China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 520 Ye Wenjie’s casting and explosive reputation

The debut of "The Wandering Earth" at the Shanghai Film Festival once again ignited the film market that had been dormant for more than half a month.

There were no heavyweight domestic films in the May Day slot, or in other words, the domestic films that were thought to be heavyweights were all a bit underwhelming. Only the split film "The Thunderbolts" was a hit.

Objectively speaking, the quality of "Thunder" is still good. As Marvel's anti-hero team-a team carefully selected from prisoners, it is somewhat similar to the Suicide Squad.

Moreover, this superhero team started out as a TV series, taking the route of light-hearted and humorous comedy. The quality is also on par. The movie is not flattering, so it is quite popular with the audience.

It's just that the entire genre of comic book movies has entered a downward trend in China and has long since subsided. On the one hand, this is due to the rapid rise of DreamWorks, and on the other hand, many domestic audiences have indeed entered the stage of aesthetic fatigue towards comic book themes.

Therefore, the box office of "Thunderbolt", which performed best in April and May, was only 1.8 billion. In addition, there were no dark horses in other films, so these months became a veritable off-season.

Finally, there is news about a heavyweight blockbuster, and movie fans are getting excited again. "The Wandering Earth" is equivalent to blowing the clarion call for the summer release in advance.

Of course, the opening of the Shanghai Film Festival is not a premiere. The audience at the opening is mostly celebrities, directors and other insiders, as well as some viewers who bought tickets for the opening screening.

In the days after the opening of the Shanghai Film Festival, there was only one screening per day in the four film festival designated screening theaters.

At the same time, there are also small-scale screenings in several other first- and second-tier cities. The total number of screenings planned nationwide is less than 600, with an average of less than 100 screenings per day. The scale of this screening can be called pocket-level.

Of course I can’t give you the script right now, and there’s still a lot of time before filming, maybe next year, but after the film festival is over, you can come to DreamWorks to see the story line of this character.”

Fortunately, everyone can communicate smoothly with each other and comment using English and body language.

…

Although his fame is not as good as that of directors such as Chen Jingxing, Guo Fan, and Tian Xinye, he is already a well-known figure in the animation industry.

"Hey, when I become the chairman, I just want to increase the exposure of the film festival. The quality of the films is not something I can affect. I can only say that this year is indeed a good year."

"Yes, it has that charming melancholy flavor unique to Persia..."

It is true to say that Ye Wenjie is the heroine of the first film of "Once Upon a Time on Earth".

You must know that the film and television dramas she has appeared in in recent years rarely have leading female roles, and most of them are supporting roles.

What's more, fame and ideals are inseparable in the entertainment industry.

And your character is the heroine of the movie."

Moreover, the so-called first round of advance screenings of "Eight Hundred Revelations" exceeded 10,000.

"Live up to its reputation..."

Money burned in seconds.

Opportunities in the film and television industry are much more important and rare than ability.

"My schedule can't be scheduled for next year at all. I have only been contacted by a variety show that may film it at the end of the year." Hao Lei blinked her eyes and couldn't hide her expectation in her tone: "Does Director Chen have a suitable role for me?"

Although Hao Lei is considered a big girl, she really doesn't have much commercial value, so although she is famous, she doesn't have many film appointments.

In a dim movie screening room, with the lights on, Chen Jingxing and several judges commented on a main competition film they had just watched, the Persian film "The Castle of Dreams."

This technology has been used in many film and television dramas in Hollywood, and the current top-notch effects are excellent and quite lifelike.

Except for another judge from Hong Kong Island, none of the other foreign judges knew that Chen Jingxing had decided on the heroine of one of his future movies in just a few words.

"The script has been released, and it's called "Once Upon a Time on Earth."" Chen Jingxing responded to Hao Lei's question: "Yes, it is the same movie universe as the TV series "Once Upon a Time on Earth" that has been completed."

And it's very likely that it's Chen Jingxing's own movie.

Nowadays, the average screening scale of movies is more than a thousand. If it is too much, the so-called screening is not much different from the official release. Tens of thousands of screenings can be "screened" in one day.

Today's entertainment industry is an era of traffic. Without the blessing of starlight, no matter how good your acting skills are, it is difficult to get good dramas or lead roles.

After exchanging their feelings about the three movies they had watched, Chen Jingxing turned the topic to Hao Lei personally: "Sister Hao, are you nervous about your schedule next year?"

She has even started accepting variety shows, and she will not refuse commercial movies.

