Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 323 Controversial Figures
Upon hearing Wu Yuchen's idea, Wen Ziren couldn't help but gape.

Then, a look of excitement appeared on James Wan's face, and he said, "This is fucking a genius idea!"

Then James Wan couldn't help but launch into a long and detailed analysis:
"It's common knowledge that Robert Downey Jr. has a bad reputation, and many viewers and fans who know him subconsciously feel a dislike for him. In other movies, this would definitely be a negative point, but we're talking about 'Saw'!"
Jigsaw is for punishing evildoers. Having Robert Downey Jr., who has a criminal past, star in *Saw* allows audiences to watch someone they dislike get punished, which gives many viewers a sense of pleasure!

James Wan became increasingly excited as he spoke: "Moreover, although Robert Downey Jr. has a bad reputation, he's not exactly unknown; he could even be considered a second-tier star. Second-tier Hollywood stars are unwilling to join gory horror films, but Robert Downey Jr. is different. Right now, he's barely getting any opportunities, and his pay is very low. Therefore, as long as we extend an olive branch, I believe he definitely won't refuse!"

Wu Yuchen nodded and smiled, saying:
"What we're doing now is called making use of waste, and there's something else I'm really looking forward to. What if, and I mean what, Robert Downey Jr. kicked his addiction after filming 'Saw'? How do you think the audience would react to Jigsaw?"

James Wan blurted out, "That will increase the number of Jigsaw fans by a lot! Many people will even develop a faith in Jigsaw!"

However, he then added, "But Director Wu, that's probably unlikely, isn't it? After all, it's very difficult to quit..."

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his finger at James Wan: "No, no, you don't understand public psychology and Hollywood. Wan, let me ask you, if a bad person can pretend to be a good person in public for a lifetime, would you say he is a good person or a bad person?"

Wen Ziren had a vague idea of ​​what Wu Yuchen was thinking: "You mean..."

Wu Yuchen smiled faintly:

"Haha, whether Robert Downey Jr. has kicked his addiction or not is not important. What is important is that publicizing his success can benefit everyone."

The public loves stories of prodigal sons returning home, the media loves the traffic they generate, and we, the producers, can make a fortune from it! Robert Downey Jr. himself will also benefit greatly from it, and I might even give him a chance to return to his peak in the future.

It would be best if he could quit. But if he doesn't, but manages to fool everyone into believing he has, then what difference does it make to us?

James Wan was clearly taken aback by Wu Yuchen's words; this was yet another lesson he had learned since arriving in Hollywood! Hollywood was indeed rife with lies and deception; he had grown once again!
James Wan nodded and said, "Director Wu, I understand what you mean. We will talk to Robert Downey Jr. and we will definitely get Jigsaw to help him quit!"

A moment later, watching Wen Ziren's departing figure, Wu Yuchen smiled.

To be honest, in my past life, no one really knew the truth about whether Robert Downey Jr. had quit.

Perhaps the recent departure of his wife and children has truly impacted him, leading him to choose to start anew.

Perhaps he never truly quit; he simply matured and became adept at disguising himself. He is, after all, an excellent actor. Later, rumors circulated that he had relapsed into these things, but by then, due to his involvement with Iron Man, he was already involved in numerous vested interests, and someone would naturally handle the related matters and eliminate any negative publicity.

Wu Yuchen's current goal, besides using Robert Downey Jr. to bring wider publicity to "Saw 3" and generate more profits, is to see through this project whether this guy has grown up and become a mature man who could take on the role of Iron Man in his previous life.

Iron Man was a pivotal moment in Marvel's rise, and it's undeniable that Robert Downey Jr. was perfectly suited to play the role. Originally a second-tier hero, Iron Man was propelled to super-tier status, rivaling or even surpassing Captain America, thanks to the film. It's fair to say that Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man mutually benefited each other.

If he passes the probationary period, is obedient, and has grown into an adult who can control his emotions and behavior, then he can be chosen.

Anyway, this guy is down on his luck right now, and his pay is extremely low, so he's easy to manipulate. We can finalize a few contracts in advance.

