Chapter 357 French Rose (Subscribe to support!)
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After the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" officially started, Xu Kai showed everyone that he was not only good at making commercial films, but also had a professional side in making art films.
but--
Shooting this kind of art film not only tests Xu Kai's directing ability, but also the performance of the actors and the level of other staff members also affect the quality of the film.
Fortunately, the actors Xu Kai found were all great, especially the first lead Zhang Chen, who really gave Xu Kai a lot of surprises.
Zhang Chen is an extremely hardworking person. Before the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" began, he had already been chosen as the leading actor, so he went to Kyoto to live for several months. During that period, he was concentrating on learning acting.
In the film, Zhang Chen plays Cheng Dieyi, who twists his body to act like a female role, speaks in a delicate voice, laughs sourly, and behaves like a well-trained old actor. The crew members admire Zhang Chen's acting skills very much, and privately joked, "You are really a goblin."
In the section about Dieyi quitting smoking, Xu Kai said it was OK after the first take. But Zhang Chen was not satisfied and wanted to take it again. Later, after taking it several times in a row, Zhang Chen smashed the glass too hard and cut off a piece of flesh from his finger. Everyone was very nervous, but Zhang Chen smiled and said it was okay, and this time it was finally OK.
When filming, if he happens to shoot shots of footsteps, arms, legs, etc., Zhang Chen insists on not using a body double - he believes that every part of the body is connected and has feelings, and partial shots also represent some kind of emotion.
Zhang Chen was so immersed in the role that the stunt double Diao Li prepared by Xu Kai was never used.
Zhu Bing also worked very hard.
Zhu Bing has never played a prostitute in that special period.
Therefore, when she first joined the crew, Zhu Bing could not find the feeling to play Juxian, even though Xu Kai gave her a lot of special treatment in private, it was of no avail.
Later, in order to support Zhu Bing, Xu Kai found a large number of books that recorded the prostitutes of that special period. Zhu Bing was overjoyed and studied hard every day. Only then did she grasp the essence of playing Juxian.
There is a little story here. That is, when filming the hugging scene between Juxian and Duan Xiaolou, Zhu Bing didn't let anyone touch her, and Xu Kai didn't want other men to touch his woman. Therefore, Xu Kai, who had a similar body shape to Zhang Yi, had to serve as Zhang Yi's stand-in, and the people Zhang Yi hugged were all Zhu Bing's stand-ins.
This may be the only unprofessional aspect of Zhu Bing during the filming of Farewell My Concubine.
Zhang Yi also worked very hard. In one scene in the play, he played the role of Duan Xiaolou, who was already an adult, but angered his master because of his prostitution and gambling. However, he still obediently lay on the bench like he did when he was a teenager and let his master spank his buttocks.
In this scene, Zhang Yi did not mention finding a substitute, but completed it himself conscientiously.
Uncle Ge's performance was also above average.
——The only pity is that Mr. Ge is better at acting in comedies, and such a serious drama somewhat limits his talent.
As for the supporting roles in "Farewell My Concubine", under Xu Kai's strict requirements, they also performed extremely well, even if they only had one or two lines and one or two shots.
In a word, Xu Kai's version of "Farewell My Concubine" is also a peak collision of Chinese-language filmmakers.
"Farewell My Concubine" started filming at the end of June and was not wrapped until nearly October, taking more than three months, nearly a hundred days.
For "Quickshooter" Xu Kai, it was the first time that he spent such a long time shooting a movie.
Moreover, during this period of time, Xu Kai almost turned down all other things and concentrated on filming "Farewell My Concubine".
This shows how much thought Xu Kai put into "Farewell My Concubine".
After the film was completed, Xu Kai was not in a hurry to edit and do post-production work, but hurriedly started filming "Detective Chinatown 2".
There are actually many reasons why Xu Kai suddenly put down "Farewell My Concubine" halfway through and started working on "Detective Chinatown 2".
The first reason is that because "Farewell My Concubine" involves the history of that special period, the relevant departments suddenly implemented a complete ban on the screening of "Farewell My Concubine" and even banned its promotion.
This not only caught Xu Kai, who was planning to release "Farewell My Concubine" during the Lunar New Year holiday this year, off guard, but also caught the distributor of "Farewell My Concubine", Aina Films, Brother Films, other co-distribution companies and major cinema chains off guard.
You know, because "Farewell My Concubine" is the film work of the best-selling director Xu Kai, even though it is just an art film, it has won the honor of being screened across the board.
In other words, most film producers have reserved the best schedule for "Farewell My Concubine" and are all eagerly waiting for "Farewell My Concubine" to land on this year's Lunar New Year schedule.
