, the crew reserved a lot of money to hire you.

Now we have hired Zhen Zidan instead. The money saved can be used to hire several star actors. "

"Am I so valuable now? I don't even know."

Of course Zhang Nanyi knows how expensive his salary is. He is definitely the first among young actors. That means there is still a gap between him and international big names like Cheng Long and Li Lianjie.

After sending Xu Ke and others into the car, Yan Danchen said charmingly: "Mr. Zhang, Secretary Xiao Yan is online and will serve you wholeheartedly.

You can ask for any requests, and Xiaoyan will definitely satisfy you. "

(End of this chapter)