Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 153: Laughing at the Cast
The next day.

Zhou Mo contacted Cheng Long.

"Director Zhou wants to work with me on a movie?"

"Yes, the Police Story series of movies. I had an idea for a police and gangster movie before. When I was thinking about the actors, I found that there were no actors in China who could reach Long Ge's level in this aspect, so I wanted to work with Long Ge again."

Cheng Long was very satisfied with Zhou Mo's compliment and was polite with a smile on his face.

"Director Zhou, thank you for the compliment. It's been a while since I've filmed a police and gangster movie."

But after the polite exchanges, Cheng Long did not immediately accept Zhou Mo's invitation. Instead, he said something else.

"It has always been my dream to make a movie with Director Zhou, but Director Zhou, let me be honest with you, New Police Story was a box office failure, so I am conservative about whether the Police Story series can be recognized by the audience."

Cheng Long expressed to Zhou Mo his concerns about his ability to withstand the box office.

In fact, he hasn't achieved any good results in a few years.

Starting from "The Forbidden Kingdom" to the later "Xin Hai", the box office in mainland China for several movies in a row has never exceeded 200 million.

There were even a few films that didn't even reach 100 million in box office revenue.

From this perspective, adult cages are actually somewhat lagging behind the market.

When it came to "The Chinese Zodiac", he actually didn't think it would achieve particularly good results.

A treasure-hunting movie.

The box office revenue is an incredible 200 million.

It may not be achieved.

For Cheng Long, filming "The Chinese Zodiac" was on the one hand to express his feelings towards the country, and on the other hand to satisfy his craving.

Cheng Long really loves making movies.

He even has an addiction to making movies.

It is this addiction that continues to drive him to continue making movies even in his sixties and seventies.

Now, facing Zhou Mo's invitation, Cheng Long's fear lies.

If the movie still fails to be successful at the box office after cooperating with Zhou Mo.

That means he is really old.

After all, judging by Zhou Mo’s performance since his debut so far, standing out from the crowd is not enough to describe his excellence.

Not only does he produce at least one production a year, but every one of them also explodes at the box office.

If you work with a director like this and make a movie that flopped at the box office.

Not to mention the audience, even Cheng Long himself felt that the box office problem had nothing to do with the director, but that the actor himself was really not good enough.

Zhou Mo saw Cheng Long's hesitation and said, "Making a movie is a gamble. As long as the movie is not made, no one knows whether it can be a success. I think Long Ge's "The Chinese Zodiac" will perform quite well."

"Then I'll borrow Director Zhou's good words." Cheng Long just thought Zhou Mo was comforting him.

But the comfort alone is enough.

Not everyone can enjoy the comfort of a great director.

Zhou Mo saw that Cheng Long didn't believe it, so he smiled and said, "Brother Long, why don't we make a bet?"

"What are you gambling?"

"I'm betting that the box office of Chinese Zodiac will exceed 500 million. If it succeeds, Brother Long and I will work together on Police. Besides that, there is another film project that I will also look for Brother Long to work with in the future."

Zhou Mo was talking about "The Equalizer".

Ever since he established "John Wick", he has been looking for various actors in the country who can satisfy the requirements of classic action movies.

So far, except for "Vice City" which could not find anyone in China to replace Ma Dong-seok, other dramas like "The Secret Service" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" basically have actors who can meet the requirements.

Among them, the protagonist Zhou Mo chose for "The Equalizer" was Cheng Long.

The reason is that Cheng Long had filmed a movie called "The Foreigner" in his previous life.

The image of Cheng Long in the movie is actually very suitable for playing in "The Equalizer".

"No problem, I made a bet with Director Zhou." Cheng Long agreed readily.

It's a bet that benefits both parties, and you'd be a fool not to agree to it.

Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows: "Brother Long, why don't you ask what will happen if I lose?"

Cheng Long shook his head: "Of course not. With Director Zhou's reputation as a 'magician', there's no need to mention the bet. I'm already confident about 'The Chinese Zodiac'. By the end of this year, Director Zhou should be prepared to be careful of me catching up with him."

"Forget it, let's talk about cooperation and betting first. We'll talk about it later." Zhou Mo joked.

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Long and Zhou Mo burst into laughter.

……

It was the end of July.

The news of "Swordsman" has been released.

At the beginning, many Mesozoic people were not very excited when they heard the news about Linghu Chong.

After all, including Deng Chao, most of the middle-aged generation in China have more or less acted in martial arts dramas.

Nowadays, they are not very interested in martial arts dramas.

Even if you are making a martial arts work, it has to at least be a movie.

But a day later, when Shanhe announced the information about "Swordsman", it indicated that the protagonist of the new drama was not Linghu Chong, but the teenage version of Zhu Houcong, and that the center of the whole drama would be on the court.

Half of the entertainment industry was in an uproar.

"Brother Xiaoming, I think you've gone a bit too far. You've got a lot of things to do lately, including the promotion of three movies, plus 'The Legend of Yue Fei'. So please don't get involved in the affairs of 'Swordsman'." Zhou Mo was quite helpless.

