Xiang Nan remembered watching the movie "Unparalleled in the World" before. It seemed to tell the story of Emperor Zhengde and Sister Li Feng.
I have long forgotten the specific plot, but I only remember that there was a song in it, "La la la la la la la", la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la.
"Let me read the script first. There may not be a schedule." Xiang Nan responded immediately.
"Stop being pretentious. This movie was directed by Liu Zhenwei and supervised by Wang Jiawei. I managed to help you get the opportunity with great difficulty." Wang Fei advised, "Liu Zhenwei and Wang Jiawei, you should understand their strength."
"Yes, I understand." Xiang Nan nodded.
There is a saying in the Hong Kong film industry: if you want to make money, go to Liu Zhenwei; if you want to win awards, go to Wang Jiawei.
Liu Zhenwei is synonymous with box office, and Wang Jiawei is synonymous with awards. The two of them work together, and the movie is naturally a hit and a hit.
"Then why are you hesitating? You don't want to act. There are so many people who want to act." Wang Fei urged.
Xiang Nan actually doesn't have much interest in cooperating with director Xiangjiang.
It is undeniable that in the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong movies were indeed very popular. But this moment is the same as that moment. Entering the new millennium, to be exact, Hong Kong movies have been on a decline since 1994.
Not only is Xiangjiang's local annual box office shrinking, but the overseas market has also been cannibalized by Hollywood blockbusters, and has long since lost its glory.
However, he couldn't live up to Wang Fei's good intentions, so he had to nod and agree first.
"OK, I'll play."
…
The next day, Xiang Nan did not fly directly to the Northeast, but went to Yanjing first, where he met Liu Zhenwei.
"Okay, young man, I've heard your songs, and they're so beautiful." Liu Zhenwei said in Cantonese.
Xiang Nan didn't understand much, so he could only guess again. Fortunately, Wang Fei helped translate, so we were still able to communicate.
"Thank you, Director Liu. I have also watched your movie. It was really good." Xiang Nan nodded.
"I have also watched your performances in "My Father and Mother" and "Yanjing Music and Road", and they were both very good." Liu Zhenwei smiled and said, "Okay, the acting is good, and the singing is also good. , and being so famous is really rare! We at Zedong Pictures like talents like you the most, so why not come and join us?"
"..." Upon hearing this, Xiang Nan looked at Wang Fei doubtfully. He thought he came here just to audition for a movie. Why did you suddenly talk about signing with a brokerage company? !
Wang Fei also had a puzzled expression on his face. It was obvious that Liu Zhenwei had not communicated with her before.
"Director Liu, thank you for your kindness. I appreciate it. However, I have already established my own studio and have no plans to sign with other agencies for the time being." Xiang Nan waved his hand and smiled, "I'm sorry."
"Mr. Yuan, our Zedong Pictures is the film company with the best development momentum in Hong Kong. If you join us, you are guaranteed to have a better future." Liu Zhenwei persuaded with a smile.
Zedong Pictures was co-founded by him and Wang Jiawei. After its establishment, it has successively produced classic films such as "East and West", "Chungking Express", "Ashes of Time", "Fallen Angels", "Uncle", "In the Mood for Love" and other classic films.
It has also signed many top artists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Gong Li, Zhang Zhen, Zhang Zhilin, Fan Zhiwei, etc. It is indeed considered a small giant in the Hong Kong film industry.
…
Xiang Nan smiled.
He knew very well that Zedong Pictures seemed to have strong people and good films, but in fact, after entering the new millennium, Zedong Pictures' output dropped significantly. It often took three years to sharpen a sword and five years to sharpen a sword.
The filming of "2046" took four to five years intermittently, and Kimura Takuya was almost depressed during the filming. In order to prevent Song Hye Kyo from escaping back to South Korea, he even had to hide her passport.
