Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 215 Turning a Snake into a Dragon
Wu Yuchen doesn't care whether Li Yapeng is a kept man or not, as long as "Swordsman" doesn't affect it.

Six months have passed since last year, and some sets have been built in Xiangshan. Of course, the sets for the film crews that will be shooting are built first. For example, the sets proposed by Zhang Da Hu Zi for "Swordsman" have already been completed.

The sets built in Xiangshan were indeed initially based on Ming and Qing dynasty scenery, as these two dynasties are the most recent in history, and many period dramas choose to be set in these periods. Wu Yuchen himself doesn't film Qing dynasty dramas, but that doesn't mean he's preventing Xiangshan from doing so. In fact, Qing dynasty dramas are still very popular, and preventing them would drive away many production teams.

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yuchen did some calculations. Aside from his own films, Miracle Films' main income did indeed come from television dramas. This was unavoidable; these were the lowest points for Chinese films, but the golden age for television dramas. Many famous domestic actors, such as Chen Daoming and Ning Jing, frequently acted in television series. It wasn't that they didn't want to act in movies, but rather that film production was low, opportunities were scarce, and the profits were minimal.

Although Wu Yuchen has been investing in domestic films every year, the overall economic environment is such that he alone cannot turn things around. The market can only grow stronger once the economy improves.

Of course, cinema chain reform is also a crucial part of this process. Currently, China has not yet lifted the ban on private capital in cinema chains, but that doesn't mean they can't do something. Ostensibly, each cinema chain must be state-owned, but they can initially participate as minority shareholders. After a couple of years when the restrictions are lifted, they can then acquire the high-quality cinema assets they've set their sights on.

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment, then dialed Cai Yinong's number to discuss the matter. During their conversation, Cai Yinong brought up F4 and Huang Xiaoming again:

"When 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' was all the rage a while ago, Huang Xiaoming even wanted to run for Linghu Chong!"

"He wants to play Linghu Chong?"

"That's right! But I stopped him. I called Producer Zhang and asked. Filming 'Swordsman' will take five or six months. F4 is going to have an Asian tour for the rest of the year. How can we let him stay on set for that long?"

Wu Yuchen nodded in agreement. He started his company and made F4 famous to make money, not to be Huang Xiaoming's babysitter. Besides, Teacher Wu has been good enough to you. There are still dramas like "Hotelier" and "Full House" waiting for you. You can indulge your idol drama addiction to your heart's content.

If you really want to film period dramas, we'll make "The Emperor of Han Dynasty" for you next year. Anyway, you and Alyssa Chia are old partners in "Meteor Garden" and have good chemistry. We'll also invite Director Chen to teach you in person and force you to play a 50/50 game. Your level will gradually improve.

Cai Yinong suddenly asked again on the phone:

"Director Wu, there are quite a few people from Hong Kong Island coming to the company to solicit investment. This isn't the first or second time. Should I still refuse them all?"

Little Bear Media Company, based in Hong Kong, was initially a shell company. It gained fame with the rise of F4 and the hit drama "Meteor Garden." However, the Hong Kong film and television industry at the time didn't pay much attention, merely marveling at its good fortune in creating such a blockbuster, proving that a single group could sustain an entire company.

However, the news six months ago that Little White Bear Film & Media had invested a staggering $1 million in the construction of the Xiangshan Film City in mainland China not only stirred up a media storm on the mainland but also caused a significant stir within the Hong Kong film and television industry. After all, that's $1 million!

Many media outlets in Hong Kong have tried to dig into this, but they still don't know which big money is behind it. Some speculate that it's from the "red capital" (government-backed capital) or the US. All they know is that it's definitely closely related to Wu Yu-chen. Didn't you see that Cai Yinong was in charge of all this work?
It doesn't matter whose money it is, if you have money, just flaunt it!

