Chapter 149 Listen to Director Wu, Athens Is Dark for Eight Minutes

The filming of "Love" went very smoothly.

In early August, Liu Yifei and Gong Li joined the crew to film their scenes.

In less than five days, Liu Yifei finished filming first.

She didn't expect that this movie would be so easy to shoot.

She thought that acting in art films would be very difficult, after all, they were all movies that could win awards.

But unexpectedly, after joining the crew, she just played the role of a little granddaughter in her true colors, filmed a few dialogue scenes with teacher Wu Yanshu, and had a few crying scenes by her bed, and then finished filming.

There was no way, she and teacher Wu Yanshu were really familiar with each other. She originally played her grandmother in "Your Name", and she didn't even need to cultivate feelings, she could just shoot directly.

"It's finished already?" Liu Yifei, who was lying on Wu Yanshu's bedside and wiping tears, was stunned when she heard Wu Yuan's voice "Congratulations on the completion" in her ear.

"Yes." Wu Yuan smiled happily: "Xixi, you are already very good at playing the granddaughter for Teacher Wu Yanshu."

Wu Yanshu, who was lying on the bed, also straightened her back and touched Liu Yifei's face lovingly: "You acted very well."

She likes Liu Yifei very much.

Simple, pure, dedicated and serious about work, sincere and kind to others, completely different from many actresses who have been famous for a long time in the circle.

As a relatively old-fashioned performing worker, Teacher Wu Yanshu is very dissatisfied with some chaos in the circle and the way some actors behave.

But she is very satisfied with Liu Yifei, this little girl is so likable.

"Grandma, then I'll go first, come on!" Liu Yifei shook her little fist, cheered for Teacher Wu Yanshu, and followed Wu Yuan out of the set with her hands behind her back.

Her mother was waiting at the door of the room.

"Thank you for your hard work." Wu Yuan was polite again and prepared to watch the mother and daughter leave.

There is no formalism on his set. When an actor finishes filming, apart from congratulating him and sending him a bouquet of flowers, he will continue filming other people's scenes.

Liu Yifei also knows his habit, but this time she did not leave directly, but stopped beside Wu Yuan.

"Brother." After hesitating for a while, Liu Yifei lowered her head and whispered, "Well, my birthday is coming soon."

"Brother, do you have time to attend my birthday party?"

Perhaps she was afraid that Wu Yuan would misunderstand, so she hurriedly explained, "I not only invite you, but also many friends and classmates I met in the crew."

Looking down at Liu Yifei's pouting face with some baby fat, Wu Yuan wanted to agree in his heart, but he still refused:

"I won't go. Your friends and classmates will not be used to seeing me. I won't go to disrupt your party."

He is an international director, and going to a gathering of new actors aged 18 or 19 is like putting a shark into a small pond, which will scare the small fish and shrimp in the small pond to death.

Wu Yuan still has a clear understanding of his status, unlike Xiao Ma, who thinks his family is an "ordinary family" even though he has become the richest man.

For him, staying away from Liu Yifei's circle of friends is a good thing for both himself and Liu Yifei's friends.

But Liu Yifei, a little girl, can't think so much. She muttered disappointedly: "Senior brother won't mess up."

At this time, it's Liu Xiaoli's turn to save the situation.

She patted her daughter's shoulder, "Okay, Director Wu is still busy making a movie, so don't bother him anymore."

"Mom still has something to talk to Director Wu about, you go outside and wait."

"What are you hiding from me?" Liu Yifei pouted and said dissatisfiedly.

However, under Liu Xiaoli's calm gaze, she quickly lost the battle and dragged her feet out weakly.

After watching her daughter walk away, Liu Xiaoli retracted her gaze and looked at Wu Yuan.

She did have something to talk to Wu Yuan about.

"Director Wu, I have something I want to ask you."

Liu Xiaoli was humble, "You are Sissi's benefactor. If you hadn't asked her to play in "Your Name", there would be no Sissi now."

"So I want to hear your opinion on Sissi's choice of acting career."

"What is it?" Wu Yuan asked doubtfully. He didn't remember any major setbacks Liu Yifei encountered in her acting career?

The ban by Huayi had to wait until "The Forbidden Kingdom", but it's hard to say whether there will be another "The Forbidden Kingdom" in this life.

Anyway, Cheng Long probably doesn't have time to shoot "The Forbidden Kingdom", he has to make the "Kingsman" series.

"That's right." Liu Xiaoli organized her words and said carefully: "Sissi has now become the second highest-grossing actress in the country, which is a good thing."

"But, as a new actress, she has reached this level all of a sudden, so she is a bit out of demand."

"In the film industry, there are really no suitable movie scripts. Big productions by big directors cannot be performed, and small-scale movies are not worthy of Sissi's current worth."

"So I discussed with her godfather and wanted to wait for Sissi to enter the singer market after filming "The Return of the Condor Heroes."

