Chapter 299 Guest Starring
"Director Wu, let me introduce you."
In the hotel room, Meng Bai greeted Wu Jing, then gestured to the two people beside him and said, "This is the director of our movie, Guo Fan. The one next to him is the producer, Gong Ge'er."
"Is it the project of "The Wandering Earth"?"
Wu Jing shook Guo Fan's hand enthusiastically, and said in an admiring tone: "I've heard about it before. It's amazing that they dare to use four or five years to make a science fiction movie!"
Guo Fan smiled restrainedly: "Director Wu, you're polite. We are just stubborn. We all know that domestic science fiction themes are difficult to shoot, but we have to try, right?"
"That's what I like. In terms of technology, market, and talents, we are no worse than those foreigners. Why can they shoot it but we can't?"
Wu Jing had an expression of deep approval: "Just like when I shot "Wolf Warrior 2", I just wanted to let the audience see that they are not the only Americans who can save the world, we are the same."
Directors Guo Fan and Wu Jing seemed to have a special common language, and they became familiar with each other after a few words.
After they sat down, Meng Bai asked, "By the way, Director Wu, speaking of Wolf Warrior 2, has it been scheduled now?"
"Yes, it will be in mid-July, just in time for the summer vacation." Wu Jing sighed nervously, "I don't know what the box office will be like in the end?"
"What are you worried about? Anyway, we have a guaranteed 800 million yuan, so we won't lose money." Meng Bai said.
Wu Jing shook his head, "It's hard to say. Didn't you say during the previous investment meeting that the filming might be delayed? You have experience, and it really was delayed during the filming."
The previous plan for Wolf Warrior 2 estimated that it would take four months to shoot all the content.
But when Wu Jing actually started filming, he found that his estimate was too good.
Just the six-minute underwater fight scene at the beginning took the entire crew more than half a month to shoot. And it took more than four months to wait for the filming on the domestic studio to be completed.
In the end, the whole movie took almost half a year to finish.
It was precisely because of the delay that the production cost increased a lot.
Add to that the publicity and promotion costs before the release, and even with the 800 million yuan guarantee from Beijing North Culture, it is not necessarily guaranteed that there will be no loss.
"If it is released in mid-July, then the publicity roadshow will have to start about half a month in advance, right?" Meng Bai asked calmly.
Wu Jing thought for a while and said, "Almost, but we haven't arranged too many cities. Mr. Song from Beijing North Culture has talked to us before. The main audience of this kind of military action film is mostly in second-tier cities and small towns, and the roadshow in big cities has little impact."
After that, he smiled and said, "But it still depends on the response after the release. If the results are okay, I will definitely have to run more."
"That's okay, not too busy." Meng Bai responded, and then exchanged glances with Guo Fan and Gong Geer.
It's good that you're not busy. Only when you're not busy can you have time to "help", right?
The few of them didn't rush to talk about the invitation, but toasted first.
This is the "ruling area" of Guo Fan, a Shandong native.
"Come on, Director Wu, it's rare for us to meet today, I'll raise a glass first..."
"This second glass is mainly to thank you. You are so busy with the movie, but you can still come out, I'll drink first to show my respect."
"Hey, Brother Wu, the fish is here, one has to go."
"Brother Jing, come on, drink!"
"..."
The main guests at the table were Guo Fan, Gong Geer was the assistant, and Meng Bai took wheat juice to act as the atmosphere group.
After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the room became much more lively.
Wu Jing's face turned red under the stimulation of alcohol, patting Guo Fan's shoulder and calling him brother.
He even took the initiative to speak: "I heard from Mr. Meng that Lao Guo has a role here and wants me to play it?"
Meng Bai is not a person who likes to force others, so he told Wu Jing about the general situation in advance when he was preparing for the party.
If the other party disagrees, he can say it directly, so as not to embarrass each other.
But since he agreed, it means there is something to talk about.
Guo Fan nodded: "Yes, there is a special starring role. If you have time, Brother Jing, can you come and help to make a 'cameo'?"
He also gave him a brief introduction to the plot of the movie and the setting of the character "Liu Peiqiang".
"Cameo..." Wu Jing thought for a while, "How long will it take?"
"We will start shooting in mid-April, and it will take about half a month." Guo Fan said: "We can give priority to shooting your part, Brother Jing, so that it won't delay the release and promotion of the movie."
"Okay, it's just half a month, no problem!" Wu Jing agreed immediately.
Guo Fan and Gong Geer were both happy.
Although the other party can come today, it means that there is no problem with this matter. But until the final answer was received, it was finally relieved.
As for whether the "space station line" which is almost as important as the "ground line" can be shot in half a month... Anyway,
let's fool people first, and then talk about the rest later.
"By the way, I heard that my sister-in-law also likes science fiction themes very much. You can also come to make a cameo appearance at that time." Meng Bai said.
Wu Jing's wife, Xie Nan, looks sweet and literary, but she is actually a "real hardcore science fiction enthusiast".
When she was in school, she also contributed to the "Science Fiction World" magazine, and she is also a serious person with works.
To be honest, the most suitable role for her to guest star is actually "Han Duoduo" - not the little girl played by Zhao Jinmai, but the wife of "Liu Peiqiang".
She and Liu Peiqiang were both pilots, but unfortunately they got cancer due to excessive ultraviolet radiation in the "Age of Light" and died before the underground city opened.
