Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years

Qi Hao's action movie is starting to take shape.

"Informant" really can't be acquired.

Lin Chaolian can't make the decision, and Emperor Entertainment clearly prefers their own Xie Tingfeng.

Xie Tingfeng is one of their own from Emperor Entertainment.

If they give the chance for their own to win an award to an outsider, how will they convince the crowd in the future?

As for Qi Hao exchanging resources...

Let's not mention whether Qi Hao has suitable resources, even if he does, Xie Tingfeng has to be willing to agree.

So, this matter has definitely fallen apart.

Qi Hao doesn't hesitate anymore and sends Yang Liu to Korea to negotiate for the rights to "Uncle".

Gao Fei definitely won't let her go.

She's now notorious in the industry as a sucker, people might see her and their eyes will light up.

Qi Hao took Gao Fei to the "Let the Bullets Fly" side.

The film hasn't started shooting yet, but quite a few people have gathered at the set.

"Now people in the circle are saying that our investment in you is a joke, calling us suckers."

Qi Hao gives Jiang Wen some psychological pressure.

He wants Jiang Wen to mend his ways and stop making films so profound and unintelligible.

"Who the hell is saying that kind of thing!"

Although Jiang Wen also thinks Qi Hao and Gao Fei are suckers, this can't be put out in the open.

"Wang Chonglei..."

Qi Hao looks troubled, but still reluctantly says it.

"That bastard's stirring up trouble behind our backs again!"

Jiang Wen doesn't doubt it at all because he can imagine the expression Wang Chonglei would have saying those things.

"A few days ago at the Bazaar Charity Night, he came at me with a bunch of nonsense, and I gave it back to him hard. It was quite unpleasant, and I plan to sell my shares to him once Mrs. Hua goes public; they don't deserve to be called filmmakers at all."

Qi Hao swears that everything he's saying is true.

It's just that the cause and effect are slightly different from how he presents it.

"Huh? It's really not necessary, Qi Hao, let him say whatever he wants. Selling shares right after they go public isn't very financially savvy and might offend the Wang Brothers."

Even the worldly Jiang Wen is dumbfounded by this.

He looks at Qi Hao, feeling a mixture of emotions.

In his eyes, Qi Hao is becoming more endearing, quickly washing away the label of being a sucker.

If this doesn't move him, he would truly be heartless.

"I know it's not wise to offend them, but they've gone too far. I'm just a simple filmmaker whose biggest dream in life is to make some good movies. I'm simply not on the same path as them, those capitalists."

You can't really say Qi Hao is spouting nonsense.

At the very least, he sincerely wants to be a simple filmmaker.

But to remain "simple," he must possess enough financial and social standing.

Jiang Wen is a good connection.

Don't think of him as just a maverick director who can't even secure investments, a loser.

In reality, Jiang Wen has a tremendous amount of influence and power behind him.

It might even exceed the entertainment industry itself.

"Brother, brother!" Jiang Wen claps Qi Hao on the shoulder; he hasn't been moved by a few words like this in a long time.

Wang Chonglei will definitely say such cynical things.

And Qi Hao selling Mrs. Hua's shares is something that can easily be disproved.

Hence, he doesn't suspect Qi Hao of lying.

"Haha, make a great movie and let Boss Gao see what a classic film is!"

Qi Hao's idea is simple.

He wants to "touch" Jiang Wen.

Either don't lose so much money, or actually make a truly widely acclaimed good film.

By then, on Feiyang Media's homepage, it could say they produced "Let the Bullets Fly".

That way, it would be somewhat satisfying for Gao Yang.

"Rest assured, this time, with 100 million, I won't overspend even a penny. If I don't make a decent movie, I'll quit the film industry!"

Jiang Wen is determined.

After all, having dreams is necessary; you never know when you might hit the jackpot!

The main reason is that Qi Hao's sentimentality is a little over the top, and in addition, circumstances force it, he really can't afford to make another losing movie.

Emperor Entertainment did promise to invest in five of his films, but they won't invest fully, even investing 10% counts.

If you can't pull it off, you can't blame them.

Qi Hao, alongside Jiang Wen, checked the venue and listened to the shooting plans from both the directing and screenwriting teams.

This was a process he had to go through as a producer.

If you let go completely, don't blame others for treating you like a fool.

Fortunately, Qi Hao not only gets involved, but with over a decade of experience and being a director of two films, he's very familiar with every aspect of production.

Even if someone wants to fool him, no one could.

In the evening, it's just about having drinks together.

Jiang Wen and Qi Hao met at the bar and started becoming close friends.

Qi Hao and Han Sanping also called each other brothers.

After all, if I'm calling Qi Hao brother, and you, Han Sanping, make Qi Hao call you uncle, aren't you taking advantage of me?

"Qi Hao, you must act this time too; your popularity will save a lot on marketing costs."

Jiang Wen can drink, but drinking doesn't mean he doesn't get drunk.

Many people get drunk after two cups, but being drunk after ten cups still counts as just as drunk; this is called drunk but not falling.

People like this are considered to have a good tolerance.

