Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 345 Returning to China for Filming
"The colors and atmosphere are fantastic..."

Wu Yuchen was talking to Martin Scorsese about his film "The Aviator".

Martin Scorsese, known as the godfather of gangster films, lost his previous film, "Gangs of New York," to Wu Yuchen. This year, he deliberately broke with his style and teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio to make "The Aviator," a biographical film favored by the Academy, and has been vying for the Oscars for the second time, which shows his desire for the Best Director Oscar.

However, besides Martin Scorsese, there's also Clint Eastwood this year, with whom Wu Yuchen had a friendly exchange. This year's Oscars are essentially a competition between these two: *The Aviator* and *Million Dollar Baby*.

These two didn't campaign for votes as directly as Leonardo DiCaprio. Instead, they discussed the art of film with Wu Yuchen, promoted their filmmaking philosophies, and shared the problems and interesting stories they encountered during their filming.

In addition, Wu Yuchen also voted for "House of Flying Daggers". Don't misunderstand, although "House of Flying Daggers" was submitted, it was not nominated for this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but instead received a nomination for Best Cinematography. Wu Yuchen's vote was also for the cinematographer, since they're from the same hometown!
"Brother-in-law, are you going to the Oscars?"

Looking at Fan Bingbing's pleading eyes, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but smile and shake his head: "I'm not going."

"Huh?" Fan Bingbing deflated upon hearing this, revealing a disappointed expression.

Wu Yuchen ruffled her hair: "What are you thinking? I don't have any projects this year, and I'm not even involved, so why would I participate?"

For Wu Yuchen, the novelty of experiencing the Oscars has long worn off, given that he's already won quite a few awards. He has absolutely no need to ride on this wave of attention.

He could understand Fan Bingbing's feelings. After all, the Oscars are an annual film event that the whole world pays attention to, and it was only natural that she wanted to see it.

However, Wu Yuchen could not take her there in person, otherwise there would inevitably be photos or they would be sent back to China. He was not afraid of gossip, but if the photos were sent to other women, wouldn't that just cause him trouble?

He then looked at Fan Bingbing and said to her, "If you really want to go, I'll ask someone to get you an invitation so you can experience the atmosphere."

Fan Bingbing hesitated for a moment, then said, "Then forget it..."

There are still public opinion standards for celebrities in China. After Wu Yuchen's comments, she realized that simply trying to gain attention would definitely get her criticized back in China. Now that Wu Yuchen is helping her, Fan Bingbing has genuinely broken into Hollywood and has actual work to show for it. She doesn't need to rely on this kind of attention-seeking; she can just promote her work later, right?
Besides, she glanced at Wu Yuchen. As long as she served him well, she would have a great chance to attend the Oscars openly in the future!
Wu Yuchen did not attend the Oscars in person. The final result was similar to that of his previous life. "Million Dollar Baby" almost swept this year's Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.

However, just two days after the Oscars, Wu Yuchen met Martin Scorsese again, who had failed to win an Oscar.

"Martin, I'm sorry, the Academy shouldn't have treated you like this. You deserved the Oscar no matter what."

Wu Yuchen comforted Martin Scorsese, but inwardly he felt Scorsese was quite unlucky. Scorsese is arguably one of the directors with the most Oscar nominations for Best Director, this being his fifth nomination, only to be nominated for Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" this time.

The other party's connections are no worse than his, and if we're talking about Martin Scorsese, who started out making gangster movies, this biopic "The Aviator" doesn't have his personal style. Judging by the quality of the work alone, it's no wonder it failed.

Martin Scorsese smiled and shook his head upon hearing this: "Wu, thank you, but those are all in the past. We have to look forward."

Old Martin was unwilling to discuss the defeat any further; a loss was a loss. The result was what it was, and he had nothing more to say.

“Wu, actually, I want to buy a script from you,” Old Martin said.

Wu Yuchen's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. He had indeed registered quite a few scripts over the years, and selling them, especially those not in his own filming plans, would be a good option. Besides, Martin Scorsese was a big shot in Hollywood; he just didn't know which script Scorsese had taken a liking to.

"Martin, what do you want to buy?" Wu Yuchen asked with a smile.

"A few years ago, a gangster movie was released in China called 'Hell Things.' I don't know what it's called in China, but anyway, it was fantastic! I was deeply moved after watching it. I think it was produced and written by you, and I'd like to have the remake rights. What do you say?"

"Hellish Things?" Wu Yuchen immediately realized that the other person must be referring to "Infernal Affairs"! The English translation of this movie is roughly "Hellish Things," which only expresses the superficial meaning but lacks the Eastern charm and depth.

Martin Scorsese, known as the master of American gangster films, naturally has a deep love for the genre. And since "Infernal Affairs" ranks among the best in the history of gangster films worldwide, it's no surprise that it caught his attention.

When it comes to American gangster films, the undisputed number one is *The Godfather*. The rankings of second and third are slightly more debatable, but generally, second place is considered to be *Once Upon a Time in America*, the film in which Jennifer Connelly's portrayal of young Deborah captivated the world. Third place goes to Martin Scorsese's *Goodfellas*.

There aren't many directors in America who can be called masters, and Martin Scorsese is one of them. Although his box office performance wasn't particularly strong, his contributions to film reform and innovation are truly commendable.

Looking at Martin, who was over 60 years old and had been trying for 20 years without winning an Oscar, Wu Yuchen thought it was no easy feat and decided to do a good deed and help him out.

In his previous life, Martin Scorsese won four Academy Awards in 2007, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, thanks to his remake of "Infernal Affairs," also known as the American version of "The Departed."

Wu Yuchen smiled at Martin Scorsese and said, "Martin, if you want to remake it, of course, no problem. I really hope you can bring something different to this story." Although Wu Yuchen said this, having already seen "The Departed" in his previous life, he wasn't particularly surprised.

