Huayu is free to do as you like

The announcement of Gu Wei's two top endorsement titles has caused a lot of discussion on the Internet. Of course, the only ones who are really concerned and happy are his fans. Netizens are just watching the fun.

It was because this news triggered discussions among Gu Wei fans and the popularization of various cold and hot knowledge that everyone knew that the TV series starring Gu Wei had become so popular abroad.

Some netizens found out that among the top ten domestic TV series with the highest views on YouTube, Gu Wei starred in three of them, including "A Slight Smile Is Alluring", "Shanshan Is Here" and "Shan Shan Is Here". Langya Bang].

And the views have exceeded 100 million, and [Weiwei] firmly occupies the top spot.

When this news was discovered, netizens were even more excited than Gu Wei’s endorsement of two international brands. After all, this could be regarded as becoming popular abroad and bringing glory to the country!

China Film Group.

In a small conference room.

[The Wandering Earth] producer Xu Jianhai and director Guo Fan sat across from each other, drinking tea and chatting.

"Brother Xu, are you sure it's true what Mr. La said that Gu Wei wants to invest in our movie?"

Guo Fan rubbed his hands, looking a little anxious.

After he was selected as the director of "The Wandering Earth" by China Film Group Corporation, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the preparation of the film.

[The Wandering Earth] is a truly big-budget hard science fiction movie. It is extremely difficult to shoot and the investment is very high. Although China Film has invested part of the money, according to Guo Fan's calculations, it is far from enough to achieve the effect he has in mind, so Now that he heard that someone wanted to invest, he was very excited.

"Don't worry, I have worked under Mr. La for so many years, and I know him quite well. Mr. La always speaks loudly and will never let loose.

He said that if this happened, then there would be no problem in nine cases out of ten.

Let's just wait patiently. It's not time yet. People will come soon. We will have a face-to-face chat and it will be clear. "

Xu Jianhai picked up the jasmine tea in front of him, blew on it, and took a gentle sip.

Unlike Guo Fan, Xu Jianhai is not an artist, he is more of an official.

When La Peikang was not the chairman of China Film Group, he was the general manager of China Film Beijing Film Production Branch. Xu Jianhai was his deputy and had been working under him.

Now that the boss has been promoted, he naturally lifts up his former confidant and takes his original position.

[The Wandering Earth] Such a big project was also given to him as the producer, all because of La Peikang's trust in him.

After hearing Xu Jianhai's words, Guo Fan was still a little worried, but he no longer had any words to say.

He also picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip, wondering whether Gu Wei, a famous star he had never met before, could bring new funds to his movie.

Guo Fan is actually not from a professional background. He has been painting since elementary school. He graduated from Hainan University with a law major and received a bachelor's degree in law.

The job I took after graduation had nothing to do with making movies.

It's just that he liked painting since he was a child, and later became interested in making movies. So in 2009, he was admitted to the graduate school of the Management Department of Beijing Film Academy. Although he was not a directing major, he also began to be exposed to all knowledge about making movies.

In 2011, the love movie "The Adventures of Li Xianji" co-directed by him and Li Yang was released. In 2014, the director's work "My Deskmate" was released nationwide, with a total box office of 470 million yuan in the mainland.

It can be said that Guo Fan is very talented in film shooting.

He likes Cameron's movie "Terminator" very much, and his dream is to make a similar science fiction movie in the future.

In 2012, China Film purchased the copyright of Liu Cixin's science fiction novel "The Wandering Earth". In 2014, China Film decided to start filming the film "The Wandering Earth".

At that time, China Film Group first looked for international directors, including Cameron, Alfonso, and Luc Besson.

I hope that famous directors like them will come to film Liu Cixin's works, but they were all rejected.

Later, China Film approached several major domestic directors, but they were also rejected.

Their biggest reason is: China currently does not have the ability to make good science fiction films.

China Film had no choice but to look for young directors, and they discovered Guo Fan, who had always been eager to make science fiction films.

At that time, Guo Fan had only made two small films and had no experience in science fiction films.

However, in the face of the doubts of the China Film leadership, Guo Fan patted his chest and promised: "I am willing to make [The Wandering Earth].

Although others think that we can't make a science fiction film, I also know that conditions are limited and we will encounter many difficulties, but as long as you are willing to give me this opportunity, I will do my best to make our own science fiction film. "

Moreover, he used his painting skills to draw hundreds of sketches of various scene tools in the movie. His serious spirit and pious attitude towards science fiction movies impressed La Peikang and other leaders, and finally decided to let Guo Fan directed [The Wandering Earth].

