Chapter 1271 Heroism

"In that case, let's make a blockbuster." Jiang Wen said slowly, looking at Zhao Fusheng.

At present, the concept of a blockbuster in China is not very clear. In many people's eyes, a film with a large investment and many big-name stars counts as a blockbuster.

Actually, this way of thinking is wrong.

Big-name stars do not necessarily mean box office success. If that were the case, then in later years, those on Weibo with tens of millions of followers, whose every trashy post gets millions of retweets, and who can top the charts with a nonsensical song, surpassing international divas—wouldn't Skr be able to dominate the film and television circle?

In later years, Zhao Fusheng remembered that there were a couple of years when investors and distributors alike were superstitious about traffic stars. In their eyes, as long as a film featured those traffic little flowers or little fresh meat, it would surely sell well at the box office.

Facts proved that was just a beautiful dream.

The flops of "Three Lives, Three Worlds" and "European Raid" proved with ironclad facts that films built solely on traffic and stars simply could not attract a mature audience.

The current film market is no longer the era when no one understood Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of Time," and Jeff Lau could recoup losses by shooting "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" with the same cast.

Of course, although the mainland film market in 2005 was still not very mature, the failures of "The Banquet" and "The Promise" also proved that films still need quality; otherwise, even with big productions, big directors, and big stars, the truth of flopping still holds.

And Jiang Wen's idea was very clear: he intended to make this film grand and imposing, and then simply go for the ultimate in individual heroism.

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Fusheng looked puzzled. Although he had written a few scripts, they were all memorized from his previous life, essentially just copying step by step. If he were really to engage in literary creation, Zhao Fusheng knew he didn't have that ability.

Everyone has their own specialty; Old Jiang was the true professional.

"Very simple. Take your senior's story as the main line, and shape Chen Shijie's character into a lone hero." Jiang Wen chuckled.

Zhao Fusheng was stunned for a moment, but upon careful thought, it really was the case.

If it were written as Jiang Wen said, this story would indeed have potential.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but admire Jiang Wen immensely. No wonder this guy would later become an outstanding top director in the domestic film circle; he absolutely lacked this kind of skill himself.

Actually, this was very normal, because the core of a film is its story content.

You see, for those big directors, with their reputation and connections in the industry, actors were never a problem. For example, if Zhang Yimou wanted to make a film, would he lack actors? If he casually released the news, all the top domestic first-line stars and top actors would line up for auditions.

That was the confidence of a top director.

Because all first-line stars knew that if you wanted to be more famous, to have a reputation as a skilled actor, you had to cooperate with these big directors. Look at Zhang Ziyi; she was already half-cold, but then Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster" single-handedly revived her. As for her later affairs with Xiao Sa and Wang Feng, those were after she climbed back up. Anyway, she had played enough, and playing the virtuous wife and mother wasn't difficult; it was just another new work.

As for investment, it was even less of a problem for big directors. Every top director, as soon as they hinted at making a new film, investors waving checkbooks would surely line up.

This could be seen from the members of the Cross-Strait Three-Region Money-Losing Association.

For example, Hou Hsiao-hsien, who is professional at losing money; Wong Kar-wai, who never stops cheating money; and Jiang Wen, who has never heard of a budget. These are all famous money-losing experts, but whenever they start a new film, there are always bosses willing to pay willingly.

The reason is simple: on one hand, although these guys' works may not necessarily be box office hits, and often have long shooting cycles and tend to go over budget, their films are really good in quality and can win awards. More importantly, you never know when something these guys make will move the audience and then explode at the box office.

Take the film "Let the Bullets Fly" as an example. Initially, for "In the Heat of the Sun," Yang Shoucheng invested thirty million, but ended up losing over ten million. And for "Let the Bullets Fly," Old Jiang, because he had made the other lose money before, was too embarrassed not to let him continue investing. And what was the result?

An investment of fifty million yielded a return of six hundred million. Yang Shoucheng made a huge profit.

So, whether it's actors or funds, for truly established directors, these are minor issues.

The real problem lies in the script.

