Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 372 Lineup Confirmed
Watching Sun Honglei's departing figure, Wu Yuchen was also pondering in his mind. He had interviewed most of the male lead candidates in the final round, but so far only Wu Yanzu and Zhao Wenzhuo were barely usable.

Zhao Wenzhuo's shortcomings lie in two areas: height and a lack of star power. It's not that he hasn't played leading roles before; when he went to Hong Kong, Tsui Hark produced several films specifically to promote him, including "Once Upon a Time in China" and "The Blade." However, you'll notice a problem: the films he starred in generally didn't perform well at the box office.

It's not that he's bad, but he's somewhat mediocre. Some actors are just like that—they don't have the leading man's charm, they can't carry the box office, and they don't inspire any desire in the audience to go to the cinema to see them. His most memorable role is still Fahai, the mighty dragon in "Green Snake." Therefore, Wu Yuchen quickly passed on him after a brief consideration.

As for Wu Yanzu, besides Huang Xiaoming who is currently leading the younger generation, he is quite outstanding. After all, he has good looks and acting skills, and he has a certain appeal to young audiences. He's pretty good in all aspects. The only thing he seems to lack right now is that his period drama costumes are slightly inferior to his modern makeup.

As Wu Yuchen was thinking, the next actor came in, which made his eyes light up: tall and slender, although not as tall as Liu Ye's 186 cm, he was still over 180 cm. His appearance was beyond reproach, he was a recognized handsome man in Asia, and his ancient costume looked very sophisticated. The beard he deliberately grew added a sense of vicissitude, and he looked like he had a story to tell.

"Hello, Director Wu!" Takeshi Kaneshiro greeted him with a smile.

Wu Yuchen smiled and nodded at him, then asked, "Ah Wu, you're not wearing a wig? Is it your own hair?"

The actors who came in before were all wearing wigs and costumes. Although this might not be noticeable on screen, it's easy to tell whether someone is wearing a wig or not when you're face-to-face with them and observe them closely.

Takeshi Kaneshiro laughed and said, "Yes, it's my own hair. I usually have the habit of growing my hair long. I also styled my own hair when filming 'House of Flying Daggers'."

"No wonder, it looks so natural!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and praised him, which was the truth. Takeshi Kaneshiro's period costume look was really good, and it didn't have the kind of negative effect that Liu Ye or Wu Yanzu had.

Takeshi Kaneshiro debuted very early in his career, giving the impression that he belongs to the previous generation of actors. However, he was actually born in 73, a year younger than Zhao Wenzhuo and a full 12 years younger than Andy Lau—a full twelve years younger. Now 32 years old, Takeshi Kaneshiro is indeed at the peak of his acting career.

Therefore, Takeshi Kaneshiro has mastered both temperament and acting skills. When Wu Yuchen asked Zeng Li to act alongside him, their physiques were a good match, which pleased Wu Yuchen.

In fact, Takeshi Kaneshiro had auditioned for several of Wu Yuchen's previous films, including "Brotherhood of Blades" and "Departures," but he wasn't chosen. This time, however, Wu Yuchen felt he was the right choice, even more suitable than Wu Yanzu!
A week later, the auditions for "Reign of Assassins" were completed. Except for the male lead, who was confirmed as Takeshi Kaneshiro, all other roles were cast.

The main villain, King Wheel, is still played by Wang Xueqi, whose acting skills are still quite good; he performed very well in the original version. Moreover, he was already 64 years old when he acted in "Reign of Assassins," and it's unbelievable that he could still perform so many action scenes. Now, he's not even 60 yet, and his condition is even better.

The character of "King of the Wheel" is not explicitly identified as any particular eunuch, since the fates of most powerful and well-known eunuchs in history are documented. For example, Liu Jin was executed by slow slicing, and Wang Zhen was killed in the Oirat army. Therefore, the identity is left ambiguous for the audience to guess.

The role of Lu Zhu, the monk, is played by Nie Yuan. Although Lu Zhu's role is small, it is quite important. She is the turning point in the female assassin's fate and a key figure who guides the plot of "Reign of Assassins" at the beginning, having a profound influence on the female lead.

