Chapter 362 Zhou Xingxing comes to cooperate

Jack Ma has a very famous saying in later generations: As a Chinese, you must read Jin Yong’s novels and watch Stephen Chow’s movies.

There is definitely a very subjective meaning in this, but for Liu Zhou, the first half of the sentence is debatable, but he feels that the second half still makes some sense.

Let’s not talk about Stephen Chow for now, but the movies he starred in are truly unique among Chinese-language movies.

Although most of his works are comedies, they are highly artistic.

Moreover, his films are all narrated from the perspective of ordinary people in the city, so they can resonate with most people.

Ordinary audiences may not be able to express this feeling. Besides finding Stephen Chow's movies funny, they also like them from the bottom of their hearts.

However, because Stephen Chow's comedy effect is so good, everyone tends to ignore this feeling.

But this kind of resonance is the main reason why everyone thinks Stephen Chow’s movies are never boring to watch.

So as Stephen Chow's movies became widely circulated in mainland China in the form of discs, he also gained a large number of loyal fans.

To be honest, when it comes to fan base and popularity among the public, no one in China can match Stephen Chow. Not even Jackie Chan and Jet Li are as good as him, let alone Chow Yun-fat.

Not only that, Stephen Chow's movies, with their unique charm, can attract fans one after another, but Jackie Chan and Jet Li cannot do that.

If it weren't for the fact that Stephen Chow made two bad movies in a hurry because of a bet, which affected his reputation, his position in the hearts of mainland audiences would truly be unique.

Without exaggeration or understatement, "The King of Comedy 2" and "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back" are really bad. It is also these two movies that made everyone understand that Stephen Chow is not only a filmmaker, but also a businessman.

This somewhat broke the filter that everyone had in mind about him, so afterwards, there emerged a trend of "I've already returned a movie ticket to Stephen Chow."

Maybe this is someone's attempt to lead the trend, but it is actually the voice of some people.

But at this time in 2009, Stephen Chow's image was simply invincible.

Although the Xiang family called on so many public figures to criticize him and also brought in a large number of media to discredit him, netizens online still overwhelmingly support Stephen Chow.

This is the first time that the media has been leading the trend but netizens have not been misled.

However, since the Xiang family has taken action, and Xiang Huaqiang has specifically asked about Liu Zhou's attitude, it is obvious that they will not give up.

So in the next few days, a large number of internet trolls appeared on the Internet, specifically attacking and discrediting Stephen Chow.

This also caused a huge backlash from Stephen Chow's fans, who have been fighting against these internet trolls. For a while, the internet was extremely lively.

Of course, the Xiang family’s subsequent actions were not just that. Xiang Huaqiang’s wife once again jumped out to criticize Zhou Xingxing.

When she was interviewed by Hong Kong media, she listed five major charges against Stephen Chow and declared, "I am not afraid of falling out with him. I want to expose his true face."

Xiang Tai once again personally stepped in, showing her determination to completely discredit Zhou Xingxing.

Not only that, this time it was not just people behind the scenes like Wang Jing and Wen Jun who stood up, many Hong Kong celebrities also stood up.

Zhang Jiahui had worked with Stephen Chow in the movie "God of Gamblers", but in this movie, he was instantly turned into Zha Zha Hui by Stephen Chow.

He said in an interview with the media:
"Zhou Xingxing is a very talented actor, but I don't know his personality. In fact, we seldom communicate. I think friends need to know each other deeply. I am not familiar with him."

Ren Dahua also said in an interview:

"I am not familiar with Mr. Zhou and have never worked with him, so it is not convenient for me to comment too much, but what I can say is that Xiang Tai is a very righteous person.

I always say that friends are the most important thing, and people with many friends are definitely not bad people, so Xiang Tai is definitely a good person. "

When asked what he thought about the dispute between Stephen Chow and Heung Wah Keung's wife, Liu Qingyun pointed out that he had co-starred with Stephen Chow on a TV show many years ago, but had never worked together on a movie, so he did not know him well.

But when talking about Xiang Huaqiang and his wife, he spoke out in support:

"Xiangsheng is a good boss and is very polite to everyone. I have been with Yongsheng for many years and they have been very good to me and my wife."

But Xiang Tai may have seen that these people's influence was not big enough, so she directly dragged Liu Dehua into the water. She came out again and said:
"Liu Dehua told me personally that he and Stephen Chow are not friends, and they never have been, are not, and will never be.

