Chapter 327 I'll Take It Reluctantly
The launch conference of [Operation Mekong].
Not only did many domestic media come today, but also some Thai entertainment media were present for interviews due to the influence of Gu Wei's landing in Bangkok yesterday.
The crew held a worship ceremony under the leadership of director Lin Chaoxian.
Everyone present seemed very pious. Firstly, they prayed for the smooth filming of the film, and secondly, they prayed for the victims of the Mekong River.
To be honest, the filming of the movie "Operation Mekong" was actually quite dangerous.
Because it was adapted from the real event "October 5th Mekong River Massacre".
The villain "Nuok Ka" in the movie is a real person. He was once a powerful drug lord named Nuo Kang who was entrenched in the Golden Triangle.
He was also the mastermind behind the Mekong River tragedy and the real culprit behind the murder of 13 crew members of the Chinese merchant ships "Huaping" and "Yuxing 8".
Although after the incident on October 5, 2011, our police attached great importance to it and dispatched a special task force to arrest the main culprit of the Mekong River massacre, Naw Kham, and brought him back to the country for trial and execution.
However, no one can guarantee whether there are still remnants of Naw Kham in the Golden Triangle.
Director Lin Chaoxian also took this into consideration. For the safety of the crew and the smooth filming of the movie, after inspecting and comparing various on-site environments, he arranged to shoot the city scenes in Bangkok, and the final scene of capturing "Nuoka" was filmed in the Cameron Highlands, 1,500 meters above sea level in central Malaysia.
After the worship ceremony, the main creative staff of the crew began to accept interviews from the media.
After Yu Dong and Lin Chaoxian finished their speeches, the media also focused their attention on Gu Wei.
Some domestic reporters asked Gu Wei directly why he took on this main theme movie. Wasn’t he afraid that it would affect his box office performance?
After hearing this, Gu Wei looked at Yu Dong and said with a smile:
"First of all, I don't think mainstream films necessarily perform poorly.
Bona's previous red classic "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" also achieved great success, so I am also very confident about "Operation Mekong", a film about public security police protecting the people.
Secondly, our film has the authorization and support of the Ministry of Public Security of China and a huge investment from Director Yu. The crew has done their best in every aspect.
Finally, director Lin Chaoxian is a very good director. I believe many people have seen his previous films "SPL" and "Breaking the Wind".
Director Lin spent more than two years preparing for the filming of the movie. The script was revised more than 20 times, and he communicated with relevant departments many times.
Director Lin put in a lot of effort to shoot "Operation Mekong".
With such excellent conditions and such an excellent crew, I don’t know why the movie would not be good.
I believe Operation Mekong will definitely set a new box office record for mainstream films in the future, and become a milestone in Chinese film history!"
After Gu Wei finished speaking, the reporters outside had not yet reacted when the crew members on the stage began to laugh and applaud.
Director Lin Chaoxian, in particular, looked at Gu Wei with more and more appreciation.
After the launch conference, the film officially started shooting.
Although he had read the script many times before and had also seen the original movie, it was still very fresh for Gu Wei to shoot this kind of police and gangster shootout movie.
Since he started his career, he has filmed four TV series, two of which are ancient costume dramas and two are modern dramas, but in essence they all fall into the category of idol dramas.
Even though Nirvana in Fire was advertised as a serious drama, it actually just sold his and Wang Kai's looks, and had some characteristics of an ancient idol drama.
In terms of movies, only "The Blade of the Assassin" involves action and fighting, and it only uses cold weapons. This is his first time shooting a modern gun battle film.
However, the initial scenes were all filmed in Bangkok, and literary scenes still occupied a large part.
Despite this, Gu Wei's job is not easy at all.
This movie involves a lot of close combat and gun shooting scenes.
In order to ensure the authenticity of the film, the director specially invited the King of Thailand's bodyguards to join the crew to train the actors in fighting and firearms.
Several leading actors such as Gu Wei and Zhang Hanyu had to receive corresponding training in between filming.
Fortunately, the actors chosen for Operation Mekong are all real tough guys, including the older Zhang Hanyu. Although everyone worked very hard during the filming and training every day, no one complained about the difficulty or tiredness. Everyone persevered for the sake of the movie.
This experience is also a brand new one for Gu Wei.
Not to mention his professional skills, just from the physical point of view, he is definitely the best among all the actors.
Even the coaches who came to train them were not as good as Gu Wei in terms of physical fitness, so he mastered the skills of these training very quickly.
In terms of fighting, Gu Wei already had a solid foundation in martial arts from practicing routines when filming "The Blade of the Assassin", so he was able to get started with modern fighting techniques very quickly.
He is also good at guns and shooting.
As a boy, he has a natural love for guns and shooting, but he never had the chance to try them before. This time, in order to make a movie, he can play and practice with them openly. Gu Wei quickly got the hang of various types of guns and shot them well.
"Gao Gang"
"Fang Xinwu"
Gu Wei and Zhang Hanyu clasped their powerful hands together.
"I've been collecting information from you for so many years, and this time I finally see you in person!"
