Zhang Yimou, one of the top three domestic directors, has naturally received invitations from others.
"You mean you have a friend who wants to be in this business, and then he finds you and plans to set up a film company and then invest in your movies?"
By this time, Zhang Yimou had returned to Hengdian after the Spring Festival and continued to participate in the filming of the movie "Eternal Night" as a temporary worker.
As for why Zhang Yimou is called a temporary worker, it is because he does a lot of work, but he receives very little salary, and he must be held responsible if something goes wrong.
If the movie "Eternal Night" really hits the market, many people will definitely say this: Wu Jianye's previous films were so successful, so I came to see you this time.
You were the art director of this movie, but as a result, the movie was not made well.
Look, what you said is so cute. There is no doubt that if such a problem really arises, someone will definitely say this.
This is not a temporary job, what is it?
After Zhang Yimou returned to the crew, he told Wu Jianye about an incident he had encountered before.
Two years ago, when Zhang Yimou attended a party, he met a friend. At that time, that friend was just the manager of the China Commercial Department of Siemens. The two parties did not have much communication, just because the friend's wife was a fan of Gong Li.
, so even the relationship between the two is familiar.
Later, this friend felt that working for others was meaningless, so he and his friends pooled together 400,000 yuan to start a business. The first business was the food business for airlines. To put it bluntly, they were supplying lunch boxes to airplanes.
Don't underestimate this kind of business. Without certain connections, it is almost impossible to do this kind of business.
However, Zhang Yimou's friend was still not satisfied with the status quo, so he returned to his old business and started a pharmaceutical business. In the past two years, he took a fancy to the domestic real estate industry, so he established a real estate company in Yanjing.
As his net worth increased and the film industry boomed, this friend set his sights on the film industry again.
If he wanted to enter this industry, he alone would not be able to do it, so he thought of Zhang Yimou, who had always had a good relationship with him in the past few years. During the Chinese New Year this year, he specially found Zhang Yimou and wanted to draw Zhang Yimou to set up a movie together.
company!
The friend Zhang Yimou mentioned was Zhang Weiping, who fell in love with and killed Zhang Yimou in the next thirty years.
In fact, in another time and space, the cooperation between Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou would not begin until 1996, when Zhang Yimou filmed "If You Have Something to Say".
At that time, Zhang Yimou was filming "If You Have Something to Say", but during the preparation stage, the investors suddenly were not optimistic about the movie, so they withdrew their investment. This made Zhang Yimou very uncomfortable and thought that the movie would probably become a pornographic film.
.
At that time, Zhang Weiping found Zhang Yimou and asked about the situation.
After learning about Zhang Yimou's situation, he directly asked Zhang Yimou how much money he still had left.
Zhang Yimou said: 26 million!
The later story was even simpler. Zhang Weiping was already a billionaire at that time, and he had always wanted to enter the film industry, so he told Zhang Yimou not to worry, it was only 26 million, give me two days
, I will invest in you.
Zhang Weiping's generosity made Zhang Yimou overjoyed. Then, as Zhang Weiping said, in less than two days, Zhang Weiping collected the 26 million needed for "If You Have Something to Say".
The movie was successfully launched and released!
But it is a pity that this excellent movie only made Zhang Weiping 8 million yuan in profit and a loss of 16 million yuan after it was released!
The honest Zhang Yimou felt sorry for Zhang Weiping. He was too embarrassed to go see Zhang Weiping at that time, but Zhang Weiping was also very generous at that time and said: Isn't it just 18 million? How big is it? Brother, I believe in your ability.
Then the two parties began a honeymoon-like cooperation. In 1997, Zhang Weiping invested 10 million to establish New Picture, with Zhang Weiping as the chairman and Zhang Yimou as the art director.
At that time, Zhang Yimou, who had already introduced Zhang Weiping as his confidant, did not sign the contract. Later, the two contributed to the audience many movies such as "No One Can Be Less", "My Father and Mother", "Happy Time", etc., and then started to develop domestic films.
In the blockbuster era of movies, "Hero" made Zhang Weiping a lot of money.
After learning that Zhang Weiping was the investor in Zhang Yimou, Wu Jianye thought for a moment and asked, "What do you think?"
Zhang Yimou showed a hint of embarrassment, and when it fell into Wu Jianye's eyes, he knew what Zhang Yimou was thinking, and he must be tempted.
