The superstar starts from the creation camp

Chapter 378 New World.

With 125 theaters, Hualan Cinemas has become a force that can have an impact on the current film market overnight, and because of the good relationship with Huayi, the two theaters together have more than [-] theaters. The huge power also makes all companies in the circle dare not underestimate it.

It even caused the stock prices of the top ten cinema chains to fall all the way. As a last resort, many theater chains hastily announced plans to open new theaters. Of course, it was just a plan. Construction has left many third- and fourth-tier cities basically in a saturated state, and the audience base of the next-tier market is generally small, and it is impossible to come up with a solution for both ends for a while, so we can only do further market research first.

Since the establishment of Hualan Cinemas, the most obvious change is that the number of young directors received by the company every day, or investment from film and television companies, has increased day by day. Shi Ran had to set up a special department to deal with it. The quality of the film is quite good, the company has made a small fortune, and has also promoted several young directors. This is the charm of the theater chain.

Li Mu, who has been busy for nearly two years, can finally rest for a period of time. It just so happens that the two children are on summer vacation. Li Mu took his family to play wildly for a month and a half before returning to Shanghai. The two little guys have also turned six years old. One year old, I will start elementary school after the summer vacation.

"Time flies so fast." Li Mu couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

Wang Ziwen leaned on his chest, gasping slightly: "Yeah, in a blink of an eye, we are all in our 30s."

Li Mu kissed her tenderly on the forehead, and tightened his arms around her again: "Honey, you have worked hard these few years."

"Crazy, why are you feeling so emotional today? Could it be that you did something to be sorry for me?" Wang Ziwen stared at him pretending to be suspicious.

"Why, haven't I been paying the public food on time during this time?" Li Mu teased.

Wang Ziwen snorted softly at him, and then fell silent. Li Mu has been in a high position in the entertainment circle these years, but there is no scandal at all. As a woman, she can't ask for more.

September is the beginning of school. Li Mu and Wang Ziwen sent their two siblings to school. Li Ruilan quarreled for Wang Ziwen to comb her hair early in the morning. extracurricular books.

Regarding the study of the two children, Wang Ziwen basically tutored them. Li Ruilan is a smart girl, but her interests and hobbies are too wide. She practices piano and dance, and her grades are actually very average, while Li Ruiting is completely He has no extra-curricular hobbies, his only hobby is reading various books, and he already has the potential of a nerd. Li Mu tried to guide him to music, movies and other hobbies, but unfortunately it didn't work at all, so he gave up helplessly.

Because the school is nearby, it is run as a commuter, and the two children are assigned to the same class. This also makes Wang Ziwen secretly relieved. She is not worried about her daughter, but mainly because she is worried that her son is not very gregarious and easy to get along. Being isolated by others, she felt relieved to be in the same class as her daughter. Li Ruilan's communication skills are invincible, and it is not an exaggeration to describe her as cute.

When they got home, Li Mu and Wang Ziwen suddenly had a very inexplicable emotion, just like empty nesters, yes, the feeling that their parents send them away every year when they go home for the New Year.

"Hey, do you think we are getting old?" Wang Ziwen asked inexplicably.

It is naturally impossible for Li Mu to admit that he is old, and in order to prove that he is not old, he immediately carried Wang Ziwen back to the room
"Still old?" Li Mu smiled proudly with his arms around his wife.

Wang Ziwen gave him a white look panting: "Childish."

The biggest change after the two children went to elementary school is that they became more independent. Li Ruilan used to be very clingy to Li Mu, but gradually Li Mu found that her daughter seldom took the initiative to make out with him. There is no way, children always grow up inadvertently, Wang Ziwen began to devote more time to animation creation.

And Li Mu can only vent his energy on the company's affairs. The happiest people are the singers under the company. In just one year, Li Mu made tailor-made songs for Zhao Xuan, Ye Xin, Xu Zhaohua and others. The new album is the main title, with a total of [-] songs, and also participated in the planning of seven exclusive concerts of the company's artists.

