Rebirth: My 80s

Chapter 1192 Finalized

Regarding "A Chinese Odyssey", when Li Jiankun first watched it, he was also confused. At that time, he didn't even know that movies could be shot like this. It was like a piece of cake.

So much so that when he watched the first part of "A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Pandora's Box", he could hardly finish it and complained countless times in his mind: Bad movie, bad movie, bad movie...

The magical thing happened after I forced my eyes to finish watching it.

I thought it was a spoof comedy, but it turned out to be a poignant love story.

There are many lines and many seemingly nonsensical plots in it, but when you think about it again, you will find that there is a whole different world inside.

For example, "Look, that person looks like a dog" reflects the sadness of a man. When he was at his most powerless age, he met the woman he wanted to protect the most. In order to protect the person he loves, the man gradually becomes the person he dislikes the most.

The nagging Tang Monk is very much like our parents when we were young. We used to be rebellious and annoyed with them, but when we grow up, we are grateful for their teachings.

Everyone has pains of growing up. After being hurt, we will consciously or unconsciously protect ourselves and guard against others, and finally we can no longer rely on a person flawlessly and thoroughly as before. The Moonlight Box is like the original dream, and the Supreme Treasure placed his hopes on the Moonlight Box. Later, he found that the Moonlight Box was just a mirage. Only by working hard step by step to become Sun Wukong can he compete with the Bull Demon King and save Zixia.

Perhaps, each of us will experience such a scene, "If I put on the tight hoop, I can't love you, and if I take off the tight hoop, I can't save you." It's difficult to have both in the world, and you have to make a choice.

When you have done your best to get everything you wanted to give her, you find that she has turned around and left, and you have also forgotten her; when you find that you are qualified to love someone, you find that your love has been lost on the road of struggle.

We feel for the helplessness of Supreme Treasure, but we don’t realize that we are also Supreme Treasure.

Such an ironic story seems to record our journey of struggle.

This is probably why it has become a classic and why people like it.

However, what many people don’t know is that when "A Chinese Odyssey" was first released, it was not well received and was criticized by people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. This blockbuster production, which cost 60 million yuan, did not even make back its costs at the box office, so much so that Zhou Xingchi, who was both the leading actor and one of the investors, had his newly established film and television company go bankrupt.

In his previous life, "A Chinese Odyssey" was released in 1994. Li Jiankun still remembers that when he and his friends went to see it, there were no more than ten people in the entire theater, and after the movie, several people even asked for a refund.

It is said that during the filming of the movie, the extras would rather go on strike than film because the script was so bad.

Zhou Xingchi took 800,000 yuan and went to Zhao Jiping to compose the music. After reading the script, the latter was so excited that he couldn't stand Zhou Xingchi's constant nagging. Zhao Jiping finally said, "I can compose the music, but I have a request. Don't put my name in the ending credits. I'm afraid it will ruin my reputation." This is how "Reed Marsh" came about.

Some things may seem crude and boring at first glance, but they are very strong and become more delicious the more you taste them, like old wine.

The reversal happened a year later, when "A Chinese Odyssey" was copied and sent to the Beijing Film Academy due to its poor box office and complete withdrawal from the theaters. The film, which was not favored by the market, was sought after by students. The students even set up a special group to study "A Chinese Odyssey", analyzing the film's circuit techniques, lines and dialogues, etc. With the support of the students, "A Chinese Odyssey" slowly began to become popular and gradually became a big hit.

Many people also tasted the sweetness in it.

So Li Jiankun could fully understand Liu Zhenwei's expression of astonishment after taking a quick look. He said to Zhou Xingchi who was standing beside Liu Zhenwei, "Take a look."

Zhou Xingchi agreed, took a look at Liu Zhenwei, and took the script from him. After reading it, he didn't look up for a long time. He seemed to be sucked into the paper, his eyes were shining, and a sense of excitement that he had met him too late emanated from him.

Master Xing is still Master Xing, some things require talent.

Seeing that his reaction was completely different from Liu Zhenwei's, Li Yunmeng and Zhang Guorong were confused for a moment and couldn't figure out whether this script was good or bad.

“A work of genius!”

After a long while, Zhou Xingchi raised his head, his eyes were frighteningly bright, and he asked excitedly, "Mr. Li, who wrote this script?"

Li Jiankun smiled but didn't answer. Liu Zhenwei looked at Zhou Xingchi in surprise and asked, "Do you think it's good?"

"It can't be better." Zhou Xingchi said firmly.

