Entertainment: From the Octagon to the big screen

Chapter 254 - Knife Unsheathed
After spending a period of intense preparation in Houston, Chen Yu moved to Apple City to join the cast of "Knives Out."

"Welcome, buddy, there is still one week until the official launch. You can take a good look around this lovely international metropolis."

Director Rian Johnson, who has a yin and yang about New York, has been hanging out in Maryland since he was a child and is an outstanding graduate of the University of Southern California.

In the traditional concept of Europeans and Americans, one must first have a home, then gather into a town, then develop into a city, and finally unite to form a country.

Therefore, it is very difficult for Europe to be unified, and there are always divisions in the United States. For example, Chen Yu would say that he lives in the Lone Star Republic.

Therefore, his European and American friends were puzzled every time Chen Yu mentioned the mythical story of "Dayu controlled floods and passed through the house three times without entering".

In the eyes of Europeans and Americans, this is not what a hero should do. A hero must take care of his relatives and friends and then save the world.

The great thing about Chinese culture is the concept of "nation", which allows people to pursue their own selfish desires under the premise of obeying the collective interests, instead of pursuing their own interests like Europe and the United States.

But Chen Yu will not argue with his European and American friends about this kind of thing, because the latter have been taught that "family comes first" since childhood, and the environment in which they grew up also encourages this view.

Therefore, there are always outrageous plots in European and American movies that make Chen Yu inexplicable: fighting against the government for his family or pets.

"What I want to say is that if we still want to sell our film to China, we must not let the villain embark on a criminal path because of trivial things!"

Because Chen Yu heard that Director Lane was going to revise the fifth version of the script that he had just revised, he made a special suggestion, which can be said to be an important matter.

As a famous detective, Chen Yu doesn't want to deal with bloody cases where love leads to hatred.

Even if the villain is not avenging the country, at least he has to have some relationship with a terrorist organization.

If it were just a very ordinary murder, Chen Yu would lose the motivation, interest and sense of expectation in the performance.

"Man, if you add elements of national hatred, family hatred or terrorist organizations, it will be difficult to sell this work to China."

Director Ryan had apparently studied the censorship system of radio and television for imported films, so he planned to shoot the climax of the finale in two versions, and revised the script again for this purpose.

The shooting budget of "Knives Out" is very sufficient, which can fully support Lane to realize the plan in his mind and show his talents. Of course, the shooting period is also relatively generous.

The original version that Lionsgate and Ryan plan to release in Europe and the United States will use the trivial things around us as clues to ultimately reveal the contradictions of human nature. Being a villain is not bad for the sake of being bad.

The version provided to China wants to portray the villain's motives for committing crimes in a simpler way, that is, the villain can have an IQ but cannot have any shining points in his humanity.

The villain is very smart and cunning, but the bad guy is still a bad guy after all. The original intention of the bad guy is to satisfy his selfish desires and evil thoughts!
Ryan, who is also a producer, screenwriter and director, has now figured out unique tips and tricks for dealing with radio and television censorship.

To be honest, Lionsgate and Ryan didn't expect this detective film to achieve such outstanding and gratifying results in China.

In terms of target audiences, the promotional focus of "Knives Out" in Asia is South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. After all, Hollywood detective films have never been a hit in China, and even the Sherlock Holmes series failed to break this strange trend. Phenomenon.

Therefore, even if a special edition for China is produced, Lionsgate and Ryan have not raised the coefficient of China's expected revenue.

Using the special edition to pass the radio and television review and then enter the Chinese market will mean that "Knives Out" has completed the minimum task it shouldered.

Now Tencent, Youku and iQiyi have simultaneously sent official business letters to Lionsgate Pictures, hoping that the four parties can find time to get together to talk about "Knives Out".

As for Chinese cinema chains, Wanda, Shanghai Lianhe and China Film Digital have entered the formal negotiation stage with Lionsgate Pictures. These three companies are very optimistic about Chen Yu's debut.

However, Dadi Cinemas, Jinyi Zhujiang and Hengdian Cinemas maintain a very cautious wait-and-see attitude. They are worried that "Knives Out" will still suffer from acclimatization symptoms.

It does not mean that having a Chinese as the leading actor will make Hollywood movies adapt to China.

"Knives Out" has neither explosive racing nor sex scenes, which makes Dadi Cinemas worry that Chinese audiences won't buy it. After all, audiences who are already tired in real life need exciting blockbusters to release their depression, or to be healing, funny, heartwarming or even... Thriller movies are cathartic.

A movie with rigorous logic and tight rhythm like "Knives Out" may not be suitable for Chinese audiences, even if Chen Yu has many fans who lick his screen all day long.

Although the spending power and enthusiasm of Chen Yu's fans and fans are very high, it does not mean that they will go to the movies.

