Chapter 343: "Chinese Partners" and "Those Years"

In fact, as early as last year, after Liu Zhou knew that Liu Ye was coming to Jiahe, he had an idea.

That is to put Liu Ye, Qin Hao and Huang Xiaoming into a movie and let them act in a movie together.

However, there are not many movies with the three male protagonists. "The Warlords" is very good. If it were released now, the status of the three of them could barely support the movie.

But the movie has already been made, so we can only think of other things.

There was also a movie in later generations called "The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel", starring Liu Ye, Zhang Hanyu and Huang Bo, which also did well at the box office.

This film is set in the capital during the Anti-Japanese War. It tells the story of a large-scale plague that swept across North China and the emergence of a vaccine that can resolve the "biochemical crisis."

Three small characters in the troubled times - a "cook", a "actor" and a "ruffian" were accidentally involved in the incident. Together with Japanese biochemical experts, detective teams, Japanese troops and other people, they launched a crazy "battle for the vaccine".

There are many stories that can be told based on this background, but the director chose to make it into a comedy.

It can be seen that director Guan Hu wanted to make it humorous and absurd, but perhaps because it was his first time making a commercial film, he was unable to control the rhythm well, and there was a complete disconnect between powerlessness and sense of mission, humor and sadness.

So Liu Zhou temporarily gave up this idea and looked to see if there were other more suitable projects. If not, he would choose this one, but the script needed to be adapted to some extent.

Art film directors who make their first commercial film usually make the same mistake, which is that commercial films are meant to be enjoyable.

But they always have to add some satire or expose some theme, or they can't help but show off their shooting techniques.

Commercial films mainly focus on simplicity, clarity and fast pace, but they like to use long shots, main and subplots and so on.

Actually, there is no problem with this, but the problem is that you have to grasp it. If you can't, the whole movie will seem incomprehensible. The most typical example is "The Promise".

Guan Hu made a similar mistake. If it weren't for the outstanding acting skills of the three Golden Horse Award winners Liu Ye, Zhang Hanyu and Huang Bo, the film would have been barely supported by their acting competition.

Otherwise, Guan Hu would also be criticized badly.

Later at the end of last year, Liu Zhou attended the China Entrepreneurs Annual Meeting and met Lao Yu, who was at the peak of his career at the time, and Xu Xiaoping, who had left New Oriental and switched to the investment field.

A movie suddenly appeared in Liu Zhou's mind, and then he immediately went up to them to discuss making their entrepreneurial story into a movie.

Xu Xiaoping was very supportive of this and even happily expressed his willingness to be a consultant for the film.

However, Old Yu was somewhat reluctant, but finally nodded reluctantly after Liu Zhou's assurances.

As for Wang Qiang, Xu Xiaoping said he would help Liu Zhou to deal with it.

In this case, Liu Zhou was also happy about it. It can be seen that Xu Xiaoping was indeed very enthusiastic about making their entrepreneurial story into a movie.

However, when I was writing the script for "Chinese Partners" later, I felt that Wang Yang's role had less scenes than the other two.

Liu Ye, Huang Xiaoming and Qin Hao are already the most popular male actors in mainland China, so it would not be a good idea to let any of them play a supporting role.

Otherwise, they might not think it’s a big deal and their fans won’t want to start a fight.

Idols have to pay for their fans' behavior. If fans make a big fuss, it will affect them to some extent.

If their relationship is affected by a movie, it would be a waste of time.

And in the end, whether in real life or in the movie, the three of them fell out, which doesn’t have a good implication.

So Liu Zhou also gave up the idea of ​​having the three of them star in this movie together.

But three people won’t work, but two people are still okay.

Liu Zhou made some slight changes to the original version of "Chinese Partners", slightly weakening the role of Wang Yang and increasing the role of Meng Xiaojun.

After the modification, Cheng Dongqing is still the first male lead of the movie, but Meng Xiaojun can also be said to be the co-male lead.

Cheng Dongqing is of course played by Huang Xiaoming. Historically, Brother Xiaoming gave an extremely outstanding performance in this movie, which can be regarded as one of his representative works.

As for Meng Xiaojun, Liu Zhou plans to hand the role over to Liu Ye. It will not be difficult for him to play the role of an elite returnee.

That's why Liu Zhou changed the male lead of "Sword Rain" from Huang Xiaoming to Qin Hao.