It was only in 2015 that China Film Group confirmed Guo Fan as the director and allocated some funds for him to start preparing the movie. Now more than a year has passed. Guo Fan has prepared a lot of things, but it will still take at least more than half a year before filming actually starts. Not counting the actors, there are too many things to prepare for in the early stages of this movie.

Moreover, after Guo Fan started preparing for the movie, he discovered that the money given to him by China Film was far from enough for the filming and post-production of the movie.

For more than a year, he has also tried to find other investors, but unfortunately everyone stayed away when they heard that it was a science fiction film.

After all, the reputation of domestic science fiction films is really bad now. When investors hear that they are going to make a science fiction film, their first reaction is that it will be a bad film with only 50 cents special effects. No one dares to invest in it.

It is precisely because of this that when Guo Fan heard that the famous star Gu Wei was interested in investing money in [The Wandering Earth], he hurried over.

He also had a small thought in mind. Even if Gu Wei couldn't invest too much money, if he could be tricked into starring in "The Wandering Earth", with Gu Wei's current reputation, Guo Fan would go out to solicit investment in his name. It will be much smoother.

With this thought in mind, the door of the small conference room opened from the outside, and La Peikang walked in first, followed by a tall man with an extremely handsome face and a smile on his face. He had a face that he would never recognize if he had seen it once. Forgot, it was Gu Wei, the most popular star in the country at this time.

"Let me introduce, this is Xu Jianhai, the producer of [The Wandering Earth], and this is director Guo Fan.

I don’t need to say more about Lao Xu, Xiao Guo, and the big star Gu Wei, you all know them.

The company under his name [Wei Tianxia] has always been a partner of China Film. "

After La Peikang entered, Xu Jianhai and Guo Fan stood up.

Then Mr. La began to introduce the three of them to each other.

"Producer Xu and Director Guo Fan, I'm very happy to meet you two today. You two have been waiting for a long time."

Gu Wei smiled and shook hands with the two of them.

"Where, where."

After some pleasantries, the four of them sat down and the conversation quickly got down to business.

"Director Guo, I am a fan of Teacher Liu Cixin. I like his science fiction works very much. I am very much looking forward to adapting Teacher Liu's books into movies and putting them on the big screen.

I have talked about this with Mr. La before, and he also expressed his support for me to join the [Wandering Earth] project.

I would like to know how much is the budget of our movie now and how big is the gap? "

Gu Wei didn't mince words and spoke very directly.

After hearing what he said, Guo Fan looked at Xu Jianhai sitting beside him, who nodded slightly to him.

"China Film's temporary investment is 200 million, but according to my estimation, if we want to achieve the desired effect, the total cost of the entire shooting and post-production will be at least 400 million."

When he said this, the expressions of La Peikang and Xu Jianhai sitting next to him did not change. Obviously this was not the first time Guo Fan had said this number.

Gu Wei lowered his head and remained silent for a while after hearing Guo Fan's words.

He remembered that after "The Wandering Earth" was a hit, some media reported that the total investment in the movie was US$50 million, or RMB 350 million.

In addition to China Film's initial investment, this also includes money from other investors, as well as the 60 million that Guo Fan asked Wu Jing to invest when the capital chain broke during the post-production process.

Regarding Wu Jing's investment in "The Wandering Earth", it was used as material to promote the movie when it was released, and basically everyone knows about it.

To put it simply, Guo Fan asked Wu Jing to make a cameo. As a result, he acted in more and more films. Later, the crew ran out of money and told Wu Jing that they could not pay you for the film. Could you invest a little in it? Wu Jing was attracted by Guo Fan's professionalism and understanding of movies. Moved by his love for the film, not only did he not ask for salary, but he also took out 60 million from his own pocket to give it to him.

Of course, because he took the 60 million, Wu Jing also made a lot of money later.

It can also be seen from this incident that the filming of "The Wandering Earth" was indeed difficult, especially in terms of funding.

In the original version, Guo Fan was frugal, borrowing money here and there, and finally spent 350 million to shoot the movie. Now he says it is normal for the filming cost to be 400 million.

"Is it too much?"

Guo Fan was a little worried when he saw Gu Wei was silent.

"Ah~ No, I'm thinking about other issues."

Gu Wei looked up and smiled.

"Mr. Gu, let's not mention how much you want to invest. I have an idea here. The leading actor in the movie "The Wandering Earth" is actually very suitable for you. Do you want to consider it?

Don’t you particularly like Liu Cixin’s works? Now you have the opportunity to be the protagonist in his works.