Hit by the financial crisis in the past two years, all sectors in Hong Kong Island have been sluggish, with the film industry particularly short of funds. Hong Kong films have visibly declined, and hot money has basically fled. In this environment, no one is willing to take on high-risk, unprofitable ventures. The emergence of Little White Bear's $1 million naturally attracted attention from all sides. Since then, Cai Yinong has been inundated with invitations to various gatherings and people coming to her door seeking investment.

Previously, Wu Yuchen had been busy with the Oscar campaign, and had asked Cai Yinong to put the investment-seeking efforts on hold until he was done. Now that the Oscars were settled, he had time to consider it.

"Mr. Cai, is there anyone who catches your eye?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Yinong immediately said:

"Director Wu, how's Stephen Chow's project going? He came to me before to ask for investment, wanting to make a movie about football and kung fu."

Wu Yuchen knew what it was as soon as he heard it – it was Shaolin Soccer!

How much investment does he need?

"He raised 1000 million yuan on his own, but still needs 2500 million yuan."

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and asked, "Stephen Chow should still have a lot of influence in Hong Kong. Surely he can't even get investment now?"

During the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, there was a saying that there were two Chow Yun-fats and one Jackie Chan. Now, Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat have gone to Hollywood, leaving only Stephen Chow as a box office sensation.

"On the one hand, his costs this time are relatively high, requiring 3500-4000 million yuan, and his previous film, 'King of Comedy,' did not perform well at the box office; there are also some external reasons, such as his feud with the Xiang family."

The two sides have completely broken off relations. I heard that Stephen Chow wanted to immigrate to Canada a few years ago, but the Xiang family blocked it. They had someone report him for being involved in organized crime and provided a lot of evidence, resulting in his applications being rejected by Canada several times. He actually started preparing for this project a couple of years ago, but due to the Xiang family's obstruction, it hasn't gone through.

Wu Yuchen kept clicking his tongue as he listened. It seemed that Zhou Xingxing did want to run away, but he couldn't because the Xiang family couldn't bear to part with him, their cash cow.

To be honest, the film industry in Hong Kong before the handover was indeed very chaotic. If you didn't have a powerful backer, you could be ruined by the triads. Take Chow Yun-fat for example. He went to Hollywood in 95 because the real big boss behind Cinema City, Golden Princess, had left. Without a backer, he would have been forced to make films by the triads, so he went to Hollywood to seek refuge with Ng Pak-ge.

Wu Yuchen roughly calculated that the Shaolin Soccer project had a box office of 6000 million in Hong Kong, 20 billion yen in Japan, and a total global box office of about 4300 million US dollars. Investing in it would definitely be profitable. Moreover, it won 7 awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards next year, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor.

This is a sure win in terms of both business and reputation, and it's a good investment for Little Bear Media as their first film in Hong Kong.

"Sure, Mr. Cai, we'll cover any remaining shortfall in this film, but the total cost must be kept below 4000 million."

Cai Yinong was delighted to hear this and immediately agreed. In fact, she had wanted to vote when Stephen Chow approached her, but Wu Yuchen was busy preparing for the Olympics and didn't pay attention. Now that the big boss had agreed, there was naturally no problem.

"Director Wu, I have a few more good scripts. I'll fax them to you later. You can take a look when you have time."

Wu Yuchen skimmed through the script Cai Yinong sent him, lamenting the decline of Hong Kong cinema; it was all either romance or horror. But there was nothing he could do; these two genres had been the most profitable in the past two years. Romance films were a given, and horror films had an extremely stable audience, low costs, and far less risk than other genres, thus they had resurfaced despite the overall economic downturn.

Because of the success of "Shaolin Soccer," Wu Yuchen didn't find any of these scripts particularly appealing. However, when he saw the last script, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

……

At Beijing Airport, three people in a hurry came out of the airport, hailed a taxi, gave the address, and started talking to each other.

“Brother Qiang, you flew over here in such a hurry this time without any preparation. Some of us can’t even speak Mandarin well. I don’t know if we can attract investment…” Mak Siu-fai said with a worried face.