Zhang Hanyu wore a pair of black sunglasses and had short hair. He looked particularly energetic and said with a smile as he looked at Gu Wei.
“Same here!”
Gu Wei's attitude was also gentle. He had a fake beard on his face and a camouflage turban on his head, looking a bit ruffian.
"Cut! This shot is over, get ready to transition!"
Lin Chaoxian's voice came from the loudspeaker.
"Brother Hanyu, after finishing today's scenes, are we still going to the shooting range?
Shall we have another match?"
After filming this scene, Gu Wei put his arm around Zhang Hanyu's shoulders and asked.
The two knew each other when they were filming "The Great Wall". After the filming of "Operation Mekong" started, they filmed and trained together and quickly became familiar with each other.
Zhang Hanyu turned and looked at Gu Wei.
"No, you're too talented in shooting. Comparing with you is just torture.
This period of training is enough for filming a movie.
I won’t go there again.”
Gu Wei looked regretful.
The recent training has made him addicted to shooting sports, but shooting alone is still a bit boring, so whenever he has time, he persuades Zhang Hanyu to join him.
Now it seems that I can only play alone in the future.
He took the water handed to him by the assistant and took a sip. The weather in Thailand has been very hot. After more than half a month of filming, Gu Wei's body has become a little darker.
However, this also fits the image of "Fang Xinwu" in the movie, so it saves a lot of effort when putting on makeup.
"Boss, phone call~"
Yang Chaoyue handed over Gu Wei's personal mobile phone, on which was displayed the three words "Da Mimi".
Gu Wei picked up the phone.
"Hey, Miss Mi?
Haha, I definitely miss you. I’ve been so busy with work lately!
Well, I'm in Thailand, filming a cop movie.
There's no way, I really can't go back, sorry.
I wish Sister Mi a big box office success!
Say hello to the deer for me."
Listening to the voice of Gu Wei on the phone, the young assistant Yang Chaoyue curled his lips and silently uttered the word "scumbag".
She has become somewhat numb to her boss's various Neptune behaviors.
When she was in Shanghai, she saw the big star Ni Ni and Gu Wei returning home. The next day, she went to buy clothes for Ni Ni again.
She knew without hesitation that the person calling was Yang Mi, and judging from her boss' tone, they must have a special relationship.
Sure enough, the entertainment industry is so chaotic!
After hanging up the phone, Gu Wei had no idea what was going on in the mind of the assistant standing next to him.
Yang Mi just called and invited him to attend the premiere of the movie "I Am a Witness".
Unfortunately, Gu Wei is in Thailand now, so it is really inconvenient and he can only decline.
The movie "I Am a Witness" is produced and filmed by Jiaxing Media and adapted from the Korean movie "Blind Witness". It is a suspense film directed by Korean director Ahn Sang-hoon and starring Yang Mi, Lu Han, Zhu Yawen and others.
When the film was first being prepared, Yang Mi invited Gu Wei to star in it, but he refused on the grounds that he had no schedule.
Gu Wei remembered that the original time and space of "I Am a Witness" should have achieved a box office revenue of more than 200 million yuan, and its Douban score was above 6 points.
It is a movie that has both decent box office and good reputation.
After the movie was released, it had some positive impact on the further development of Yang Mi and Lu Han in the film industry, but this achievement was completely useless to Gu Wei.
October passed quickly, and the filming of Operation Mekong went more and more smoothly.
In addition to modern fighting techniques, Gu Wei is becoming more and more proficient in the use of various light and heavy weapons.
From the Type 92 pistol, Browning M1911 and M1935 pistols to the Micro-Uzi submachine gun, JS 9mm submachine gun, and then to the T-5000 sniper rifle, although they all used prop guns during filming, Gu Wei used real ones when practicing at the shooting range in order to become more familiar with the weapons they used in the movie.
After nearly a month of shooting practice, Gu Wei became particularly familiar with these weapons and his shooting accuracy also improved a lot.
At noon that day, after Gu Wei finished filming a scene, he returned to the rest area and saw Wu Jing waiting for him with a smile on his face.
"Brother Jing, you're here!"
Gu Wei walked forward and greeted him with a smile.
"Brother, you came all the way overseas to visit your set. Are you touched?"
Wu Jing walked up to him with a smile and patted his shoulder.
"I'm afraid you'll get me drunk tonight, so I don't dare move at all!"
Gu Wei said jokingly.
"Hahaha~ It's okay if you're not moved, but you still have to drink the wine!"
Wu Jing came to visit the set today and had greeted Gu Wei in advance.
Gu Wei knew what he was here for.
It has been more than a month since Wu Jing invited him to star in "Wolf Warrior 2" after meeting him at Huang Xiaoming's wedding in early October.
Gu Wei refused at that time, but Wu Jing kept emphasizing that Gu Wei should read the script before making a decision, so he didn't say it so firmly.
Wu Jing came here today, apparently to bring the script to Gu Wei, and then to confirm with him whether he can participate in "Wolf Warrior 2".
In fact, Wu Jing was also quite anxious about this matter.
