Chapter 297 A Chinese Ghost Story
In a mansion in Beijing, Feng Xiaogang was sitting on the sofa, watching TV with a serious expression.
[Writing this, I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network→𝔱𝔴𝔨𝔞𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪]
The "Xinwen Lianbo" broadcast above is talking about "The Three-Body Problem" achieving a global box office of US$1.139 billion.
After the relevant report ended, Xu Fan sighed in a unique tone, "It's really unbelievable. He is getting more and more powerful. There are so many!"
Feng Xiaogang said seriously: "Director Jiang Da, of course his reputation is not in vain!"
After pondering for a few seconds, he rejoiced: "I said that I was invincible and insisted on scheduling "Assembly" until the Spring Festival. If they follow their ideas, can they have a box office of more than 200 million?"
Xu Fan opened his eyes wide and said in an exaggerated tone: "How is it possible? If they follow their ideas, they will lose their lives. Fortunately, you are here to help control the situation. If those two brothers are allowed to do whatever they want, this Huayi Company may be Yellow!”
Feng Xiaogang became even more proud after hearing this.
Now that my career is successful and my wife is obedient, I feel very comfortable.
Just compared with Jiang Heng's achievements, it seems a bit lackluster, and I was thinking about what kind of movie I would make that could earn a box office of 1 billion or 800 million.
At Aiyouteng Pictures, Guo Fan also had similar confusion about what to film better.
After "The Company" was completed, he had no more work to do and had more time to think about this issue.
Naturally, he wanted to make science fiction movies, but he didn't have a good book in hand.
Then he turned his attention to mythology. "Journey to the West" and "Fengshen" were too grand, and he was afraid that he would not be able to grasp them, so he naturally thought of "Liao Zhai".
The first story I was optimistic about was "Painted Skin". When I was a kid, I saw the version directed by Bao Fang and I was almost scared to death. The impression was really profound.
One more thing to mention is that the 1966 version of "Painted Skin" was China's first horror film and the first horror film screened in the mainland.
Legend has it that when it was introduced to the mainland in 1979, because the horrific scenes frightened many people and even scared an old lady to death, the film was banned and locked in the China Film Archive.
Guo Fan was preparing to shoot this movie, and after asking around, he found out that Ningxia Pictures and Shanghai Film Group had already registered and started selecting actors.
Historically, "Painted Skin" produced by Ningxia Pictures was released in September 2008.
In this world, because they lost money when co-producing "The Legend of the Gods" with Huayi, many investors do not believe that directors other than Jiang Heng, Zhang Yimou, Zhou Xingxing and others can make money by shooting special effects blockbusters.
Therefore, the project "Painted Skin" was very slow to raise funds, and Ningxia Pictures did not dare to produce it independently, so it was not until now that it began to select actors.
Seeing this, Guo Fan naturally couldn't shoot "Painted Skin", so he immediately set his sights on another classic story - "A Chinese Ghost Story", and immediately felt a lot of pressure.
The 1987 version of "A Chinese Ghost Story" was so classic that he really couldn't make up his mind, so he went to the Olympic venues to find Jiang Heng.
"A Chinese Ghost Story? You can give it a try!" Jiang Heng said with a smile.
"May I?"
"Of course!"
Jiang Heng himself would not touch the subject of "A Chinese Ghost Story". After all, Leslie Cheung's Ning Caichen and Wang Zuxian's Nie Xiaoqian are really classics. If he adapts them, fans will definitely compare them to them.
Some said it was good, and some said it was not good, which would inevitably reduce the value of his "signature".
Guo Fan is different. He can be regarded as his student. After filming, he taught well, and famous teachers make great disciples.
Even if the shot is mediocre, he won't lose any money, and it can still give Guo Fan some experience.
Even if he knew that he could make "The Wandering Earth" well, he still had to let others film and practice filming first, right?
So Jiang Heng is very supportive!
"If you have any ideas, please tell me!"
"Well, for the role of Nie Xiaoqian, I hope it will be Miss Liu Yifei!"
Liu Yifei on the side said: "Am I not suitable?"
At this moment, she kept her mother's teachings in mind and wanted to stay with Jiang Heng and do some assistant work. She really didn't consider acting.
Guo Fan said: "Although Nie Xiaoqian in the 1987 version is a female ghost, she looks very spiritual and fairy-like. I think you are the only one in the mainland who can meet this standard!"
He knew about the relationship between Liu Yifei and Jiang Heng, but he couldn't call her "Master Niang". However, he still respected her very much and praised her sincerely.
When Liu Yifei heard this, she was a little moved, but said: "No, I still have to be his assistant here!"
Jiang Heng smiled and said: "Hey, what I said is that you are just contributing to the Olympic cause, and you can't let go of your main responsibility.
Besides, the role of Nie Xiaoqian is also a very precious resource. If you don’t play it...! "
"I'll act!" Liu Yifei said firmly.
Are you kidding me? Even if Guo Fan does not have such a high budget for the special effects blockbuster produced by Aiyouteng Pictures, it still has a budget of 100 or 200 million.
It should be noted that "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which will be released in May, only cost a total of 150 million!
The schedule is set in May, naturally because the 3D version of "Havoc in Heaven" is scheduled to be released in the summer.
Both films are of the Journey to the West type. "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is a 2D version, and the production cost is low. If it is not released first, it will be difficult to follow up.
After deciding on the project investment and the heroine, Guo Fan went back to gather a team of screenwriters to write the script.
But it was said that Aiyouteng Pictures had a team of screenwriters a few years ago, but Jiang Heng didn't use it very much. This group of people had been serving the company's TV series and films invested in it.
It is not a rare thing. In a few years, some big-name actors even have their own "scriptwriting team", known as "menke scriptwriters", who help actors revise the script after joining the group.
After all, in this industry, whoever is more famous always listens to whoever is more famous.
Unless the director is strong enough, the actors dare not have messy ideas.
Guo Fan first made a script outline for filing, and then started casting.
The female lead Nie Xiaoqian has been decided by Liu Yifei, and the male lead Ning Caichen has become the key.
For a time, many male actors in the circle came to compete.
Huang Xiaoming also wanted to play, and went to the Olympic venue to "visit" Jiang Heng.
"Don't even think about this role. You have filmed a lot of movies on iQiyi, Youku and Tencent. The audience will be aesthetically fatigued if you play it again!"
Huang Xiaoming knew this truth and felt regretful.
"It was Director Jiang who promoted me. I will do whatever you say. I won't think about it anymore!"
Chen Kun wanted to play Ning Caichen, but he had already accepted the role in "Painted Skin", so he had no choice but to miss it.
Hu Jian, of course, also wanted to play the role. He rushed here on a plane with Cai Yinong. Jiang Heng only said that he would consider it.
The reason is simple, that is, Hu Jian played Ning Caichen.
In the "Xiao Qian" episode of "New Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" broadcast in 2005, Hu Jian played Ning Caichen and Yang Mi played Nie Xiaoqian.
Perhaps it was a problem with the level of the crew. The two versions of Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian did not receive much response, and many people did not even know that they had played this role.
After several days, Guo Fan did not find a suitable actor, and he was a little anxious.
At this time, a screenwriter suggested: "Otherwise, how about asking Director Jiang to play the role?"