Chapter 190 Ruthlessly shattering the arrogance of Hong Kong entertainment, Director Zhou breaks the

Chapter 190 Ruthlessly shattering the arrogance of Hong Kong entertainment, Director Zhou breaks the

"The second thing is to contact director Ye Weixin and invite him to be the director of "Ip Man"."

Under Director Chen's gaze, Zhou Qing gave instructions again.

That’s right, Zhou Qing still plans to find the original director of “Ip Man”.

Among all the directors in mainland China, there is really no one who is good at making martial arts films.

If it were a few years later, Zhou Qing could still ask Lu Yang to shoot the film, after all, the other party's two "Asian Blade" films were also well shot.

But now?
Lu Yang is still studying for a master's degree under Tian Zhuangzhuang, but as a graduate student with no experience, it is naturally not possible for him to do this.

With an investment of 3000 million for "Ip Man", Zhou Qing naturally had to be cautious.

What’s more, Yip Wai-hsin’s “Ip Man” has already been tested and is a masterpiece that has achieved both box office success and good reputation.

Then why do I need to change people?

If you change the person, not only can the final result not be guaranteed, but Zhou Qing will have to spend more time and effort to keep an eye on it, and he might even have to appoint a producer.

It can be said to be time-consuming, laborious and risky.

In that case, why not give it to Ye Weixin?
You just need to pay the money and don't have to worry about anything else.

The only thing that needs to be considered is whether a Hong Kong director like Ye Weixin would agree to make a movie with a mainland actor as the protagonist.

This has no precedent in Hong Kong Island.

But Zhou Qing was still happy to try it.

You should know that in co-productions between the mainland and Hong Kong, mainland actors have always played supporting roles to Hong Kong actors.

No matter how big a star is, he has to play a supporting role in a co-production.

But what about now?

The other way around!

Actors from Hong Kong Island come to play supporting roles for actors from the mainland.

This situation is different from when Zhou Qing asked Liu Dehua to play the supporting role in "Departures".

Zhou Qing is a mainland director.

Ye Weixin is a director from Hong Kong!
Once Yip Wai-hsin accepted Zhou Qing's conditions to shoot "Ip Man", it was tantamount to breaking the usual pattern of co-productions and the default rules of co-productions.

To put it more bluntly, it broke the situation where Hong Kong entertainment was superior to domestic entertainment.

In the original time and space, this kind of thing was done by Chen Jiashang in "Painted Skin".

The movie "Painted Skin" made everyone realize that mainland filmmakers can still be successful at the box office when starring in films.

The arrogance of Hong Kong entertainment was ruthlessly shattered.

But now, "Painted Skin" has been filmed by Zhou Qing in advance, so Zhou Qing doesn't mind doing this again with "Ip Man".

"understand!"

Director Chen responded and immediately left in a hurry to receive the order.

……

Liu Yifei's album "Liu Yifei" has been on sale for a month and has begun to show signs of weakness.

Daily sales have dropped to only a few hundred copies, and no matter how hard Liu Yifei tries, it is useless.

However, "Liu Yifei" is originally a product for fans, and it often becomes powerless later on.

This is due to market rules and cannot be broken by Liu Yifei.

But even so, "Liu Yifei" sold a total of 76 copies in one month, which shocked many people.

"This result is already very good, Xixi, you are really great."

Zhou Qing did not hide his praise for Liu Yifei at all.

"What a pity. They are not selling well now. They probably won't sell 80 copies."

Liu Yifei's face was full of regret.

Now with hundreds of tickets squeezing out every day, how can we fill the gap of more than 30,000 tickets?
It seemed impossible.

"You're still not satisfied. Your sales volume will definitely rank among the top five in the country!"

Zhou Qing was so confident.

The girl’s original 67 photos could rank in the top five, let alone the current 76.

Maybe it's possible to be in the top four or top three.

However, Zhou Qing doesn't pay much attention to the music industry, and he doesn't know what the sales of the top five songs this year were.

Otherwise you will know a specific answer.

"You just know how to say nice things to coax me, how can it be that easy?"

Although she said this, Liu Yifei couldn't hide the excitement on her face.

In any case, this album "Liu Yifei" can be considered a great success.

“What are your plans after this album?”

The two sides had a brief chat, and Zhou Qing casually asked about this point again.

"There's another Japanese album coming up, and after that's done, my mom plans to let me focus on making movies."

Liu Yifei told Zhou Qing her plan truthfully.

Zhou Qing couldn't help but nodded secretly in his heart.

That's right. Singing is not a proper activity. Coming back to making movies is the right thing to do.

Anyway, Liu Yifei didn't plan to make a name for herself in the music industry at the beginning.

