Chapter 360 "Painted Skin 2" And Zhou Xun's Stories

After thinking about it for a while, Chen Kaige finally decided to accept Wu Yuan's invitation.

Not only because he wanted to avenge his shame, but also because the preparation period for "The Orphan of Zhao" was still early. He did have time to make another movie. The right time, place and people were all available. It would be a pity to waste this opportunity.

Good directors are often found, but good scripts are not always found.

In the current Chinese-language film industry, there is actually an increasing lack of excellent scripts.

"Painted Skin 2", which has been modified by Wu Yuan, cannot be said to be a top-notch excellent script, but in the field of commercial films, it is definitely mature and excellent, and its connotation is also good.

Chen Kaige despises those commercial film scripts that are purely aimed at making money, but he is quite satisfied with the script of "Painted Skin 2".

Of course, there must be some blessing from the screenwriter's words "Wu Yuan".

If the screenwriter was not Wu Yuan but another unknown screenwriter, even if the script was exactly the same, Chen Kaige would not necessarily think that the script was very good.

Human beings are like this. It is easy for their judgment to be affected by various external factors and inducements.

All in all, when Wu Yuan personally invited him and gave Chen Kaige the script he wrote to film, he thought about it again and again, but he heartily agreed.

"Don't worry, Director Kege can do it well." Wu Yuan waved his hand and comforted Zhou Xun without any worries.

It's not that he is confident, but that he knows very well what kind of person Chen Kaige is.

In terms of directing skills alone, Chen Kaige is definitely one of the best directors in the Mainland. His main problem is that he is not good at screenwriting.

I don’t have the ability to write a good script, but I have a desire to write my own.

Taking a detailed look at Chen Kaige's career as a director, as long as the movies that get a good reputation are not written by him.

"Yellow Earth", which won an award on his debut, was adapted from Ke Lan's novel "Echo of the Deep Valley", and the screenwriter was not him.

He was indeed the screenwriter of the next two films, "The King of Children" and "Walking and Singing", but that was the European film art style of the 1980s and 1990s, which is completely different from now.

The screenwriters of "Farewell My Concubine" are Li Bihua and Lu Wei, the two great gods, who recommended Chen Kaige to Cannes.

After a series of consecutive films, the reputation began to plummet. By the time "The Promise" completely collapsed, he was the one who took the lead in screenwriting.

"Mei Lanfang" followed suit and hired Yan Geling as the screenwriter. With this great master helping him to check, the quality of the film immediately improved.

Wu Yuan has long understood that as long as Chen Kaige does not play the main role of screenwriter in the movie and just fulfills the director's duties, his level is definitely sufficient.

The screenwriter of "Painted Skin 2" is Wu Yuan. No matter how arrogant Chen Kaige is, he would not dare to change Wu Yuan's play. Since he agreed to take it, he will film it honestly according to the script.

And as long as he shoots according to the script, the finished film will be the same.

In a sense, Chen Kaige is a better partner than Jiang Wendu.

Looking for Jiang Wen to make a movie is really torture.

Regardless of whether he is asked to be an actor or a director, Jiang Wen will definitely change the script, and he can change it however he wants, no matter how others persuade him, it will be useless.

In comparison, Chen Kaige can be regarded as a "good baby".

Wu Yuan felt at ease working with Chen Kaige.

Besides, he also assigned an assistant director to the crew. This assistant director was tasked with keeping an eye on Chen Kaige on the crew to make sure that he was following the script and not making random changes on his own.

Once it is discovered that Chen Kaige has changed the play, the company will be notified, and the company will naturally respond.

Of course, Chen Kaige didn't know about this.

"Just relax." Wu Yuan patted Zhou Xun's shoulder carelessly: "Director Kege is here to avenge his shame."

"Maybe you can win another Best Actress trophy, just wait and have some fun."

If Wu Ershan came to shoot "Painted Skin 2", he wouldn't win any big awards, but if it were replaced by Chen Kaige, the same might not happen.

Although the content of the scripts are the same, in terms of lens language and lens aesthetics, there is a big difference between Chen Kaige and Wu Ershan by Feng Xiaogang.

If the same script is shot by different directors, the difference will be very big.

Unless you are like Wu Yuan, you not only have the script, but also the memory of the finished film for reference.

Even so, he could only restore 80% to 90%, and the final film still has his own style to some extent, and it cannot be exactly the same as the original version.

Without the reference of the original version, the version shot by Chen Kaige will definitely be completely different from Wu Ershan's version in terms of pictures and shots.