The film is about to begin preparations, but the script has not been finalized yet.
Whether Gu Wei will participate in the filming is related to which version of the script Wu Jing will use for filming, so it is necessary to decide it early so that the crew can officially start preparing.
During the break, Gu Wei introduced Wu Jing to director Lin Chaoxian and main actors including Zhang Hanyu.
Wu Jing didn't come empty-handed, so of course he had to buy some small gifts when visiting the set.
He brought some fruit and coffee for the crew, one for each person.
Everyone welcomed his arrival.
In the evening, after Gu Wei finished filming, the two of them went to a local specialty restaurant together.
After entering the private room, Gu Wei skillfully ordered some food and asked for a box of local Singha beer.
"Wow~ That's amazing! Seeing how skillfully you order food and speak fluent Thai, someone who doesn't know you would think you're a local."
Wu Jing said.
"I spent more than two months here when I was filming Detective Chinatown. Coming back now certainly doesn't feel completely unfamiliar like last time. Some things are more familiar now."
Gu Wei smiled and explained.
"Everything else is easy to explain. When did you learn Thai to be so fluent?"
"Haha, Brother Jing, just think of me as someone who has a talent for learning languages. Not only Thai, I can speak several other languages!"
Gu Wei smiled.
"Awesome, awesome~"
Wu Jing sighed, then took out a white script from the bag beside him and handed it to Gu Wei.
"I'm sure you know why I came here this time. The script for Wolf Warrior 2, which I told you about last time, has been written."
Gu Wei was not surprised at all. He took it with both hands and began to look through it.
After a while, the dishes and beer that had just been ordered were served one after another. Gu Wei frowned slightly and was still reading the script seriously.
Wu Jing didn't say anything beside him. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Given his relationship with Gu Wei, there was no need to be too particular.
It took a long time before Gu Wei finished reading the entire story of "Wolf Warrior 2".
He looked at Wu Jing with a wry smile.
"Brother Jing, you really gave me a big problem."
Originally, Gu Wei thought that he would just flip through it for the sake of convenience, after all, he had seen the full movie.
However, the more he read it, the more he felt something was wrong. The script Wu Jing showed him was very different from the "Wolf Warrior 2" he had seen.
The male lead has changed from one "Leng Feng" to two, and there is also a "Lin Wei" who looks like the original "Zhuo Yifan" character, but his role is completely different. He is not a supporting role at all, but a dual male lead!
"Your name is 'Lin Wei', and you didn't even change it."
"Haha~ That's not important. The main thing is that there's nothing suitable. This saves trouble."
Wu Jing smiled and said.
Gu Wei thought for a moment and asked:
"Brother Jing, how did you come up with the idea of making Wolf Warrior 2 a dual-male lead? After all, the first film was entirely Leng Feng's one-man show."
"Brother, you're not right. In the first film, besides Leng Feng, there are also his comrades in the army. It's not a one-man show.
And in my mind, the "Wolf Warrior" series is an action military film that shows the strength of the Chinese people, not a movie about one person.
The addition of the character "Lin Wei" in the second part was also a well-considered decision.
Look at the model of Hollywood action blockbusters nowadays. They are gradually transitioning from individual heroism to victory through cooperation. The era of fighting alone is over.
So I also tried to add a new character in the movie, and let him cooperate with "Leng Feng" to defeat the villain together.
This way, the audience will feel fresh and won’t get bored watching the same protagonist all the time.”
Wu Jing said a lot, which seemed to make sense. Of course, the most important reason in his mind was that if Gu Wei could participate in the film, there would be no need to worry about the box office, and it would definitely attract many people to go to the cinema to watch the movie.
"Brother Jing, what's the budget for Wolf Warrior 2? And what percentage do I contribute to it?"
Brothers should settle accounts openly. Before Gu Wei could say whether he agreed or not, he asked about Wu Jing's investment.
"The second film will have some big scenes, and I estimate the investment will be higher than the first film, with a total investment of around 150 million yuan.
Originally, Lao Lu and I had agreed that each of the three of us would contribute 50 million yuan, accounting for one-third of the investment.
But if you can take on this role, we'll both take a step back and let you take 40% and become the largest investor, with Lao Lu and I each taking 30%.
After saying that, Wu Jing looked at Gu Wei expectantly.
The "Old Lu" he mentioned is Lu Jianmin, the boss of Spring and Autumn Times Films, and also a good friend of Wu Jing. Wolf Warrior 1 was made with his support.
Gu Wei lowered his head and thought for a few seconds. The room was unusually quiet.
Then he raised his head with a smile and extended his hand to Wu Jing.
"Brother Jing, happy cooperation!"
Wu Jing held Gu Wei's hands tightly with both hands, looking a little excited. Then he bent down and opened several bottles of beer and poured them for Gu Wei.
"Brother, let's not go home until we are drunk tonight!"
“I hope the movie we’ll be working on together in the future will be a huge hit!”
“It must be a big hit!”
Gu Wei raised his glass and drank it all with Wu Jing.
(End of this chapter)
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