"Speaking of China's food, I suddenly thought of a joke. One day, during the Dragon Boat Festival, a Chinese lady made some Zongzi. Coincidentally, there was a new neighbor next door. As usual, she sent some Zongzi to their house. As a result, when she asked about it the next day, the new neighbor's mistress said that the Zongzi was delicious, but the lettuce outside was too hard. "Adriaan said leisurely as he slowly drank the porridge.
Sitting across from him, Gao Yuanyuan, who was also eating breakfast in the suite, took about two seconds to react. Then, she burst out laughing and almost spat out the porridge in her mouth.
"I like China's food. In this aspect, I believe that even the French can't compare." Adriaan handed her a napkin and continued, "Sometimes I think that maybe we can consider making a food show to introduce China's food. What do you think of the name 'A Bite of China'?"
"Hmm … not bad," Gao Yuanyuan answered simply and smiled. She looked very cute.
Adriaan didn't say anything else. He just looked at her without blinking. Gao Yuanyuan couldn't help but lower her head as if she was a little embarrassed. Then, she heard him sigh.
"I am the one talking this early in the morning. Don't you have anything to say?" Adriaan asked.
"This …" The girl put down the bowl in her hand as if she didn't know what to say. After all, before last night, they didn't know each other.
"I just … I still … don't know you." Gao Yuanyuan said softly.
"I see … that's true." Adriaan rubbed his chin, "How about this, I will stay here for a few days. After finishing my business, I will go to those famous scenic spots. Last time, I was in a hurry and couldn't make it. I remember you introduced yourself last night and said that you are from here, right? Why don't you be my tour guide for a few days? "
"Be … be a tour guide?" The girl couldn't help but widen her eyes. Her throat was obviously moving. She more or less understood the meaning of his words.
"Yes, tour guide." Adriaan's tone was very relaxed as if he really only wanted her to be a tour guide.
"This … I still have work, Kewell … Eide." Gao Yuanyuan didn't directly refuse. She just lowered her head and used her chopsticks to eat the delicate side dishes in front of her.
"Jin Yong's Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre?" Although Adrian asked, he laughed under her puzzled gaze. "Last night, you said that this is indeed a good wuxia novel. I've read it too. I've read all twelve of Jin Yong's novels. He's really good at telling stories. However, I don't really like Zhang Wuji's character. His performance in the new version is worse than the old version."
"Jin Yong's Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre?" Gao Yuanyuan looked curiously.
"Heaven Sword of TV series?" Gao Yuanyuan showed a look of curiosity. Adrian smiled and explained to her, "In this version, Zhang Wuji eventually became the Sect Leader of Emei Sect."
"The Sect Leader of the Emei Sect?" The girl found it hard to believe. "Are you …"
"Sword of Dragon sword of Sword of of of of of. Of course not. " Adriaan laughed, which made Gao Yuanyuan blush. "But I think it's probably because the same plot was used again in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, so Jin Yong removed it when he revised it. If you have a chance, you can find the old version and see what's the difference between it and the new version."
Then, the phone rang. Adriaan stood up and pressed the speaker button. Ivanka's slightly cold voice came out. "It's almost time, sir. Mr. Wang is on the way."
Although she didn't attend the dinner last night, it didn't mean that she didn't know that there was another woman with him at the moment. So she called him sir instead of Eide.
"Okay, I'll be out soon." Adriaan answered, then hung up the phone and turned to Gao Yuanyuan. "It's not a big deal. Just ask for a leave from the crew. I'll find someone to talk to them. Mr. Wang Zhongjun should be willing to help me."
The girl who was about to say something immediately shut up. Adriaan, who was tidying up his clothes, continued, "Today I'm going to the New Image Company to watch Director Zhang Yimou's new work. You should go with me. It's a rare opportunity."
After hearing Zhang Yimou's name, Gao Yuanyuan bit her lips and finally agreed in a low voice after a few seconds of hesitation.
She was quite decisive. Adrian shrugged, feeling a little regretful and relieved at the same time. To be able to find a relatively white lotus root in a muddy pond that could stimulate one's appetite was already a great achievement.
After settling the matter and tidying up, Adriaan left the China World Hotel with Gao Yuanyuan and drove to the Chaoyang District where the new scene was.
"I'm really sorry, I drank too much last night. I hope I didn't affect your rest." Wang Zhongjun, who basically arrived at the same time, noticed Gao Yuanyuan who came with Adrian. His eyes lit up and he said with a double meaning.
"Of course not, I have to thank Mr. Wang for your enthusiasm." Adriaan smiled and replied meaningfully, "Oh right, I wonder if Mr. Wang is familiar with the crew of 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre'?"
"What's the matter?" Glancing at the girl next to him, Wang Zhongjun revealed a curious expression.
"I want to talk to the person in charge of the crew and ask for a few more days of leave for Yuanyuan. I hope she can be my tour guide in Beijing for the next few days," Adriaan explained very straightforwardly.
Wang Zhongjun raised his eyebrows slightly, seemingly a little surprised. Then, he smiled. "No problem."