Moreover, the role of Jiang Asheng in "Sword Rain" needs to show a certain melancholy, for which Qin Hao is more suitable.

After listening to Liu Zhou's thoughts, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but ask:
"Mr. Liu, is this Chinese Partner directed by you personally?"

"I don't have the time. I'm just the screenwriter. The director will be someone else."

"Neither Xu Ke nor Ning Hao seem to be suitable for this type of person."

"I know, so we'll hire an outside director to direct it."

The original directors Chen Kexin and Liu Zhou had a very bad impression of him and would definitely not hire him again. Although he did a good job, he is not a must for this movie.

"Boss Liu, do you have a candidate in mind?"

"Let Huo Jianqi be the director, and let Mr. Chen be his supervisor and producer."

"Is that Huo Jianqi, the director of 'That Mountain, That Man, That Dog'?"

"Yes, he is very good at filming period dramas. If we let Mr. Chen be his producer, there should be no problem."

Huo Jianqi and Liu Zhou are also old acquaintances. They knew each other when Liu Zhou was still in school.

It was Liu Zhou who helped him get investment for his film "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog", and through this Liu Zhou got to know Kang Jianming, the former director of Xiaoxiang Factory.

Later, Kang Jianming was transferred to Xiangnan Broadcasting Group, so Liu Zhou and Xiangnan Satellite TV have always had a good relationship.

Of course, the reason why this friendship has continued is because Liu Zhou has grown up.

Otherwise, even if Liu Zhou was doing well in the circle, if he was still just an employee, his relationships would definitely not be as good as they are now.

Now Huo Jianqi's directorial career has suffered a Waterloo. The movie "Lover's Knot" he co-produced with Lu Yi and Boss Zhao in 05 was a dismal box office failure. After that, not many people were willing to invite him to make movies.

The film industry is now highly market-oriented, and the previous studio model has become a thing of the past.

So if you fail once, it will be difficult to get another chance. What's more, Huo Jianqi had won many awards before, but he didn't have outstanding box office results.

In fact, Huo Jianqi is a bit behind the times. It’s not about his directing skills, but his mentality.

But after all, they are old acquaintances, and Liu Zhou is prepared to give him a hand. There is no doubt that his directing ability is no problem, and letting Chen Guofu be his producer will not let the movie go astray.

To be honest, the fifth generation of directors had a solid foundation in all aspects and their directing skills were also excellent. The reason why only three major directors emerged in later generations was largely because they lacked opportunities.

If Feng Xiaoning had been given the opportunity, he would have been able to make Assembly very well. If they had been able to make movies like Zhang Yimou or Feng Kuzi when the film market began, their mentality would have been easily changed.

"Okay, I'll contact Director Huo later."

"The preparations for Chinese Partners will allow Director Huo to be more prepared, since Liu Ye and Mr. Chen are both filming anyway."

"Then who will play the role of Wang Yang?"

"Leave it to Zhu Yawen."

After some deletions, this role can only be regarded as a supporting actor. Zhu Yawen is currently entering the film industry, so it is just right for him.

"Boss Liu, in addition to the male and female protagonists, there are several other characters with a lot of scenes. Should we let them choose the actors themselves?"

"Ask Wang Xueqi to play the role of the Rotating King, and give the role of Lei Bin to Zhang Yi. Don't be partial. Leave the others to Xu Ke and the others."

Wang Xueqi, who played the role of the Rotation King in the original "Sword Rain", performed very well and there is no need to replace him.

As for Zhang Yi, in addition to TV dramas, Liu Zhou is also preparing to slowly push him into the film industry.

Zhang Yi is the same age as himself, and for a male actor, he has officially entered his golden age.

His professional ability is not bad to begin with. If a good actor becomes famous early, he can also bring more high-quality works to everyone.

The reason why Zhang Yi has such high popularity, ratings and box office appeal in later generations is because he is down-to-earth and focused on acting, has never appeared in any variety show, and has always produced good works.

"Boss Liu, now Fatty Fan has another drama called "Sword Rain" where she plays the leading role, and Miss Zhou has only played the leading role in one TV series besides "The Sound of Wind". Will she feel uncomfortable?"

"There's nothing to be uncomfortable about. Even if you feel uncomfortable, just keep it to yourself. Fatty Fan is a veteran in our company. Even if she is more inclined towards him, there's nothing to say to others.

Moreover, we have not treated Mr. Zhou unfairly in the slightest."