Conversely, if he fails the probationary period, then let this guy continue to contribute to the world of horror movies!

Then, Wu Yuchen thought of something else. Once *Iron Man* truly becomes a huge hit, the viewership of Robert Downey Jr.'s *Saw III* will undoubtedly increase, boosting its revenue. After all, everyone will be curious about what it would be like to see Iron Man get tortured.

In that case, it wouldn't just be Iron Man; we could bring in a different superhero for each subsequent Saw movie.

Actors who play superheroes like Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, and even Thor's good brother Loki are actually not very well-known; they can be considered minor Hollywood actors.

So, having them enter the Saw series one by one, undergoing the baptism and education of Jigsaw, would be the only way they could play superheroes. Linking Marvel and Saw through these actors would definitely boost the latter's popularity even further!
When *The Avengers* comes out, fans will find that all of Marvel's superheroes are getting brutally beaten up in various ways in *Saw*. Is the horror world really that much more sophisticated than the Marvel universe?!

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but laugh out loud at this thought.

Oh, right, and you too, you big purple sweet potato, Thanos!
Aren't you awesome? Didn't you say you could wipe out half the Earth's population with a snap of your fingers?

Alright, now that you're on Earth, you might as well accept a round of Jigsaw's punishment!
You can't escape! Tremble in terror in Earth's terrifying world!
……

"Pear, did Zhang Ziyi come looking for you again?" Wu Yuchen asked Zeng Li on the other end of the phone.

"I've told her what you said, and she said she's not afraid of controversy and will do her best to fight for it. Will this 'Memoirs of a Geisha' be quite controversial?"

"Hehe, Pear, if it were really such a great opportunity, would I not recommend you?" Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile.

"Yes, I know. You don't need to worry about it. Just let Ziyi do it herself."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yuchen shook his head and sighed.

Recently, Zhang Ziyi contacted him through Zeng Li, hoping he could introduce her to Spielberg, essentially hoping Wu Yuchen would be her recommender. The film *Memoirs of a Geisha* was originally Spielberg's own idea to make, but now, because he has stepped back from directing, he is serving as producer, and the director has changed to another Oscar-winning director, Rob Marshall. However, Spielberg still has considerable influence in this film.

Wu Yuchen said there are reasons why this movie is so controversial.

The author of the original novel, *Memoirs of a Geisha*, was American, meaning it's a novel about geisha written by an American. Although titled a memoir, it's actually a fictional work created to cater to Western sensibilities. The novel itself is highly controversial in Japan.

Subsequently, the film selected three Chinese actresses, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Yang Ziqiong, to play the main roles. In other words, it is a neon story written by an American author, directed by an American director, and starring Chinese actresses.

After its release, the film was boycotted by people in both Japan and China.

The Japanese boycott stemmed from their belief that the film distorted Japanese geisha culture. The characters for "geisha" and "prostitute" are fundamentally different, representing the ideal of womanhood—to be admired from afar, not to be profaned. However, the film's protagonist not only flaunted nudity but also failed to capture the essence of the geisha.

Another thing that displeased the Japanese was that, despite it being a Japanese story, all three main actresses were Chinese.

As for the boycott in China, it's even simpler: the general consensus is that geisha are prostitutes. Furthermore, the film contains scenes of geisha being humiliated, especially the scene where Zhang Ziyi's character is ridden and defiled by a Japanese man. This has drawn considerable criticism from fans, who believe that Zhang Ziyi, as an international star representing the Chinese people, is disgracing the Chinese by playing such a role!

Moreover, next year marks the 60th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan. At that time, relations between China and Japan will be somewhat strained, and there will be boycotts of Japanese goods in China. Therefore, the reaction of the Chinese people after the film is released will indeed be quite strong.

This is quite a strange situation. Both Japanese and Chinese people are unhappy that a Chinese actress is starring in this movie, but the Americans don't care about your opinions at all. They only care about their influence in America.

Clearly, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh have greater influence than Japanese actresses, so the American producers chose these three.