It's obvious that the monk Lu Zhu has developed feelings for Xi Yu, which is why he's willing to sacrifice himself to enlighten her. Therefore, they can be considered a couple in the film. Consequently, when casting the actor for Lu Zhu, Wu Yuchen wanted someone as handsome as possible to create a dashing monk, which was quite novel in the 2005 film market and would leave a lasting impression on the audience.

Nie Yuan's portrayal of a monk is quite good. He played the monk Bianji in "The Love Story of Tang Dynasty" and later played Tang Sanzang in "Journey to the West". Speaking of male gods among monks, besides Zhao Wenzhuo's Fahai, it's Nie Yuan. However, Fahai left too deep an impression, and Wu Yuchen naturally didn't want to repeat himself with Zhao Wenzhuo, so he decided to cast Nie Yuan in the role.

Then there's the role of the magician, who was very outstanding in the assassin series. The original actor was actually quite good, but the actor's stance was rather ambiguous, so Wu Yuchen naturally wouldn't look for him again. In the end, Ni Dahong was chosen.

The abbot of the temple, Jianchi, was played by the venerable You Benchang, who portrayed a high-ranking monk who enlightened the assassin Xiyu, leading to Xiyu's desire to leave the martial arts world and live an ordinary life with a new face. The "ghostly doctor" who performed the face transplant was played by Jin Shijie. With their acting skills, these two actors were perfectly capable of handling these roles, which reassured Wu Yuchen the most.

With this, the cast of "Reign of Assassins" is basically finalized, and the main characters can begin training under the guidance of the action choreographer. Once preparations are complete next year, Wu Yuchen will be able to start filming immediately.

After dinner, Wu Yuchen and Zeng Li sat on the sofa watching TV.

"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Zeng Li leaned against Wu Yuchen's chest, reluctant to part.

Wu Yuchen nodded: "There's no other way. There are still a lot of things waiting for me to deal with in America. I can't delay any longer."

First, there's the post-production of "The Batman," then "Fantastic Four," Marvel's first independently produced film, which Wu Yuchen naturally needs to pay close attention to. He also needs to oversee the post-production of "Spider-Man 3," participate in the pre-production of "Transformers," and review some projects from Miracle Pictures. In short, there's a lot to do.

Just then, Wu Yuchen saw a clip pop up on the TV. The edited clip looked quite eye-catching: the slave Kunlun was running wildly among a herd of bison, extremely imposing. Amidst the magnificent scenery, Zhang Baizhi's makeup was extremely beautiful, quite stunning at first glance... Finally, there was a voiceover: The first part of the Eastern fantasy legend, a 350 million yuan special effects extravaganza by Chen Kaige!

Wu Yuchen understood immediately; the promotion for "The Promise" had already begun!
"So beautiful! As expected of Director Chen, just looking at this trailer makes me want to watch it!" Zeng Li exclaimed.

The gorgeous and surreal visuals exude a fantastical and romantic atmosphere, making people want to explore further. Judging from the promotional trailers alone, "The Promise" is indeed quite attractive.

From a marketing perspective, "The Promise" was quite successful, drawing many people into the cinema. Isn't that a success?
However, Wu Yuchen smiled and advised, "You shouldn't have too high hopes."

"Huh? This movie isn't good? You've already seen it?" Zeng Li asked in surprise.

Wu Yuchen didn't deny it: "You'll see for yourself when the time comes. In short, I don't think Director Chen will have an easy time this time."

"I was hoping to go with you," Wu Yuchen said with a smile, shaking his head. "I guess I won't be able to make it."

After finishing his work on "Reign of Assassins," Wu Yuchen didn't linger and flew directly to the United States.

With the year drawing to a close, Hollywood has released a series of blockbusters, including *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, *King Kong*, and *The Chronicles of Narnia*, all of which have achieved box office success. However, while these films performed reasonably well, none were considered blockbusters. *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* only grossed the expected 800-900 million, while *King Kong* and *The Chronicles of Narnia* fared even lower. Therefore, the title of this year's box office champion can be said to have been secured by *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End*, with its global total of 11.2 billion.

"Hans, you always manage to satisfy me!" Wu Yuchen praised the balding man in front of him with a smile.

"Wu, your films always give me endless inspiration~" Hans Zimmer replied with a compliment.