Zhuang Wenqiang, standing beside him, also looked exhausted. He had received a call from Cai Yinong last night and flew from Hong Kong Island to Beijing early this morning; this was his first time coming here. However, the "Brother Qiang" that Mak Siu-fai was referring to wasn't him.

Lau Wai-keung lit a cigarette and took a puff: "I've visited no fewer than a dozen film companies, big and small, in Hong Kong, and they all shook their heads after watching my films. The undercover theme has been overdone in Hong Kong. This time, I've finally found one that's interesting, so how can I not give it a try? When you meet Director Ng later, you'd better keep your heads up!"

"I know, I know, he's an Oscar-winning director!"

"Not only that, I heard they're shareholders of Little White Bear. President Cai said whether they'll invest or not depends on whether Director Wu takes a liking to them!"

……

In the office, Liu Weiqiang, accompanied by Zhuang Weiqiang and Mai Zhaohui, bowed slightly with clasped hands and smiled at Wu Yuchen, saying:
"Director Wu, it's a pleasure to meet you! We came all the way from Hong Kong Island specifically to learn from you. Our film 'Infernal Affairs' still has many shortcomings, and we would appreciate your guidance!"

Wu Yuchen smiled at the group, had some tea brought over, and said with a smile, "It's not about giving pointers, we're just exchanging ideas and discussing things."

After sitting down on the sofa, Wu Yuchen pushed the script in front of them: "This is the revised script. Please take a look."

Liu Weiqiang and the other two forgot about drinking tea and immediately gathered together to look at the cover. They saw that the title "Infernal Affairs" had been crossed out and replaced with "Infernal Affairs".

Before even opening the script, Andrew Lau gave a thumbs up and said, "Changing the name elevates the meaning by more than one level; it's full of philosophical significance. Director Wu is truly insightful!"

Wu Yuchen chuckled and took a sip of tea, knowing that the other party was deliberately flattering him, and gestured for them to look at the contents.

After opening the script, the three realized that Wu Yuchen had made quite a few changes to it. For example, he added a scene at the beginning where the two male protagonists meet by chance in a stereo shop. One buys something, and the other sells something, and then they sit together listening to Tsai Chin's "The Forgotten Time".

At this point, screenwriter Felix Chong genuinely praised, "Brilliant! It forms a stark contrast with the tense showdown between the two at the end, echoing the beginning and the end. Truly brilliant!"

The three then carefully flipped through the pages and found that many lines had been changed. For example, Chen Yongren's original monologue was simply "I've been an undercover agent for ten years," but Wu Yuchen changed it to "Three years after three years, three years after three years, almost ten years, boss!" The difference in tone was quite striking.

They also added a scene where Chen Yongren encounters his ex-girlfriend on the street. His former lover lies about being married and misrepresents her daughter's age. It's only a one-minute scene, but it enriches Chen Yongren's past, adds depth to the character, and leaves the audience with a lot of room for imagination. It's amazing how ingenious the design is.

When the three of them saw the final scene on the rooftop featuring the two male leads, they discovered that Wu Yuchen had crossed out all the lines they had written.

Liu Weiqiang couldn't help but look up and humbly ask Wu Yuchen, "Director Wu, do you think there's a problem with this ending?" Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "It's supposed to be a battle of wits, so why go through all that trouble at the end and have the two of them fight on the rooftop? That would be really low-class."

"High-class?" the three asked in unison, sounding puzzled.

"It's really beneath you, it's really beneath you!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Weiqiang and the other two exchanged glances, then explained to Wu Yuchen:
"But Director Wu, in today's film market, if a crime film doesn't include some exciting action scenes, the audience won't buy it..."

Wu Yuchen simply waved his hand:

"If this movie really ends with the two male leads having a big fight on the rooftop, it would be too cliché. It would lose most of the intellectual battle built up in the beginning, and what would be the difference between it and other crime movies? Take a look at my rewritten version first."