To be honest, while the American version of *Infernal Affairs* has its own charm, it's definitely not as good as the original. It's just retelling the story of *Infernal Affairs* using Martin Scorsese's cinematic language. Although it showcases Scorsese's filmmaking techniques, its core spirit is actually inferior to the original.

In "Infernal Affairs," you can feel the sense of suffering for all beings and the inescapable cycle of reincarnation. However, in "Infernal Affairs," this completely disappears. It becomes a simple confrontation between police and criminals, lacking the emotional bonds and human struggles that are present in the film.

However, from another perspective, the fact that "The Departed," a remake inferior to "Infernal Affairs," still won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director proves just how great "Infernal Affairs" was. Since Martin Scorsese had already approached him, Wu Yuchen naturally went along with it.

Old Martin smiled and said, "Oh, Wu, thank you so much!"

As he spoke, he picked up his wine glass and gently clinked it against Wu Yuchen's to express his gratitude.

For Wu Yuchen, the "Infernal Affairs" incident was just a minor episode; he devoted most of his time to "The Batman." Preparations for "The Batman" weren't limited to Los Angeles; Los Angeles primarily saw the construction of studio sets, while the exterior scenes were filmed in Chicago.

Gotham City itself was modeled after Chicago, so the exterior scenes for this Batman movie will be filmed in Chicago. The Chicago city government naturally welcomed Wu Yuchen and his Batman film, promising to provide the crew with all necessary conveniences during filming.

By April, preparations in the United States were complete, and the main cast had been finalized. Several veteran actors had been cast for supporting roles.
For example, Michael Caine plays the Wayne family's old butler, serving as an elder in Batman's family.

Morgan Freeman plays an engineer at Wayne Enterprises who provides Batman with ingenious high-tech support; Batman's full gear, including the famous Batmobile, is the brainchild of this scientist.

Liam Neeson, who played Schindler in "Schindler's List," plays the main villain in this film, the mastermind of the League of Shadows, and the "soul mentor" who guides Batman's growth and transformation. He rescues the down-on-his-luck Wayne from prison and teaches him how to transform guilt into anger.

As April arrived, Wu Yuchen and part of the crew returned to China to film the Chinese scenes for "The Batman." However, Fan Bingbing did not return with Wu Yuchen this time, as filming for "Final Destination 3" had already begun.

On the plane, many foreigners were quite excited: "Director, we've heard that Tibet is a very ancient and mysterious place with a long-standing religion. Do we need to make any special preparations when we go there?"

"Just respect the local customs and traditions. Don't worry, it's not a separate country, but part of China, with laws and public order, not a barren land. Also, our mission is to film, so we won't give you much time to wander around."

Perhaps it stems from mysticism, or perhaps it's due to its geographical location on the world's backbone, but Tibet is quite famous in the West, and Shangri-La is described as a "pure land of bliss," which filled a group of foreigners with anticipation for the trip.

However, once the plane actually landed in Tibet, altitude sickness struck some people like a ton of bricks. Several of them lay in bed that night, breathing oxygen, too weak to cry out anymore.

Everyone experiences altitude sickness to some extent. Fortunately, although Wu Yuchen had a headache, he was still able to move around normally. He let some people rest while he contacted the local authorities and then went to check out the filming location.

In fact, the Batman movie only has about two scenes in China.

At the beginning, Bruce Wayne left Gotham City due to inner turmoil and confusion about justice and revenge. He wandered the world in self-exile, during which time he also became a thief and committed crimes to understand the psychology of criminals.

The first scene is when he was arrested and detained by the police in China for committing a crime and put in a police station. In the previous life, the version shown in China cut this scene. It was roughly that a few police officers said to Bruce Wayne on the ground, "You better squat properly!" and then swore in Chinese. That scene was then cut.

To be honest, there's no intention to be insulting; it's just a normal reaction being filmed. Many domestic viewers who watched the uncut version even laughed at this scene. But since profanity is prohibited, it's best to film it cleanly.

Actually, this scene wasn't very important; it was just a formality. We contacted a team of local police officers and the local police station, and the filming was basically completed in less than half a day. However, we spent more time on socializing.

The next scene shows Liam Neeson's character, the leader of the League of Shadows, rescuing Bruce Wayne from the police station—essentially, granting him bail. Bruce Wayne then goes hiking in the snow-covered mountains and receives training at the League of Shadows' base there.

The League of Shadows isn't made up; it's actually the League of Assassins from the comics. The League of Assassins is a supervillain organization in DC Comics, spread across the globe, but primarily in mountainous regions. In the comics, they have bases in the Himalayas, Switzerland, and even Antarctica. Therefore, setting it in the Himalayas is based on this premise.

However, in the original "Batman Begins," Bruce Wayne was shown learning ninjutsu. Wu Yuchen wants to change this, replacing it with martial arts that include kung fu, assassination, jujitsu, and more.

Of course, the main purpose of this trip to the Himalayas was to film some outdoor scenes, including some fight scenes on the snow-capped mountains and ice. Fortunately, both Bale and Liam Neeson were in good physical condition, and the fight scenes weren't particularly demanding. Otherwise, filming intense fight scenes at high altitudes might have exacerbated their altitude sickness and caused unnecessary trouble.

Most of the actual fight scenes in the League of Shadows training don't need to be filmed on the plateau; they can be filmed indoors in the studio.

The scenes filmed in China actually consisted of only three scenes, which might only take up two minutes of screen time in the movie, but it took two weeks to film.

Just as Wu Yuchen had almost finished filming the scenes in the Tibetan plateau region, he received a call from Cai Yinong: "Director Wu, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping have broken ties!"

(End of this chapter)