Hans Zimmer, a Hollywood composer, has collaborated with Wu Yuchen several times, and the two have developed a good rapport. With the score finalized, post-production on "The Batman" was almost complete, and Wu Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't worry too much about Spider-Man 3. As filming progressed, the production team had greatly increased their trust in director Sam Raimi, and Wu Yuchen had given up a lot of control. Therefore, he basically had all the power in the crew, but the production team naturally retained the final cut rights.

Wu Yuchen went to see the finished film a couple of days ago. Overall, it was okay, but he also offered some suggestions on editing. Sam Raimi has decided to make some further revisions.

Wu Yuchen was more interested in "Fantastic Four," even though he handed it over to Kevin Feige, who lacked experience with Marvel. Previously, during the director selection process, Steven Soderbergh had approached him with interest in directing, but Wu Yuchen declined after communicating with Feige.

Firstly, Soderbergh's style leans towards realism, which doesn't quite fit with superhero movies.

Secondly, he has won an Oscar for Best Director in recent years and directed blockbuster films such as *Ocean's Eleven* and *Ocean's Twelve*, giving him a high reputation. With Kevin Feige as producer alone, Wu Yuchen fears Feige might not be able to control him. If he wanted to add a touch of intellectualism, like Li An's *Hulk*, that would be disastrous!

Wu Yuchen's goal for "Fantastic Four" was very clear: it was a pure popcorn commercial movie, aimed at box office success, and meant to be mindless and entertaining!
Therefore, Tim Storey was ultimately chosen as the director. He is a director with several filming experiences, his skills and techniques are decent, but he is also quite obedient, which Wu Yuchen felt was a good fit.

"Daddy, is it pretty?"

At this moment, Jessica Alba, dressed in a blue tight-fitting uniform and short boots, kept striking poses to flirt with Wu Yuchen.

For this filming of "Fantastic Four," a special set of hero costumes was designed for the four heroes based on the original story. Naturally, it was to highlight the heroes' physiques. The male heroes showed off their muscles, while Jessica Alba showed off her sexy and alluring S-curve.

As soon as the uniform was designed, Jessica Alba immediately wore it back for Wu Yuchen to try on. She truly is a thoughtful sweetheart.

Wu Yuchen, meanwhile, ran his hands over the hero's uniform, measuring and feeling it inch by inch to see if it fit properly.

To be honest, this outfit is only good for photoshoots. Wearing it in real life would be very awkward, and after trying it on a few times, Wu Yuchen found it impractical. It's all one-piece, which is very inconvenient!

Of course, it's still quite fun to play around with it occasionally out of curiosity and role-playing.

Wu Yuchen thought to himself, "When Scarlett Johansson plays Black Widow and Anne Hathaway plays Catwoman, all three of these superheroines will be dressed up in their costumes and have fun together. Just thinking about it makes my heart flutter!"
Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson are not in Los Angeles during this period. Now that the girls have become famous, their schedules are quite tight, with filming movies, shooting commercials, appearing on shows, and running around for promotional events. Jessica Alba has also set aside a week to accompany Wu Yuchen.

The next time the three girls get together to spend time with him will probably be during the Christmas season.

While Wu Yuchen was battling Wonder Woman, people were also discussing the two of them.

"Hey Megan, your chance has come! Transformers is a $1.5 million big project, produced by Spielberg and Wu Yuchen, and directed by Michael Bay! If you can land the lead role in this project, you could very well skyrocket to stardom!"

The agent kept emphasizing this about his beautiful female artist.

"I know! I know!" Megan Fox was also very excited. She was just a model and a small-time actress in the television industry. She never expected to make it to the final round of the Transformers audition.

"Megan, Transformers is a major project that all of Hollywood is watching closely. You will be facing the fiercest competition in Hollywood, and you may very well be the weakest among them!"
At this point, there's nothing I can do to help you. Of course, we can't just sit here and wait to die; if you want to win over the female lead, you have to take the initiative.

Megan Fox nodded in agreement with her agent's words and asked, "Ron, what should I do?"

Megan Fox is only 19 years old this year. She started modeling at 14 and began her acting career at 17. She has little experience and is not particularly bright, so she has no idea what to do now.

"Gain the favor of key figures!"

(End of this chapter)