New Line Cinema, in the meeting room of the "Rush Hour 3" crew.
Looking at the position of Uncle Long’s fingers, the entire crew and company executives were stunned.
Didn’t you say that you would bring a little brother who will play a guest role as a killer?
Why did you suddenly recommend him to play the villain?
For things like guest roles, with Chen Long’s reputation and ability, he basically says who is who.
After all, Uncle Long has already reduced his salary in order for this film to start shooting smoothly.
Others don’t understand, but people at New Line understand it very well.
That black guy is floating!
In fact, most of the ticket sales depend on the word "Chen Long". What the hell do you think you are? It's just a gift at most.
But the black and yellow combination has been formed and two films were filmed in succession.
Substitution is definitely not possible now, so we have to compromise.
So Uncle Long’s grandeur made the people at New Line Cinema treat him very well.
No matter how good the relationship is, a cameo is a cameo and a villain is a villain. The weight of these two roles is too different.
New Line will not agree as easily as a minor character.
Because according to the routine of American action movies, villains are divided into two types: civil and military.
The article is usually about the big BOSS behind the scenes, who has to jump back at the last moment.
Wu is the big villain throughout the film, a thug-type figure who often makes big moves to attract attention.
Most American action movies have this configuration, including "Fast and Furious", "Mission: Impossible" and the like.
Uncle Long was referring to Wu’s villain.
If you want to fight against the rebels, you must not only fight, but you must also be handsome and possess the domineering power of a villain.
The foreigners looked back at Zhang Yuan on the screen.
Handsomeness doesn’t seem to be a big problem, both the person and the action are quite handsome.
The dominance is uncertain.
Another point is that it must have a positive effect on the box office.
The script of this film has been revised several times.
The original villain was set to be both civil and military, combining both civil and military villains into one.
The choice is Steven Seagal.
He is the grumpy old man in a suit who is proficient in karate, aikido, judo and kendo even though he is a red neck.
This person’s representative works are "Marked for Death" and "The Hidden Dragon Strikes the Sky".
From the real person to the screen image, this guy is very tough and quite social.
But Uncle Long rejected him, saying that this guy was old, older than me, and he would definitely not be able to win.
This movie is originally about Uncle Long. The black guy only cares about making money and "right, right, right", so let's change the script.
Then the civil and military villains were separated.
The villain brought in Max von Sydow.
This old man has appeared in a large number of classic works and later played the "Three-Eyed Raven" in "Game of Thrones".
Look at his middle name, "Von."
Anyone familiar with history knows that those whose middle names are "Feng" are basically descendants of old German nobles.
He has a noble background, so he is naturally comfortable playing this kind of "business-type" villain.
Then the next step is to find a "sporty" villain.
This time New Line selected Jean-Claude Van Damme.
It's the guy standing between the two Volvo heavy trucks.
This one is no worse than Siegel. He is proficient in karate, taekwondo and Muay Thai, and has also won the European Karate Championship.
In 1992, his masterpiece "Reincarnation of the Warriors" earned a box office of US$100 million, and his fame is guaranteed.
In addition, he is five years younger than Uncle Long, so this is okay.
Unexpectedly, Uncle Long shook his head again.
The reason given this time was that Jean-Claude Van Damme's salary was too high and the budget was not enough.
The people from New Line put it together and what they said makes sense.
Uncle Guanglong and Brother Hei already want a salary of US$35 million and a 35% box office share.
For a brand as big as Jean-Claude Van Damme, the asking price will not be low.
Poop is also excluded.
In fact, both Siegel's age and Jean-Claude Van Damme's salary were all excuses made by Uncle Long.
Chen Long’s success in the entertainment industry was not due to his skills alone.
In terms of skill, he is really no match for Li Lianjie.
He relies on his brain!
Even though Brother Hei is here and it is said that he is the double protagonist, the focus of the scene is still on him.
But as soon as Siegel or Jean-Claude Van Damme arrived, it became the "Double Dragon Club".
Just like in "The Fast and the Furious", Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson will not fight each other.
Who is the boss, who is the A guy, who has the final say?
So Uncle Long will never let an equally famous actor who “collides” with him appear on the set.
So the crew turned around and found Thai brother Tony Jia.
Uncle Long agrees.
But they wanted to film "The Thread of the Buddha 2" and it happened to be unavailable.
After picking and choosing, the crew found Hiroyuki Sanada, the island country brother.
This guy has just entered Hollywood in recent years.
However, the role that domestic audiences are more familiar with him is probably Gao Shan in "The Ring".
The crew came to him for two reasons.
One is to please the island country market. After all, he is an island countryman.
Secondly, this guy also has some skills.
Hiroyuki Sanada’s master is Shinichi Chiba.
It is the island country uncle who plays Xiong Ba in "The Storm".
Chiba Shinichi is the successor of Kyokushin Karate in the island country, and he also knows Shaolin boxing.
Hiroyuki Sanada also followed him to learn Kyokushin karate. His level is not bad and he is also a black belt player.
In addition, Chiba Shinichi has a good relationship with Hong Kong circles and has also collaborated with Chen Long.
