China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 641: Not Knowing the True Gold
"What? Could it be that Director Li has heard of "Wushuang" before?"

Wang Jing could tell that Li Yu on the other end of the phone was quite surprised.

This made him feel a little strange. Zhuang Wenqiang started writing the script of "Wushuang" ten years ago, but there were very few investors in Hong Kong Island who were interested in this script.

In short, this project is a flop that no one in Hong Kong is optimistic about.

How could Li Yu, who was far away in Beijing, have heard of this project?

This is very unreasonable.

"I haven't heard of it. I'm just surprised about the person who wrote this script. Zhuang Wenqiang once wrote the Infernal Affairs series, the last peak of Hong Kong films. I never thought that such a talent like him would fall to the point where no one would invest in Hong Kong Island. It's really a bit sad." Li Yu explained.

"This is not surprising. Investors in Hong Kong just don't think highly of his film, The Invincible Swordsman. They still invest in other films. For example, Overheard has even been filmed to the third part."

Wang Jing paused for a few seconds and continued.

“In fact, sometimes we can’t blame the investors entirely. Zhuang Wenqiang also has problems. He is too stubborn, just like a donkey.

Who are the investors? As for the financial sponsor, most people try their best to please the financial sponsor, but they don’t go against the financial sponsor like he did.

The investors felt that the Hong Kong film market was not doing well and that the costs were too high to make a profit, so they asked him to delete some big scenes to reduce costs.

He listened to the investors and said that if he cut out the money-burning scene, it would be over. But he refused.

If I were an investor, I would not invest in a director who refused to give in.

After all, I am the financial sponsor. I am paid to be someone’s father, not paid to be someone’s son.”

There is some truth in Wang Jing’s analysis of the problem from an investor’s perspective.

But in many cases, it is the director's persistence that creates a classic work.

As a director, Li Yu can empathize with this aspect.

Therefore, he would spend a lot of money when making movies. As long as spending money could improve the quality of the movie, he would never be stingy.

The reason why a classic is a classic is that it is called a classic because it is done well in all aspects.

If it's a little bit wrong here and a little bit wrong there, when added together it will be very bad. How can it become a classic?
Wang Jing actually had his own little thoughts when he told Li Yu all this.

He didn't really want Li Yu to invest in Zhuang Wenqiang's "Wushuang".

A project that no one has been optimistic about for ten years must have some problems. We can't say that all those investors are idiots.

He only mentioned this to Li Yu to save Liu Dehua's face.

He mentioned it to Li Yu and the mission was accomplished.

Convincing Li Yu to invest real money in "Wushuang" with all his might was not on his to-do list.

On the contrary, if Li Yu really invested in this movie because of his connections, it might not be a good thing for him.

It would be fine if the movie was successful, everyone would be happy, and Liu Dehua and Zhuang Wenqiang would owe him a big favor.

What if it fails?

If Li Yu is badly cheated by Zhuang Wenqiang, will it affect his relationship with Li Yu?
He is a businessman, not a gambler, and he doesn't want to gamble on that.

In his opinion, the probability of success of the "Wushuang" project is low and the risk is very high.

Wang Jing continued, "I am not hiding anything. I am speaking directly. I am telling you this because someone has entrusted me with this. I have to tell you this because they have entrusted me with this. I cannot help but tell you this. I will not give them face if I do not tell them this."

Now that I have said that, it is my responsibility to analyze the potential risks of this project with you.

I think there must be some reasons why a project has been ignored for ten years. That’s all I have to say. Director Li, please think carefully about it.”

Li Yu is a smart man. He can tell that Wang Jing's hidden meaning is that he is suggesting not to invest. If it were an ordinary investor, upon hearing this, he would most likely decide not to invest.

Li Yu is not an ordinary investor, he has a forward-looking vision.

"Wushuang" is a rare classic in the last days of Hong Kong films, much better than Wang Jing's "Chasing the Dragon".

Some of the memes like "You handle color-changing ink, and I handle acid-free paper" came from this movie.

This movie was also the box office champion of the 2018 National Day holiday, with box office revenue exceeding 12.5 billion in mainland China alone.

Moreover, the box office of this movie quickly climbed after its release as word of mouth spread.

In other words, if it is handled well, this movie can achieve even better results.

Moreover, this is Zhuang Wenqiang’s finest work since he became a director and wrote and directed it himself.

Such a good project has been placed in front of Li Yu, how can he not get involved?

In addition, there is one more thing worth mentioning.

Previously, Li Yu was collectively targeted by Hong Kong and Taiwan media because he made some remarks about reducing the treatment of Hong Kong and Taiwan artists in the Mainland.

Until now they are still targeting Li Yu.

They would never mention any good things Li Yu did, but if he did anything bad they would definitely spread it widely.

In order to teach them a lesson and give them a slap in the face, Li Yu decided to invest in this movie.

After "Wushuang" was released, they discovered that the sunset glow of this Hong Kong film was actually invested by a mainlander, a mainlander they had often scolded.

Also, Zhuang Wenqiang has been soliciting investments in Hong Kong Island for ten years but no one paid attention.

As soon as he arrived in the mainland, Li Yu gave the money without saying a word.

I'm afraid they will be embarrassed to brag about this movie by then?
Just thinking about that scene, Li Yu found it very interesting.

In addition, with the "Wushuang" project, Li Yu no longer needs to torture himself by panning for gold in the pile of scripts sent by Da Tiantian.

"Director Wang, I understand what you mean."

"Okay, then I will convey your meaning to Andy, and tell him that you have to go to the United States to film a movie and will not be available. We are all smart people, and I think they should be able to understand what I mean after I say this." Wang Jing replied.

"No, Director Wang, you misunderstood. What I meant was that you help me contact Zhuang Wenqiang and ask him to come to the capital. As soon as possible, I won't stay in the capital for many days." Li Yu said.

"What? Are you really going to invest in "Wushuang"? " Wang Jing thought to himself, wow.

He just shared with Li Yu how risky it was to invest in "Wushuang"? No one in Hong Kong was willing to invest.

What he meant in his words was that Li Yu should not touch this project.

As a result, Li Yu turned a deaf ear to his words and still wanted to proceed with the project.

Then wasn't what he just said in vain?

"plum……"

"Okay, I understand your efforts. You can stand in my shoes, help me analyze the risks, and give me sincere advice. I understand all of this.

But I still want to meet the man who wrote Infernal Affairs. Maybe you Hong Kong people really have poor vision and fail to recognize the real gold, so I picked up a leak.

Anyway, no matter how things turn out, I won't blame you. It has nothing to do with you. It's my own decision."

Li Yu interrupted Wang Jing to continue speaking his mind.

(End of this chapter)