Chapter 1466
The Agreement
His cameo role was simple. After resting and preparing, he would say some lines to Master Yu Hai and then do the push-hands routine again.
It doesn't take much effort.
After trying it once, Zhang Yuan felt that the old man was obviously using too much force when pushing hands.
Suddenly I remembered that he was also a very competitive person.
Back then, Wu Jingzan instigated a real fight between him and Billy Chow, and the old man actually joined in.
Those who practice martial arts always have a fire in their hearts, and he felt that the old man's fire had not been completely extinguished due to his age.
Even though the play wasn't very good, he couldn't just do whatever he wanted just because it was a cameo role.
He was holding his script, which was actually just a single A4 page.
It looks like it was made up on the spot.
“Keanu,” he called to the “big oaf.”
This person is practicing the movements with a thumping motion, trying to replicate the light and agile jump he just made.
"what's up?"
“I think it’s fine for you to invite me to make a cameo appearance, but this role is too childish.”
"He has no name, no background, no sect introduction, and almost no interaction with the characters in the film."
"Just a brief appearance."
"This..." The older brother wasn't very quick to react to begin with, and he was even more speechless after being asked the question.
It was improvised; the producer thought of him during a chat at a dinner party and asked the screenwriter to write a scene on the spot.
Zhang Yuan felt that even the plays he wrote with his toes were more impressive than this.
"I think it can be changed."
"Why don't we sit down and talk?"
He used the excuse of revising the play to also get closer to the other party.
To be honest, after sitting down and chatting for a short while, Zhang Yuan actually discovered something interesting.
Keanu's current girlfriend is an Asian American of mixed Chinese and Japanese descent named Zhou Jiana.
She has a model's figure, is good-looking, and comes from a wealthy family.
The key point is that her surname is Zhou, and Keanu also said that her family is involved in collecting and running high-end restaurants.
My brother often goes to their restaurant to eat Chinese food.
Zhang Yuan felt that the sound was so familiar.
Upon further inquiry, it turned out that this restaurant and their home were the same ones he had treated Mexican director Guillermo del Toro to when he was in North America.
His girlfriend is Zhou Xinfang's granddaughter.
Zhang Yuan thought about it again and realized why Li Shaohong was able to get in touch with him and get another film role.
The actress who played Grandmother Jia in the somewhat eerie version of "Dream of the Red Chamber" directed by Li Da was Zhou Caiqin.
She is Zhou Xinfang's daughter, and thus Zhou Jiana's aunt.
The old lady is quite famous in Hollywood, and she has appeared in many blockbusters, such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Casino Royale, and Shang-Chi.
Thinking about it this way, he understood that the woman behind him also played a significant role.
Anyway, a bunch of Chinese people are taking advantage of Keanu Reeves, this honest guy, like crazy...
When Zhang Yuan heard that he liked Chinese cuisine, he wasn't sure if he liked General Tso's chicken, but he took the opportunity to invite him to his house for dinner that night.
I finished filming my scenes during the day and notified my family in advance to prepare meals.
In the evening, I led Teacher Yu Hai, Chen Hu, and a group of foreigners to the large courtyard for team building.
Chen Hu was stunned by the house.
Are action stars really that rich...? I want to be one too.
After I finish filming this movie, will I be able to buy a house this big?
Even my brother was given a distorted view of life after watching it.
Keanu isn't a snob or a man who likes luxury homes; otherwise, with his early Hollywood earnings, he could have easily bought a house worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
I wasn't particularly interested in the house itself, but I was quite interested in his large, combined Chinese and Western exercise room, which had a wooden dummy and fitness equipment.
"Teacher, I haven't let our Chinese people down, have I?" Zhang Yuan said to Yu Hai, glancing at the foreigner's curious and curious expression.
"Not bad." The old man looked around and then touched the wooden dummy.
"Everything is complete, but it's 90% new. I told you you don't practice regularly."
"I'm too busy. I'll definitely practice when I have time, but the key is that I don't have a good teacher to teach me."
"Come visit often when you have time, and I guarantee I'll practice regularly."
The old man nodded and then thought about it for a moment.
This house isn't something you can afford just by practicing your skills diligently.
Nowadays, people are too busy making money to pass on martial arts.
It's both a pity and a helpless situation.
Looking at the excited foreigner, Keanu not only practiced his stance in front of the wooden dummy quite well, but his stance was also very solid.
When filming "The Matrix," this actor was already over 30, but he started from scratch, stretching his legs, practicing horse stance, and learning weaponry. He did all the actual stunts himself whenever possible.