So when the crew found this person, Uncle Long didn’t raise any objections.
“Jackie.” The producer raised his hand.
"We chose Hiroyuki Sanada mainly for the island country market."
"The young man you recommended should not be able to provide good box office support for the island country market."
" "Yes." Uncle Long did not refute: "But in terms of popularity in the island country, I am better than the local Hiroyuki Sanada."
No one can argue with this.
Uncle Long’s movies have always been a hit in the island country, and he is almost a national idol.
The previous film, "Rush Hour 2", sold a total of 2.2 billion yen at the box office in the island country.
It was the top ten of the year.
This is under the premise that the islanders are very supportive of local works, and the top five are all well-known animation masterpieces.
“The young man I am recommending now is younger than Hiroyuki Sanada and can fight better.”
“Can complete more difficult fighting moves.”
"And he is very popular in mainland China, which will help the film develop the mainland market."
"You should know that the film and television market in mainland China is developing very quickly."
Those sitting here You will understand as soon as you hear it.
According to the contract, the mainland distribution rights of "Rush Hour 3" are in the hands of Chen Long, which is considered as compensation for his reduction in salary.
So New Line can get part of the share, but the bulk is still in the hands of Uncle Long.
It's acceptable to fight for your own interests.
"Also, Hiroyuki Sanada also has a problem." Uncle Long had an idea and said.
"He just starred in "The Promise"."
When the word "The Promise" was mentioned, everyone present turned pale.
My head hurts!
New Line and Warner Bros. are both part of the Time Warner Group.
The North American distribution of "The Promise" was handled by Warner Bros.
$30 million in royalties!
In the end, it only earned less than 500,000 US dollars at the box office.
Not to mention bitter tea seeds, the prostate and kidneys will be lost!
Seeing how miserably the brother company suffered losses, New Line also took warning.
Now Uncle Long mentioned that Hiroyuki Sanada had just acted in "The Promise", and he played the protagonist, the General. Foreigners who don't believe in Buddhism think this person is unlucky...
It seems that this island country My brother was covered in shit and hadn’t even had time to wash it off.
The key is that Warner also believed in Poet Chen’s evil deeds.
At that time, "The Promise" was in post-production and the copyright was being sold at the same time.
Poet Chen and Warner Bros. are bragging that "Million Dollar Baby," which just won the Oscar for Best Picture, is not that good.
Of course, given his character, he might really feel that way.
And "Million Dollar Baby" was distributed by Warner.
Oops!
220 million U.S. dollars at the box office, Oscar for best picture, what do you think?
Then you are very talented?
The culture of white people is opposite to that of Chinese people. They like to be exaggerated and arrogant.
Listening to what Poet Chen said, I think he is very confident...
“Jackie, we have seen this young man’s kung fu strength.”
“But his performance We don't know much about his abilities and reputation in China..." the producer was talking.
A New Line Cinema project manager on the side suddenly slapped his hands and said loudly at the same time.
“I remembered!”
“I know him!” the man said, pointing to the short film frozen on the screen.
The person who interrupted loudly had been to China and learned a Chinese curse.
The one who called "NewBee" when watching the short video just now.
Racial blindness exists everywhere. White people cannot distinguish yellow people, and yellow people cannot distinguish white people.
So this old man just looked at it for a long time and didn’t recognize who Zhang Yuan was.
But after the eldest brother said that Zhang Yuan was very popular in China, the more he looked at him, the more familiar he looked.
After thinking about it for a while, I finally remembered it.
The time he went to learn about the country's scolding was not long ago when he was appointed by the company to visit the set of "The City of Golden Armor"!
He was among the eight major North American distribution companies that the team inspected at that time.
After a trip to China, apart from the hard work of learning, the bad ones, he ran away, and he made a couple of national curse words and brought them back to the United States. The only thing left that impressed him deeply was those "big white steamed buns".
So it took me a long time to think about it.
“Isn’t this the boy who hugged the actress, kissed and touched her!”
Thousands of miles apart, Feng Ping was killed.
Zhang Yuan didn’t even know that he had this image in the minds of foreigners.
"He played the leading role in Zhang EMO's movie. I saw his performance live. It was very professional and good." This person said.
Uncle Long is the one who introduced me.
But now some people within the company are saying this, and the remaining positions need to be carefully considered.
They all know Lao Mouzi, the most famous director in China.
If you can play the leading role in his film, you must be a big star in the local area.
The person from the company also said that the performance was good, so the level should be no problem.
"Let's do this." After whispering a few words, the producer and casting director spoke again.
“Jackie, let him come to New York and let’s see it live.”
"Okay!" Uncle Long agreed with a smile.
On the other side, the Xiangjiang studio.
"Did you make a mistake? Let your wife sell it."
"A poisonous insect like you can't do anything to suck D."
" Is there any humanity left?”
The two Xiangjiang aunts... are not just simple aunts, they are also familiar faces that often appear in Xiangjiang film and television dramas.
Sitting in front of the camera, he pointed at Zhang Yuan and cursed.
The content of this scene is that he and Song Jia are sitting at the bottom of the building.