Liu Zhenwei had a black question mark on his face.

"Xingzai, let me take a look."

Zhang Guorong asked for the script and after reading it, his expression was exactly the same as Liu Zhenwei's.

Li Xiaomei couldn't help it, so she asked for it from him again and looked at it carefully. After a while, she said in astonishment, "Sun Wukong is in love?"

"Tang Seng speaks English, oh no, sings English?"

"This, this, this..."

Li Xiaomei stared with her big watery eyes, feeling that the script was a complete mess.

Zhou Xingchi looked at her and said seriously, "The comedy is just the surface. In fact, this script is very profound. It is amazing that it can combine comedy and philosophy so well."

Li Xiaomei exclaimed, what depth? She couldn't see it at all.

Liu Zhenwei looked at Li Jiankun again and said hesitantly, "Mr. Li, let me talk about something very realistic. Fans of the original novel will not accept this adaptation of Journey to the West, which means overwhelming criticism."

Before Li Jiankun could speak, Zhou Xingchi seemed to be afraid that the script would be rejected, and hurriedly took over the conversation and said, "Ah Wei, I don't agree with this. If it follows the rules, what kind of adaptation is it? Theoretically, the more subversive it is, the more impactful it is. Of course, subversion does not mean messing around. You think it's messing around now, right? You are wrong. This script is full of rich life lessons. I will explain it to you in detail later. Believe me, this script is absolutely a treasure. Although it is difficult to shoot, as long as it is filmed, it may become a classic!"

Liu Zhenwei was more and more surprised. Such a high evaluation?

Zhang Guorong scratched his head and thought, forget it, he would not comment. Anyway, he was reluctant to be the lead actor in this script, and he couldn't act it anyway. Now it seems that this script should have been in Mr. Li's hands for a long time, or at least he knew about it, so he asked Sing Zai to play the male lead.

Li Jiankun said, "How about this, you take the script back and study it. Once you have a conclusion on whether it can be filmed and how to film it, then give me an answer."

Zhou Xingchi said yes and took the script from Li Xiaomei, feeling as if he had found a treasure.

After the three of them said goodbye and left, Li Xiaomei pouted and said, "Erguo, where did this script come from? Liu Zhenwei is the screenwriter and Zhou Xingchi is just an actor. Liu Zhenwei's judgment should be more accurate, right? Besides, I can understand the script. I really don't think it's good. I hope it won't be criticized after it's filmed..."

Li Jiankun stood up from the official hat chair, rubbed her little head and said, "You, you don't know anything, you still have a long way to go in this business, will the second brother harm you?"

Li Xiaomei giggled, hugged his arm, and rubbed her head on his arm twice, "That's definitely not the case."

----

The three pieces of news revealed in the Yanyuan Auditorium have spread across the country.

Li Jiankun's remarks on the situation in the Soviet Union and its impact on us gave many people peace of mind. Of course, nothing is absolute, and there are still many people who are worried. News has come that the old man will tour the south during the Spring Festival.

Whether the old man surnamed Feng fell headfirst in the Yanyuan Auditorium that day was true or not, no one knew. Just three days later, the old man surnamed Feng published another apology letter in the newspaper. This time, the words were full of sincerity, and people had to forgive him after reading it no matter what.

Li Jiankun did not bother him again.

However, Lao Gang was used to being in a bad mood and was always complaining about everything. He had offended many people, but some people were unwilling to let him go. His eldest son was taken away for investigation, and it was found that his work style was quite problematic. Relying on his position, accepting bribes had become a common occurrence. He had to suffer the consequences in the future.

His whole family's reputation was ruined. It is unlikely that any media will interview Mr. Feng or use his articles in the future, so he will not be able to make money.

The worst sufferer was Wang Guozhen.

As the old saying goes, writers look down on each other. There are many people in the circle who don't like Wang Guozhen and his poetry. When they see such a good opportunity, they are like a group of good guys, attacking him.

For a time, there was an overwhelming outcry of condemnation.

There are many people who have pointed out with reason and evidence that Wang Guozhen's so-called poetry is actually a simpler expression of various wise sayings from thousands of years in the form of rhyme and line breaks.

Not only did Wang Guozhen's reputation plummet, he also became a scum in the literary world.

The ferocity of public opinion was clearly revealed in this incident. Young people threw away Wang Guozhen's poetry collections and were afraid to have one of his poems in their poetry books, for fear of being looked down upon.

