, "The Number One Under Heaven," features a star-studded cast.

After Nanhua Film & Television and Asia Pacific Audio & Video reached a cooperation agreement, they began to prepare for the pre-production work of "The World's Number One".

The first issue is copyright.

Zhou Yan authorized the film and television adaptation rights to [Nanhua Film and Television] and Asia Pacific Film and Television, and received an adaptation fee.

Secondly, the investment amount, producer, supervisor, director, and actors all need to be determined.

After discussions with Asia Pacific Film & Television, Nanhua Film & Television decided to invest a total of 2500 million RMB.

Nanhua Film & Television and Asia Pacific Audio & Video each invested 1000 million yuan, while Beijing Film Studio invested 500 million yuan and was responsible for post-production and other work.

Everyone first prepared for the relevant matters of "The World's Number One", and then started filming "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" after the filming of "The World's Number One" was completed.

In December, Zhou Yan flew to Hong Kong again and found "Wang Jing".

Zhou Yan hopes that Wang Jing can take on the role in the TV series "The World's Number One".

"The World's Number One" is Zhou Yan's first book and also the first work of [Nanhua Film and Television].

Zhou Yan valued it highly.

Therefore, he personally went to invite Wang Jing.

After reading the script, Wang Jing readily agreed.

In addition to Wang Jing, Zhou Yan also approached Zhang Weijian, hoping that he could play the role of "Cheng Shifei".

Zhang Weijian has become very popular in recent years.

It's no exaggeration to say that it guarantees high viewership ratings.

Zhang Weijian has had a string of hit dramas in recent years, from "Young Fang Shiyu" to "The Duke of Mount Deer".

In addition, there are works such as "Clever Little Master" and "Young Zhang Sanfeng" in which he collaborated with Li Binbin.

After receiving Zhou Yan's invitation, Zhang Weijian agreed without much thought.

He had read "The World's Number One" and knew Zhou Yan.

Given the large investment, and the fact that it was produced by Asia Pacific Film & Television, there was no reason to refuse.

Asia Pacific Audio & Video is the investor in "Young Zhang Sanfeng," a very powerful company.

……

As soon as [Nanhua Film & Television] announced the filming of "The World's Number One", Xu Li and Fang Mengya's phones suddenly became very busy.

Some were asking about roles.

Some people want a role.

Zhou Yan received the same call; Jia Jingwen, Li Binbin, Gao Yuanyuan, and others all called.

As the first TV series produced by [Nanhua Film and Television], they all wanted to participate in it.

Zhou Yan's classmates, Dong Xuan, Guan Yue, and Cui Peng, also came over to sound out his intentions.

Even Zhou Yan's senior wanted a piece of the pie.

Yao Chen brought Ling Xiaosu over to ask if there were any suitable roles available.

Zhou Yan thought of two supporting roles and asked them if they would be willing to play them.

The two of them naturally wouldn't refuse.

[Nanhua Film & Television] has reached out to media friends to announce the filming of "The World's Number One" and stated that open auditions will be held, welcoming all actors to participate.

As the first novel by [Nan Hua], it has garnered a great deal of attention.

Everyone wanted to know whether Nan Hua's books could become as popular as Jin Yong's works.

So when the news came out, many people were tempted.

Zhou Yan personally called Li Yapeng, hoping that he could play the role of "Duan Tianya".

Unfortunately, Li Yapeng had already agreed to play the role of Guo Jing in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" with Zhang Jizhong, so he had to miss out on the role.

Zhou Yan felt it was a great pity.

"What's wrong?" Fan Binbin has already been confirmed to play the role of Shangguan Haitang, so he is reading a book and writing a character biography.

As the first TV series invested in by [Nanhua Film & Television], she must give a good performance.

"Li Yapeng's schedule is unavailable," Zhou Yan said, looking at Fan Binbin.

"I do have someone in mind, but I don't know if they're suitable," Fan Binbin said hesitantly.

"Who is it?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.

"Huang Haibing," Fan Binbin said.

"I worked with him on 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' and I felt that his acting skills and style were very good."

"Huang Haibing?" Zhou Yan muttered, "We can give it a try."

"Okay, I'll have my assistant inform him."

As [Nanhua Film & Television] has developed, Zhou Yan, Fan Binbin, and Jia Jingwen have all been assigned assistants.

Fan Binbin and Jia Jingwen were also provided with a nanny car and a driver.

This year, [Nanhua Film & Television] has made a lot of money, with Fan Binbin, Jia Jingwen, and Zhou Yan all having commercial endorsements.