The three then quickly looked down and flipped through the pages, discovering that Wu Yuchen had rewritten a new rooftop confrontation and the final ending.

A simple gesture of drawing a gun and two simple lines of dialogue far surpass any fight scene. The action is physical, the drama is emotional. The shock of seeing Chen Yongren die at the hands of Big B, a character originally intended to be a minor police officer, is truly astounding; this plot twist is brilliant. It also highlights the film's theme: in a living hell, one can only suffer, and only death can offer release.

Wu Yuchen's newly written rooftop confrontation and ending for them were not only ingeniously conceived and designed, but also elevated the film to a whole new level! All three of them got goosebumps while watching it!

Alan Mak couldn't help but jump up, then bowed deeply to Wu Yuchen at a 90-degree angle: "Director Wu, I am truly impressed! I admire you to the extreme!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and raised his hand to help him up: "I quite like your story, so I made some changes according to my personal taste. I hope you don't think it's unnecessary!"

"It's not superfluous at all, Director Wu, it's the finishing touch!" Zhuang Zhiqiang immediately said.

Liu Weiqiang waved his hand and gestured enthusiastically, saying, "No, we were originally snakes, but Director Wu, with your changes, you've turned a snake into a dragon!"

Looking at the Hong Kong directors and screenwriters fawning over him, Wu Yuchen couldn't see any discrimination against mainlanders. It's the same everywhere; it's all about praising the powerful and belittling the weak.

Many people wonder why a classic film like "Infernal Affairs" couldn't attract investment at the beginning. This was partly due to the overall economic climate, and partly because the initial script wasn't exactly a classic.

Originally titled *Kill the Cop*, it was later renamed *Infernal Affairs*, and the title *Infernal Affairs* was chosen by the boss after filming began, after he prayed to the White Dragon King. Many scenes were changed or added during filming. For example, the much-discussed rooftop confrontation and the finale were changed because Tony Leung couldn't handle the action scenes well, and Andy Lau didn't want to act that way. Pressure from the two leads led to the script being altered at the last minute, thus creating a classic.

Wu Yuchen has now produced the final version, which, compared to the rough first version, not only adds a lot of quality to the script, but also elevates the entire story's level, naturally drawing repeated exclamations of amazement from the three.

Wu Yuchen then asked, "Do you guys think there are any problems with this script? Tell us so we can discuss it."

All three shook their heads and waved their hands: "No problem! Director Wu, after you took charge, there's nothing more that can be changed!"

After he finished speaking, the three of them looked at Wu Yuchen with expectant eyes, and he nodded and said:

“In that case, I’ll invest in this project, 2000 million.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Weiqiang and the two men beside him immediately bowed and scraped to Wu Yuchen again, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Wu! Thank you, Mr. Wu!"

After a moment, Wu Yuchen chuckled and asked, "What are your thoughts on the cast?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Weiqiang immediately said, "Our minds are still a bit foggy right now. Does Mr. Wu have any good suggestions?"

Wu Yuchen didn't stand on ceremony and said directly, "Liu Jianming, please invite Andy Lau; Chen Yongren, Leung Chiu-wai; Officer Wong, Leung Ka-fai; and Sha Qiang, please use Cheung Ka-fai. As for the others, you can choose whoever you like."

In his previous life, Officer Huang was Huang Qiusheng, and Sha Qiang was Du Wenze. Wu Yuchen didn't know how to use either of them, so he simply replaced them.

Liu Weiqiang breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Fortunately, Wu Yuchen hadn't assigned all the important roles yet, leaving the role of Han Chen for them to choose from. Otherwise, as the director, he really wouldn't have much power in casting.

However, after thinking about it carefully, he felt that the people Wu Yuchen had arranged were all very suitable, and he had to admit that Wu Yuchen had a sharp eye.

Wu Yuchen then smiled at Liu Weiqiang and said, "Oh right, there's also a role for a young Chen Yongren at the beginning. I'll have Huang Xiaoming from F4 make a cameo appearance."

