Chapter 151: A Proposal with Ning Hao for Lost on Journey, the Female Lead of Painted Skin

Chapter 151: A Proposal with Ning Hao for Lost on Journey, the Female Lead of Painted Skin

"Director Zhou finally got enough rest."

Zhou Qing naturally answered Han Sanping's call personally, and the other party started with a teasing remark.

Count carefully, how many times have I urged Zhou Qing?
The other party finally started to work.

"I think Mr. Han is right. Young people really shouldn't be too lazy."

Zhou Qing greeted Han Sanping with a smile.

“When will the script be finished?”

After chatting about some useless things, Han Sanping finally asked about the real business.

"About four or five days."

Zhou Qing told the truth.

In fact, this progress is considered slow for Zhou Qing. It took about half a month in total.

There is no way, there are indeed many areas for optimization and improvement.

But in the eyes of Han Sanping, Zhou Qing's speed was actually very, very fast.

After all, these days, which screenwriter doesn't spend several months writing a script?

Some of them take years to write.

Just as good directors are hard to find in the industry, good screenwriters are even harder to find.

This is also the reason why Han Sanping is so fond of Zhou Qing. Not only can he direct, he can also write screenplays.

All the films I have shot so far have been written by myself, and they are all very good and of high quality.

This is very rare.

"Okay, then I'm looking forward to your masterpiece, Director Zhou."

Han Sanping's words were absolutely from the heart, and he felt even more excited.

Ever since the release of Zhang Guoshi's "Hero", blockbuster movies are no longer rare these days.

It can be said that one film follows another.

The currently popular "The Myth", "The Warring States" is currently being filmed, and "The Banquet" will start shooting soon.

There is also "The Promise" which is in post-production and "Seven Swords" which has not yet been released.

Of course, we can’t forget “Huo Yuanjia” which has not yet been completed.

wait wait wait.

These are the various blockbusters that are currently available.

It is still unknown how many more blockbusters will be launched after this.

But what is foreseeable is that blockbusters have really become a "trend", a trend.

Han Sanping, who has always been keen on making blockbuster movies, can't wait to get started.

We can't fall behind others.

With Director Zhou's ability, Han Sanping believes that he will definitely be the best one even among so many blockbusters shot by so many people.

Han Sanping was really full of expectations.

"Done!"

As expected, it took another five days of hard work before the complete script of "Painted Skin" was finally finalized.

While checking for deficiencies and filling in the gaps at the end, Zhou Qing couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.

The "re-creation" of "Painted Skin" is much better than the original in terms of the script.

Coupled with his own directing skills, Zhou Qing is also very optimistic about the prospects of "Painted Skin".

"Xiao Liu."

Naturally, there was no further nonsense, and he immediately instructed his assistant to submit the document for review and filing, as well as to register the copyright.

"Also, call Producer Hu here, and arrange the budget as soon as possible."

Zhou Qing also made some other related arrangements.

Costume blockbusters like "Painted Skin" are larger in scale than ordinary movies.

Whether it is the early preparations, the formal shooting, or the subsequent post-production, the cycle is much longer.

Now that the script has been completed, Zhou Qing plans to start working on it right away.

"I understand, Director Zhou."

The young assistant took the order and left in a hurry.

"By the way, Director Zhou, the Golden Horse Awards nominees were announced today."

Before leaving, the assistant told Zhou Qing this news.

"Golden Horse Awards?"

Zhou Qing raised his eyebrows.

I logged into the official website of Golden Horse with ease and conducted some searches.

Things did not go as expected. "La La Land", which won the Silver Lion in Venice, received a lot of nominations again.

Five major awards: Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay.

Like the previous films Zhou Qing shot, it is a hot favorite to win awards.

After all, it is one of the three major European awards, so the Golden Horse Awards naturally cannot underestimate it.

Otherwise, credibility will be questioned.

There was nothing to worry about, he just glanced at it and didn't think much about it.

His attention was soon drawn to another movie.

what movie?
A movie closely related to Zhou Qing is "Crazy Stone" directed by Ning Hao.

Like "La La Land", "Crazy Stone" is also a favorite to win an award, nominated for a total of four awards.

Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing.

Among them, Best Feature Film and Best Director are both definite big awards, and Zhou Qing won both of them.

So this year's Golden Horse Awards is very interesting.

Zhou Qing’s own films will compete on the same stage with Zhou Qing’s exclusive films.

But to be honest, Zhou Qing is not very optimistic about "Crazy Stone".

Ning Hao is undoubtedly a talented director, and he is also very successful in making commercial films.

But "Crazy Stone" is indeed not very competitive in winning awards.

