In March 2001, the martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" directed by Ang Lee won four awards at the Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score. awards.
And later it also achieved a box office of US$102 million in the United States, and a global box office of US$205 million. Such achievements are the envy of all mainland directors.
Among them is Zhang Yimou. After winning the top awards at the three major European film festivals, he set his sights on the Hollywood Academy Awards.
But it is a pity that although many of his works have been shortlisted, such as "Raise the Red Lantern", "Ju Dou", "Alive", "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge", they have all been nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film Awards, but did not win, I have to say it is a pity.
And Zhang Yimou is also thinking about how to make movies to win Oscar favor. Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won the award, which immediately gave him a lot of inspiration.
Therefore, he is also preparing to make a martial arts movie to compete for the Academy Awards.
For this reason, he took a fancy to the novella "Assassination of Qin" by the well-known writer Li Feng and prepared to make it into a movie. The adapted script is the "Hero" that Xiang Nan saw.
Xiang Nan knows that "Hero" is Zhang Yimou's representative work and the movie that launched the era of Chinese blockbusters.
Before this, most Chinese films were low- to medium-cost, with production funds ranging from several million to tens of millions, and the scenes were relatively small. The production cost of "Hero" was 200 million, setting a record for investment.
Since then, the cost of Chinese movies has become higher and higher, and commercial blockbusters have gradually become the mainstream of domestic movies. This is actually beneficial to the development of Chinese films.
Because Hollywood's experience proves that blockbusters are often more likely to achieve high box office and high returns than small and medium-cost films.
Because the investment in blockbuster movies is larger, the production will be more sophisticated. At the same time, blockbusters are more willing to invest in publicity. The production of ordinary small and medium-budget films is often rough.
For example, those Mainland Internet-level movies such as "Pen Fairy", "Chopstick Fairy", and "There's Someone Under the Bed" cost hundreds of thousands to millions to produce. Their quality is shoddy and perfunctory, and they don't have the quality that a movie should have. The quality is high, so it is often a one-day trip to the theater.
Moreover, because there is no money for promotion, even if it is released, no one knows about it, so it is naturally impossible to spend money to support it. For example, "Zhang Zhidong", which was released a few days ago, had a box office of only 90 yuan on the first day of release, which was a huge loss.
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Although the movie "Hero" has mixed reviews in China, it is quite well-known internationally and is even regarded as Zhang Yimou's best work.
Because of this, it not only earned RMB 250 million at the box office in the Mainland, but also earned US$140 million internationally, which can be said to be quite good.
Therefore, if Zhang Yimou wants to make this blockbuster, Xiang Nan is naturally very supportive.
"Director Zhang, don't be stingy with money. We will make it the best martial arts blockbuster in the mainland." He smiled.
Zhang Yimou nodded, "Professor Cheng, thank you."
He predicts that the cost of "Hero" will be high because he has to shoot a lot of big scenes, build a lot of buildings, do a lot of special effects, and use a lot of extras... all of which require money.
Xiang Nan promised him unlimited financial support, which was undoubtedly a great trust and support for him.
"However, I only have one condition. All the actors must be from the mainland." Xiang Nan said by name.
The original version of "Heroes" used a large number of Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, which in his opinion was originally unnecessary.
Although Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen are somewhat famous, to be honest, the core element of "Hero" being able to win a high reputation internationally is Cheung Eimou.
Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen all played almost minimal roles. The reason is simple. Jet Li's status in Hollywood is not even as good as a second-tier movie star.
The movies he starred in in Hollywood, such as "Danny the Wolf Dog", "Romeo Deadly", "Cosmic Manhunt", "Kiss of the Dragon", etc., are not considered big productions, that is, they are at the level of B-movies.
Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen have never entered Hollywood, while Tony Leung has only played civil and military roles in Marvel at a much older age. As a villain, he is even less worthy of bragging.
Therefore, Xiang Nan does not want Zhang Yimou to waste resources to praise those Hong Kong and Taiwan stars who have passed their time. With this "Hero", Kirin Pictures can launch its own box office superstar without taking advantage of others.
"Professor Cheng, I want to make this movie an international blockbuster. I'm afraid our mainland artists won't be able to do it, right?" Zhang Yimou said worriedly.
Except for Gong Li, none of the Mainland actors seem to be internationally famous.
"Of course it's impossible if you don't give them a chance." Xiang Nan smiled, "Don't worry, I have confidence in our actors. Besides, I'm not afraid of losing money, so what are you afraid of?"
Hearing what he said, Zhang Yimou could only nod his head.
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Then, "Hero" began to select actors.
To play the role of Qin Emperor Ying Zheng, there was no need to choose, just choose Chen Daoming. He just played the role of Emperor Kangxi in "Kangxi Dynasty" last year. He was powerful and domineering, which was pretty good.
For the role of Wuming, Xiang Nan recommended Hu Jun. A northern man, tall and strong, rugged and tough, with a masculine temperament. Wu Yue plays Changkong, and he needs such an opportunity to go to the big screen.
Duan Yihong plays Can Jian, Zhang Ziyi plays Feixue, and Chen Hao plays Ru Yue...
After Zhang Yimou passed the assessment, he felt that it was acceptable, so the film was officially prepared for filming.
The first investment was as high as 50 million, because Zhang Yimou had to prepare too many props, including thousands of sets of bows, arrows and armors. An investment of 10 to 20 million is of no use at all.
After this news was reported by the media, some people rejoiced and believed that the era of blockbusters in China had also arrived. After all, the cost of making a movie in Hollywood now is hundreds of millions of dollars, especially "Titanic", which cost 200 million.
Domestic movies, if they are still made with a small budget of several million or tens of millions, are simply not comparable to others. That would be tantamount to handing over the domestic film market to others, leaving them with no power to resist.
So now that Kirin Pictures is investing in blockbusters, it is a good thing for domestic films.
But there are also some people who believe that investment in movies is too large and has little benefit. The mainland film market is still very weak. With so much money, it would be better to make a few more films and diversify investment. In this case, it will be safe and produce more works to entertain the public.
In short, the father-in-law said that the father-in-law was right, and the mother-in-law said that the mother-in-law was right, and the argument continued.
In Xiang Nan's view, this is actually a good thing.
As soon as the movie started filming, the buzz started to get louder. Don’t waste the free publicity.