A prostitute gave his wife money to go upstairs. After Ah Fen ignored it, he even complained that his wife didn’t make any money.
“This is my family matter.”
"What does it have to do with you?"
Zhang Yuan had dark circles under his eyes, yellow teeth, and a rogue look on his face.
Not only was he not ashamed, he was also sarcastic.
The eyes and face stink like live maggots in a cesspool.
Er Dongsheng in front of the monitor looked at it and wanted to give him a stick.
"Stuck!"
After shouting stop, Zhang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and came to the director's side.
As soon as I walked over, I heard a lot of curses from Hong Kong Island.
“Fuck the street!”
“It’s like this!”
"Shame on you!"
This curse came from Brother Hua.
Today, as a producer, Chen Kexin came to inspect the set, and Brother Hua accompanied him to watch the movie.
"Brother Hua, wasn't it me who acted just now?" Zhang Yuan approached cautiously.
"Ah, you're here... No!" Brother Hua turned his head and denied.
"You are very good."
"I just told Director Chen that you have great potential."
The long-haired Chen Kexin also smiled and nodded, agreeing with Liu Dehua's statement.
When he called Er Dongsheng yesterday to ask about the situation on the set, this old friend said so.
“I feel like I picked the wrong person.”
"That mainland guy's acting skills are much better than A Zu's."
So after Chen Kexin came to the set today, she observed carefully.
However, after reading it, he came to the opposite conclusion from Er Dao.
“The level is very high.”
“But you made the right choice.”
It’s not that Chen Kexin thinks Zhang Yuan is not good.
But I think he is very capable and has obviously exceeded his expectations.
What he meant when he said that the director made the right choice was...
"The role of Pink Boy is actually more difficult to play than the male lead of Azu."
"You Let Zhang Yuan play the role of Azu, he can definitely do it.”
"But it's not necessarily true if you ask Azu to play his pink boy role."
After hearing what he said, Er Dongsheng also agreed.
"Brother Hua, who were you just now?" Zhang Yuan asked curiously.
Liu Dehua looked unhappy and sighed.
“Have you watched the news?”
"What news?"
"Xiao Shushen was caught smoking D."
Xiao Shushen is a Baodao actress who has become quite popular in recent years.
Good-looking, with two big eyes,
a rich and generous type.
After her debut, she appeared in many MVs of famous singers, including Jay Chou's "Back to the Past", Liang Jingru's "Courage", and Guangliang's "First Time".
After that, she sang and acted, released an album first, and then moved to the film industry. In just a few years, she has been nominated for several Golden Horse Awards.
My career is going smoothly.
But just yesterday, this man was arrested at his home in Baodao, and heroin and cocaine were found.
Why is Brother Hua angry?
Because this guy made his debut in 1997 and participated in the filming of Hua Ge's "Love Is Too Difficult" MV.
And after being arrested, this person was still adamant, saying that he did not steal or rob, and that even if he was sucked to death, it would not affect others, so why should he arrest me.
Brother Hua, who happened to be playing a drug lord, was very angry when he saw this interview.
He plays the villain and demands that he must die in the film. Can he bear this?
The character Kun played this time also committed suicide at the end of the film, which did not break the principles of Brother Hua.
"All these poisonous insects should be driven out of the entertainment industry!" Hua Ge was still angry.
“The purpose of making this film is to warn everyone.” Zhang Yuan said from the sidelines.
"Yes, it must be filmed well." Brother Hua replied with approval: "Let everyone know the consequences of sucking D."
Liu Dehua and Uncle Long are different.
No matter how good Zhang Yuan acted, he never doubted that the other party really sucked.
A few people were chatting when a large group of familiar figures were slowly approaching not far away.
While chatting, a few people looked up and saw an army of young and Dangerous boys headed by a yellow man.
"Director, long time no see."
"Brother is not here today."
The leader bared his yellow teeth and blew his nose from time to time.
Brother Hua has experienced that era.
He was also one of the initiators of the anti-gangster march that year.
I immediately understood that these people were here to collect land fees.
I also saw a few red and blue needle holes on the crook of the leader's hand, and I immediately understood that these people were not only young and Dangerous, but also the worst and worst fans.
Brother Hua, who had just been angered by Xiao Shushen, was not in a good mood.
It's even worse when you see these people.
"I tell you, don't mess around."
"Now that Xiangjiang has returned, there is no place for gangs like you." Brother Hua stepped forward and pointed at the leader.
"Wow, Liu Dehua, what a big name!" This person said as he turned around.
A burst of laughter immediately came from behind.
Obviously, this group of people who have been here several times will not call it a day easily today.
Zhang Yuan knew that he saw several people in the crowd holding glass bottles containing unknown liquids.
Packaging urine and feces is the most dirty thing.
It would be troublesome if it contains dangerous goods.
Zhang Yuan also felt unbearable.
I have only been filming in Xiangjiang for a few days, but I have already met him several times.
Just like this, the Hong Kong film industry and even the whole of Hong Kong will be in decline.
The business environment is so bad, what a shame.
In order to live a peaceful crew life for a few days, Zhang Yuan helplessly waved to his assistant, took the phone, and broadcast a number... (End of this chapter)