"Sissi's godfather knows someone from Sony Records. They want to sign Sissi to become a singer under Sony Records and produce albums in China and Japan at the same time."

"I think Sissi is also very popular in Japan because of "Your Name". If there are no new movies released in Japan for a long time, these fans will soon forget Sissi."

"Then why not make records first and perform in Japan as a singer."

"Director Wu, what do you think?"

Hey, Wu Yuan remembered that Liu Yifei actually went to sign with Sony as a singer for a while.

Liu Xiaoli is not to blame for this decision.

In the current mainland entertainment industry, film and television songs are not yet clearly differentiated, and there is no saying that singers are inferior to actors.

On the contrary, because singers' records sell well, they now make more money as singers than as actors.

Especially singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan can earn 9 figures a year. This figure is something that mainland actors dare not even think about.

Influenced by the entertainment circles of Hong Kong and Taiwan, today’s domestic entertainment industry also advocates stars from movies, TV shows, and singers.

Therefore, mainland actors nowadays basically act and sing if they are good at it, which is completely the opposite of singing and acting when they are good at singing later.

Zhou Xun and Chen Kun have both released albums, and Wang Jingwen has also tried to act in movies. She was included in Sunglasses King's "2046".

Judging from the current era, it is not wrong for Liu Xiaoli to want Liu Yifei to take the route of film, television, singing and singing.

And later on, her album did very well. The Chinese version sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and the Japanese album also sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

You know, she was originally not well-known in Japan. She debuted as a pure new singer and was able to sell hundreds of thousands of records. This shows that she is indeed very suitable for the Japanese entertainment market!

From the perspective of later generations, of course Liu Yifei's behavior is meaningless and a wrong move.

However, specific matters should be viewed in light of the specific circumstances.

Liu Yifei now is no longer the same person she used to be.

She is now in Japan. Not to mention she is the national goddess, but she cannot escape the title of "the nation's first love".

This is not Wu Yuan's nonsense, it was the media in Japan that blocked her.

The character "Luo Sanye" is really so popular. With the box office of "Your Name" exceeding 15 billion yen in Japan, she has become the most perfect "first love" in the eyes of young Japanese men!

At this time, without receiving a good movie script, it was indeed a good decision to let Liu Yifei release a Japanese album.

Not only can it consolidate her Japanese fan base, but it may also reach a new high!

"Qianxi will graduate next year, right?" Wu Yuan touched his chin and thought: "She will have more time after graduation. She can also release a few albums across borders."

"Anyway, there really aren't any movies suitable for her now. She's still too young."

】

"After graduation next year, Sissi will only be 18 years old, right?"

When mentioning age, Wu Yuan suddenly felt a little confused.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Yifei is about to become an adult.

When she was 14 and a half years old, she met on the set of "The Golden Family". In Wu Yuan's mind, it seemed like it happened yesterday.

"Time flies so fast." Wu Yuan sighed.

Liu Xiaoli also had the same feeling, "Yes, Sissi has grown up in the blink of an eye."

After saying that, she suddenly glanced at Wu Yuan warily, then quickly withdrew her gaze, changing the topic and said: "Well, Director Wu, what do you mean, you can give it a try, right?"

"Okay." Wu Yuan had no objection.

Anyway, it seems that he will not be able to use Liu Yifei, the first-generation Yuan girl, in the next one or two years. No matter whether it is "Painted Skin" or "Pirates of the Caribbean" or the follow-up "Rush Hour 3", there is no suitable role for her.

So instead of letting Liu Yifei take on some bad movies, it would be better to go to the music scene and have some fun.

To put it bluntly, even if the album she releases does not perform well and makes no splash, it will not affect her fame.

After all, she has a lot of inventory. A "Sword of Immortality" will be released at the end of the year, followed by "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

The dividends from these two TV series alone are enough to maintain her popularity for ten years.

It's not a good thing to have a few bad movies that have eroded your reputation.

What?

Why do you think Wu Yuan was so sure that Liu Yifei would only get bad movies even if she took on roles?

From 2004 to 2006, were there any movies with female protagonists that had good reputations and box office success?

Let alone movies with big female protagonists, there are not even movies with female protagonists!

Is it possible to squeeze big breasts to act in "The Golden Armor"?

She doesn’t have the physical condition either!

It's better to go to the Japanese music scene and attract a wave of otaku fans.

I remember that Liu Yifei at that time was really good-looking, could dance and sing, and was cuter than many Korean actresses. She attracted a wave of Japanese fans and even had a Japanese fan support club.

After this, Wu Yuan can also use Liu Yifei to go to the Japanese market to earn box office.

In this way, Liu Yifei's development plan for the next two years was decided by Wu Yuan and Liu Xiaoli.

Liu Xiaoli, who received recognition from Wu Yuan, immediately confidently began planning Liu Yifei's career as a singer.