Fan Binbin earned the most, followed by Jia Jingwen, and Zhou Yan earned the least.

Zhou Yan only accepted two commercial endorsements.

Resumes poured in like snowflakes, all wanting to star in "The World's Number One".

There were many familiar faces, but even more unfamiliar ones.

Zhou Yan even saw photos of Huang Xiaoming, Jia Nailiang, Du Chun, and others.

They were all very green and inexperienced.

The school leaders approached Zhou Yan, expressing their hope that he would make more use of students from the Beijing Film Academy.

Help each other.

Zhou Yan did not refuse.

If I can't get a lead role, a supporting role will do.

After all, there are many supporting characters in "The World's Number One".

After more than ten days of preliminary selection, Zhou Yan, Fan Binbin, and Fang Mengya eliminated most of the candidates.

Then I called them one by one to inform them of the audition on January 12th.

The Spring Festival in 2001 was earlier than usual, falling on January 24th.

They want to finalize the roles before the Lunar New Year.

Because there were too many applicants, the auditions were held over three days, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In recent years, more and more Hong Kong and Taiwan artists have come to the mainland to develop their careers.

After reading the script, Wang Jing also recommended several people.

Zhou Yan naturally did not refuse; he only considered compatibility, not region.

On the day of the audition, Zhou Yan, Wang Jing, Fang Mengya, and Mr. Li from Asia Pacific Audio-Visual served as interviewers.

Mr. Li is also the producer of this drama, with Xu Li serving as the executive producer.

There were many people auditioning, but only a few roles.

Therefore, a large number of people need to be screened out.

Jia Nailiang and Xiaoming were eliminated because they tried to look cool.

Du Chun has no sense of propriety. He wants to play Gui Hai Yi Dao and is competing with Zhou Yan for the role. If we don't criticize him, who will?

Senior student Yan Danchen also came to join in the fun, wanting to play "Shangguan Haitang", but she was also rejected.

Zhou Yan did not have Cui Peng, Yang Yang, and Gao Yuan audition; instead, she directly prepared roles for them.

Although they are supporting characters, they are all freshmen.

Consider it a period of preparation.

Cui Peng plays the master "Luo Jusheng", who practices the Shaolin Vajra Finger technique.

Yang Yang plays Pi Xiaotian, a master at the beginning and the head of the Eastern Depot.

Gao Yuan plays the Drunken Swordsman, the one who dueled with Cheng Shifei.

In addition, Yao Chen plays "Xiao Xiao", who is the personal maid of Princess Yunluo. Zhou Yan disliked the name "Xiao Nu" and changed it to "Xiao Xiao".

Ling Xiaosu plays Zhang Jinjiu, the world's greatest detective.

After several days of auditions, the final list was finalized.

The four main actors:

Duan Tianya, the secret agent of Tiandi-1, is Huang Haibing.

Zhou Yan, the No. 1 secret agent of the Earth Division, Guihai Yidao.

The top secret agent, Shangguan Haitang, is played by Fan Binbin.

Huang Zi No. 1 Secret Agent Cheng Shifei – Zhang Weijian.

Iron-Blooded Marquis Zhu Wushi – by Teacher Liu Songren.

Li Jianyi, the Director of the Eastern Depot.

Princess Yunluo – Jia Jingwen.

Su Xin – Li Binbin.

Willow catkins drifting in the air – Gao Yuanyuan.

Yukihime Yagyu - Dong Xuan.

Emperor Zhengde – Deng Chao (recommended by Chen Yong).

Wan Sanqian – Teacher Liang Guanhua.

Iron Claw Flying Eagle – Zhang Zijian.

As for the other supporting roles, no auditions were needed; Zhou Yan cast them directly.

For example, the roles of Lu Huanong played by Guan Yue, "Guihai Bailian" (Guo Xiaodong's cameo role), "Gu Santong" (Li Yaoxiang's cameo role), and "Master Liaojie" (You Benchang's role) were all directly decided by Zhou Yan.

……

Wayne Lai and Cheung Wai-kin are very familiar with each other, having collaborated on the TVB version of "Journey to the West".

In recent years, Wayne Lai has been under great financial pressure, so he accepted Cheung Wai-kin's invitation without hesitation.

In 1998, Wayne Lai left TVB and entered the film industry, starring in movies such as "Bio-Zombie" and "The Storm Riders".

However, due to the sluggish film industry and economic pressure, he returned to TVB in 2002 to film television dramas.