"Hello, Director Chen."

"Hello, Director Ye."

In a business hotel in Hong Kong Island, Director Chen and Ye Weixin shook hands and greeted each other politely.

After some pleasantries, Director Chen told Ye Weixin the purpose of his visit: Director Zhou Qing intended to invite him to direct "Ip Man".

Ye Weixin was still a little surprised by this.

You have to know what Director Zhou’s attitude towards the Hong Kong circle is, everyone can see it.

Ye Weixin really didn't expect that Zhou Qing would actually seek to collaborate with a Hong Kong director.

Excitement followed.

Although Ye Weixin has gained fame with "SPL", he has successfully turned around and is no longer the director who can only make small productions and is not up to the standard.

But compared with Zhou Qing, there is still a huge gap.

Being invited by a director like Zhou Qing is a kind of recognition.

Even Ye Weixin would feel honored to be recognized by such a director.

However, Ye Weixin did not immediately agree to Director Chen's invitation.

It’s not that Ye Weixin doesn’t want to cooperate with Zhou Qing. Ye Weixin is longing for such an opportunity and can’t wait to agree to it immediately.

You have to know that every movie directed by Ye Weixin in recent years can be said to be a loss-making one.

"Big City Small Affairs", "Flying Swordsman Little White Dragon", "SPL", "Dragon Tiger Gate", all of them are money-losing products.

And they keep losing money.

Even the movie "Flash Point", which has not been released yet, is no exception and is still a money-losing product.

So yes, Ye Weixin is in a big pit now.

He really needs a good result to prove himself.

Cooperating with Zhou Qing is a good opportunity.

After all, Director Zhou Qing’s works are the symbol of blockbuster hits, even those written by Director Zhou Qing!

However, Ye Weixin is now a director under Oriental Films.

In other words, he is a soldier under Wong Pak Ming and needs to communicate with Wong Pak Ming.

But as far as Ye Weixin's own wishes are concerned, he still values ​​this opportunity very much.

"Director Ye, I'll wait for your news then."

"Whether it succeeds or not, I am grateful to Director Zhou for the invitation."

The two sides shook hands and said goodbye in a very friendly manner.

"Director Zhou Qing invited you to film Ip Man?"

Huang Baiming immediately received a call from Ye Weixin and was also very surprised.

Since Zhou Qing's "Ip Man" was launched, countless people have been watching it. Huang Baiming naturally knew it.

But based on Director Zhou's attitude towards the Hong Kong circle, Wong Pak Ming subconsciously thought that this movie would have nothing to do with him.

But who would have thought that Director Zhou would actually take a fancy to one of his own directors?

Good thing!

This is a good thing!
Huang Baiming immediately became excited.

After the collapse of Sun Yat-sen Film Studios, Wong Pak Ming founded Oriental Films in an attempt to recreate the glory of Sun Yat-sen Film Studios, but reality is always too bleak.

Coupled with the fact that the entire Hong Kong film environment is becoming increasingly worse, Oriental Film’s performance can be said to be getting worse year by year.

But what about the film directed by Zhou Qing?
Every product is a big hit and there is no loss!
This is also true for works directed and written by Zhou Qing!
This is an opportunity!
A once in a lifetime opportunity!

How could Huang Baiming refuse? He gave a reply immediately.

"Wei Xin, this is a great opportunity. Director Zhou's Ip Man is something we cannot miss."

On March 3, Li Lianjie's epic film "The Warlords" was finally completed, attracting a lot of attention.

You know, the movie "The Warlords" can be said to have a strong presence in the circle and has been the focus of the entire circle.

Why?

It’s not just because of the luxurious lineup of Li Lianjie + Liu Dehua + Jin Chengwu + Xu Jinglei.

What’s more, the cost of this film is a bit outrageous.

It’s as high as more than 3 million RMB!

You should know that even the investment for poet Chen's "The Promise" was only 2.5 million yuan.

But what kind of movie is "The Promise" and what kind of movie is "The Warlords"?
It's not surprising that the cost of so many special effects is huge, but "The Warlords" is just a kung fu film.

Even if Li Lianjie took away a sky-high salary of 100 million yuan, the remaining cost of 200 million yuan is still too exaggerated.

So people in the circle are very curious to see what was actually filmed after investing so much money.

As for Zhou Qing, he didn't find it strange at all. You know, the director of this movie is the great Chen Kexin.

If someone can earn 6000 US dollars for a straw hat, is 3 million US dollars rare?

"The cost is 3 million, which means this movie will have to make at least 9 million to recover its investment?"

Huang Bo couldn't help but gasp when he thought of this.

The current highest record in film history is "Painted Skin" with 3 million.