Wu Yuan is also looking forward to what kind of "Painted Skin 2" Chen Kaige will eventually make.

"Brother Xun, are you free in the first half of next year?" Wu Yuan asked again.

"No." Zhou Xun patted Wu Yuan lightly: "How dare I not pay attention to your movies in the light and shadow era? Otherwise, what if I offend Director Wu and be banned?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Wu Yuan said with a black line on his face, "You're serious."

"At the beginning of the year, Mr. Li already informed me about the sequel." Zhou Xun shrugged: "I was originally asked to play the heroine in "The Wind", a collaboration between Huayi and Shanghai Film Industry."

"For your "Painted Skin 2", I even rejected this drama."

Zhou Xun's current management contract is with Huayi, and she and Li Binbin are both Huayi's first sisters.

As we all know, there are three Huayi sisters, two Bingbing plus Zhou Xun.

The competition among the three for the top actress can be said to have run through the history of the development of domestic entertainment in the first decade of the 21st century.

Originally, Li Binbin and Zhou Xun had already defeated Fan Xiaopang and entered the finals. This time, Huayi gave the cake of "The Whisper of the Wind" to Li Binbin and Zhou Xun.

But because "The Whisper of the Wind" was expected to start shooting in February 2009, "Painted Skin 2" was also to start shooting at this time, and the two movies conflicted.

One is a brand-new original IP, and the other is a movie with a good reputation and high box office of the previous work. I think everyone with a discerning eye can see which movie is better.

In terms of emotion and reason, Zhou Xun had to reluctantly give up "The Whisper of the Wind" and choose "Painted Skin 2".

Wu Yuan really didn't pay attention to this.

"The Whisper of the Wind" is a good cake.

Not only was it nominated for a lot of awards at the Golden Horse Awards, but the two heroines were finally shortlisted for the Golden Horse Best Actress. It's a pity that Zhou Xun lost to Li Binbin in the end, and Li Binbin won the title of the queen with "The Whisper of the Wind".

Well, thinking about it this way, it seems that the loss is not that big.

"The Sound of Wind" is indeed a good movie, but it is all due to Li Binbin.

As the two female protagonists, they were nominated for many Best Actress awards, but in the end, it was Li Binbin who won the award, and Zhou Xun was just the one applauding in the audience.

Although "Painted Skin 2" also has two female protagonists, Zhou Xun is much more important as the female protagonist than Zeng Li who replaced Zhao Junqi. If there is a chance to win an award, it will be her.

However, despite this, Wu Yuan still said regretfully: "What about your schedule in the second half of next year?"

"Can't Huayi move "The Sound of Wind" to the second half of the year? You are the number one actress in Huayi!"

"No, the number one actress is not me now, but Li Binbin." Zhou Xun rolled his eyes at Wu Yuan unhappily: "Ever since Li Binbin climbed onto Wang Zhonglei's bed, Wang Zhonglei put his arm around her waist and took her to various public occasions, I knew I couldn't compete with her."

"Besides, I have already given out the schedule in the second half of next year. China Film Group is taking the lead in making a historical biographical film about Confucius."

"Chow Yun-fat will play Confucius, and I will play the heroine Nan Zi."

"It will start shooting in August and will probably be filmed until December."

Wu Yuan's mouth twitched. Oh, how could he forget this terrible movie.

He opened his mouth and hesitated.

This movie.

It can only be said that when the producer wanted to find a Hong Kong actor to play Confucius, it was doomed to fail.

It is not easy for a Hong Kong actor to play Confucius without causing frequent laughter. Do you think he can bring out the charm of the role of Confucius?

Can the screenwriter write well about this Confucian saint who has influenced China for two thousand years?

Stop it.

"I think so." Wu Yuan couldn't help but persuade: "It's better not to take this play."

"You haven't even read the script, how do you know?" Zhou Xun opened her eyes wide, and after curiously speaking, she waved her hand and said indifferently: "The contract has been signed, how can I have the nerve to refuse to act."

Wu Yuan shook his head and didn't persuade him anymore.

He really had no position and no reason to criticize "Confucius" without even reading the script, so that Zhou Xun risked being spurned by the industry and refused to act.

Just shoot it, which actor hasn't acted in a few bad movies?

"Let's go, let's go, the car should be here, I have something to do back at the company."

Wu Yuan shook his head, stood up and asked everyone to leave the VIP room together.

The mainland film crews that had participated in the Golden Horse Awards and returned to Beijing scattered.

Before the show ended, Feng Xiaogang specifically told Wu Yuan, "Director Wu, remember to come to the premiere of If You Are the One!" (End of this chapter)