In the original time and space, "Crazy Stone" only won the Best Screenplay award.

Not to mention this year.

Because this year there is a super heavyweight opponent.

It’s not Zhou Qing’s “La La Land”, but Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu”!
"Kung Fu" is undoubtedly the biggest winner of this year's Golden Horse Awards, winning 10 out of 5 nominations, including the two most important awards, Best Feature Film and Best Director.

He is also Zhou Qing's biggest rival in "La La Land".

So what will be the result of the collision between "La La Land" and "Kung Fu"?

Zhou Qing was still full of expectations for this.

"I'm really out of my mind that I signed up for this year's Golden Horse Awards."

Ning Hao couldn't help but run to Zhou Qing to complain, with a bitter smile on his face.

There is no need to watch Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu". Ning Hao does not have a third eye, so I don't know if "Kung Fu" will sweep the Golden Horse Awards this year.

But Aoko’s “La La Land” has also signed up!

This is a film that won a grand prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Although the works that win awards in Venice may not necessarily win the grand prize at the Golden Horse Awards, who can ignore Qingzi’s impressive record?
Not to mention so many blockbuster movies such as "A World Without Thieves", "Seven Swords" and "Initial D".

Even if "Crazy Stone" is a dark horse and has a high box office, it is just a small production with an investment of 450 million yuan.

What to fight with?
"What's with that expression on your face? Have some confidence in yourself. Crazy Stone is not bad at all."

Although he was not optimistic about "Stone", Zhou Qing naturally would not discourage Ning Hao's enthusiasm.

"You don't have to comfort me. I know what's going on. Stone is probably just a runner-up."

Ning Hao is not so easy to fool. He actually knows the situation of "Stone" clearly.

But Ning Hao didn't actually feel too lost or depressed, at most he was just complaining.

After all, not every director is like Aoko, who can win awards and boost box office.

"Stone" has already exploded at the box office, so what else do you need?

"You're really fast. You're going to start a new film so soon."

The two inevitably talked about Zhou Qing's new movie, and Ning Hao couldn't help but sigh.

"Faster? Mr. Han still thinks it's too slow. He urged me several times."

Zhou Qing just laughed.

"What movie is this time?"

Ning Hao also laughed when he heard it, and then asked about the relevant situation.

"It's adapted from a story in Painted Skin from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio." Zhou Qing did not hide anything and briefly introduced the situation to the other party.

"Is it a period costume this time?"

Ning Hao was very surprised. Isn't this style change a bit too big?

If it were an ancient costume, Ning Hao thought to himself that he would not be able to handle it no matter what.

Only a top director like Zhou Qing can be free from the restrictions of subject matter and style and shoot whatever he wants.

"What about you, Senior Brother? It's been so long since you finished filming Stone. Do you have any plans for a new film?"

Zhou Qing was also quite curious about this. To be honest, he was also thinking about Ning Hao's "Racing".

After all, the money earned from "Stone" is really comfortable. Just for being an official, I got 10 million, which is very nice.

"I would like to shoot it, but there are no good scripts. I can't write a script like you do. I need inspiration, which is not something that can be created just by saying so. It's the same with your sister Na."

Ning Hao was also a little helpless.

In fact, after "Stone" became a hit, many people asked him to make films, and he was handed piles of scripts.

But Ning Hao didn't think highly of it at all.

These days, good books are hard to come by.

Zhou Qing agreed when he heard it.

As far as I can remember, there was more than three years between Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone" and "Crazy Racing".

During this period, Ning Hao was working on short films, screenwriting, and also tinkering with two movies.

But one of them didn't make any splash, and the other one was stillborn, so it can be said that they took a lot of detours.

In that case...

Zhou Qing's eyes flashed, and he had an idea.

"Brother, I have an idea in my mind. If you are willing to direct it, I can write the script and let you shoot it."

Zhou Qing said to Ning Hao with a burning gaze.

He has so many good scripts in his mind that he can't shoot them all by himself.

After all, his energy is too limited, and he can only make one film a year.

Wouldn't it be a waste if those good scripts were left unspent?
So if you write it yourself and give it to a director you trust to direct, wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?
It’s just like investing in “Crazy Stone”, you can make money without doing anything with just a little bit of operation, real money without doing anything.

Ning Hao's eyes immediately lit up when he heard this.

Qingzi's script is of course trustworthy, and the other party has proved it with actual actions.

"What kind of idea is it? Tell me about it."

Ning Hao looked at Zhou Qing with curiosity and expectation and asked.

"It's a road comedy about the Spring Festival travel rush."

Zhou Qing told Ning Hao the truth.