This gives the Yuen Clan the illusion that all Hollywood actors are so professional.
Later, after working with other production teams, I discovered that Keanu was like that.
Others are also professional, but none of them put in this much effort.
"It's a shame that our kung fu skills will end up being learned by foreigners," Yu Hai said with his hands behind his back, looking worried.
"It's not that bad, there are still quite a few capable people." Zhang Yuan said reassuringly, but that wasn't what he really thought.
It's almost lost its lineage.
As for teaching foreigners to learn... Zhang Yuan glanced at Chen Hu, who was chatting and laughing with Keanu and occasionally pointing out his movements.
Foreigners have been learning this for a long time!
Zhang Yuan's assessment of the Yuan family team and Yuan Hepin is that they have both merits and demerits.
The Yuan family pioneered the era of Chinese martial arts films and defined many principles of kung fu movie production.
But after Li Lianjie rejected the offer for "The Matrix" back then, he took the job with the intention of breaking into Hollywood.
The high salary is a given, but you'll first need to undergo six months of martial arts training and rehearsals, which will be recorded and modeled by foreigners.
The copyrights belong to foreigners, and they are permanent.
In addition, there were Yuan Bing's Yuan Family Team and Cheng Xiaodong's Chen Family Team, who went to Hollywood around the same time.
These three top-tier domestic action choreography teams sold all the filming techniques of Chinese kung fu films to the Americans.
The Matrix was filmed in 97, and Hollywood action movies made a significant leap forward after 00.
Among them, the Yuen Clan and Chen Hu have contributed the most to Hollywood.
what's the result?
After Hollywood made progress, it wasn't long before Chen Hu and Yuan Hepin discovered that Hollywood wasn't as enthusiastic about Chinese action choreography teams anymore, so they returned to China to make films.
If you act as their teacher, and they learn everything, then they won't need you anymore.
After state-owned enterprises learn this skill, they will no longer use "foreign experts".
As a result, Chen Hu complained that it's not easy to do business abroad now, but that's all your own fault.
Actually, it wasn't just Hollywood that learned from this; there was another factor: action movies were no longer popular in Hollywood.
Since the release of Spider-Man 1 in 02, special effects blockbusters and action movies have been competing on equal footing.
After James Cameron's "Avatar" was released in 09, bringing about an audiovisual and technological revolution, action movies cooled down considerably.
Moreover, it wasn't just the film market; the global gaming market also entered the era of "blockbuster games" after 05 and 06, following the release of the XBOX360 and PS3.
In particular, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare sparked a craze for cinematic-quality games, and the entire market began to embrace visually stunning special effects and grand narratives.
Small, niche films and games are gradually declining in popularity.
More than a decade after this trend began, audiences grew tired of special effects blockbusters and movie-quality games. The development of movie special effects and game graphics also encountered a bottleneck, leading to reflections on whether all these years had been somewhat "fake, grandiose, and empty."
It can be said that for more than a decade, from 06 to 18, the world was lost in the illusion that as long as the special effects were good, everything else could be a pile of rubbish and still make a lot of money.
Eighteen years later, this high-investment model became unsustainable, and film and game special effects began to decline.
Hardware sellers, on the other hand, are having a blast, making a fortune over the years.
"Action scenes are necessary, but they must also fit the plot logic."
At dinner time, Zhang Yuan chatted with Keanu while eating.
He speaks good English, and communication is quite smooth.
"For example, the roles you asked me to play as a cameo."
"Since he knows kung fu, why does he seem so out of place and abrupt in the whole movie?" "Because he has no connection to the characters."
Keanu was already a little dizzy after a few glasses of liquor.
This play is purely based on Western thinking. The villain is actually a metaphor for the force that seduces the protagonist to abandon his humanity and fall into darkness, giving it a Western religious flavor.
Chinese people don't like watching this kind of thing, nor do they understand it.
The only reason we do bad things here is for money and power.
People like the clown are mentally ill and do nothing but evil; they are disliked and misunderstood by the Chinese people.
Show a clown to a farmer, and he's guaranteed to say something.
"With his condition, he could be cured by simply hanging up a plow and pulling ten acres of land."
They are all products of being detached from productive labor.
"Viewers will not understand the character's behavior logic and will find it inexplicable."
"So I suggest that my cameo role be changed."
"Change his character to a villainous junior disciple."
"Going to the master craftsman's house is not only to have a fight, but also to warn him that a dark force is approaching him."