As a result, the postponement of "Farewell My Concubine" will definitely bring huge losses to these film producers. After all, not everyone has such a strong box office appeal as Xu Kai, and can withstand the box office market of the largest period, the Lunar New Year.
So those film producers came to Xu Kai and said, "Mr. Qing, it's bad. We have reserved the best time slot for you. Farewell My Concubine can't be released. What should we do?"
In the film business, you can't make the movies too highbrow and only have a small audience. You also need the support of the public.
You know, not all good movies can sell at high box office - without the support of the majority of film producers in terms of screening volume, no matter how well a movie is made, it will be difficult to break through the siege and achieve a gorgeous box office counterattack.
Of course, when Xu Kai reaches such a high level, many people want to make money from him, so he doesn't have to consider the thoughts of these film producers.
But it's better for everyone to get along well than to be at odds with each other, right? Harmony brings wealth.
Moreover, after all, it was because the subject matter of Xu Kai's "Farewell My Concubine" was too sensitive that caused such an emergency.
Therefore, Xu Kai has an obligation to do so.
So Xu Kai said to the film producers responsibly: "Don't worry, more than a month is enough time for me to make another movie. Well...if it doesn't work, I will just make "Detective Chinatown 2"."
When the film producers heard that Xu Kai was willing to replace the art film "Farewell My Concubine" which might flop with "Detective Chinatown 2" which was sure to be a big hit, they immediately turned their sadness into joy. Then they said to Xu Kai: "Mr. Qing, it would be great if you could release "Detective Chinatown 2" to resolve this crisis. How about we each agree to give you 10% of the screening space?"
To be honest, the reason why these film producers cooperate so happily with Xu Kai is mainly because Xu Kai is really talented. Not only are all the movies he makes sell well, but he is also fast and productive, making three box office hits every year, and this does not include the movies starred or appeared in by Xu Kai.
In addition, Xu Kai is a responsible person. When something happens, he really stands up to it and takes responsibility.
To put it bluntly, they feel at ease cooperating with Xu Kai.
It is precisely because of this that these film producers who made huge profits with Xu Kai are willing to call Xu Kai "Master Qing" and worship Xu Kai as the God of Wealth.
As for the fact that "Farewell My Concubine" cannot be released for the time being, Xu Kai is not too worried, because this kind of thing happened in his previous life. Later, "Farewell My Concubine" won the Palme d'Or in Cannes and was allowed to be released.
Xu Kai also planned to take this route.
To take a step back, even if "Farewell My Concubine" cannot be released in China, if it can win some major foreign awards, it will definitely make Xu Kai a fortune even if it is released abroad.
In addition to making up for the gap caused by the delay of "Farewell My Concubine", Xu Kai launched "Detective Chinatown 2" for several other reasons: the first reason is that the faster and faster growing Xingyun Express and Xu Capital are like bottomless pits that cannot be filled, and funds must continue to be injected into them, so Xu Kai still has to make money from the film market.
The second reason is that Xu Kai's work has undergone major changes recently, which is just right for him to film "Detective Chinatown 2".
As Manhunt 3 sold very well at the overseas box office, Linda and Tang Jiping finally decided to join forces with Xu Kai to conquer Hollywood and the world.
Of course, this is also because Xu Kai won the runner-up in the famous American sports competition variety show "Titan Warriors".
(In fact, with Xu Kai's strength, he would surely win the championship. But you know, in this kind of competition, it is impossible for a yellow-skinned foreigner like Xu Kai to win the championship. So, under the "discussion" and suggestion of the organizer, Xu Kai cooperated well and "made a mistake" at the critical moment of the finals, won the runner-up, and gave the championship to a white person).
——Although Xu Kai only won a runner-up, anyone who is not a fool can definitely see that Xu Kai's strength is N times stronger than the so-called champion. Xu Kai lost, not because of his strength, but because of his integrity, which also earned Xu Kai a lot of sympathy points.
More importantly, the five songs from Xu Fa's album Thriller (Thriller, Hotel California, Right Here Waiting, Unchained Melody and The Sound of Silence) have created a huge wave in the United States, and now these songs are being played everywhere in the United States.
That's right.
Xu Kai became famous in the United States and even around the world.
Whether it was Linda, Tang Jiping, or Xu Kai, they all felt that the time was ripe for Xu Kai to conquer Hollywood and the world.
So Xu Kai, Lin Da and Tang Jiping planned a new movie together - "Rush Hour".
In order for Xu Kai to become a hit in Hollywood and around the world, Tang Jiping suggested that Rush Hour be co-produced by Happy Wheat, Da Ping Films (Linda Lin and Tang Jiping's film company) and New Line Cinema.