"I understand, Mr. Liu."

In fact, this was also a small test by Zhang Zhao. Now that he understood Liu Zhou's attitude, he would know what to do next.

Then Zhang Zhao asked:

"Boss Liu, now only Hu Jun and Liu Yifei are left to be arranged. Do you have any scripts?"

"Do you think the script in my hand is like cabbage that I can take out at any time?" Liu Zhou replied with a smile.

"Mr. Liu, you give us the impression that your place is a big treasure trove, and you can often pull out good things, haha."

“The script is gone, but I have made arrangements for these two people.

Summit Entertainment is currently preparing to shoot a movie called "Lucy", starring the popular Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway.

There is a gangster boss in this movie, who is considered a male supporting role and has quite a few scenes. I reserved this role specifically for Hu Jun. ”

The original role was played by Choi Min-sik, who is known as the South Korean Chow Yun-fat. Now that "Lucy" is controlled by Summit Entertainment, the benefits must not be lost.

Moreover, whether in the industry or outside it, aren’t people always watching how Golden Harvest will send its artists into Hollywood?

Just give them an example.

The reason why Mr. Zhou was willing to terminate his contract with Huayi at his own expense and join Golden Harvest was because he was attracted by the mainland-only Hollywood resources in Golden Harvest's hands, right?
This time, she felt at ease and realized that if there was a suitable opportunity, it would not be difficult for actors under Golden Harvest to go to Hollywood to film.

"As for Liu Yifei," Liu Zhou turned to Chen Guofu, who had been silent, and asked, "Have you found the author of Wanwan?"

"It's done. He is willing to let us invest in his film, but he still insists on directing it himself. I promised him that I will personally be his producer when the time comes."

Hearing Chen Guofu's words, Liu Zhou couldn't help but smile and said:

"You are the producer for him and Huo Jianqi at the same time. Can you handle it?"

"Of course. The producer doesn't need to stay on the crew all the time. It's just two crews. I used to be the producer of three or four movies at the same time at Sony."

"Okay, as long as you can handle it, but tell the author that although he can be the director, the story needs to be set in mainland China."

"I have discussed this with him and he has agreed. What he insisted on most was that he wanted to be the director himself."

"I heard that his book was written based on his own personal experience? Even the name in the book was not changed?" Liu Zhou asked with a smile.

"Yes, it can be seen that Jiubadao really likes his first love."

That’s right, the person Liu Zhou asked Chen Guofu to contact on Wanwan was none other than Jiubadao, and the project he wanted to prepare for Liu Yifei was exactly his novel “Those Years, We Chased the Same Girl”.

This movie can be said to be a work that set off a wave of youth films in the Chinese-language film industry.

Later, after this movie was introduced to mainland China, it became an instant hit. Not only young people liked it, but middle-aged people also liked it.

Shen Jiayi has also become a symbol, representing first love and unrequited love.

The actress who plays Shen Jiayi has also leapt from a playful little celebrity to a spokesperson for purity.

The story of this movie is really good and can easily evoke everyone's memories of youth.

Later, the mainland followed suit in youth films, but there was no more such hazy, youthful and clean films.

Liu Zhou thinks this movie is a perfect match for Liu Yifei.

I believe that many people in later generations, not just Liu Yifei’s fans, have imagined how great it would be if Liu Yifei played the role in "Those Years".

In later life, Liu Yifei is almost thirty years old, but when she plays a girl, she looks more youthful than a real girl.

So when Liu Zhou was considering preparing a new work for Liu Yifei, the first thing that came to his mind was "Those Years".

It just so happened that the novel had already been written by Jiubadao, but had not yet been adapted into a movie, so Liu Zhou immediately arranged for Chen Guofu to contact Jiubadao.

Liu Yifei is only in her early twenties now, so there is no need for her to pretend to be mature like in the original time and space and play roles that show off her figure or are slightly revealing.

Of course, she might have had no choice at that time, but now that she has joined Golden Harvest, she must maximize her advantages.

Her greatest advantage is her pure and clean temperament. She has played three consecutive roles that suit her very well, namely Zhao Linger, Wang Yuyan and Xiaolongnu, making her the white moonlight of a generation.

If there were another character named Shen Jiayi, the nation's first love, Liu Zhou couldn't imagine how thick her health bar would be by then.

Even if she does all kinds of things in the future, as long as she does not cross the moral bottom line, her position should remain intact.

(End of this chapter)