Moreover, Mr. Zhou did not respect Andy Lau. When Mr. Zhou's own salary reached 2000 million, he wanted to invite Andy Lau to film but only gave him 120 million. "

Liu Dehua: “…”

Liu Zhou couldn't help but find it a little funny to see Xiang Tai come up with such a lame excuse. He could even imagine Liu Dehua's uncomfortable expression at this moment, as if he had eaten coriander.

Not to mention that Andy Lau, a kind-hearted person, would not say such words. Even if he did, he would not say them in front of Xiang Tai.

Andy Lau may treat Xiang Tai as a good boss, but he will never treat her as a good friend.

Besides, Andy Lau became famous earlier than Stephen Chow. When Stephen Chow was at the peak of his career, Andy Lau was also not bad either. He was not only one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong, but his movies also had strong box office appeal.

Although Zhou Xingxing has low emotional intelligence and loves money very much, it does not mean that he is stupid.

How could he possibly hire Andy Lau to film a movie for a salary of 1.2 million?
Giving someone such an offer is simply an insult to them. How could Stephen Chow do such a thing?

Even though Xiang Tai personally took action, invited celebrities to endorse her, and hired internet trolls to spread rumors, Stephen Chow's fans are no pushovers.

Stephen Chow’s fans are not only numerous, but also very fierce. When they saw that Xiang Tai and the others were not giving in, they started scolding them again, and even scolded the stars who came out to take sides.

"Why is this fat woman so stubborn? Even Stephen Chow ignored her, but she keeps barking here."

"From now on, you Hong Kong stars, directors, and movie stars who are against Zhou, forget about making money in mainland China!"

"You bastards, you still call yourself a public figure, a movie star, bah!"

"I have never liked Liu Qingyun and Ren Dahua. I never watch their dramas and will block them directly from now on."

"These people are actually Xiang's puppets, with the exception of Master Xing."

"That's right, Sammo Hung once publicly said that only Master Xing can live with dignity in front of the Xiang family."

"Isn't that Zhang Jiahui the one who was forced to eat shit by Stephen Chow in the movie? No wonder he doesn't get along with Stephen Chow."

"I can see from the comments that these stars are supporting the fat woman. I used to like these stars because some of them are really talented in acting, but now I don't like them anymore. They seem so fake."

"I used to like Simon Yam very much, but I really can't stand you being like this. I support Stephen Chow, I love Stephen Chow, and I support Stephen Chow!"

……

The Xiang family's escalating behavior not only aroused greater anger among netizens, but also made some people feel that it was too much.

The first person to speak out was Feng Kuzi, who wrote on Weibo: "I have worked with Zhou Xingxing before, he is indeed not good at speaking, and he is also a serious and calculating person.

This kind of seriousness and calculation, in an environment like Hong Kong and with his background, would cause resentment, but it is precisely because of his calculation and seriousness that he was able to shoot classics like "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu"! "

Hu Jun, who just came back from filming in Hollywood, also publicly expressed his support for Stephen Chow:
"I have always liked Stephen Chow. I admire his comedy style that makes everyone laugh. I enjoy his wild and unrestrained imagination. He deserves to be regarded as a master of postmodernism."

In addition to the two of them, Ning Hao posted three Weibo posts in a row, firmly standing on Stephen Chow's side.

"Recently I saw a lot of people online scolding Stephen Chow, but after seeing the content of their scolding I felt it was a bit ridiculous. They were all bragging about how good someone was when they were not familiar with him.

At the same time, I finally understood why Hong Kong movies died. Just as someone said, Stephen Chow forced Zhang Baizhi to shave his head. I want to ask, is there anything wrong with this?
Since it is required by the role, shouldn't it be possible?

A director who is very strict with his work and has high requirements for performances has actually become a mistake and is even said to have a bad character. I am speechless.

When serious filming is criticized and shoddy production is praised, it would be unjust if Hong Kong films don't die.

In the Chinese film industry, there are very few people who take movies as seriously as Stephen Chow.

So I think we should support and protect him, and not let such an outstanding Chinese filmmaker be slandered and persecuted by some people without reason."

Because Weibo has a word count requirement for the content posted, people haven’t yet figured out how to use photos to post long Weibo posts.

So Ning Hao posted three Weibo posts before he published this passage in such a fluent manner.

As soon as Ning Hao’s Weibo post came out, it immediately caused some waves.