He is currently producing "Kung Fu Panda II", but he has plenty of time, because the animated film scheduled to be released regularly by DreamWorks during the Spring Festival next year is "Inside Out", which is directed by another director named Zhou Hao.

Chen Jingxing's movies are irresistible to most actors, and Hao Lei is no exception.

Of course, this technology can not only make you younger, but also make you older.

Different actors playing different age groups will destroy the effect of the presentation and interrupt the smooth viewing experience.

Chen Jingxing did not show any worry: "There is no need. "The Wandering Earth" and "The Eight Hundred" are separated by half a month. They are not head-on collisions. The marketing department's publicity plan itself is hunger marketing. There is no need to follow "The Wandering Earth" and "The Eight Hundred".

Walk to the rhythm of "Eight Hundred"."

Every film is on par, which is quite rare. Even Chen Jingxing, the crime film "Desperate", which is the lowest quality among the three films, can score 6.5 points.

"She is a very complex and charming female character, no less than in "The Center of the Earth". Of course, she can't compare to the heroine in "The Center of the Earth" in terms of acting, but believe me, you will never be disappointed.

The "Once Upon a Time on Earth: Overture" series has been filmed, and the "Once Upon a Time on Earth" movie has also been put on the schedule within the company, and the casting of the movie has been brewing in his mind.

For a middle-aged actress like her, if she can't play idol dramas, it's almost impossible for her to take on the leading role, especially the heroine in a movie.

A typical Persian literary film that is eye-catching.

After all, the judges at the Shanghai Film Festival are far less exaggerated than in Cannes. They lock people in a house and judge the results within two days. It feels like the experts who set the questions for major domestic examinations set the questions in a confidential environment.

For example, although "The Eight Hundred Revelation" is still one month away from its official release date, it has already started screening at the same time as "The Wandering Earth". The opening film's quota was taken by "The Wandering Earth", which did not affect its promotion.

Rhythm.

So the only shortcoming can be overcome.

Usually with such a judging panel, language barrier is a problem.

Hao Lei's sensitivity and temperament are really suitable for this kind of extreme female character with rich psychological activities and extremely complex personality.

It is known to everyone that Chen Jingxing is filming "Interstellar", and the casting for "Interstellar" has been decided for a long time, and there are no public film plans since then.

As Ye Wenjie was the soul of the first movie, Chen Jingxing had many candidates in his mind, and Hao Lei was at the top of the list.

Apparently after the opening of the film festival, Jingying Film has become more wary of "The Wandering Earth" and is preparing to enter the film in advance and firmly schedule the film.

But as the saying goes, the situation is stronger than the people, people can never regard money as dirt, and few people in the entertainment industry can escape the word fame and fortune.

The quality of the films at this film festival is really good.

However, Chen Jingxing likes Hao Lei's acting skills very much. Although his talent is not as good as Mr. Zhou's, he is still difficult to rival.

Chen Jingxing didn't think it was really a masterpiece caused by his domineering aura, but it was true that he was lucky.

If Chen Jingxing can ask this, then it is very likely that she is being considered for a movie role.

Chen Jingxing actually wanted to invite Hao Lei to play Ye Wenjie in "Once Upon a Time on Earth".

As one of the three narrative lines in the movie, Ye Wenjie's line has the largest time span, involving teenagers, young adults, middle-aged and old people. Logically speaking, different actors should be chosen to play different periods.

There may be at least three actors, including teenagers, young adults, middle-aged and elderly people.

The solution is actually not difficult: CG facial age reduction technology.

Other units have professional judges to evaluate the awards.

Hao Lei's acting skills and temperament not only meet Chen Jingxing's requirements, but she is also young enough to cover Ye Wenjie's life by reducing and increasing her age.

"The quality of this year's movies is really good. Director Chen, you really attracted phoenixes to us as chairman?" Hao Lei said with a bit of ridicule in her tone.

Therefore, Chen Jingxing only planned to hire one actor to interpret Ye Wenjie's life.

Only Chen Jingxing and Hao Lei were still communicating about the film appointment of "Once Upon a Time on Earth". While they were talking, Xiang Xuan walked in.

As the director of "Kung Fu Panda" and "Wall-E", Xiang Xuan, once one of the four founders of Mo, is now undoubtedly the number one animation director in China.

It was the first time for Chen Jingxing to serve as a judge at a film festival, let alone the chairman of the jury. However, the process of watching the films shortlisted for the main competition was not difficult, and it was even more unexpected than he expected.