That’s right, the movie he planned to have Ning Hao shoot was indeed “Lost on Journey”.

As mentioned before, Zhou Qing actually had his eyes on the "囧" series and had been planning to produce this movie for a long time.

But you don’t have to take the photos yourself.

Especially considering Zhou Qing's current level, it is indeed not appropriate for him to shoot a low-budget movie like "Lost on Journey" with only 400 million yuan investment.

It would be just right to leave it to Ning Hao.

Although Ning Hao's "Lost in Thailand" is a romance film, if you look at it from the perspective of form, isn't it also a road comedy?
It’s even like “Lost on Journey”, with two male protagonists.

"No Man's Land" is not a comedy, but it is also a proper road movie.

Movies of this type are exactly Ning Hao’s comfort zone.

"A road comedy?"

Ning Hao raised his eyebrows, and his interest was immediately piqued.

He has never been exposed to this type of movie.

Especially, even the Spring Festival travel rush has been integrated into it.

Ning Hao asked more questions about the relevant situation, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.

"Qingzi, I can't wait. When you're done here, write the script."

Ning Hao said to Zhou Qing with anticipation.

The matter was so happily agreed upon.

Zhou Qing was in a very happy mood.

You have to know that the original "Lost on Journey" was invested with 400 million yuan and the box office reached 3700 million yuan, which is amazing.

Now, after my own operation and with the golden signboard of "Zhou Qing", the box office will only be higher!

It is foreseeable that this wave will be another huge profit.

The most important thing is that "囧" is a series, and the next two parts are even more explosive.

Not bad, not bad. Zhou Qing is in a good mood.

"Painted Skin? Are you going to film a story from a Chinese Studio this time?"

Han Sanping came here again, smelling the scent and paying more attention to this blockbuster than anyone else.

But unfortunately, Zhou Qing's record only contained an outline without any more specific information, which made Han Sanping feel itchy.

"That's right, Mr. Han. This time I am adapting a story from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."

Zhou Qing nodded.

Han Sanping couldn't help but nod repeatedly. He was very satisfied with this subject matter.

As for promoting Chinese culture, it sounds good when you say it out loud.

Especially when it comes to Han Sanping's position, it is even more "correct".

It doesn't look like "The Banquet", but is actually adapted from "Hamlet", which has aroused angry criticism from many netizens.

There are so many classics in China, but is there none that catches your eye, Director Feng?

They actually turned a Western story into an Eastern story.

"Xiao Liu."

He asked his assistant to bring the script and gave it to Han Sanping. After Han Sanping took a look at it, he became more and more satisfied.

Although he is now the leader of China Film Corporation, he is actually a filmmaker and can tell the quality of a script.

The script of "Painted Skin" is very skillful and wonderful.

Director Zhou never disappoints as always.

"Just reading the script makes me want to watch it again. I really hope to see the finished film soon."

Although Han Sanping's words were exaggerated, they were actually what he really thought.

That's what he thought.

Considering Zhou Qing’s strength, let’s recall the wonderful script.

Han Sanping couldn't imagine what kind of classic "Painted Skin" would become.

It's going to be explosive.

Especially when he recalled that this was a project he was in charge of, Han Sanping almost got excited.

I can’t wait for Zhou Qing to make the movie.

“What’s the budget for this movie?”

Han Sanping, full of energy, immediately got down to business.

“The detailed budget has not been made yet, but it is probably around 100 million.”

Zhou Qing told the truth.

"Is one hundred million enough? You don't have to worry about it. Just go for it. Funding won't be a problem."

From what Han Sanping said, it seemed that he felt the investment was not big enough.

Zhou Qing was sweating slightly in his heart, and immediately explained: "It's completely enough, Mr. Han, this movie is just this big."

Han Sanping didn't say much, but continued to ask: "Have you found a suitable actor? Who do you plan to ask to play Xiao Wei?"

Even Han Sanping could see that the character of Xiao Wei was the soul of the entire movie.

Although Xiao Wei is a demon, a demon that digs out people's hearts and harms people, to be honest, her feelings for Wang Sheng are very touching and moving.

This character is very contradictory and layered, and it is not something that an ordinary actor can handle.

If the characterization is not good, the whole movie can be said to be half failed.

But on the contrary, if this character is well portrayed, it can definitely add a lot to the movie.

"If it's Xiao Wei, then Zhou Xun can play the role."

Zhou Qing told Han Sanping the answer in his heart.

In the original movie, Zhou Xun played Xiao Wei very vividly and lively, and Zhou Qing felt that there was no need to change the actor for this role.

It is better to leave it to Zhou Xun. (End of this chapter)