Who are you calling powerful?

High above the Pacific Ocean, the Neptune

Wei Yang looked at Li Jiahang opposite him, and without getting any prompts, he could only play a card at random.

"East wind."

"bump!"

Shen Teng picked up the cards with a smile and threw another six-pack. Wang Baoqiang threw out a nine-piece out of boredom. Li Jiahang laughed and pushed the card.

"Concession, concession."

"Depend on."

Wang Baoqiang sighed and took a look at the cards. They were ordinary chickens and nines. He was in someone's hand, so he could only withdraw some money and give it to Li Jiahang.

Wei Yang and Shen Teng can be said to be neither losers nor losers. The latter's difference in cards doesn't matter. Boss Wei is a little regretful. He listened to all the cards and was able to cheat several cards. It's a pity.

"I won't play anymore, I won't play anymore. I'm so lucky. Who wants to play for me for a while?"

Wang Baoqiang lost the worst. He had hardly messed around all the way, and his mentality was a bit unbalanced. He gave up his position. Peng Damo, one of the directors of "Detective Chinatown 2", sat down quickly with quick eyes and quick hands.

Wei Yang is also a little tired. He is not very addicted to mahjong. He can always win or lose.

The producer, who had been watching the battle eagerly for a long time, also gave up his position. The latter was overjoyed and began to count cards skillfully.

Wei Yang sat down on the seat in front of him. The stewardess brought him a drink at the right time and thanked him. Wei Yang looked at Wang Baoqiang.

"I've seen you distracted all the way. Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. I had a quarrel with my wife before going out."

"For what?"

"It's all a trivial matter. Shouldn't I go back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year? I can't help it when I go out to film, so I just want her to stay at home with the children for a while, so that my mother can see her grandchildren more and wait until the Lantern Festival before returning to the capital. She doesn't want to. We just had a few quarrels.”

"I guess I'm not used to living here."

"Maybe. If I can't wait until I return to China, I can take my mother to live in the capital for a while."

The two chatted without a word. Wang Baoqiang was more depressed about the disharmony in his family, while Wei Yang obviously had more on his mind.

If he remembered correctly, Wang Baoqiang's divorce should have broken out this year.

Wei Yang had actually given relevant hints and reminders before, but they were extremely vague, and he couldn't say the main thing.

In total, he and Ma Jinlian had only met a few times. There was no proof. The husband and wife were harmonious. How could he win Wang Baoqiang's trust, and why should others trust him?

Not to mention Jin Lian, that Ximen Qing is also his manager and one of the most trusted people.

Wei Yang is just Wang Baoqiang's friend, partner and half-boss. Even if the relationship is good, it may not be as good as a direct relationship with Wang Baoqiang.

Judging from Wang Baoqiang's current reaction, it is estimated that his reminder has had little effect.

And from the information he revealed, there was something wrong with Jin Lian. Wei Yang wondered if it was a hint to him to pay attention to his property.

It is too abrupt to inexplicably stir up the relationship between husband and wife. It is normal for friends to talk about financial management and investment.

Therefore, Wei Yang later intended to talk about property security.

As a result, Wang Baoqiang was completely unaware and even proudly said that his wife would take care of his money and that he didn't have to worry about anything, as long as he made money.

Wei Yang: "..."

It’s no wonder that the two closest people, Jin Lian and Ximen Qing, couldn’t defeat him. Sometimes Wang Baoqiang is so simple that he doesn’t look like someone from the entertainment industry.

We set off from Shanghai in the morning, changed planes again, and arrived in New York at noon local time.

After flying for more than ten hours, even though the private plane was extremely comfortable, everyone was still a little tired.

Wei Yang was pretty good. He slept on the plane and was in good spirits. After arriving in New York, he joined a few people who had arrived early to go see the location.

"Detective Chinatown 2" still requires a lot of street scenes and exterior scenes, many of which require coordination.

However, capitalism is a little bit better. As long as you have money, you can do most things.

There is a scene in "Detective Chinatown 2" that requires renting Times Square in New York.

Before coming, many people thought it was too difficult. Not only did it require street closures, but it also required horseback riding. Horse racing had not happened in Times Square for many years. Not only did the domestic crew find it unreasonable, but even the American staff invited were not optimistic about it.

But it turned out that it couldn't be because there wasn't enough money thrown at it.

Not $500,000?

One million dollars!

Not 1 million US dollars?

3 million US dollars!

In the end, we got the consent of relevant departments in the United States, which made everyone aware of the power of money in this country.

As long as there is enough money, the Pentagon is hard to say, and the White House may not be able to be rented out for a few hours...

Wei Yang stood in Times Square, New York, gesturing with the director and photographer to discuss how to shoot, how to set up the camera, and how to allocate the scenery and scene management.