Our film is a big investment of 400 million yuan. If you join us, I am confident that "The Wandering Earth" will become the number one science fiction masterpiece in China! "

Guo Fan looked at Gu Wei expectantly.

He actually didn't think Gu Wei could solve all the film's funding gaps. Compared with investing money, Guo Fan hoped that Gu Wei could play the male lead.

With Gu Wei's popularity and status, if he agrees to star, he won't have to worry about investment first. There will definitely be a lot of investors willing to fill the investment gap.

Secondly, when the movie is released, Gu Wei's box office appeal can be used as a guarantee for the movie's box office. Even if it is a domestic science fiction movie, many viewers will be willing to go to the theater to watch it just because of Gu Wei's name.

It completely kills two birds with one stone and solves all the difficulties Guo Fan is facing now.

Gu Wei smiled. He originally planned to become an investor and recommend himself as the male lead. Unexpectedly, before the investment was finished, Guo Fan was already thinking about him.

He knew Guo Fan had his idea just by turning his eyes.

"Director Guo, we will decide on the acting later. You can send me a copy of the script later. I am actually very interested in starring in science fiction films, especially the science fiction works of Mr. Liu.

As an actor, I also hope to try shooting different types of movies. "

Gu Wei didn't agree immediately, and Guo Fan looked slightly disappointed, but after listening to what he said later, he gained confidence again.

"Let's talk about investment first. I personally admire Director Guo for having the courage to shoot such a high-cost domestic science fiction film.

I also hope that we can make an excellent science fiction movie that makes the Chinese people proud.

You can go back and bring the specific plan for the film shooting to our company. If there are no problems, [Wei Tianxia] is willing to make up for the remaining 200 million investment.

Of course, with this money, our company will also send special staff to join the team to help Director Guo complete the filming of the movie."

After Gu Wei made the decision and took out the money, he also said a lot. Investment in a movie is not as simple as I will give you as much as you want.

If it is a purely layman investment, like the coal bosses in the past, they will definitely pay as much as they say. As for how much the filming will cost, they will always look at it with a blank look.

Gu Wei is an academic and the boss of a film and television company, so he knows the ins and outs of filming best.

After investing, you must have your own people in the team. Financial accounting and other things are necessary. It is best to have people from your own company in terms of props and factory affairs for the crew.

Only in this way can all the money invested in the film be used for filming.

There is no such thing as $5,000 for a straw hat.

Guo Fan didn't think that far ahead. He was stunned when Gu Wei said he would invest 200 million.

"Mr. Gu, do you really want to make up for the shortfall of 200 million?"

After coming back to his senses, he confirmed it again.

Gu Wei nodded.

"Of course, but it still depends on what Mr. La and Producer Xu mean?"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the two people beside him.

La Peikang also didn't expect Gu Wei to be so heroic and take the 200 million investment as he wished.

Even if he, the chairman of China Film Group, wants to spend 200 million to make a movie, he still has to hold meetings to discuss it and go through layers of approval.

This was done with public money, but Gu Wei paid for it with money from his own pocket.

He and Xu Jianhai looked at each other.

"Of course we don't have any objections. China Film's investment in [The Wandering Earth] is to make a good science fiction film and fill the gaps in this aspect in China.

Mr. Gu is able to spend huge sums of money to support domestic science fiction movies, and we are happy to see this happen. "

La Peikang said, and Xu Jianhai on the side also nodded slowly.

Unlike private film and television companies that only consider profits, China Film Group is a state-owned enterprise and considers more the development of domestic films. Making money is only secondary.

The filming of "The Wandering Earth" itself is a very risky thing. China Film Group had no choice but to invest 200 million in start-up capital. Now that Gu Wei has come to help share the risk, everyone is happy to see the success.

"Okay, then it's settled. Later we can prepare the materials and make an appointment to sign the contract."

After the matter was settled, all four people in the conference room smiled happily, and everyone felt that they had made a profit.

"By the way, Director Guo, when do you plan to start shooting the movie?"

Gu Wei asked again.

Guo Fan was very excited at this time, and he introduced it to Gu Wei in detail.

"[Wandering Earth] has been in the process of intense preparations since last year. In [Oriental Film City] we have built 8 studios specially used for shooting, with a total area of ​​100,000 square meters, including carrier vehicles, underground cities, and space stations. Everything is built in real scenes.

I also found manufacturers to customize various props involved in the movie, including exoskeleton protective clothing, firearms, various high-tech equipment, etc.

It will take half a year at the fastest to complete all of this. Plus the time it takes to find actors, I plan to officially start filming around June or July next year. "

Gu Wei nodded, it was pretty much what he expected.