Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 95: Zhou Zhaolong asks for help

Unlike the previous "Sword Rain" which promoted the sex scene, Shi Lei's "Sword Rain" both in the promotion and the released trailers indicate that "Sword Rain" is a martial arts film.

Although it is not about "the great hero loves his country and his people." It is just about the love, hatred, and vengeance of the heroine, as well as the difficult survival of a group of small people, but it has wonderful fighting scenes and is a standard martial arts film.

So he is confident in the film and believes that the box office will exceed 100 million. As for whether it can exceed 200 million, he doesn't know, but that doesn't stop him from bragging.

As for the consequences of failing to brag, he is really not worried. Feng Dapao brags every time a new movie is released. Even if his bragging is exposed so many times, it will still sell well.

As long as the box office and word of mouth do not fail at the same time, the impact will not be significant.

"Director Shi, I heard that Teacher Liu Tao was injured many times during the filming. Is this true?" The person arranged by Taolin Film and Television immediately took over the interview to prevent a certain reporter from asking another explosive question.

"Yes, the action scenes in Sword Rain are very difficult. Liu Tao is not a martial arts actor, so this drama was a huge challenge for her. Fortunately, she succeeded. She successfully created a master with strong martial arts skills."

"Director Shi, why did you let Zhao Wenzhuo play the male lead?"

"Because he is suitable. In the mainland, he is one of the most powerful martial arts actors."

"Director Shi..."

The following interview was successfully guided by people arranged by Taolin Film and Television, which also included several tricky questions, which were handled by the creators who had prepared in advance.

The actors looked at Shi Lei with complicated eyes, while other crews just stuffed red envelopes into the reporters' hands, hoping that the reporters would be more polite in their words.

Shi Lei prepared the interview questions directly, and with their deliberate selection, the answers were all prepared in advance.

The entire interview went smoothly without any unexpected incidents.

During the period, reporters also interviewed the directors and stars who attended the premiere. Everyone praised "Sword Rain" and no one criticized "Sword Rain".

This is normal. We are all in the same circle, and even if there are conflicts, we rarely try to sabotage each other.

At the premiere dinner, everyone dressed up for the event.

Compared to the interview, Shi Lei was much more relaxed at the dinner and only spoke politely.

Many people came up to him, and Fan Binbin even slipped a note to him.

Unfortunately, Fan Binbin joined Huayi very early and he didn’t want to touch it.

He does not agree with Huayi’s public relations style.

“Director Shi, when will our “The Matrix: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” be launched?” Zhou Zhaolong also came over and asked directly.

He wasn't doing well in Hollywood, so Warner Bros. invited him to star in an action movie, but the movie didn't make any money at the box office and could only be recouped through DVD sales.

If it was Jet Li, Warner wouldn't mind, but if it was Chou Zhaolong, Warner Bros. wouldn't care much.

For Warner, Zhou Zhaolong was a waste of time, so they no longer let him be the leading actor and only let him play various villains.

As a last resort, he could only place his hopes on Shi Lei.

Shi Lei had told him before that there would be a second part of "The Matrix: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2".

Hearing this, Shi Lei said helplessly: "I'm sorry! I have an agreement with Warner. I need to notify Warner before launching The Matrix: Guardians 2, and the script needs Warner's approval."

He was telling the truth. This was the price of riding on the popularity of the film. If it was still called "No One", he could shoot it however he wanted. But after the name change, it was equivalent to a derivative IP of "The Matrix", and filming required Warner's consent.

Of course, this is just the superficial reason. The real reason is that he doesn't want to shoot it. He has no intention of helping domestic stars break into Hollywood.

Five years later, the domestic TV drama and film markets both exploded, but Hollywood was not friendly to Chinese actors. Going to Hollywood was thankless and the money earned was low. Five years later, many stars gave up their plans to enter Hollywood.

It is totally unnecessary to spend several years helping stars break into Hollywood, only to have them run back to China to make money.

The gilded international movie stars are not as good as imagined in China, and Zhang Ziyi is a living example. So he didn't intend to waste his energy, and even Zhou Zhaolong, who had some basic skills, was unwilling to bother.

Moreover, when it comes to making money in Hollywood, Hollywood stars are more efficient.

He went to Hollywood with only one purpose: to make money, make money, and make money.

As for helping Chinese-language films enter the Hollywood market and exporting Chinese culture in Hollywood... these are not part of his plan and are not realistic.

Even if he succeeded by chance, he would still be faced with sanctions from North America.

Compared with movies and TV series, the cultural output of short videos is more effective, because short videos can truly break the information cocoon in North America and let ordinary people in North America see the real world. At the same time, ordinary people can also benefit from making short videos. When it comes to their own interests, they will take the initiative to move closer to China.

He had seen many foreign bloggers in his previous life.

If foreign bloggers want to make money from Chinese people, they naturally have to understand Chinese culture.

Let’s leave cultural output to short videos in the future!

Zhou Zhaolong was helpless when he was rejected by Shi Lei. He knew that he needed Warner's consent to shoot "The Matrix: Guardians 2". People from Warner had mentioned before that they planned to set the story of "The Matrix: Guardians 2" in the big matrix, telling the story of protecting the prophet and avoiding being hunted down with the prophet.

But there was no further action because the box office of "The Matrix 3" was lower than expected. The Matrix 2 had a global box office of 7 million, while The Matrix 3 only had 4.8 million. The Matrix 3 broke even, but in Warner's eyes it was a box office failure, so Warner immediately terminated the development of the "Matrix" series.

Warner wants to keep the IP of The Matrix.

The development of the main universe has been suspended, let alone spin-off movies.

Now that Shi Lei has won the Oscar for Best Picture, if Shi Lei has the intention to start the project, it is possible that it will succeed.

So he placed his hope on Shi Lei, but he didn't expect to be rejected directly.

Zhou Zhaolong hesitated for a while and was about to speak again, but someone else came over to talk to Shi Lei.

Forget it, let’s talk about it in private. Now is not the time to discuss business.

Shi Lei was the focus of the entire dinner. Those with enough status would bring actors with less status to chat with him, not for anything else, just to make their actors leave an impression on Shi Lei.

If Shi Lei remembers the casting in the future, then it will take off.

"Senior brother." Liu Yifei's sweet voice sounded.

Shi Lei kept his professional smile and asked casually, "How's your singing practice going in Dongying?"

It is normal for Liu Yifei to go to Dongying. She also has another name, Liu Qianmeizi, which was given by her grandmother. From this we can see Liu Yifei's family bias.

"Not very good, it's too difficult! I'm not good at singing and I wanted to give up, but my mom wouldn't allow me to do so. She said that only those who have to be successful in film, television and music can be considered a big star." Liu Yifei said with a frown.

"Come on~~ I'll go accompany the others." Shi Lei said a polite word and said goodbye and left. Liu Xiaoli's eyes had already looked over at him, full of vigilance.

I guess if we continue chatting, Liu Xiaoli will come over.

The dinner lasted until 11 o'clock in the evening, when Shi Lei left accompanied by Liu Tao.

Huo Siyan wanted to follow, but Liu Tao stopped her with a look.

Perhaps because of her rising status, Liu Tao already has a bit of the demeanor of an older sister.

There is a tendency for her to become the top female employee in the company.

Dong Xuan did not fight, Yang Mi and Zhao Liying were still studying, and Liu Tao's status in the company became higher and higher.

(End of this chapter)