The time I got was limited, and although it wasn't so demanding that I had to do it all over again, I couldn't take a few shots in total.

So take as good a picture as possible during this time.

In addition to New York City Plaza, there are several filming spots that have obtained filming rights, but they are also more troublesome.

For example, at Grand Central Station in New York, it was clearly stipulated that filming must end before four o'clock in the morning, and no more than one minute was allowed.

This also means that the crew has extremely limited time to shoot here every day.

You know, "Detective Chinatown 2" has a lot of large-scale action and chase scenes. It takes a lot of effort to shoot this smoothly. If it doesn't go smoothly, the entire crew's schedule may be stretched.

And this also involves issues such as schedules and visas for actors and staff. In short, it is much more troublesome in front of and behind the scenes than shooting in China.

Just by thinking about these issues, the producer's previous mood of winning a small victory on the plane disappeared. What was even more uncomfortable was the cost.

"The preliminary budget is now as high as more than 350 million. Add in the post-production and publicity, and the total cost is likely to reach more than 500 million."

This cost made several of the entourage's eyelids jump wildly. Under normal circumstances, it is difficult for movies that are not visual effects blockbusters to achieve this investment.

It's just a costume blockbuster, but "Detective Chinatown 2" is a comedy suspense film.

It is no exaggeration to say that the only ones in the entire Chinese film industry who dare to do this are Wei Yang and Cheng Long.

Cheng Long's "Kung Fu Yoga" movie, which was launched almost at the same time, was filmed in several countries. The scenes were quite spectacular and the cost was said to be over 400 million.

Other modern movies that are not special effects blockbusters dare not do this.

After all, the cost is hundreds of millions, which means that the box office needs to be at least 1.5 billion to make back the money.

Although the current film history record has almost exceeded 3 billion, in fact, 1 billion is still a mountain that 90% of Chinese-language films cannot reach.

Of course, Wei Yang and Cheng Long were not so arrogant.

The budget is a budget, the actual cost is hard to say, and apart from the box office, there are other ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

For example, product placement!

Thanks to the fact that the first film broke the record in film history, the advertising bidding for "Detective Chinatown 2" received a lot of attention.

For example, for mobile phones, Xiaomi offered sky-high prices. Naturally, several of the leading mobile phones became Xiaomi's.

There are also advertisements for travel websites, China Merchants Bank, car rentals, and website advertisements. Those who pay enough and don’t affect the plot even have some jokes arranged by the crew.

It is expected that there will be a total of more than a dozen brands to cooperate with, among which there will be as many as four key partners.

The advertising revenue from these alone is as high as 200 million + RMB. There will be some related developments in the follow-up, such as pre-movie stickers, peripheral co-branding, main creative interaction, etc., which will be another advertising revenue.

Up to now, Chinese-language movies have developed rapidly. Although they are not as comprehensive as Hollywood, advertising, as the main revenue source, is already full of tricks.

Taking into account the advertising revenue, the terrifying cost expenditure of "Detective Chinatown 2" suddenly doesn't seem so eye-catching.

Compared to the tangled worries of the producers and others, Wei Yang was relatively calm.

On the one hand, it's because he has confidence in the movie, and on the other hand, he is also responsible for the high cost.

Two hit movies, "Detective Chinatown" and "Operation Mekong", have made Boss Wei the most popular movie actor nowadays.

The remuneration is naturally rising, not to mention that Boss Wei always gets a share of the creative income.

As for how much money was taken, it is difficult to calculate, because part of the crew's investment share was later discounted as personal dividends, but the cash taken by Boss Wei alone exceeded 80 million.

That's right, even if dividends are not included, Wei Yang's film salary has exceeded 100 million.

Even so, there are still many crews who feel that it is well worth the money.

Because most stars who earn tens of millions in salary cannot guarantee box office. Although Wei Yang's salary is a little more expensive, the box office is high. If he lets go and takes on roles, the script will kill him alive.

It's a pity that this 100 million remuneration is just the starting condition for Boss Wei. The other remuneration is just a small personal profit. The project itself and the capital operation behind it are the real income for Boss Wei.

…

The filming time in the United States was limited, so the crew of "Detective Chinatown 2" did not delay anything. They took a brief rest and started filming immediately.

Currently there are relatively few actors, mainly the roles opposite Wei Yang and Wang Baoqiang, plus the important supporting role of Li Jiahang, and some of Shen Teng's roles.

The character played by Shen Teng is Lu Guofu, played by Wang Xun in his previous life, a gang leader in Chinatown who does side jobs. He also has two younger brothers, played by Happy Twist's Allen Smart.