The reason Zhang Ziyi wanted to invite Wu Yuchen for help this time was because she heard that director Rob Marshall's first choice for the female lead was not her, but rather he contacted Zhang Manyu first.

Thinking of the two women, Wu Yuchen shook his head again; he didn't want to help either of them.

Rumor has it that Maggie Cheung was torn about taking on the role because of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the War of Resistance against Japan. Meanwhile, the ambitious Zhang Ziyi recommended herself to the director and snatched the role away, leaving Maggie Cheung dumbfounded.

This is just one aspect of their feud. The two actresses had been accumulating tensions since the film *Hero*, when Zhang Ziyi stole too much screen time, resulting in the deletion of some of Zhang Manyu's scenes.

When it came to "2046", the original female lead was Maggie Cheung. In order to make a good film, she was the actress who stayed on the set the longest and had the most scenes.

However, when the film was released overseas, Maggie Cheung's scenes were cut down to only 30 seconds, while Zhang Ziyi became the female lead with the most screen time. In the domestic version, Maggie Cheung was only shown in a single shot of her back, and many people didn't even know she was in the film; some even thought she only had a cameo role.

This turned the two women into complete enemies, and also caused Maggie Cheung and Wong Kar-wai to have a complete falling out.

At the 57th Cannes Film Festival, Maggie Cheung didn't walk the red carpet with the cast of "2046" at all; instead, she walked with the crew of "Clean." When asked by reporters, she replied:
"I only prepared one dress for the movie Clean because no one told me whether I was actually in the movie 2046. I didn't think I was qualified to walk the red carpet because I'm not a character with any role in the film."

You can tell how dissatisfied Maggie Cheung was from these words. She then won the Best Actress award at Cannes for "Clean" at the same film festival, while "2046" won nothing, which was a complete slap in the face. It's a pure and satisfying story!

In this film, "Memoirs of a Geisha," Wu Yuchen estimates that Zhang Ziyi will ultimately win the role. After all, Zhang Manyu is not suitable for the lead role based on her age, and her influence in the United States is indeed not as great as Zhang Ziyi's.

After that, the conflict between the two became public. When Maggie Cheung mentioned Zhang Ziyi, she said, "I would never work with her, no matter how high the salary is."

Until the 2013 Golden Horse Awards ceremony, when Zhang Ziyi won Best Actress for "The Grandmaster" and took the stage, it was Maggie Cheung who was the presenter.

Andy Lau attempted to hand the trophy to Maggie Cheung, asking her to present it to Zhang Ziyi. However, Maggie Cheung repeatedly stepped back and refused to accept it, so Andy Lau had to present it to Zhang Ziyi himself. Maggie Cheung then turned and walked off the stage, creating an extremely awkward situation.

Wu Yuchen didn't think much of it and didn't blame Zhang Manyu. He blamed the organizers for their poor arrangement, saying they should know about their feud if they inquired. Xue Kaiqi had called Jiang Yiyan shameless on stage when presenting her with an award, while Zhang Manyu was much more composed in comparison.

Actually, this isn't the first time the organizers have arranged such an awkward situation with the award presenters. On several occasions, they've arranged for ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends who have already broken up to present awards together. I don't know if it was intentional or just to cause trouble.

Wu Yuchen didn't intend to get involved in the matter between the two women. He couldn't clearly distinguish right from wrong, and he wasn't directly involved. In any case, he didn't plan to involve anyone close to him in the filming of "Memoirs of a Geisha"—there was no need.

Two days later, Wu Yuchen received another old acquaintance, Li An, who was also a fellow Chinese.

"Director Li, there's really no need to completely deny your abilities because of one failure."

Upon hearing this, Li An shook his head: "Director Wu, I don't have your talent to handle both commercial and art films. The balance between them is really hard to maintain. I'll stick to art films from now on, so I won't have to worry about it."

After the failure of "Hulk" a few years ago, Li An has decided not to make any more commercial films after two years of reflection.

He then sighed: "In the past, the Chinese film industry, whether in mainland China or Taiwan, promoted art films and condemned commercial films as garbage, but in reality, commercial films are not that easy to make!"

(End of this chapter)