In this matter, Lu Yanhe was actually very constrained. No matter what Chen Pinhe wanted to do, he felt that his hands and feet were restricted.
First, he couldn't tell others what his relationship with Chen Pinhe was.
As for this matter, so far, the only people who know about it are Chen Ziyan, him and Chen Siqi. Even Li Zhibai and Yan Liang don't know.
Secondly, his personality is such that he cannot let others suffer losses because of his own affairs.
Even if it is this loss, he can compensate it with other rewards.
This is a flaw in his character and also an innate shortcoming.
Chen Ziyan knew all about this, so she didn't try to persuade Lu Yanhe any more. Instead, she said, "We also explained to Jiang Jun in advance what the consequences of this matter might be. He agreed to it knowing that it might offend Chen Pinhe. Also, you have to understand one thing. As long as you and Chen Pinhe really go to war, the people around you two will inevitably be involved. In fact, you should also not forget why you took action this time. Do you still remember?"
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
"Because he took the initiative and snatched the movie that was originally intended for you, the movie "Doomsday", Lu Nei's first choice was you." Chen Ziyan said, "So, don't worry about whether you are dragging others into it. If you don't pull them in, he will. Anyone who stands by you will be regarded by him as a member of your camp. That's how war works. Have you forgotten why the Golden Tripod Awards suddenly targeted you this year?"
These words were like a heavy blow to Lu Yanhe, giving him an epiphany.
In the matter of the Golden Tripod Awards, he was affected by the Blue Ribbon Awards incident at the beginning of the year, so he was implicated.
It's actually the same thing.
He did not say or do anything openly about the Golden Tripod Awards, but just because he supported the Blue Ribbon Awards, he had a back-and-forth struggle with Huang Lian this year.
It's not even about personal conflicts, it's just because of different interests.
Since Jiang Jun became famous through "Squid Game", no matter what he says or does, he belongs to Lu Yanhe's interest camp.
As long as Chen Pinhe really wants to take action against Lu Yanhe, Jiang Jun will not be able to stay out of it.
Chen Ziyan hit the weak spot of the snake and her words hit Lu Yanhe's blind spot.
Lu Yanhe came back to his senses, and although he still felt a little sorry for Jiang Jun, he also realized that there was nothing he could do about it.
"Of course, there is something more interesting now." Chen Ziyan smiled slightly, as if she had thought of an idea.
"What?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Chen Ziyan said: "If Doomsday wasn't a B-grade movie, Parameter would have been willing to let it be made according to the original production standards. However, before that, Chen Pinhe refused to act in it because of the rumor that it was a B-grade movie. Do you think he would be very annoyed?"
Lu Yanhe looked surprised.
"what?"
Chen Ziyan said: "It's the same thing. It may not be successful, but if you want to stir up trouble, you can pick up any piece of wood and use it as a stirrer. You don't have to care about too many things."
Lu Yanhe asked: "Sister Zi Yan, what have you thought of?"
"Let's first find out what Parameter's attitude towards Doomsday is." Chen Ziyan said, "Aren't we going to work with Zeby Doyle on Buried? At that time, we wanted to use this play to exchange for Jiang Jun's performance in Doomsday. Now that Doomsday has made new moves, it's normal for us to learn about the new progress of this project."
Just as Chen Ziyan said, Lu Yanhe sent an email to Zeby Doyle, asking about "Doomsday" and the Asian character that he was interested in before.
Zebe Doyle called him back.
"We are contacting Hollywood's top male actors, hoping that some of them will be interested and come to the negotiation table. Otherwise, without an A-list actor to replace Tom Felton, we still can't start the Doomsday project." Zeby Doyle said, "Of course we still hope you can play the role."
"Zebby, I'm worried that I won't be able to coordinate my schedule. With the current situation of Doomsday, I don't know when we can start filming. I have many projects waiting to start, and I can't keep saving time to wait for your movie." Lu Yanhe planted the nail with Zebby Doyle as Chen Ziyan asked, and then said, "However, if Doomsday needs it, you can also consider Jiang Jun, the male lead of Squidward."