Are those people at China Film Group really brave enough to invest because they think "The Warlords" will sell well overseas?
But thinking about the fact that Li Lianjie's overseas influence is indeed huge, Huang Bo felt that this might not be impossible.

"The pressure to make back the film is really high. The cost is really too high."

Zhou Qing shook his head subconsciously.

The total box office of "The Warlords" in mainland China was only 2 million yuan, which is not even as high as its cost.

As for the overseas box office, it was even more of a joke, with only 13 US dollars sold in North America.

That’s right, you read it right, it’s not 130 million, nor is it 1300 million, it’s 13!
This movie, like "The Promise", can be said to have caused China Film Corporation to suffer huge losses.

"Hello, Mr. Ye."

"Hello, Director Zhou."

As expected, Ip Man's descendant Ip Chun agreed to serve as a consultant for "Ip Man".

The film producer Zhou Qing met with the other party specifically.

I have to say that people who practice martial arts are different. Ye Jun is so old, but he is still in good spirits.

His eyes were not cloudy at all, and even seemed sharp.

"I am very honored that Director Zhou can make a biographical film for my father, and I am also very happy to make it happen."

"This will allow more people to know my father and our Wing Chun. I should thank Director Zhou."

Ye Zhun's attitude towards this matter was relatively positive, and both sides had a very pleasant chat.

The contract was signed soon after, and Ip Chun officially became a consultant for the "Ip Man" series of films.

As for the consulting fee, Zhou Qing was definitely not that stingy and directly increased it by dozens of times for Ye Zhun.

"Hello Director Zhou, I have heard of you for a long time."

"Director Ye, you're too polite."

With Wong Pak Ming's permission, Ye Weixin also hurried over from Hong Kong Island.

Zhou Qing received the other party in the reception room.

"Director Zhou's screenwriting skills are obvious to all in the industry. All scripts written by Director Zhou are excellent, and Ip Man is definitely no exception."

"I am truly honored that Director Zhou thought of letting me be the director."

Ye Weixin was still very positive and enthusiastic.

It can be seen that the other party is actually quite willing to be the director.

"Director Ye is too polite. Director Ye's 'Dragon Tiger Gate' was shot very well. Director Ye is just the right person for a kung fu film like 'Ip Man'."

Zhou Qing just smiled.

"Director Zhou, you are overpraising me. I still need to learn a lot from you."

Ye Weixin quickly waved his hand modestly.

It's not that he is being modest. His directing skills are really not as good as others.

"The budget for Ip Man is 30 million. If Director Ip is willing to direct, I will only send the producer and will not interfere with Director Ip's creation."

After some prelude, the two began to talk about business.

Zhou Qing told Ye Weixin some relevant information.

Ye Weixin became more and more restless.

This kind of investor is what all directors dream of.

Just give money, no interference!
Didn’t you expect Director Zhou to trust you so much?

"I have only one request."

But Zhou Qing changed the subject at this time, "The male lead, Ip Man, will be played by Zhao Wenzhuo."

Ye Weixin began to fall into deep thought.

Frankly speaking, he was not surprised by this kind of thing. It was normal for people to pay you to make a movie and specify the actors and so on.

But none of these Hong Kong directors have ever used mainland actors as the leading actors.

Considering the public opinion and atmosphere in Hong Kong Island, Ye Weixin could imagine that he would face certain criticisms.

But Ye Weixin really doesn't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Besides Zhao Wenzhuo, does Director Zhou have any other requirements for other roles?"

After thinking for a while, Ye Weixin asked Zhou Qing again.

"There is another girl in my studio who is about 18 or 19 years old. Director Ye can just assign her a minor supporting role. Director Ye has the final say on the rest of the casting."

Zhou Qing gave an affirmative answer.

Ye Weixin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Director Zhou actually gave him a lot of freedom.

Except for the protagonist, other characters do not interfere and can play freely.

However, considering Zhou Qing's attitude towards Hong Kong actors, Ye Weixin still asked one more question: "What if I only find Hong Kong actors?"

Of course, Ye Weixin was just asking. In any case, the movie was made with Zhou Qing's money.

He wouldn't really go so far as to cast all actors from Hong Kong; that's not how it works.

"Like I said just now, Director Ye has the final say."

Zhou Qing smiled.

"Ip Man" is a one-man show by Ip Man. Apart from Ip Man, there are no other important characters.

It doesn’t matter if they only cast actors from Hong Kong, as long as Zhao Wenzhuo is the main character.

"Since Director Zhou trusts me so much, I will definitely not let him down!"

After some hesitation and thought, Ye Weixin finally made this decision.

In the end, he didn't have the courage to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The possible criticism is nothing compared to this opportunity. (End of this chapter)