New Line Cinema is an independent production and distribution company that was established very early in the United States. It originally distributed low-cost horror films from Europe and the United States to American colleges and universities.
As early as the 1990s, New Line Cinema purchased films produced by Chinese for distribution and achieved great success, and then it became an independent film distribution company with a wide influence.
Later, New Line was acquired by the film giant Warner. Since Warner controlled Time Warner, New Line was immediately incorporated into the Time Warner Group.
However, New Line's former president, Shea, still held a major stake in New Line when it was acquired by Turner and enjoyed the right to independently manage the company.
So although New Line belongs to the Time Warner Group, its film operations have nothing to do with other film companies within the group.
Because it has made a lot of money by cooperating with Chinese people, New Line Cinema is one of the few film companies in Hollywood willing to cooperate with Chinese people.
New Line Cinema has the vast resources and channels of film giant Warner.
All in all, New Line Cinema is undoubtedly the best partner for Xu Kai and his team.
And, most rare of all, New Line Cinema has also noticed Xu Kai, a rising international superstar who has swept the Chinese film market, and is therefore very willing to cooperate with Xu Kai and others.
It can be said that the parties hit it off immediately.
As a result, the three parties each paid one-third of the production costs for "Rush Hour" and each held one-third of the shares of "Rush Hour".
In addition, New Line Cinema will also serve as the distributor of Rush Hour.
By the way, after discussion among the three parties, Xu Kai's salary was set at 15 million US dollars, Linda's director salary was 5 million US dollars, the director Brett Ratner recommended by New Line Cinema to co-direct with Linda was also paid 15 million US dollars, the action director Tang Jiping's salary was only 1 million US dollars, and Chris Tucker, who played Xu Kai's partner Carter, was a famous master of language humor in Hollywood, and his salary was also 15 million US dollars.
Plus the pay for other supporting actors.
The total pay for "Rush Hour" was as high as more than 70 million US dollars, which is equivalent to nearly 500 million Chinese yuan.
Adding other expenses, the production cost of "Rush Hour" must have exceeded 130 million US dollars, nearly 1 billion Chinese yuan.
This is a definite blockbuster.
Moreover, during this period, Xu Kai not only had to shoot "Rush Hour", but also "The Grandmaster: Lion of the Western Region".
——Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang also took a fancy to Xu Kai's influence in the United States and the world, and planned to join Xu Kai in going to the United States to try his luck. Therefore, Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang planned this "Grandmaster 4".
To be honest, Xu Kai was not optimistic about Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang's creativity, because it was similar to the last "Once Upon a Time in China" shot by Tsui Hark and Jet Li in the previous life, so the possibility of its success should be slim.
But they have been friends for so many years and have made so much money together. Xu Kai cannot stop playing with them just because he does not agree with Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang's ideas.
On the contrary, although Xu Kai was not very interested, he still followed the previous way, did not ask for remuneration, and invested another 100 million Chinese yuan, accounting for 50% of the production shares of "The Grandmaster: The Lion of the Western Region".
In addition, because Xu Kai became popular in the European and American markets, a director named Claude Binaudot from the Romantic Country approached Xu Kai.
Through repeated communication between the two parties, Xu Kai learned from Yang Xinchun that Claude Binaudot had bought the autobiographical novel "Lover's First Kiss" by a well-known Romantic writer and was planning to adapt it into a movie.
The book tells the sad and touching love story between a romantic girl and a rich Chinese man in Annan, so a Chinese actor is needed to play the leading role.
After comparing many aspects, Claude Binaudeau chose Xu Kai, who he thought was the most suitable.
Although this story takes place in Annan, Annan is obviously not a suitable place for filming a movie.
Claude Binaudot then prepared to find a place in the United States to shoot the film so that "Lovers' First Kiss" could be released in China, North America and Europe.
Xu Kai, who has filmed too many action scenes, also wants to try making a romantic art film to see what it feels like.
The key is that this is a good opportunity for Xu Kai to enter the European market.
The most important thing is that the heroine chosen by Claude Binaudot is only 17-year-old Sophie March, who is fresh, sweet, and the French rose that people admire. She has a pair of clear and melancholy brown-green charming eyes, an extremely pretty face and a slender and sexy body.
So Xu Kai took on "Lover's First Kiss".
"Rush Hour", "The Grandmaster: The Lion of the Western Region" and "Lovers' First Kiss" will all be filmed in the United States. Xu Kai's work focus in the next stage will definitely be on the United States.
In this case, Xu Kai might as well shoot "Detective Chinatown 2" in the United States.
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(End of this chapter)
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