Those truly with low tolerance like Gao Yang, after two drinks, will collapse on the table snoring.

"I... can't seem to fit it into my schedule."

Qi Hao was quite conflicted; he really wanted to be involved in Jiang Wen's film, especially since it's a collaboration with a major director.

Qi Hao suspected that the system might issue similar tasks in the future.

For instance, collaborating with a major director or something.

But compared to possible future tasks, the current task is obviously more important.

So, in the upcoming period, Qi Hao plans to complete the action film task first.

"Didn't you say I could act before? What's the matter, not good enough for you?"

The three lead roles were taken by Jiang Wen, Ge You, and Liang Jiahui, while the others were all supporting roles.

Considering Qi Hao's current status, it was indeed a bit unfair.

After all, Qi Hao played Jiang Wuyang, one of the three leads, in "Oath of Allegiance" just a few days ago.

There was no way Jiang Wen could give Qi Hao a leading role here.

Should he play Huang the Fourth, the Master, or Zhang Mazi?

If Qi Hao could play Zhang Mazi, Jiang Wen wouldn't mind giving him the role.

Nothing works!

Even Qi Hao himself never considered vying for those three roles.

"It's really not that. I have a few scripts, and I want to make something on my own. I'm particularly interested in action films."

Qi Hao spoke candidly.

"Actually, our 'Let the Bullets Fly' fits within the scope of action films. There's gunfight, martial arts champions; how is it not an action film?"

Jiang Wen had never directed an action film; action films are more prevalent in Hong Kong cinema.

Compared to Hong Kong films, mainland China's productions are inferior, so naturally, fewer people are willing to make them.

"Cheers!"

Qi Hao was feeling down; the system not only required him to perform in an action film, it also needed him to be the lead.

Therefore, Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" couldn't help him fulfill his goals.

"You should at least play a small part; it won't take long, just a day's shoot."

Jiang Wen originally planned for Qi Hao to choose Liu Zi or Hu Wan.

One was the youngest in Zhang Mazi's camp, the other the youngest in Huang the Fourth's camp, each having unique characteristics; playing them well might earn him a Best Supporting Actor award.

However, Qi Hao simply didn't have time to accept these two roles.

He had no choice but to settle for less.

"Is there any particularly interesting role available?"

This time, Qi Hao didn't refuse, thinking any role would mean having collaborated with Jiang Wen.

"Well, there are a few small roles I think have potential: a cold jelly vendor, a man whose wife was taken, the Master's son, and finally... Fake Mazi."

Jiang Wen had shown Qi Hao the script before, so he didn't elaborate.

Although the script goes through various changes during filming, nearly every character has a written biographical note, and each scene has storyboard sketches.

Uh, the drawings aren't particularly nice.

Qi Hao was dumbfounded the first time he saw them. Is this supposed to be a drawing?

They were like stick figures!

Nevertheless, Qi Hao couldn't ridicule others, as he himself couldn't draw storyboards.

He simply had the self-awareness not to trouble himself.

"Fake Mazi then..."

After some thought, Qi Hao chose a role that surprised Jiang Wen.

The cold jelly vendor represented a typical petty civilian, an important and lively character.

The man whose wife was taken had a rather complex storyline.

Then there was the Master's eight-year-old son.

Jiang Wen anticipated Qi Hao might choose this one — a short scene that could quickly be played out, but the stark contrast of an eight-year-old with someone six-foot tall was definite hype.

Moreover, the eight-year-old role had profound significance.

He never expected Qi Hao to opt for Fake Mazi.

"That's doable, act as Fake Mazi. We will be one real Mazi and one fake Mazi, haha~"

Jiang Wen chuckled heartily, sensing the gimmick could be more appealing.

"If I take you down, I become the real Mazi, and you're the fake Mazi..."

Qi Hao jested.

"You're not up for it; you're just a tool for Huang the Fourth!"

Jiang Wen joined in quoting lines from the film.

The director and writer teams considered making the Fake Mazi character more intriguing.

This is, after all, an appearance by the investor themselves.

Upon returning from the "Let the Bullets Fly" crew, Yang Liu had also come back from Korea.

Her efficiency wasn't bad; she successfully secured the rights to "Uncle."

If Gao Fei had gone to buy, it might truly have cost three billion Korean Won, and she didn't think tens of thousands more or less mattered.

Spending that time wasn't as worthwhile as getting more sleep.

Nowadays, she barely found time to nap during work hours.

Yet, as they say, children from poor families learn responsibility early.

Yang Liu, this poor family child, spent merely 1.5 million RMB.

Only less than half the asking price.

While over a million wasn't cheap for a script, it was an international deal with genuinely good script quality; the details were well-handled.

1.5 million was perfectly suitable.

However, the seller Li Zhenfan wasn't a fool.

It's not like buying clothes, where you slash the price by half right away, and few would want to continue business with you.

Beyond the 1.5 million, Yang Liu confirmed a special clause in the contract:

Five years after the release of Qi Hao's directed "Uncle," Li Zhenfan can freely remake the script.

Then, it would be the Korean version of "Uncle."