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In the past, people had to queue up to buy Wang Guozhen's poetry collection in bookstores, but now no one wants it even if they use it as a table leg.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Li Jiankun anymore.

It's only a few days away from the Spring Festival, and every household is busy preparing for the New Year. The Li family is no exception. They set out for Miyun in the morning to send Chuncao and her sister home for the New Year. Li Jiankun dragged back a black goat from a farmer's house. Fugui was sharpening his knife in the yard. He wanted to go back to Kaoshantun for the New Year, so he called back to ask for permission. Uncle Sande asked if he would bring his wife back.

Fugui said not yet.

Then there was a busy tone on the phone.

Rich is very sad, and this black goat is very unfortunate.

There was a knock on the door outside the yard. Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei came again. They had to watch the grand scene of slaughtering sheep. They had never seen it in their lives.

But after watching it with great interest, his face looked bad and he was obviously feeling unwell.

Li Jiankun brought them to the main hall of the north house. Li Xiaomei obediently poured two cups of tea, perhaps with the intention of currying favor with him. No matter what, Erguo could not teach her acting skills.

After sitting down, Li Jiankun cast an inquiring look at the two of them.

Zhou Xingchi said, "We have discussed it, shoot!"

Liu Zhenwei continued, "However, it is extremely difficult to make this film well, and we still need Mr. Li's support in all aspects."

Li Jiankun asked with a smile: "For example?"

Liu Zhenwei replied, "First of all, it's about the actors. To be honest, Ah Xing talked about some of the principles contained in the script, which are very abstract. It's hard for ordinary people to understand at first glance. I expect that most actors will think it's a bad script after reading it. So we may not be able to invite good actors just by relying on ourselves. There's also the issue of the filming location. If we want to capture the grandeur of the desert and the smoke in the sky in the script, Hong Kong is out of the question. Ah Xing and I have done some research and the Guanzhong area in the mainland may be more suitable. I'll have to trouble Mr. Li to make some connections. In addition..."

This guy mentioned more than a dozen areas that needed support in one breath.

He thought clearly that if he didn't speak up now, he would have trouble later. Mr. Li might be able to solve the problem that they had to run around for with just one sentence. He had to put more energy into directing the film. Although he was persuaded by Ah Xing, he was still worried. This film was very, very difficult to shoot. If it was not done well, it would become a bad film.

Li Jiankun was not disgusted by this kind of directness. It was really annoying to hide one's difficulties, be too embarrassed to speak up, and be afraid of troubling others, which would lead to various situations later. He smiled and responded one by one: "What actors do you need? Make a list and I will ask someone to invite them. As for the venue, the Guanzhong area is indeed suitable. I will ask someone to arrange it..."

Finally, he asked, "Have you ever thought about how much money it would take to shoot according to the highest standards?"

When making a movie, money is the most important thing.

Li Jiankun didn't want them to worry about this, so he planned to give them the money first, so that they could take the money and do things for others.

According to industry rules, the director can get 10% of the box office revenue. As the male lead, Zhou Xingchi's salary will not be low considering his status.

As for the most important thing, Liu Zhenwei and Zhou Xingchi had of course budgeted it. The former raised his index finger, swallowed his saliva and said, "One hundred million."

Don't blame him for asking for too much.

Mr. Li has already said that we must shoot according to the highest standards.

In addition, Mr. Li is not short of money and has sufficient funds, so many things are easy to handle.

Li Jiankun nodded and said, "I'll give you three hundred million."

Hey!

Even though they knew he was not short of money, Liu Zhenwei and Zhou Xingchi were still shocked.

This is the work of a Hollywood blockbuster.

You know, nowadays in Hong Kong, it is rare for the cost of shooting a movie to exceed 10 million. The "Red Sorghum", which received very good reviews in the mainland a few years ago, only cost one million yuan to shoot.

In the previous life, the filming cost of "A Chinese Odyssey" was 60 million. Because Zhu Yin was replaced by the younger sister for the role of Zixia Fairy, Li Jiankun planned to pay five times the price to make up for it. It would not be unfair to the fans, right?

Liu Zhenwei felt under great pressure again for no apparent reason.

Zhou Xingchi couldn't stop smiling. With so much money, he could use whatever he wanted that many crews dared not to use. Moreover, the gimmick of "the Chinese-language film with the largest production investment" alone was better than any advertising.

He is full of expectations for this film.

Beside her, Li Xiaomei lowered her head and said nothing, her eyes a little red and her heart warm.