To say that the most successful director in China right now is definitely Wu Jianye.
But even if Zhang Yimou no longer has the heart to compete, he definitely wants to prove himself. Now Zhang Yimou's movies are basically funded by Tangting Culture.
Now some people are saying that the reason why Zhang Yimou is successful now is because of Wu Jianye's help, and why does Wu Jianye help Zhang Yimou?
It's just because they were classmates at first, and Wu Jianye himself must have been very confident, and he didn't worry at all that they would catch up with him.
Although Zhang Yimou is taciturn and not as proud as Chen Kaige, he must be proud of himself deep down.
So in the past two years, he has been hoping to get rid of Wu Jianye's shadow and prove himself.
Well now, Zhang Weiping found Zhang Yimou, and the two hit it off.
"You don't have to worry about what I think. If you have an idea, go ahead and give it a try. I'll give you a piece of advice, don't just make movies!"
Wu Jianye was not unhappy with Zhang Yimou's idea. First of all, as a friend, Wu Jianye had no reason to object to this matter. After all, in Zhang Yimou's view at this time, cooperation with Zhang Weiping might be a better way to prove himself.
Secondly, sometimes, some people only understand the preciousness of what they have after experiencing failure and being deceived.
Although the cooperation between Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping was a honeymoon in the early stage, after the filming of "Hero" was completed, the honeymoon time for the two of them had basically arrived, otherwise Zhang Weiping would not have intentionally left some evidence about Zhang Yimou at that time.
.
Otherwise, who do you think broke the news that Zhang Yimou was later revealed to be married and having children...
Another point is that at this time, Zhang Yimou's movies tended to be more in the field of literary films. Before the domestic film market was really established, the box office of this type of movies was really poor. Except for Zhang Yimou,
No one else has succeeded.
Seeing that Wu Jianye had no objection, Zhang Yimou finally breathed a sigh of relief, although he wanted to prove that he could become the best director in the country without Wu Jianye's help.
But this is not a quarrel between friends, it is like a child growing up and trying his best to prove to those around him that he is mature.
Zhang Yimou now has this idea.
"But we have agreed that although I have left Tangting Culture, Fengge Cinema will still release the movies I make in the future!"
Naturally, there is no need to say those pretentious words about the relationship between the two.
Wu Jianye laughed and said, "That's impossible to say!"
Although it was decided to jointly set up a film company with Zhang Weiping, Zhang Yimou still had to stay in "Eternal Night" until the filming was over before leaving.
So the next day, Zhang Yimou still showed up at the filming scene.
Wu Jianye originally thought that Zhang Yimou's matter would be over like this, but he did not expect that after learning about Zhang Yimou's decision, Zhang Weiping also flew to Hengdian.
Although he wants to cooperate with Zhang Yimou to establish a film company, Zhang Weiping also knows that the most prestigious and powerful person in the domestic film industry today must be Wu Jianye.
Now that he had Zhang Yimou as an intermediary, he naturally wanted to have more contact with Wu Jianye.
When Zhang Weiping came to Hengdian Film and Television City and saw the situation here, he was very shocked. He had talked with Zhang Yimou and knew that there was investment from Tangting Culture in Hengdian Film and Television City. Although the investment was not large, even so,
Now when I look at the layout of Hengdian World Studios, I know that it is not something I can accept.
"I'm sorry, there is filming going on inside right now. Unrelated people are not allowed in!"
When Zhang Weiping wanted to walk into Liangren County, he was stopped by the security guards outside.
"I am Director Zhang's friend, so I don't count as an outsider!" Zhang Weiping said with a smile without getting angry.
The security guard said expressionlessly: "I'm sorry, Director Wu has told me that no one without a work permit is allowed to enter the shooting scene. If you are a friend of Director Zhang, you can call him first and Director Zhang will pick you up!"
"
Zhang Weiping was slightly startled. He originally thought that if he reported Zhang Yimou's name, he would be able to go in, but he didn't expect that the other party would still be so determined.
"Okay, let me call Zhang Yimou first!" The expression on his face had already turned unpleasant, but Zhang Weiping still held it back.
No matter what, this is Wu Jianye's crew, so they should be given some face.
Then Zhang Weiping dialed Zhang Yimou's phone number.
After about twenty minutes, Zhang Yimou drove a golf cart to the gate of the capital.
