Chapter 65: Meeting Huang Rong
As December 2005 approaches, the marketing of "Riding Alone" and "The Promise" is overwhelming, and both parties are engaged in a marketing war.
"Riding Alone, Thousands of Miles", with an investment of 50 million, is Zhang Yimou's return to literary films after commercial films such as "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers".
It tells the story of a father and son from an island nation about love, repentance, and self-spiritual redemption.
For this reason, Zhang Yimou specially invited the Japanese movie star Ken Takakura to star.
In order to ensure the quality of the film and to eliminate the various criticisms of storytelling due to "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers", Zhang Yimou specially invited Zou Jingzhi, known as the number one screenwriter in Mainland China, to write the script.
The script was written for two years and revised countless times in order to pass through the discernment of Zhang Yimou and Ken Takakura, so that the final story was completely different from the story originally written by Zou Jingzhi.
On the contrary, because too much of Zhang Yimou’s views were mixed in, Zhang Yimou’s name was even signed in front of Zou Jingzhi in the screenwriter column of the film.
The final box office was 30 million, which was on par with Chen Kexin's "If Love".
November 30th.
In order to compete with the overwhelming marketing of "Ride Alone for Thousands of Miles" and "The Promise", "If Love" spent tens of millions of dollars to hold a grand premiere called ""If Love" NAGA Upper House Premiere" at the Beijing Exhibition Center Screening ceremony.
Director Chen Kexin, starring Jin Chengwu, Zhou Xun, Zhang Xueyou and Chi Zhenxi were all present.
Zeng Zhiwei and Wu Junru hosted.
Gu Juji, Yang Qianhua and Su Yongfan performed their famous songs live.
Zhang Xueyou and Zhou Xun even sang to add to the fun.
And, Feng Xiaogang, Tang Jili, Huang Xiaoming, Chen Hao and others came to support.
Chen Hao wore a silver dress and her charming appearance attracted the attention of countless people on the red carpet.
Waiting until the second half of the premiere, the crew began to auction 30 major props and costumes worn by the main creators. Some of them were auctioned by the four leading actors in person.
The movement is so grand.
That night.
Wang Shu made an appointment with Zhou Xun.
Looking at Zhou Xun, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, Wang Shu knew that this person must have come directly after attending the premiere. It seemed that he had been drinking a lot.
"Hello, Director Wang." Zhou Xun hurriedly arrived at the appointed coffee shop and met Wang Shu, extending his hand to say hello politely.
"Hello." Wang Shu stood up and stretched out his hand to shake it.
The two sat down. Wang Shu first chatted politely with Zhou Xun about the drama "If Love" for a while, and then said: "Sister Xun, I asked you out this time because there is a drama I want to invite you to. You play the lead role.”
"Oh?" Zhou Xun pretended to be surprised, but in fact he had already guessed.
A director who didn't know her at all suddenly found someone to arrange a meeting with her. The meeting place was in a coffee shop. What else could it be other than that he wanted to find her for a role in a script?
Before meeting Wang Shu, Zhou Xun’s assistant had already explained Wang Shu’s information to her in detail.
Zhou Xun also knew that although Wang Shu was young, he was also capable.
"What show?" she asked curiously.
Zhou Xun has been filming on the set of "The Banquet" during this time, and this appearance was specially to promote the premiere of "If Love".
It was just when she returned to Beijing that Han Sanping found someone to help them meet.
The whole process was sudden. Zhou Xun didn’t know that Han Sanping was the one who found someone to pull the strings in the first place, and he didn’t know why Wang Shu came to her.
Just relying on speculation, I feel that Wang Shu's appointment with her is most likely related to the character in the script.
As for the content of the script, there is no way to know.
"A palace battle drama." Wang Shu said with a smile from beginning to end.
"Gong Du Xi?" Zhou Xun looked confused. The concept of Gong Du Xi was a bit avant-garde, and she didn't react for a while.
Maybe it was because the temperature in the cafe was relatively high, so she took off the coat she was wearing, revealing the black dress underneath.
Wang Shu just glanced at it and knew that the dress Zhou Xun was wearing under her jacket should be the dress she wore on the red carpet of "If Love".
I didn’t have time to change my clothes after that, so I kept them on. "Sister Xun, I guess you haven't watched "The Golden Bough" over in Hong Kong, right?" Wang Shu asked with a smile.
“I haven’t seen it.” Zhou Xun shook his head and answered honestly.
Not only has she never seen it, she has never even heard of it.
"The Golden Bough" is a Hong Kong drama that will not be broadcast on the mainland until the middle of next year.
At present, not many people in the mainland know about it.
Wang Shu took a sip of coffee and said thoughtfully: "What do you mean by palace fighting drama?"
"It is a drama based on characters."
"This will last for a while." I can't explain it clearly."
"If Sister Xun has watched "The Evil of the Golden Branch" and compared it with my script, she will understand it quickly."
"And let me explain it no matter how you do it. , it’s not that easy to understand.”
At this point, he paused for a moment, then added, "Of course, even if you haven't watched "The Golden Bough", you can understand it just by reading my script."
"What I mean is that after watching "The Golden Bough" "Evil" can help you quickly understand this script of mine."
"Is "The Evil of the Golden Branch" also a palace drama? "Although Zhou Xun came here after drinking, it does not mean that her brain was corroded by alcohol. It turned into a ball of paste, and after thinking for a while, he refined the meaning of Wang Shu's words.
“Yes.” Wang Shu smiled and nodded, praising Zhou Xun’s cleverness.
"So. Director Wang asked me to meet to invite me to star in a TV series?" The blush on Zhou Xun's face has not dissipated. He stared at Wang Shu with a pair of big eyes, feeling slightly disappointed in his heart.
She originally thought that Wang Shu was looking for her with a movie script, but she didn't expect it was a TV series
Here, the gap was huge.
When Wang Shu heard this, he raised his head and met Zhou Xun’s eyes.
Perhaps due to drinking, Zhou Xun’s big eyes sparkled in the dim light of the cafe.
Wearing another black, slightly gothic dress, if it weren't for her overly dramatic voice, anyone would look like a petite and cute girl.
"Uh" Wang Shu opened his mouth and explained with some embarrassment, "This script is very good, no worse than a movie script."
In this era, TV drama actors are a head shorter than movie actors. Wang Shu can see that The disappointment in Zhou Xun's eyes is understandable.
After all, not to mention Gong Li who is far away, but Zhang Ziyi who is close is right in front of her.
Especially now, she is playing the supporting role for Zhang Ziyi in the drama "The Night Banquet".
Zhang Ziyi was the protagonist from the beginning, and the resources she finally obtained were just to support him.
Both are the first among the four Dans, but there are also differences.
This feeling
And.
Wang Shu also knew that Zhou Xun had stopped acting in TV series since last year and focused on the development of the film industry.
Also, I still focus on winning awards films.
What he wants is obvious.
If we continue to film TV series now, it would be equivalent to turning the wheel backwards.
"I know, Director Wang's script is definitely not bad." Zhou Xun said the beautiful words with a smile. He paused at this point, and then said, "But I."
No. After Zhou Xun finished speaking, Wang Shu's voice rang out.
“This drama, with a budget of 50 million, is jointly invested and produced by China Film, Yangshi, and my Yishu Company...”
This news has not been disclosed to the outside world, and not many people know about it yet.
Hearing this, Zhou Xun was stunned for a moment, and then silently swallowed back the words that had already reached his lips.
(End of this chapter)