"Great! We'd be more than happy to have Daoming Si make a cameo appearance!" Liu Weiqiang naturally wouldn't refuse this popular young actor who was practically offering himself up.

Wu Yuchen thought to himself, "Xiaoming, your teacher Wu has really treated you well!"

A few days later, Wu Yuchen boarded a flight to the United States.

To be honest, the Oscars and Disney have disrupted some of his filming plans. He originally planned to return to China this year to make a Chinese-language film, but now that he's already worked on "Pirates of the Caribbean" in order to work with Disney, he has to prioritize that project and postpone the Chinese-language film project until next year.

……

Wu Yuchen had heard rumors before that Johnny Depp was a difficult person to deal with. And this first meeting, or rather, their first words together, made him realize that it was true.

Just as Wu Yuchen was about to extend his hand to shake hands with him, Depp preemptively retorted:
"You made me wait for three weeks, don't you think you should apologize to me first?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and narrowed his eyes. If it were two years ago, he would definitely have apologized first to facilitate further communication between the two.

But things are different now. On the one hand, his status is different now, and his mentality has changed; but more importantly, the actor he is facing now is Johnny Depp, a quirky Hollywood actor.

These kinds of actors are called oddballs because they're not as easy to talk to as ordinary people. Sometimes they have a ton of trivial things and demands. If you apologize and back down the first time you meet them, making it clear that you value them highly and even can't live without them, then the other person will definitely take advantage of you even more during filming.

So Wu Yuchen simply nodded and said with a smile, "But you still came, didn't you?"

“I didn’t do this for you!” Depp’s voice rose an octave.

He has turned down big directors before. Back when "Titanic" approached him to play the male lead Jack, he directly rejected Cameron.

Wu Yuchen said calmly, "I know, it's because of Captain Jack Sparrow. You like this kind of subversive, eccentric character, and I created him. Who plays Captain Jack Sparrow is up to me~"

At this moment, Depp's agent quickly stepped between the two sides, smiling at Wu Yuchen and saying:
"I'm sorry, Director Wu, Depp didn't mean any harm. Actually, he really likes the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, and he's very suitable for the role. I believe no one in Hollywood is better at playing this kind of charismatic character!"

Wu Yuchen glanced at Depp, who had fallen silent under the manager's control, and said with a smile:
"That's not necessarily true. Actually, I think Jim Carrey is pretty good too. I'll have to see how he performs to find out."

In the original film, Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't initially cast with Johnny Depp. It's hard to imagine that the screenwriters initially envisioned Hugh Jackman for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow—yes, the testosterone-fueled Wolverine…

Then the producers and studios naturally disagreed; they had their eye on Jim Carrey. Unfortunately, the Hollywood comedy king's schedule didn't allow it, so Johnny Depp auditioned and won the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Therefore, Wu Yuchen knew that this role was actually very tempting for Depp; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the initiative to audition.

After hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Depp couldn't help but ask again, "Hey, do you think Jim Carrey would be a better match for Jack than me?"

Wu Yuchen shrugged: "Why don't you prove it to me now?"

……

In the dressing room, Depp's agent kept whispering instructions in his ear:
"Johnny, stop being so impulsive. This is a $1.4 million production. You know, it's extremely rare to find a male lead in a production of this scale who suits your style. You might only get this kind of opportunity once in your entire life!"
Wu is the core of this project; he holds all the power over the crew. Don't clash with him again. You know how successful his past films have been…”

Depp said impatiently, "Hey, man, you're nagging more than my grandma right now!"

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, the agent grabbed his shoulders and said seriously, "Johnny, you're different now. Think of Lily!"

Upon hearing the name of his daughter, who was not yet a year old, Depp immediately fell silent, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I understand."

The agent finally breathed a sigh of relief. This Depp, who had always seemed so immature, had become much easier to manage after having a daughter. Hopefully, he can land this opportunity and officially enter mainstream commercial productions!

(End of this chapter)