"Old Zhang!" Zhang Weiping waved his hand to Zhang Yimou.
Zhang Yimou drove the car next to Zhang Weiping and said with a smile: "Didn't you say we would arrive in the afternoon?"
Apparently, Zhang Weiping informed Zhang Yimou in advance when he came to Hengdian this time.
"Aren't you anxious to see what Director Wu is filming? Let's go in!" After saying this, Zhang Weiping sat on the golf cart in a hurry, glanced at the security guard who had just stopped him, and said nothing.
, patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder and said: "Let's go!"
Zhang Yimou took Zhang Weiping into the capital without much thought.
When they arrived at the scene, Zhang Yimou parked his car on the side of the shooting scene and said with a smile: "We're here, come down!"
However, after Zhang Yimou finished speaking, he did not get a response from Zhang Weiping. Zhang Yimou glanced at Zhang Weiping in confusion and found that Zhang Weiping's eyes were looking directly in one direction of the shooting scene.
Then Zhang Yimou understood and smiled. Many people here have seen this scene in the past two days. He smiled and said: "Don't be surprised, these are the four spirits that will appear in Lao Wu's movie!"
It turns out that at this time, the "Four Spirits" model made by Tangting Special Effects has been shipped to the capital. After nearly a year of production, Tangting Special Effects made the "Four Spirits" model lifelike. Coupled with their huge bodies, it is really
It surprised many people.
"This is so spectacular!" Zhang Weiping couldn't help but admire.
After saying that, I picked up the camera hanging around my neck and wanted to take a picture.
"Wait!" Zhang Yimou quickly stopped Zhang Weiping's movement, and Zhang Weiping looked at Zhang Yimou with some confusion.
"Lao Wu's crew has regulations. No one is allowed to take pictures of these models except the crew's photographers!" Zhang Yimou explained.
In order to maintain a sense of mystery, when the ‘Si Ling’ was transported to Hengdian, Wu Jianye hired Maplewood security guards to closely guard it, and no one was allowed to take pictures.
"I just took a few pictures for myself as a souvenir, and I will definitely not forget the rumor!" Zhang Weiping said.
Zhang Yimou smiled awkwardly and said: "This is really not possible. Someone wanted to take a few pictures secretly before, but Lao Wu found out and scolded him to the point of being autistic. If others hadn't asked for mercy, Lao Wu would have fired that person from the crew.
Got it!"
Zhang Weiping glanced at Zhang Yimou, then smiled and said: "It's me who's rude, it's me who's rude!"
After saying that, he put down the camera, walked off the golf cart, and said: "Then let's go see Director Wu now. I've heard of Director Wu's name a long time ago. It's a bit strange to see Director Wu today."
excited!"
The awkward smile on Zhang Yimou's face became even more intense, and he said: "Not yet, Lao Wu is currently filming, and no outsiders can see him. When we have lunch later, we can see Lao Wu!"
Zhang Weiping couldn't help but said: "Director Wu's arrogance is quite big!"
Zhang Yimou didn’t think much about it and said with a smile: “When Lao Wu makes movies, he always looks like this.” Then Zhang Yimou explained: “In fact, every director does not want to be photographed by other people when filming his own works.
bothering!"
Zhang Weiping smiled and said: "So that's it, then let's wait for a while."
After saying that, Zhang Weiping just found a place to do it.
At this time, Zhang Yimou was not needed during the filming of the movie, so Zhang Yimou sat next to Zhang Weiping.
"Lao Zhang, I'm going to do something big this time. When the time comes, I will just provide the money and you will make the movie. I guarantee that you will become a more successful director than Director Wu!" Zhang Weiping said.
Naturally, Zhang Yimou also thought about this, what kind of director likes the most, and what kind of investor does he like best who just takes money and doesn't care about the filming?
"Thank you Weiping!" Zhang Yimou said seriously.
"Haha, who among us is following who? As long as it is what you want to do, I will support it. I have always thought that you are the best director in China!" Zhang Weiping continued.
Zhang Yimou chuckled. He would have thought so if it weren't for Wu Jianye...
It was not until noon, when the crew took a break for lunch, that Zhang Yimou brought Zhang Weiping to Wu Jianye.
"Old Wu, this is the Zhang Weiping I told you about, my good buddy!" In order to highlight Zhang Weiping's identity, Zhang Yimou specially emphasized that this is my good buddy!