"This not only explains why the villains are so powerful, but also creates a closed loop in the relationships between the protagonist, the protagonist's master, and the villains."
"Otherwise, if the villains come to Hong Kong out of nowhere with unclear identities, the audience will have no sense of identification."
"And this design doesn't require changing the script; just adding a few lines of dialogue and a set of shots is enough."
Zhang Yuan confidently shared his thoughts.
Keanu: "Huh?"
Zhang Yuan: ...
The foreigner drank it and became a little dizzy.
Zhang Yuan even wanted to give him some soy milk to sober him up.
He didn't understand, but Chen Hu, the male lead, seemed to get it.
The next morning, Keanu called him.
“BRO, Chen Hu told me what you were thinking last night.”
"I think it's great, you're a genius."
"If you have time today, come here and add another one."
Once we arrived on location, the reshoots were completed in about an hour.
"I should treat you to a big meal, after all, you acted in my film." The older brother remembered that he hadn't received any payment for his role.
"It's okay. If you want to treat me, I'll be going to North America later, see you then."
"No problem, I'll treat you to the best restaurant."
"By the way," the older man asked candidly, "Do you have any other good ideas for this film?"
"Anything is fine."
Zhang Yuan felt he should say less, lest he say too much and be labeled a producer or something, which would be embarrassing.
"My only comment is that this is your first time directing."
Whether it succeeds or not is not actually important.
"Just do it well."
"I have no further thoughts."
"Of course, if you have any ideas or need help with other projects in the future, we can collaborate."
"Actually, I am also an investor, especially interested in high-quality films."
"I think there are too many blockbuster movies now. We need some excellent, real action movies."
“Yeah.” The iconic voice responded, “You’re right, special effects should be combined with live-action footage, not just full special effects.”
Keanu is capable and willing to train, so of course he's happy to film the actual event.
Just like Stallone and Schwarzenegger, and Chenlong.
Someone like Robert Downey Jr., whose body has long been ravaged by alcohol, sex, and drugs, is naturally happy to have special effects applied.
After saying goodbye to him, he also had things to do.
I rushed to the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Beijing to attend the press conference for "Fast & Furious 5".
The previous film did well at the domestic box office, so this time, apart from Vin Diesel who was filming a movie, all the other main cast members were present.
They still did some fancy tricks involving speaking Chinese and wearing Hanfu.
"The Fast and the Furious franchise has reached its fifth installment. Will this be the final chapter of the series?"
A reporter stood up and asked.
"Don't curse me..." Zhang Yuan thought to himself, "I'm still counting on this knife-snatching game."
"No, this is not the end, but a new beginning."
"I assure you all, this movie will redefine the action movie genre of car chase films."
"Its brilliance will far exceed everyone's imagination."
Zhang Yuan confidently answered on behalf of the director.
Are you worried about the box office?
"Although you have always been synonymous with high box office, the box office of your recent film 'The Piano in a Factory' was not ideal."
In Lei Jun's words, this guy is definitely here to cause trouble!
Which pot does not open which pot.
“I’m not worried at all, because art films and commercial films are inherently different.”
"I make art films to hone my acting skills, and I don't think 'The Piano in a Factory' did poorly at the box office."
"This low-budget film did not lose money; in fact, it had a higher return on investment than many big-budget films."
After the press conference ended, he instructed Brother Long to keep an eye on the reporter who asked the question to see if someone was deliberately trying to cause trouble.
"I saw someone give money." Brother Long ran back a moment later.
Should we investigate further?
"No need," Zhang Yuan waved his hand.
As long as we know it was intentional, that's enough.
As for who did it, it was just a few people.
It's not just Yao Cheng and those around him, including Lu Chuan, but other artists with whom he has conflicts.
"These petty tricks won't bring me down."
"It's like an ant trying to shake a tree."
"These people have such a narrow vision. They can't even leave the country. They have to rely on flattering foreigners to gain fame."
Brother Long glanced at his boss.
That's because other artists treat foreigners like grandsons.
My boss is practically treating foreigners like dirt.
These are the true sons of China.
"Hello." Zhang Yuan ignored those old killers and took out his vibrating phone to answer the call.
Hello, Brother Zhang Yuan.
"We're about the same age, just call me by my name."
When Zhang Yuan received the call, he was overjoyed, especially after hearing the other party's attitude.
It was supplied to him by the greenhouse.
How have you been lately?
"How about working at Sohu?"
"Uh...it's alright."
That's not good.
Zhang Yuan thought to himself, "If you're not good, then I'm too good!" (End of Chapter)