The "underground city quota" that Liu Peiqiang exchanged for 17 years of service was given to her father Han Ziang.
Later, when Han Ziang participated in the rescue in "Brake Era", he rescued a little baby girl from the water. He adopted the baby girl and gave her the name of his daughter, also called Han Duoduo.
In the movie, "Da Duoduo" only has one shot, which is the funeral after her death.
It's all bed scenes, and the actors just need to lie there.
So even though Xie Nan is a host and hasn't filmed much, there is no need to worry about acting skills or anything like that.
It's just that the crew had contacted Wang Zhi for this role before, who is "Qiu Ya" who became popular last year with "Charlotte's Troubles".
She was also very righteous. She knew that the crew's funds were not very sufficient, and there was only one shot, so she didn't ask for money in the end and agreed to come for a free cameo.
In this way, there is no reason for the crew to change people for a cameo.
But it doesn't matter, it's just a cameo anyway, there are all kinds of passerby roles, there is no need to focus on this one.
"It's okay, any role will do."
Although Wu Jing felt a little sorry that he couldn't show his affection with his wife in the movie, he didn't take it to heart: "I'll ask her later to see if she is interested."
After saying that, he sighed again: "Look at how righteous the girl is, and look at the traffic of those newcomers now, it's really..."
"What's wrong, so emotional?" Meng Bai, who was standing aside, heard
this and immediately felt that there was something to eat. "Well, when the movie was cast before, several young actors were invited, but in the end, one by one raised the price." Wu Jing shook his head.
"Why?"
After the business was finished, everyone was in high spirits again, and it was a good time to chat and complain.
Wu Jing didn't hide it, and he talked about it directly with Meng Bai and others.
When casting for "Wolf Warrior 2" before, Wu Jing planned to add a traffic actor for box office considerations.
For this purpose, a special role was set up, which was the "rich second generation" mentioned before.
Meng Bai recommended Bai Yu to go, but unfortunately, although this guy is a serious second-generation rich man, he lacks the feeling of youthfulness, "clear and stupid".
Later, the crew selected from several popular traffic actors and finally contacted Wu Fan.
Although this actor's acting skills are not good, his popularity is indeed high, and his image is also OK. In addition, it is just a supporting role, so it has little impact.
Wu Fan's agency team agreed at first. Although the price is a bit expensive, the crew still gritted their teeth and agreed to it in view of the popularity.
The character's name was also set as "Zhuo Yifan" according to the actor.
Unexpectedly, after several communications, Wu Fan's team saw that the budget funds of the crew were gradually increasing, and temporarily raised the price several times.
In the end, the quotation could even top the total salary of all the leading actors.
Wu Jing couldn't stand it anymore, and asked the other party to get out directly, and the crew temporarily changed people again.
But then again, although Wu Fan's side was a bit stupid, it was more or less understandable, after all, his traffic was indeed high.
But the actor of the other female lead was a bit nonsense.
The female lead of Wolf Warrior 2 was originally decided to be an actress named Xu Jiawen, and the negotiations were going well.
But after the news of Beijing North Culture's 800 million yuan guarantee came out, this actress also told the crew that she would be paid more.
How could Wu Jing, who had already kicked someone out, agree to this? He asked her to leave directly, and then contacted Lu Jingshan, whom he had known for many years, and asked her to help.
"It's not that I don't like these new actors. We all went through that period." Wu Jing said, "But you are asking for a higher price, which is really a bit too much."
This is the truth. Master Wu also dressed up as a woman and was a young and handsome man in the past. He is indeed not so disgusted with traffic actors.
"So who was given the role of the rich second generation in the end?" Meng Bai asked curiously.
"He is also a new traffic star, named Huang Zitao, and he seems to be in the same team as Wu Fan."
"Huang Zitao? Ah..." Meng Bai suddenly realized.
Wu Jing asked: "Why, do you know each other? Yes, you two are from Lando."
"We are from the same hometown, but I don't know each other, I just know this person." Meng Bai smiled: "The four returning sons."
In the past few years, the second generation of Korean wave returned to the domestic entertainment industry, attracting many new generation fans.
Many young people were attracted by Kpop and chose to go to Korea to debut as trainees.
However, due to the huge gap in interests between China and South Korea, many people chose to return to China after their debut for a few years.
In addition, the restriction on Korean culture that began at the end of last year made this group of idols who "exported to domestic sales" completely focus on domestic entertainment, attracting a lot of popularity.
However, the domestic entertainment industry has always been based on the idea of "learning from the barbarians to defeat the barbarians."
Just like the various variety shows that borrowed from the other side before, since last year, many idol brokerage companies in the mainland have also begun to learn the idol combination model of Korean groups.
Even the talent shows that have not made much splash for many years have increased a lot since this year.
For example, "The Next Generation of Sons" jointly created by Penguin Pictures and Wajijiwa, "The Rap of China" by Qiyi TV, etc.
As for why Meng Bai knew so much, it was not because Arclight was also planning to hold a talent show, but because Pinduoduo had already extended its advertising business to the entertainment field.
Since the beginning of the year, it has either sponsored or titled a large number of programs.
As an "insider", Meng Bai was naturally pulled in to act as a matchmaker.
(End of this chapter)
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