Wu Yuan also returned to the filming work of the crew.

August 22nd, Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Wu Yuan took half a day to attend the premiere of "If Love" in Beijing, which was considered as fulfilling his promise to Zhang Guorong.

However, Wu Yuan does not have high expectations for this movie at the box office, as long as it does not lose money.

What he wants is the Academy Award!

But "If Love" gave him a surprise.

Thanks to Zhou Xun and Chen Kun, the most famous movie partners in mainland China, they made 14 million box office in three days and exceeded 30 million in one week!

Coupled with the Hong Kong box office of 8 million Hong Kong dollars, this movie will not only recoup its costs, but also probably make a small profit, and break into the top ten of this year's mainland box office list!

It can only be said that Zhang Guorong's reputation is indeed greater than that of Chen Kexin, and it is easier to sell tickets.

On August 26, after 50 days of filming, "Love" was successfully completed in Beijing.

From beginning to end, this movie was shot only in a dormitory of a staff building and around the community. It was the most relaxing movie ever shot by Wu Yuan, second only to "The Night the Comet Came".

It is also very economical. Except for Gong Li who received 500,000 yuan for the whole movie, the total salary of all the remaining actors, including the extras, was only 500,000 yuan.

Coupled with the crew's daily expenses, wages, rented venues, film, etc., the entire movie was shot for less than 8 million.

This is because prices in Beijing have risen rapidly in the past few years, otherwise it would not be possible to spend so much money.

Under the current general environment, the funding for the production of literary and artistic films is decreasing. Capital is more willing to invest money in commercial films and is less willing to spend money on directors of literary and artistic films.

There's no way around it. It's getting harder and harder to make money from artistic films now. The prices offered by European film producers are still the same, but domestic prices and market prices for actors are rising again and again.

Making art films is no longer a matter of making a lot of money by winning awards.

Even Wu Yuan, who invested money for himself, saved as much as he could when filming "Love".

Even if he had confidence in the film and thought it would win an award in Cannes, he wouldn't dare to spend it lavishly.

On the night of August 26, after the entire crew happily had a finals banquet, the crew of "Love" disbanded on the spot.

Wu Yuan was working on the post-editing work of "Love" between home and work.

The release results of "If Love" are still gratifying, with a cumulative box office of 42 million, and the final box office is likely to reach around 50 million.

However, no one is

I am concerned about the movie "If Love".

All Chinese people are paying attention to one thing now.

Closing ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games.

At the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, there will be "Eight Minutes in Beijing" created by director Zhang Yimou.

This is a reserved program for the Olympic Games.

There is a tradition at the closing ceremony of every year that 8 minutes will be left for the city that will host the next Olympic Games to showcase the city's culture and the country's understanding of the Olympics.

Since China's successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2001, the Olympic Games has become a national event that has attracted national attention!

The capital has also been preparing to host the Olympic Games. The entire capital has become a large construction site, with various sports halls, Olympic villages, and supporting facilities under construction.

It can be said that everyone regards the Olympic Games as the most important thing.

But, sometimes the higher the expectations, the greater the backlash after disappointment.

At two o'clock in the morning on August 30, 2004, Wu Yuan also stayed up late and turned on the TV to watch the live broadcast of the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics.

Finally, with much anticipation, the Eight Minutes in Beijing began.

Short skirt cheongsam, erhu, pipa, Tai Chi, Peking opera performance, red lanterns, these are the eight minutes of Beijing presented by director Zhang Yimou to the global audience.

After watching the eight-minute performance, Wu Yuan mourned in his heart for director Zhang Yimou.

It was really difficult for him.

It is really not easy to put on such a performance when Athens refuses to cooperate, disagrees with this plan, and cannot implement that plan.

However, the domestic audience gathered in front of the TV to watch the closing ceremony did not know the inside story.

"Too vulgar!"

"The format is old-fashioned!"

"nondescript!"

"It's so ugly!"

"The content of the performance is old-fashioned, the form of the performance is old-fashioned, mechanical, a hodgepodge, and it does not show Chinese culture..."

Countless negative comments immediately appeared on the Internet, accusing Director Zhang Yimou of having embarrassed China in front of the world audience, accusing him of failing to live up to the expectations of 1.2 billion Chinese people, and that he was a sinner of the nation and country!

The widely circulated news that Zhang Yimou would take over as chief director of the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony was also strongly resisted by the general public.

Originally, Wu Yuan thought that all this had nothing to do with him. He was just a fun-loving person watching the excitement on the shore.

Unexpectedly, on the third day after the closing of the Athens Olympics, Wu Yuan received a call from Director Han.

"Director Wu, come to China Film Headquarters."

"There is a leader from the Ministry of Culture who wants to see you."

Guess what the Olympics has to do with Wu Yuan.

It is certainly not to replace Zhang Yimou. As for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, no one can replace Zhang Yimou, not even the reborn.