For a while, the entire Chinese music scene was boiling, and some netizens even joked that this was the year of the rebirth of the Chinese music scene.

And some music variety shows have their eyes on Li Mu. The singer of Mango TV has sent three invitations, and even Heluo has joined the ranks of persuasion. Zhelan Satellite TV is not to be outdone, and offered a sky-high price to invite Li Mu. To act as a mentor with a good voice, and Shanghai Satellite TV has come to invite many times. In this year's Singer Contest, the Huaxia team was crushed, and the best score was only No.5, which once disappointed the Huaxia fans. It also made Huaxia fans realize the reality. The brilliance of the previous two sessions was only supported by Li Mu and his artists, and the Chinese music scene has long since withered talents.

"Sister Ran, help me to decline." Li Mu's answer did not exceed Shi Ran's expectations, but facing a thick stack of invitations, Shi Ran still couldn't help smiling: "There must be a reason for this, right? "

Now that the company has been listed, the relationship with David TV should not be too tense. Li Mu thought for a long time: "Just say that I am busy making a movie recently."

"Then, the movie?"

"Call the screenwriter team for a meeting." Li Mu replied without thinking.

Well, you won. Shi Ran resisted the urge to roll his eyes and left the office. The screenwriter team was stunned when they received the news, but the situation of "I'm not the god of medicine" is still vivid in the memory, and everyone is very excited. Last time "I'm Not the God of Medicine" was a big hit, the entire screenwriting team gave out a big red envelope, everything else was fake, who doesn't like real money?

But to everyone's disappointment, Li Mu didn't like any of the recent new scripts, and the atmosphere in the conference room was unavoidably depressed. After a while, Li Mu asked, "I remember last time there were two gangster plots in the script?" ?”

The screenwriter team was all stunned for a moment before realizing: "But, at that time, wasn't it rejected?"

Li Mu nodded: "It must be difficult for such a plot to pass the censorship in China, but can we change the background? Change to Xiangjiang, or try a foreign background?"

"Ahem." Shi Ran cleared his throat and reminded: "Let's forget about Xiangjiang."

Li Mu also thought about it: "Okay, let's try it with a Korean background."

In fact, Li Mu originally wanted to film Infernal Affairs, but considering the current situation, he still didn't want to bump his head in, so he settled for the next best thing and chose another gangster movie "New World".

The three major gangster movies "The Godfather", "Infernal Affairs" and "New World", "The Godfather" basically has no possibility of being adapted into a domestic movie, and there are various religions in the plot. , The national culture is too clear, changing these magic changes will only change the essence of the film beyond recognition. "Infernal Affairs" was originally the most suitable, but considering the recent situation, I can only give up.

So the only choice is "New World". To be fair, this gangster film is actually far from China. The leading male Li Zicheng and the leading male Ding Qing in the play both have the identity of overseas Chinese. Of course, this is It's not known if it wasn't specially set by the original crew for the purpose of passing the review.

In Li Mumo's revision of the script, the identities of Li Zicheng and Ding Qing were changed to North Korean immigrants. Anyway, it's all your internal affairs. Don't rely on Huaxia, otherwise, this identity alone will not pass the trial.

After listening to Li Mu's revision opinion, the screenwriter team was dumbfounded. How could it be like this?The most important thing is, after three revisions to the script, did it really pass?
Speaking of it, in fact, it is also thanks to the good impression left by "I am not the God of Medicine" before, and the review department is more or less merciful. If it is a film and television company, it is estimated that they can make the screenwriters revise to doubt their lives.

In fact, the censorship of gangster movies in China has not reached the point of daunting, just like the "drug war" directed by Johnnie To, the darkness of human nature in it makes people suspicious of life. The most important thing is that the police in it also have many problems. In order to catch all the drug dealers, the anti-drug captain played by Sun Honglei, instead, the big drug lord "Cai Tianming" made a move, which finally led to the sacrifice of all the anti-drug officers who appeared in the film. This is definitely not a positive image, and it is still shown in major theaters.

