Chapter 635 The Unemployment Storm Under the Butterfly Wings [It's said that it's still uncertain.]
Upon seeing this reply, Shang Yechu frowned.
The script has already been handed to me, so why haven't the actors been decided yet?
The assistant replied: "The original actress was this one, you know her too. But we don't know why she was changed. As for who replaced her, we haven't found out yet."
A picture popped up in the chat, and Shang Yechu was stunned when she saw it. The photo sent by her assistant was of Maxim!
Maxim was also one of the lead actors in the film "The Heavenly King," playing a key member of the rebel army. When Shang Yechu organized a mutual support group for the lead actors, Maxim had a heated argument with Zhao Qian, the two calling each other idiots. Ultimately, Zhao Qian angrily switched support partners with Shang Yechu, and Maxim became Shang Yechu's support partner.
Shang Yechu had also studied Russian with Maxim for a while, and unexpectedly, he turned out to be the original lead actor in "Ice and Iron," which was quite a coincidence.
Maxim was a big guy, and not a very good-tempered one. Shang Yechu imagined him in his mind's eye, and he thought he was indeed quite suitable for Kovalev.
Moreover, Maxim's Chinese is passable, so he shouldn't have too much trouble starring in this project.
How could such a suitable person be replaced?
Is it because of connections? If so, it will be difficult to get a lower billing.
The cast and crew of "The Heavenly Emperor" all exchanged contact information. Foreign actors like Maxim and Nina, who had worked with China, had all registered on WeChat. Shang Yechu didn't hesitate and directly sent Maxim a WeChat message, asking bluntly:
[Maxim, I heard your role in "Ice and Iron" has been changed? Why?]
If it were anyone else, Shang Yechu might have gone through some roundabout polite exchanges. But Maxim's emotional intelligence wasn't up to par, so it was better to just ask directly.
Maxim typed away for a while, then sent Shang Yechu a large chunk of unprocessed Russian text.
Shang Yechu opened his eyes and looked at the text three times, but still couldn't understand it with his poor Russian. He had no choice but to use WeChat's built-in translation function to translate it into Chinese.
Shang Yechu glanced at Maxim's machine-translated answer, and before she had even finished reading it, she was already sweating.
Maxim's unemployment, or rather, his replacement, was somehow related to her.
Maxim was indeed cast in the "Ice and Iron" project quite early on. However, due to the need to capture snow scenes and other preparations, filming could not begin until December.
At the same time, Maxim also took on the role of a key rebel in "The King" and is waiting for filming to begin.
The problem lies with "The Heavenly Ruler".
Due to the various power struggles between Shang Yechu and Shao Guangji, such as Shang Yechu buying the script to force Shao Guangji to change the Heavenly Emperor into a woman, Shao Guangji signing a box office betting agreement with Shang Yechu for "Happiness Street, Please Come Inside!", and the various back-and-forth arguments between the two, in short, the start time of filming for "The Heavenly Emperor" was much later than in the previous life.
Since filming started much later than expected, the wrap-up date naturally followed suit. Maksim wasn't a military man and was originally scheduled to undergo four months of training to develop his physique and demeanor before starring in "Ice and Iron." However, by the time Maksim finished filming for "The Heavenly King," it was already September. Adding in reshoots, it was too late.
And so, Maxim left the stage in disappointment, and Kovalev was replaced by who knows who.
Maxim was unaware of the complexities surrounding the copyright dispute, assuming it was simply a matter of sponsorship funding. He even lamented to Shang Yechu that it was so difficult to secure investment for a film as good as "The Heavenly Emperor."
Shang Yechu suddenly remembered that Ji Juntao had mentioned before that the main figure on the Russian side was named something like "Ski". And Maxim's full name also seemed to contain something like "Ski"...
Shang Yechu was sweating profusely. If things had followed the original timeline of his previous life, Maxim would have finished filming "The Heavenly Emperor" long ago and then joined the cast of "Ice and Iron" as Kovalev's character. But because Shang Yechu interfered, the project was thwarted in this convoluted way.
Maxim asked innocently, "Ye, why are you suddenly asking about this movie? Wait, how did you know I was replaced?"
Shang Yechu chuckled twice, then launched into a roundabout way of expressing sincere gratitude to Maxim. She also extended a warm invitation for Maxim to dine in China next time, leaving Maxim completely bewildered.
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The identity of the Russian male lead remains a mystery, a mystery created by Shang Yechu herself. But even if she had to do it a thousand times over, Shang Yechu would still do it. She silently apologized to Maxim for breaking the promise, and then inquired about the filming schedule with her assistant.
While the exact time cannot be determined now, it is still possible to provide a general timeframe.
The assistant reported that filming would begin in Hengshi, covering the Chinese scenes. Then they would travel abroad to Russia to film the Russian scenes. In addition, there were a ton of passport and visa forms, various reports to process. Although the company had handled most of the paperwork for Shang Yechu, some still required her personal attention.
With all sorts of things to do, Shang Yechu became busy again.
November passed by in the blink of an eye, like a nap in class. Before Shang Ye Chu could even come to her senses, the contract had already been signed. And she, following the script reading for "The Heavenly Emperor," was attending her second script reading of the year—
A script reading session for "Ice and Iron".
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