Just like Jiang Wen now. He wants to make a film. With Future Film and Zhao Fusheng around, even if the investment is a hundred million, Zhao Fusheng can afford it. Plus, with his personal network, whether in the mainland, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, inviting any star is effortless, and even big names from Europe and America are not impossible.

But Jiang Wen still dares not make it lightly.

The reason is simple: the script.

A good script is of great significance to a film. Without exaggeration, as long as there is a good script, with similar pay, top actors will definitely choose the better script to perform in. Not everyone is like Tony Leung or Louis Koo, who take any film regardless of reputation.

Of course, Louis Koo does it to make money for charity, because he is truly dedicated to doing good. As for Tony Leung, well, flying to London every year to feed pigeons is also very expensive, isn't it?

Getting off track.

In short, Zhao Fusheng now suddenly had full confidence in this film. He believed that as long as Jiang Wen polished the script, he could invest more money and invite some top stars, and maybe this film would really become a hit.

"Since you're so confident, then so be it." Zhao Fusheng said seriously to Jiang Wen: "Don't worry about the funding. We can cooperate with Huayi. As for other companies in the circle, I think as long as we can impress China Film Group, it should be fine."

This was an inevitable result. Not to mention Jiang Wen's personal appeal, just the appeal of Future Film itself could attract many investors.

Jiang Wen nodded: "I know. I'm just considering the main cast of this film."

Zhao Fusheng laughed: "I won't worry about that. You figure it out yourself. I can guarantee that no matter how much salary you offer, the company won't object."

As an investor, this was the only thing he, as the boss, could do.

Then, Zhao Fusheng glanced at Jiang Wen: "But let's get this straight first. If you overspend too much on this film, don't blame me for deducting your share of the profits."

Damn!

Old Jiang felt terrible. What did Zhao Fusheng mean by deducting his share?

Seeing Jiang Wen's expression, Zhao Fusheng knew he was unhappy. He didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "There's no help for it. You've always liked to overspend on films. I can't control you anyway. So for the excess, I'll give you a maximum of five million. Anything beyond that, I'll deduct from your director's share."

Jiang Wen was speechless. Faced with a guy like Zhao Fusheng, he really had no good way out; the other had blocked all his paths.

"You're ruthless!" In the end, Jiang Wen could only glare fiercely at Zhao Fusheng.

But unfortunately, Jiang Wen's threat had no effect on Zhao Fusheng. He ignored Jiang Wen and continued eating fruit from Jiang Wen's house.

...

...

After sitting at Old Jiang's place for a while, seeing that it was almost time, Zhao Fusheng took Jiang Wen's car and brought Fan Beibei to join the dinner.

"By the way, why did Zheng Xiaolong organize this gathering?" Zhao Fusheng asked Jiang Wen curiously while in the car.

Jiang Wen smiled: "That's normal. We get together every now and then. It's just that you haven't participated much before."

After all, the Beijing circle was relatively unfamiliar to Zhao Fusheng.

Or rather, he only knew a few people well; the rest were merely nodding acquaintances.

This was probably due to Zhao Fusheng's personality. He always chatted more with those he liked, and if he didn't like someone, he simply ignored them.

Plus, in recent years, his status had become increasingly different, so naturally, those in the Beijing circle dared not associate with him.

It is said that actors are heartless and prostitutes are faithless. These artists also know in their hearts that although they may appear glamorous stars to the outside world, in the eyes of the truly wealthy, what is a star? A star is just a valuable commodity.

What is a commodity?

Priced clearly, can be sold at any time, that's all.

It is said that those with different paths cannot plan together. For most people in the Beijing circle, they could socialize with a Zhao Fusheng worth tens of millions or even a hundred million, because they also had hope of earning that much.

But the problem was, when Zhao Fusheng's net worth exceeded a billion, these people realized that Zhao Fusheng was completely from a different world than them.

When Jiang Wen said this, Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and understood what was going on.

"What, you only realize now?" Seeing Zhao Fusheng's expression, Jiang Wen knew that this guy had just figured out why, over the years, besides Ye Jing and Yu Feihong, only he had a good relationship with him.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and shrugged: "It doesn't matter. I never intended to become friends with them anyway."

This was his true feeling. He deeply despised those people in the Beijing circle.