This time, "New World" is still directed by Liang Hongfei. Originally, he was going to shoot a small-budget art film, but Yu Peipei taught him by ear, and asked to take over the next day, which made Li Mu still a little bit Somehow, this guy must have drunk too much, right?
The script and the director have been finalized, so the next step is to choose the cast. "New World" doesn't have many actors, and there are only a few important supporting roles. The real highlights are Li Zicheng, Ding Qing, and Section Chief Jiang. body.

The news of the casting spread quickly in the circle. The popularity of "I'm not the god of medicine" also made several supporting roles really popular. Now, except for Jin Yang who wiped out everyone because of the random arrangement of the brokerage company , the rest of the supporting roles are all doing well, at least they are also second-line actors.

So this time, before the crew officially announced the casting requirements, many brokerage companies have already come to seek cooperation on their own initiative.

Of course, those who are more sensitive than their sense of smell are the major film and television companies. In the past, no one was willing to invest in "I'm not the god of medicine". In the end, when the box office came down, all kinds of tricks hit the face, which once caused the stock prices of many listed companies to drop. There are several points. Although this time it is a relatively small gangster movie, no one dares to underestimate it.

"New World" is not considered a big investment. In fact, the studio can invest independently. Enough to make the film's box office drop by more than ten points.

Therefore, Li Mu did not accept some more reliable investments. Of course, Li Mu's rules are also very clear.

Facing such a strong producer, the investor also has troubles, but there is no way, they don't lack funds, and they expect to treat you like a master like other crews?No way, this directly led to the fact that the crew of Muzi Studio was the last place all investors' representatives wanted to stay.

After the investment is confirmed, it is time to consider the issue of actors. Li Zicheng's role adheres to the style of not letting the fat and water flow to outsiders, and he still gave it to Chen Xuan. Speaking of which, Chen Xuan is also unlucky. After the male, most of the recent films are similar roles.

This also directly led to his weight not dropping, but increasing. Li Zicheng is a handsome middle-aged man who requires smart and tough suits and leather shoes. This also means that he must lose at least [-] catties. Just stop acting.

However, Chen Xuan didn't complain at all, on the contrary he was very happy, and even joked that he could be handsome again.

After the leading role Li Zicheng was confirmed, the other leading role has been pending. The role of Ding Qing has high requirements for actors' acting skills, and he also has a bit of a naughty attitude. The image of young domestic actors is fine. The key is that the temperament is too different. , I can't control such a role at all.

After a week of selection, in the end, no one could catch Li Mu's eyes. Director Yang suddenly made a suggestion: "How about, Mr. Li will play this role in person? I remember when you filmed Jiang Ye before, you Doesn't it feel good to play Ning Que?"

Having said that, the main creators also think he is suitable, Li Mu scolded with a smile: "You guys are a bit too obvious about flattery, right?"

"Haha~~~" Everyone laughed, but they still persuaded him to give it a try, and the final audition results also proved that Director Yang's vision was correct, and Li Mu could indeed handle such a role.

Therefore, the two leading actors were selected. Before the main creators could breathe a sigh of relief, the other leading role, that is, the role of "Section Chief Jiang", has not been able to find a suitable actor.

Speaking of which, the role of "Section Chief Jiang" is actually very similar to "Huang Zhicheng" played by Huang Qiusheng in "Infernal Affairs". It's the same with Chen. They didn't long for power at first, but under the promotion of "external forces", they all stood on the throne of the pinnacle of gang power.

And this is why many people call "New World" the Korean version of "Infernal Affairs". In fact, the director of "New World" also admitted that it was after watching "Infernal Affairs" that he was inspired to shoot this "New World". , but it is clear that Korean directors are more daring than Xiangjiang directors.

In "New World", there is no ending where the police overcome everything and the darkness finally returns to light. Korean directors, as always, use the film to satirize reality, which directly causes the style difference between "New World" and "Infernal Affairs". .

Li Mumo's revised version of "New World" had to change the ending in order to pass the trial. After Li Zicheng ascended to a high position, the last few seconds of the end of the film showed him wearing prison clothes and handcuffs.

(End of this chapter)