Then, the second scene also saw Gao Yuanyuan. However, they were only surprised for a moment and didn't ask anything else. This was too normal. Although Adriaan was a foreigner, he spoke fluent Chinese and was very familiar with the mainland. Most of the time, they subconsciously didn't treat him as a foreigner.
After chatting casually for a while, they went straight to the screening room. Although the new scene booked two floors of this commercial building, there weren't many screening rooms. However, there weren't many people attending. Other than the director and producer, there were only the Wang brothers, Adriaan, his secretary Ivanka, and his temporary bed partner Gao Yuanyuan.
As mentioned previously, Zhang Yimou was very good at graphics, camera structure, and color. In this aspect, he didn't lose to Li An at all. The various classical scenes and fights in "Hero" had their merits, but the special effects were a little lousy. When John Doe and Long Sky were fighting, the scene where John Doe pierced Long Sky through the water droplets was a little strange no matter how one looked at it. However, the flaws couldn't obscure the beauty. Putting aside some problems with the plot, for a Chinese movie, it was still very good overall.
Interestingly, many of the lines were different from those in Adriaan's memory. The most obvious one was the part where the King of Qin turned his back to John Doe. There were no more creepy "I'm enlightened", "it's peace", and "it's not war". Instead, it was a monologue. The main idea was similar to what Adriaan had said before. He didn't expect that Remnant Sword was his confidant. However, the grammar was more ancient, and it even corrected Adriaan's original mistake. At this time, he was still the King of Qin, not the First Emperor, so he should call himself "I" instead of "I."
Thinking about it, a foreigner actually said that the dialogue was not ancient enough, and it was very strange. He even used some ancient prose. As long as the director, scriptwriter, and producer had a bit of courage, it was inevitable that they would regain their dignity.
As for the performances of the actors, it could only be said that they were not bad. After all, the highlight of this movie was not this. Although Lin Zhiling didn't have many scenes, she still showed a lot of elegance in the first story. Speaking of which, Adriaan had originally planned to bring Lin Zhiling, but she was currently busy with another movie. It was Lin Xilei who helped her get the role, but this time, she got it from Adriaan in bed.
Because of her natural advantages, she saw the script of the second installment of "The Fast and the Furious" very early on. She immediately suggested to Adriaan that the female undercover police officer could be changed to a Chinese one. This was indeed a feasible idea. Coupled with Lin Xilei's efforts in bed, and Lin Zhiling's cooperation after knowing about it, Adriaan agreed.
However, looking at Gao Yuanyuan beside him, it was a good thing that she didn't come along.
Back to the movie. From Lin Zhiling's scenes, the standard of the old strategist could be seen. She wore a bright red dress and wielded two curved swords at the same time. However, the intense colors that Lin Zhiling displayed were completely different from the one in Adrian's memory. It couldn't be said that either of them was better, but the impact that they had was very different in terms of key points.
Therefore, other than storytelling, the only thing that Old Strategist lacked was foresight. In his previous life, someone once commented that different people would show different expressions when describing the same thing. The viewpoint of "The Hero" was that "A tyrant's unification is better than a chaotic war between countries." On the other hand, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon was that "Everyone is making up lies for their own benefit, and the truth of the world is unknown."
One was a political viewpoint that wasn't particularly convincing, and the other was the plight and sorrow that mankind had always faced. Even though the box office was incomparable, in the eyes of the "artistic" film critics, "The Hero" was just average, while "Rashomon" was a classic. It wasn't that Old Strategist couldn't do it. His previous movies were quite good in this aspect. Unfortunately, with how big China was, it wasn't easy to find a director who could make a commercial movie, so he had no choice but to shoulder this responsibility.
Old Strategist would at least try his best to make the movie look good, and he would try his best to make up stories. On the other hand, "The Mantou Murder Case" was a product of his ego. Unfortunately, he wasn't Lee An, he wasn't Taiwanese, he didn't receive a western education, and he didn't have any experience in Hollywood. He couldn't easily pull in tens or even hundreds of millions of US dollars in investments, so in the eyes of many, he was destined to be inferior to Lee An.
Although Adriaan didn't see it that way, he didn't plan to do anything more. He just wanted to give some pointers. As for what to do next, that was up to him.
Clap, clap, clap. After the lights came on, there was a round of applause. Adriaan took the lead to applaud, followed by Zhang Weiping and the Wang brothers.
"Very good, very good. Even though there are still some small flaws, I believe this is already the highest standard in China," Adriaan praised without hesitation. "Can I hear your arrangements?"
Zhang Er Zhang exchanged glances, and Zhang Weiping immediately said, "The publicity here has been arranged, and it will be released in December during the Lunar New Year period. As for the North American side, we would like to hear Mr. Kewell's opinion first."
"Alright, then I'll give you a brief explanation." Adriaan smiled. "I plan to arrange for 'The Hero' to have a pre-screening in Los Angeles at the end of December, in order to gain admission to the Oscars. Then, we'll conduct a low-intensity hype for a period of time, and gradually increase it after the Oscars. Finally, based on the specific situation, we'll arrange for it to be released between May and September during the summer holidays — what do you think?"