Huang Xiaoming smiled playfully over the phone, "Don't worry, Director Zhou. I definitely have enough time. Please consider me. Didn't you say that I played Emperor Wu of Han very well? Let me try Jiajing as well."

When Zhou Mo heard about Emperor Wu of Han, he was really moved.

But after thinking about it, he finally shook his head and said, "Forget it, Brother Xiaoming. I'm looking for a teenage version of Emperor Jiajing. You're not suitable in terms of age. If it were ten years ago, this role would have been 100% yours, but forget it now."

Huang Xiaoming saw that there was really no chance, so he had no choice but to make an appointment to contact him later.

After Huang Xiaoming hung up the phone, another person contacted Zhou Mo. "Brother Chao?"

"It's me, Director Zhou."

"...Are you here to apply for Jiajing's position as well?"

"Hehe, Director Zhou is really good at predicting things. Please give me a chance, Director Zhou. I have always had a dream, which is..."

"Stop, stop, stop, Brother Chao, I remember you were going to film The Four 2?"

"It's still in time, Director Zhou. I don't have any other skills, except that I'm good at time management."

Zhou Mo listened to Deng Chao's boasting.

I thought it was a good thing that the term time management has not changed its meaning.

He shook his head: "Brother Chao, you should know that I have already rejected Brother Xiaoming."

Deng Chao: "I know. Xiaoming was rejected because he was too old. But I have no problem. I am younger than Xiaoming. Director Zhou, to be honest, I don't even have crow's feet now. I am as young as the rising sun. As the saying goes, a man is in his prime at 31..."

Zhou Mo almost vomited.

"Are you ashamed, Brother Chao? You are only two years younger than Brother Xiaoming. You are already 33 years old this year. Don't act young. You can't play Jiajing anymore. But our company will release another movie by then. I will contact you then."

Deng Chaogang felt a little disappointed when he heard that he was rejected, but when he turned around and found out that there was a movie to be filmed, he immediately became excited.

"No problem, Director Zhou. I'll be waiting for your letter later. You must remember to contact me. I will miss you, Director Zhou, Director Zhou!"

Snapped.

Zhou Mo hung up the phone.

He dry-heaved twice.

"How disgusting! A thirty-year-old man is still so beautiful..."

Liu Shishi was laughing so hard that she was bent over, and she kept squirming on Zhou Mo's body.

Zhou Mo looked at her with contempt.

"Don't move. If you move again, I'll be the one to move."

Liu Shishi blushed.

Then it shook twice more.

Zhou Mo: ...

"Woman, you are playing with fire."

"Don't play with fire. Fire is not fun."

"What are we playing?"

"……I."

Twenty minutes later, Liu Shishi got up from the sofa.

After taking a sip of water, he asked, "You've received more than a dozen calls, but you haven't decided who will play the role of Emperor Jiajing yet?"

After thinking about it, Zhou Mo said, "Actually, someone has already been chosen. Jiajing is divided into two parts. The teenage period will still be played by Chen Xingxu, the brother who played the young Ying Zheng before.

Let Yilong play the adult stage, his image is actually quite suitable for playing the kind of stubborn and mysterious role. "

Liu Shishi nodded, not surprised.

In fact, she had guessed before that Zhou Mo would most likely choose Zhu Yillong.

After all, he is one of his own.

"What about Yang Tinghe? As Jiajing's greatest enemy, many people should be looking for you for this role."

Zhou Mo nodded: "Huang Zhizhong, Wang Jinsong, Zhang Zhijian and other teachers have actually come to me."

Liu Shishi felt that the competition was fierce just by hearing these names.

“It’s a hard choice.”

"Yes, and there are more than just them among the candidates. There are also some actors who are not very famous but their acting skills are also very good. The most important one is Yang Tinghe who fits my image very well."

Liu Shishi became curious when she heard this.

She rarely heard Zhou Mo use the words "very suitable for a certain role" to describe an actor.

"Who?"

"Zhang Lei is the policeman in Lu Tailang's "Kekexili"."

Zhou Mo's impression of Zhang Lei comes from a drama "Yu Lou Chun" filmed by Yu Zheng in his previous life.

Zhang Lei’s acting as Sun Xun in the film is very good.

The most important thing is that the manners are outstanding.

After watching one drama, Zhang Lei got the nickname "Four sons can't beat one father", which shows his level.

So when Zhou Mo found Zhang Lei's name in the actor list, he decided to give him a chance.

Liu Shishi thought of this person based on his memory.

"Are you going to choose him?"

"No, I just want him to compete with those people. Let them compete on their own. As for the pain of selecting people, the director will bear it later."

Zhou Mo seemed very free and easy.

The purpose of being a boss is to save yourself some trouble.

After getting dressed, Zhou Mo was about to start eating when he discovered that Liu Shishi had already changed into formal clothes.

"Are you...going out?"

"Otherwise, do you think I'm like you, that I can handle a lot of business with just a few phone calls? The Qi Family Blade will be aired soon, and I have a show to go on this afternoon."

"Okay, then go ahead and run. When I finish the things I'm doing, I'll call you to meet me in Shanhe."

(End of this chapter)