Chen Jingxing seems to have read Hao Lei's thoughts, and he is naturally familiar with the ridicule of female characters in his films by movie fans.

Although Hao Lei was known as a literary goddess in her early career, she also preferred literary films in her career. After all, she was able to ignore the objections of her then boyfriend Deng Chao in order to make literary films, which even became the trigger for the two to break up.

However, although she could not understand the Chinese language, Hao Lei's obvious changes in her expression with surprise still caught the eyes of all the judges.

Especially today, I watched three movies in total, one was "Get Out" from Mexico, one was the domestic suspense crime film "Danger", and the other was "Castle of Dreams" from Persia, a powerful art film country.

Not to mention that the actress herself lacked box office appeal, and in the early days, she still followed the literary route. In addition, due to her awkward age, she could only play supporting roles in various film and television dramas with the reputation of being an experienced actor.

"You can think of him as the kind of superhero IP that has both TV series and movies. I said before that "Once Upon a Time on Earth" is a science fiction film and television series, including movies and series.

It's just that everyone is not familiar with them, so it's hard to ask directly, and today's three movies have been watched. After a while of communication, the judges left the viewing room.

Hao Lei was simply pleasantly surprised.

"Boss, "Eight Hundred Revelations" seems to have a good reputation. Is it really that good? Should we also expand the screening?"

Last year, the organizing committee of the film festival actually invited Xiang Xuan to be a judge in the animation section. At that time, he was already famous for "Kung Fu Panda", but the production of "WALL-E" was relatively tight, so he declined.

There is not enough commercial value, there are not enough coffee positions, and it is difficult to get good resources.

But she is no ordinary villain. She is the most eye-catching female character in the Three-Body Problem, if not the only one.

"The script is really good."

The other party's nod made her even more unable to restrain her surprise.

But for the project "Once Upon a Time on Earth", the money is still affordable.

After all, although Cheng Xin, the Madonna, is given more attention and plays a bigger role, she is still basically a tool in Liu's works, and the charm of the character is lacking.

Of course, it is also possible that she is the kind of borderline heroine Wan Qian in "Source Code".

In terms of qualifications, he is definitely qualified, even overqualified.

Xiang Xuan is the chairman of the jury of the animation unit. In addition to him, there are two animation directors from abroad who are selection committee members.

But Chen Jingxing didn't want to shoot like this. This storyline is too important. Movies are different from TV series. TV series are long enough and have enough transition time.

There are 15 shortlisted films in the main competition section of this year's Shanghai Film Festival. Basically, Chen Jingxing and the other six judges have to watch three films every day, which is quite sufficient in terms of time.

Xiang Xuan, who was not busy at work, was also roped in by Chen Jingxing to serve as the chairman of the jury for the cartoon unit.

"The heroine?"

The Golden Goblet Award section of the Shanghai Film Festival is divided into the main competition feature film unit, the documentary unit, the animation unit and the short film unit.

Chen Jingxing and the other six judges are only responsible for selecting the main competition feature film unit, which is of course the most important award.

Ye Wenjie is a prominent character in the entire story of the Three-Body Problem. She is the source and culprit of the Trisolaran invasion, and can be said to be the biggest traitor.

"Not a frilly heroine."

The script of the movie "Once Upon a Time on Earth" is just over two hours long, and Ye Wenjie is only one of the lines, so the length is not sufficient.

Hao Lei gave up her efforts to remain reserved and her eyes glowed: "Is it Director Chen's new movie?"

In addition to the chairman Chen Jingxing, there are six other judges on the main competition unit jury: domestic actress Hao Lei, well-known Hong Kong producer Shi Nansheng, and the other four are foreign directors or screenwriters.

Hao Lei laughed: "Do you think I am someone with a tight schedule?"

Even Chen Jingxing's invitation, she subconsciously thought it was a supporting role.

The importance of the heroine in Chen Jingxing's movie is much higher than previously expected.

The only drawback is that it costs money.

It’s just that Chen Jingxing, Hao Lei, Shi Nansheng and other Chinese judges subconsciously communicate with each other in Chinese.

However, he still turned on his mobile phone, which had been turned off while watching the movie, and browsed the public opinions on the Internet.

After "The Wandering Earth" received explosive reviews on the opening night of the film festival, "800" was screened the next day, and "800" also received explosive reviews.

The two movies came in tandem and almost simultaneously exploded in popularity, exciting the public and the media.

I'll make up for the missing chapter tomorrow.

(End of chapter)