Zeby Doyle was a little surprised, "Jiang Jun?"
"Yes, I heard that you are going to use Jiang Yuqian, the heroine of Squidward Gaming, as the heroine of Doomsday? If the hero and heroine of Squidward Gaming reunite in Doomsday, it should be a promotional point for Doomsday that can attract audiences to the cinema?"
Lu Yanhe's words were not narcissistic or boastful.
The hit show "Squid!" on streaming media directly made it into Maxine's top three of the year, otherwise, they would not have been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards that year.
Zeby Doyle knew Jiang Yuqian, and of course he also knew Jiang Jun.
After Lu Yanhe said this, he immediately began to think.
He added: “But if you have already signed a contract with someone else, forget it.”
Zebe Doyle asked: "Actually, it would be nice for Jiang Jun to play in Buried Alive."
"The male lead of the movie 'Buried Alive' has been decided to be Li Zhibai." Lu Yanhe said, "The contract has been signed."
Zebe Doyle smiled and asked, "Lu, did you never plan to star in "Doomsday" from the beginning?"
Lu Yanhe: "How could that be?"
"Because I recently learned that your schedule for next year is already full, with four TV series to be filmed."
Lu Yanhe's heart skipped a beat and he immediately realized that it must be Chen Pinhe who passed this news to Zeby Doyle through their channels.
Otherwise, how would Zebe Doyle know his filming schedule for next year.
"Actually, not really." Lu Yanhe pretended to be helpless. "Don't you know how popular I am in Asia? If I don't say this to the public, I won't be able to turn down many acting offers."
At this moment, Lu Yanhe made himself sound like a big star who was troubled by the sudden popularity. "In fact, I told the public that I have four movies to shoot next year, three of which are produced by my own company. Now only one has a confirmed release date." Lu Yanhe said, "Although I don't know where you heard this news, I think you probably want to squeeze me out and compete for the movie "Doomsday"? If that's the case, then fine, I'll just quit."
Lu Yanhe used a tactic of retreating in order to advance.
As expected, Zebe Doyle began to wonder again.
"Of course I believe you, but you suddenly recommended Jiang Jun to me just now, which reminded me of this matter again."
"I recommended Jiang Jun only because he is my friend, and he and I belong to the same agency in China, so if I really can't play the role, there is an old Chinese saying that goes, 'Good things should be kept within the family.'" Lu Yanhe said, "Isn't the leading actor in Squidward enough to star in Doomsday? You have to know that there are too many Hollywood projects looking for him, but he turned them all down."
Zebe Doyle immediately said, "Those projects that came to him were all B-movies, right?"
"The role given to him in Doomsday isn't the leading actor," Lu Yanhe said. "We all know that the real protagonist of Doomsday is still the American character, isn't it?"
The two men had a verbal battle.
Lu Yanhe laughed again: "Besides, I think if Jiang Jun and Jiang Yuqian can star in the movie "Doomsday" at the same time, it will help promote the second part of "Squid Game" in advance."
At this time, Zeby Doyle smiled as if he had suddenly realized something.
He accepted Lu Yanhe's words.
Zeby Doyle said: "If you are willing to work with us at Parameter to develop the movie of Squidward, the role of Doomsday can definitely be given to Jiang Jun."
"Please, don't be too greedy. Buried was given to you, and the future of Doomsday is uncertain. If you can sign the actor of Squidward as one of the leading actors, it will also help you find another A-lister to replace Tom Felton, right? What Doomsday lacks most right now is the industry's confidence in this project, right? Even though Tom Felton's previous evaluations have lost some credibility due to his drug scandal, rumors have spread, which always makes people a little suspicious. Those A-listers are never short of project invitations."
Lu Yanhe threw out another chip.
"Unless you can find another Asian actor who is more famous and influential in Hollywood than Jiang Jun."
Chen Pinhe's status in the film industry is certainly higher than Jiang Jun's.
However, Chen Pinhe has not had any commercial representative works in Europe and the United States in recent years.