During the filming of "The Grandmaster", Zhang Zhen almost became a martial arts practitioner and won the national martial arts competition championship, but the filming of the movie has not officially started yet. So much so that "The Grandmaster" was jokingly called "The Missing Generation."
He was worried that once he joined Zedong Pictures, this person would soon be unavailable.
Just like Dong Ping, he became famous all over the country after filming "The Golden Family". But after signing in Zedong, he was not reused for several years and his popularity declined rapidly.
Fan Zhiwei was known as Taiwan's Liang Chaowei at the time, but after signing with Zedong, he was also not reused. So much so that when the news came out later, it was all about cheating, domestic violence, madness, etc., and it was completely confused.
"Director Liu, thank you for your kindness, but let's forget it." Xiang Nan waved his hand.
"Mr. Yuan, you have to think carefully. Your refusal may affect your acceptance of our film "The World is Unparalleled"," Liu Zhenwei said again.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Nan nodded, "In that case, I can only say sorry and look forward to working together again in the future."
"Director Liu, you never told me before," Wang Fei also said with some dissatisfaction,
She didn't expect that Liu Zhenwei forced Xiang Nan to sign a contract before allowing him to star in "The Unparalleled". If she had known that there was such a premise, she would not have told Xiang Nan at all.
"Afei, the company's resources will not be used to benefit outsiders." Liu Zhenwei smiled and said, "I hope you can understand us."
"Then I'm not from Zedong Pictures. In that case, I won't make this movie." Wang Fei nodded after hearing what he said, "Director Liu, please hire someone else."
Liu Zhenwei was stunned when he heard this.
The reason why "The Unparalleled" cast Wang Fei was because of her popularity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
In 2000, Wang Fei's latest album "Fleeting Time" created a miracle in the Chinese music scene in terms of sales and reputation, and also brought her popularity to a new height.
If she doesn't star, it will be difficult to find someone to replace her.
"Afei, don't be impulsive. If you have something to discuss, we can discuss it." Liu Zhenwei quickly advised.
"There's no discussion, that's it. If Yuan Hua stays, I'll stay, if Yuan Hua leaves, I'll leave." Wang Fei insisted. To be honest, she didn't have to make a movie.
The one million Hong Kong dollars she was paid for a film was not even as much as her salary for a meeting. The reason why she agreed to take on this movie was because she hoped that Xiang Nan could build a bridge and return Wang Jiawei's favor.
Since Liu Zhenwei doesn't want to use Xiang Nan, there is no need for her to star.
"Okay, okay, don't worry, we will discuss it later." Liu Zhenwei said quickly.
Xiang Nan couldn't help but be moved when he saw this.
…
"Sister Fei, actually you don't have to offend anyone for me." He said to Wang Fei, "I have no shortage of film appointments now and my schedule is full. Just take care of yourself."
"Silly brother, you and I both know how depressed Mainland movies are. The real big stars are all filming in Hong Kong now.
Zhao Wei, Lin Xinru, Fan Bingbing, Li Bingbing, Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wenzhuo... I also want to help you connect. Wang Fei explained, "If you are popular in Xiangjiang, you will be even more popular in the mainland." Moreover, you can only enter the world stage through Xiangjiang. "
Xiang Nan was stunned.
I have to say that Wang Fei's words still made sense at the time.
The mainland film market is really too small. In 2002, there were only over 1,000 theaters and over 1,800 screens across the country, and the average box office for each movie was only a few hundred thousand. Not to mention compared with the United States, even Xiangjiang cannot compare.
For this reason, Hollywood pays more attention to Hong Kong and less to the mainland. Actors from Hong Kong can go to Hollywood to make movies, but until 2013, when mainland actors went to Hollywood to make movies, they still played special roles from the mainland.
So if we want to step onto the world stage, Hong Kong is really a springboard.
But to be honest, Xiang Nan actually wants to delve into the mainland market more than breaking into Hollywood. However, he didn't want to reject Wang Fei's kindness. In short, let everything take its course.