After all, Wei Yang had never dealt with Wang Xun at all, and he had shares in Happy Mahua, and many people's agents were also working with Hualu, so naturally he hired his own people.

And Shen Teng's popularity has soared after "Charlotte" and "Run", which is also good for movie promotion.

Although the original plot of "Detective Chinatown 2" is not extremely exciting, it is still above the pass line.

Therefore, Wei Yang did not change the plot of the entire movie, but he still spent some money to buy the copyright of "Two Eyes".

There is a lot of controversy online over whether "Detective Chinatown 2" plagiarizes "Twin Eyes".

Some people think it is plagiarism. For example, there are many similarities, such as Taoist elements and the Five Elements killing people. The purpose is to become an immortal. The reason is that he has a terminal illness and finally wants to die.

However, some people think that it does not constitute plagiarism, but that some settings are similar, and the main plot and related themes are not consistent. It is a bit far-fetched to determine plagiarism.

Wei Yang personally prefers the latter, but it must be admitted that Chen Sicheng's creation must have been greatly influenced by "Two Eyes".

So Wei Yang simply bought the copyright to "Twin Eyes" and waited until the movie was released to explain how he got inspiration from it.

This kind of half reference and half homage is relatively common in the film industry. If it is presented openly and openly, it will at most be criticized and ridiculed by black people, but it will not cause plagiarism controversy.

In addition, Wei Yang made some changes to the murderer's ending based on some opinions from later generations and discussions with the screenwriter and others.

The main reason why "Detective Chinatown 2" is judged to be plagiarism is that there are too many similarities and even some imitation that ignores logic.

For example, the setting and details of "Twin Eyes" are different from "Detective Chinatown 2", so that the altar at the back appears a bit abrupt.

After all, the altar of "Two Eyes" was built quietly by a secret organization, and it is reasonable.

And "Detective Chinatown 2" only introduced the doctor as the murderer and did not see any accomplices. So if a person creates such a dojo in an urban hospital, does that mean that he is evil?

At the same time, "Two Eyes" has an autopsy setting, which makes the murderer's death request somewhat mysterious. However, "Detective Chinatown 2" does not have this explanation, and the doctor's suicide is more like being sprayed to death.

Not to mention, a foreign doctor cannot speak Chinese clearly. Even if he is desperate for science and pursues metaphysics, he will not be sure of the "Tao".

Of course, this is understandable. After all, Taoism is a Chinese element, which will interfere with the audience's judgment. In the end, a foreign murderer pops up, which is more unexpected.

Therefore, in Wei Yang's view, letting the doctor end up with a terminal illness is actually a bit superfluous and forcibly "copied" "Two Eyes".

It is better to follow the clues given earlier. He had a Chinese wife who died of a serious illness. The doctor loved her deeply and hated God for being unfair. He saved so many people, but his wife died in his arms, so he turned dark.

At the same time, because of his wife's death and despair of science, he pursued metaphysics obsessively. Considering his wife's identity, it naturally led to the Five Elements murder.

The advantage of this is that the logic is relatively better, and the villains are flesh and blood. The disadvantage is that it is a bit cliche.

From Wei Yang's personal opinion, this kind of affectionate villain is more cold-blooded and shocking than being selfish.

So Wei Yang added another layer and asked the protagonist Qin Feng to finally expose him through analysis.

The doctor initially wanted to resurrect his wife, but as he studied the Tao more and more deeply, his purpose changed.

The death of his wife gave him a fear of death, so later the doctor ostensibly killed the five elements and resurrected his wife, but in fact he used the resurrected wife as a sacrifice to gain his own immortality.

Even if it doesn't succeed, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the price is just a dead wife and a few unlucky cannon fodder.

In this way, reversal after reversal, the audience is moved by the murderer's infatuation, but is exposed as a wolfish ambition. Not only is it different from the terminally ill murderer in "Twin Eyes", but this indiscriminate killing of innocent people without the purpose of survival makes the murderer even more For evil.

For this reason, Wei Yang once wanted to invite a Hollywood superstar to play the villain of the doctor, but later he thought that doing so would expose the murderer.

Therefore, in the end, I found a second- and third-tier actor who was not very famous, and I specially selected an image that looked particularly honest and simple.

To be honest, the doctor villain in the original version was so evil-looking that it was obvious almost as soon as he appeared that I was not a good person.

Although viewers who like reasoning can guess who the murderer is as long as they see the doctor appear and combine some plots, it is always good to have an extra layer of interference.

After all, most viewers are not so keen and are more concerned about faces.

If you choose a murderer between Wang Baoqiang in the form of Xu Sanduo and Wang Baoqiang in the form of Tang Ren, 90% of them will choose the latter...