"Squid Game" is Jiang Jun's most useful card.
Lu Yanhe mentioned this drama in his words and deeds, just to consolidate the impression of this drama and Jiang Jun in Zeby Doyle's mind over and over again.
As expected, the situation of "Doomsday" has changed due to Tom Felton's withdrawal. The casting of a supporting role has suddenly begun to affect the judgment of the main character.
Zeby Doyle realized that what Lu Yanhe said actually made sense.
Hollywood and the Chinese entertainment industry are very different in some ways, but in some ways, they are the same.
For example, human nature.
Everyone chooses the script and the team. If another reliable person joins, you will have more trust in the project.
Everyone believes that people who have succeeded before are more likely to succeed a second time.
Zebe Doyle said: "It would be great if you could act in this film. You are much more famous in Europe and America than Jiang Jun."
"But I became famous for the thriller movie The Mist. How much appeal will I have for the audience if I act in Doomsday? The two themes are quite different. I don't believe that with my Asian face, so many European and American audiences will trust me just by watching The Mist." Lu Yanhe chuckled, "If that's the case, the box office of Love Letter in the United States should be more than 8 million."
Zebe Doyle said: "You have no idea what $8 million means to a non-English film in the United States."
"But you must understand what it means for a Chinese-language drama to become a global hit and achieve unprecedented success," said Lu Yanhe.
-
The phone call with Zeby Doyle gave Lu Yanhe the information he wanted.
"Parameter still wants to make this movie according to the previous standards and has no intention of lowering it to a B-level movie." Lu Yanhe said to Chen Ziyan.
Chen Ziyan nodded.
"That's enough." Chen Ziyan said, "At this stage, we can release a smokescreen to let Chen Pinhe know that Doomsday will have its production budget cut due to Tom Felton's withdrawal and will become a B-grade movie."
Lu Yanhe was surprised and asked, "Can they believe it?"
"Did you tell Zebby Doyle on the phone, as we had agreed before, that you might withdraw from Doomsday due to schedule reasons?"
"It may not be possible anymore." Lu Yanhe told Chen Ziyan in detail the content of his phone call with Zeby Doyle. "So, he probably knows now that I can't act. Since he told me that someone told him about my plan to film next year, he may not believe it even if I explain it to him."
"It must have been done by Chen Pinhe." Chen Ziyan said, "They knew we went to meet Zeby Doyle, so they couldn't just sit there and do something. As expected, they took action. But this is also good. We will give him a clear answer later. We will withdraw from "Doomsday" and let Darren announce through the American media that you will definitely not appear in the movie "Doomsday" due to schedule reasons. Then, we will let the domestic media reprint it as soon as possible."
Lu Yanhe asked: "Will Chen Pinhe believe this news?"
"This is just the first step." Chen Ziyan said, "At this point, you have to use Hua Ruzhen's channels. You have to spread the news in overseas Chinese circles through private channels that you are withdrawing because the film is being downgraded to a B-grade film. In this way, Chen Pinhe will definitely go to Parameter to confirm the authenticity of the news."
Lu Yanhe: "Parameter will definitely deny it."
"Yes, but even if Parameter denies it, Chen Pinhe may not believe it. After all, Parameter may not tell the truth in order to trick him into acting. Chen Pinhe will definitely think so."
"That--"
"Wouldn't it be the next step for your Source Code to appear?" Chen Ziyan smiled. "You and director Reece Reese are going to work together on Source Code. We just need to let the American media release a smokescreen, saying that Reece Reese will devote all his efforts to preparing Source Code. Then Doomsday will not only lose Tom Felton, but also its original director."
Lu Yanhe reacted instantly.
"We just need to ask Director Lu Nei to do us a favor and not deny the media's suspicions for the time being. He should clarify that he will continue to direct the movie "Doomsday." Chen Ziyan said, "All kinds of signs indicate that "Doomsday" will either be stopped or downgraded. Do you think that with Chen Pinhe's status, will he be willing to act in a Hollywood B-grade movie?" (End of this chapter)