Maybe they are willing to use part of their monthly income to buy Chen Yu’s various high-quality peripherals and refuse to waste time in theaters.

This is very different from the fans and fans of Chenyu in Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Their main message is: I want them all!
Back then, Chen Yu dubbed Finnick in "Zootopia". As a result, Finnick's character's popularity in South Korea and Japan was even comparable to that of the "male lead" Nick the Red Fox.

Disney wants to release a short film about Finnick and let Chen Yu dub it to make a fortune in the Asian market.

It's a pity that Chen Yu was just playing for fun, so he didn't agree to join forces with Disney to do this immoral thing. Chen Yu casually threw the slightly cold soda water to Director Ryan who was leaning against the door of the studio's lounge. To be honest, he was a little nervous and worried that he would delay The back leg of the whole crew.

"Don't worry, buddy, the male protagonist of this work is drawn and filled in based on you. [Chen]'s character, behavior, and conversation are very close to yours, believe me."

Ryan considers himself one of the most successful "star-chasers". Not only can he create bold and bold creations based on his idols, but he can also invite idols to join the crew directly.

After Chen Yu heard Ryan's emotion, he took two steps sideways and raised his fists to form a hug. This brother's tone was like a "weird uncle" with bad intentions.

Of course Chen Yu was joking with Ryan, who had already established a happy family of four.

In fact, when Ryan directed "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in February last year, he included some fighting and cliché elements in the script he wrote.

But since the protagonist is the female warrior Rey Palpatine, we can only put that part of the content into Easter eggs. For example, Rey’s bag contains a signed photo of Chen Yu.

In addition, when Rey is practicing bare-handed fighting, she will use Chen Yu's signature offensive technique of "fifteen seconds anaerobic attack".

But she didn't have Chen Yu's impact and pressure at all.

But it doesn't matter. After all, no one in the world can perfectly replicate Chen Yu's "nirvana."

Even so, there are still people in the professional fighting and boxing circles who continue to try to imitate or transform.

Because this attack combination is too lethal.

"Do you need me to be the on-site director for the match between you and that Japanese chicken?" Ryan held a soda bottle in his hand and threw a standard and beautiful lower uppercut into the air.

Director Ryan, who regards Chen Yu as his idol, has obviously trained in mixed martial arts.

The on-site director of the Brazilian boxing match in March was led by Luc Besson. This time BMW seems to have hired a well-known German director Till Schweiger.

"I know him. This guy is also a very good versatile actor. He had an unforgettable performance in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. It was great!"

Whenever professional matters were mentioned, Ryan was extremely excited and passionate. At this moment, he took out his mobile phone to explain to Chen Yu the characteristics and merits of Schweiger's performance.

Schweiger can play a gritty villain, but his goofy image in comedies also makes audiences applaud.

In addition, Ryan felt that Chen Yu could learn from Schweiger's skills in playing positive characters - vicious good guys full of flaws.

"As a detective, you have to have a [point] that you stick to, money or justice, but I don't recommend that you choose [Messenger of Justice]." Ryan pointed at the fierce Schweiger.

"Knives Out" is to show the image of a detective in the Victorian era. Chen Yu needs to turn himself into a villain with a bottom line. In those days, detectives did not mean justice.

Both Holmes and Polo have their own character and behavioral flaws in the book, so Chen Yu must not be flawless.

When Director Ryan was designing "Chen" previously, he thought of giving him the skills to specialize in torture, but considering that "Knives Out" only had a few fight scenes, it was deleted in the later stages.

Then producer Leopold Hughes suggested that drug addiction is a minor problem, and the protagonist voluntarily resigned from his job in the IRS Criminal Investigation Division because of drug addiction.

In fact, this is a very good proposal that can fully reflect the real society. However, since Chen Yu is an active world-class boxing champion, drug addiction can easily cause him trouble.

Moreover, this movie is constructed according to the writing pattern of Agatha Christie, so it is inconvenient for the protagonist to have the same minor problems as Mr. Holmes.

Furthermore, having Chen Yu, who is Chinese, play a drug addict detective is likely to trigger resistance or even protests from Chinese Americans.

Lane, who is well versed in history, does not want some dramatic embellishments to become a scalpel that provokes the scars of other peoples.

Although China is not the key market for "Knives Out", respect must be given.

Chen Yu picked up a pen and wrote down Till Schweiger's name in the notebook Dilraba bought for him.

According to Dilraba, she can use it to show her seriousness when she comes to China for promotion, but the premise is that it must be filled with effective and healthy serious content.

You must not hand-copy game guides or ready-made movie reviews to put on a "facade". It doesn't matter if Chen Yu is not in China, but Dilireba can't afford to lose this person!
"I feel, uh, a little baffled by your fiancée's behavior."

Ryan raised his eyebrows at Chen Yu and made a thoughtful complaint about Dilraba.

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(End of this chapter)