Zhang Er Zhang was silent.
"If the situation isn't optimistic, we may have to postpone it." Adriaan didn't care what they were thinking and continued, "Although I'm very optimistic about this movie, I can't represent all Americans. So, if necessary, we will definitely postpone it and conduct appropriate long-term hype. Don't worry too much, this kind of situation is very common. "
Zhang Weiping looked at Wang Zhongjun. Although he could handle things in China, he lacked understanding of the overseas market, so he had to ask for help from his current rival, Huayi. For New Pictures, it didn't matter if 'The Hero' made money in North America, since the rights there had already been sold to Universal. However, if the box office was too low, even worse than 'Big Shot', it would be too embarrassing.
Because of Adriaan's intervention, New Pictures was currently very close to Huayi, which was why the Wang brothers could come to watch the test screening of 'The Hero.' But it was also because of this that there were many signs of competition. After all, Adriaan had said last time that he was only optimistic about Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yimou in China. Moreover, Feng Xiaogang was slightly more local, which meant that Old Strategist could be more international.
In this case, although the two sides were close, they still had to do it for their own interests. Even so, at present, only Huayi understood the situation in North America better. Previously, when 'Big Shot' was released, they had people follow it all the way.
"I agree with Mr. Kewell. I think Universal's distribution ability is trustworthy." Wang Zhongjun nodded with certainty.
In that case, Zhang Er Zhang didn't have much to say. Zhang Weiping believed that Huayi wouldn't tear him down at this time. There hadn't been a single Chinese movie that could be distributed in North America for a few years. It was one thing for the domestic market, but another for the international market.
After talking for a while about the various details of 'The Hero' that needed to be paid attention to, as well as North America's views on foreign movies, and so on, Adriaan said goodbye. However, when he came over, he took the same car as Ivanka and Gao Yuanyuan, but when he went back, he took the Wang brothers' car.
On the way back, Adriaan, who was sitting side by side with Wang Zhongjun, said, "China's entertainment market isn't fully formed yet. Whoever acts early and accurately will be able to get a big piece of the pie in this market."
"That's right, but …" Wang Zhongjun pushed his glasses up. "With great profits comes great risks, right?"
"Yes." Adriaan expressed his affirmation, but his expression didn't change. "So, it's better to change your way of thinking and shape this market, instead of just getting a piece of the pie."
Wang Zhongjun suddenly raised his eyebrows. Wang Zhonglei, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, also glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
"This — I'm afraid it's not that easy." Wang Zhongjun smiled and squinted his eyes. "This requires a lot of strength and experience."
"Strength can be slowly accumulated, as long as you seize the opportunity. AC Media was able to develop to this point in a short period of time because we seized every opportunity in the past ten years." Adriaan remained calm. "As for experience, I think we can complement each other, right?"
"I didn't expect Mr. Kewell to think so highly of Huayi." Wang Zhongjun laughed.
"To be honest, I don't have much ability in business, except for one thing. I've always had a good eye. Every long-term investment I make can reap great returns, such as Apple, Google, and Baidu." Adriaan smiled and looked straight into his eyes. "I do think highly of Huayi. Mr. Wang, I know China very well. I'm not Murdoch, and I've never thought about controlling the media here. Even if you're willing, the government won't agree. I need partners, partners whose influence can radiate throughout China, and in the future, all of Asia! For this, I don't mind making some early investments, even if I may cultivate competitors in the future. Please don't doubt my sincerity. "
After pausing for a few seconds, Adriaan looked out the window. "Look, I helped you release 'Big Shot' in North America, and you guys helped me promote the casting of Zhang Qiu in the Harry Potter series in China. In the future, you might even help to synchronize the release of this series in China. This is a good start."
Liu Yifei was now quite well-known in China. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", which was released at the beginning of this year, quickly became popular in the mainland. So, the casting of the Asian role of Harry's first love received a lot of attention with a little hype. She grew up in China, and her mother was a well-known dancer. She became a British citizen two years ago, and she was cute and beautiful. These qualities were very attractive to Chinese people who longed for recognition.
She had been keeping a low profile before, and almost no one paid attention to the girls who took the opportunity to hype up. So, the surprise caused by the public was quite big. Not only did all kinds of media scramble to report on it, but the Internet was also noisy. There were even fans who created an official website.
In this regard, Huayi helped a lot behind the scenes. Although the hype was sometimes very immature, overall, it was done well. The official website was also promoted by them. When Adriaan transmitted the information to them, although he didn't say it explicitly, they still understood the meaning. From this point of view, it seemed that Huayi was indeed a very good partner.
Following Adriaan's words, silence fell in the car. After a long while, Wang Zhongjun, who seemed to be thinking, spoke again. "I have a very strange feeling, Mr. Kewell, why … do I feel like I'm talking business with a Chinese man?"
Adriaan laughed. "I'm very honored to hear that, Mr. Wang."