Many people and even the Hong Kong media criticized him for talking nonsense. The decline of Hong Kong films already made them uncomfortable, and now Ning Hao said such ugly things, of course they were unwilling.

Moreover, they felt that what Ning Hao said was biased. Hong Kong films are getting worse day by day. There are many reasons for this, and shoddy production is just the last reason.

But some people criticized him, but more people thought that Ning Hao said it very well.

As for those trolls, before Ning Hao's own fans could take action, Zhou Xingxing's fans had already drowned them out.

He even said at the end that he would definitely go to the cinema to support "No Man's Land".

When Liu Zhou saw these comments, he was a little skeptical that Ning Hao would use the anti-Zhou incident to hype up and promote the movie?

But this thought only flashed through my mind.

Liu Zhou had some understanding of Ning Hao. Although he looked a bit like a gangster, he was actually a decent person who would not hype others without any bottom line.

Moreover, he never concealed the fact that he liked Zhou Xingxing, and people who knew him knew this a long time ago.

The fact that he supports Stephen Chow so much now can only be attributed to his deep love for him.

What's more, Ning Hao is no longer an unknown person. He has accumulated a lot of fans through "Crazy Stone" and "Crazy Racing".

In addition, with Golden Harvest's operation behind the scenes, there is no need for such hype for the upcoming new movie "No Man's Land".

However, with Ning Hao's strong support and Hu Jun's public support, Liu Zhou was a little worried that Xiang Huaqiang would think he was saying one thing to his face and another behind his back.

Although he said he would not get involved in the dispute between him and Stephen Chow, he secretly arranged for his artists to express their support for Stephen Chow.

But even if Xiang Huaqiang thought so, Liu Zhou was not going to explain anything. He really didn't say anything or do anything. He just ate melon quietly.

But what he didn't expect was that just two days after Xiang Huaqiang called him, another protagonist of this public opinion incident, the recognized comedy master Zhou Xingxing, actually came to him in person.

The first thought in Liu Zhou’s mind was whether Zhou Xingxing was asking him for help to help him settle the matter.

But thinking about it, it seems unlikely. He and I have never had any contact before. Even if he wants to find someone for help, he won't be able to find me.

Moreover, in later generations, Stephen Chow never responded to the slander or attacks against him.

However, Liu Zhou was too lazy to think about it. After meeting Zhou Xingxing, he would naturally know his purpose.

To be honest, Liu Zhou was also looking forward to meeting Stephen Chow. For Chinese-language films, he is destined to be an indispensable figure.

After a while, Zhou Xingxing, led by the Golden Harvest staff, came to Liu Zhou's office.

Liu Zhou couldn't help but take a quick look at Stephen Chow. His hair had turned a little gray at this time, and his hairstyle was similar to that of his character in "CJ7". His face also had some wrinkles.

"Hello, Mr. Liu. I'm sorry to bother you."

Listening to Master Xing's somewhat unstandard Mandarin, Liu Zhou replied directly in Cantonese with a smile:

"Mr. Zhou, I've heard of you for a long time. I grew up watching your movies."

"Really? Then Mr. Liu, which of my movies do you like best?"

When Zhou Xingxing saw that Liu Zhou could actually speak Cantonese, he immediately switched to Cantonese as well. He was indeed not used to speaking Mandarin, but he also asked a more serious question at the same time.

If it were someone else, Liu Zhou might not be able to answer this question, but for Stephen Chow, it is very easy to answer because he has so many classic movies.

"Of course it's true. My favorite is your drama, Justice, My Foot. It's not only funny, but also has a profound meaning."

"Can you tell me more specifically?"

After hearing Zhou Xingxing's question, Liu Zhou finally couldn't help but look at him seriously. He saw that he didn't seem to be just making small talk, but really wanted to hear his thoughts.

This is a bit confusing for Liu Zhou.

"Mr. Zhou, you didn't come here today just to discuss movies with me, did you?"

"No, it's just that Mr. Liu, you are also a director that I recognize and admire very much, so I also want to hear what you think of my previous works."

"Mr. Zhou, do you still care about other people's comments on your previous movies?"

"Of course. I think no one would not care about other people's evaluation of their work, unless they are saints."

"Okay, we can arrange a time to discuss the movie later. Now let's talk about the purpose of Mr. Zhou's visit this time."

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Zhou Xingxing couldn't help but straighten his back slightly, and there seemed to be a hint of shrewdness in his eyes, and said:

"I came here this time to seek cooperation with Jiahe!"

(End of this chapter)