The Unexpected Fifth Party and the Frenzied Actresses

Having decided to use Painted Skin to claim the top spot at the box office, Wei Jin naturally watched the original film over and over.

In his previous life, Wei Jin might not have had the professional expertise to identify a film's strengths and weaknesses. Like most viewers, he could only judge it as very good, worth watching, average, bad, or absolutely terrible.

But in this life, after two or three years of immersion at film school, combined with his photographic memory and repeated viewings of the finished film in his mind, Wei Jin was now capable of cutting and revising the unreasonable parts of the original plot.

After watching the original film from beginning to end, he found that its main attractions were the special effects and the tragically unresolved love triangle between human and demon.

But whether to pad the runtime or promote someone, the filmmakers had added a six-way love entanglement beyond the three core leads.

The Lizard Spirit loved Xiaowei, Donnie Yen's character was Peirong's simp, and Sun Li's character loved Donnie Yen's character. They chased one another around in circles, making a complete mess of it. Not only did it disrupt the original pacing, but it also added a few more doses of melodrama.

After Wei Jin's revisions, the core selling points remained: the film would win audiences over with its special effects and the tortured romance between human and demon.

Donnie Yen's and Sun Li's roles in the original were combined into a character resembling Yan Chixia. The Lizard Spirit would merely harbor an unspoken love for Xiaowei and never confess; there was no need to cram romance into every corner. The fight scenes would also be upgraded, with the emphasis on making them spectacular.

There was also the matter of the investors increasing from four parties to five, which had caught Wei Jin somewhat off guard.

On the evening he reached an agreement with Han Sanping, Wei Jin received a call from President Deng, the vice president of Western Film Group. President Deng began by playing on their shared hometown ties.

President Deng then invited the Silver Bear-winning director to visit his hometown, saying that the trip might just inspire him. While he was there, he could give the directors at the hometown film studio a few lessons on how to make commercial films, and so on. Finally, President Deng tactfully brought up Western Film Group's desire to invest in Painted Skin.

Wei Jin thought it over and agreed, though he made it clear that Western Film Group's investment share would be small. Bona and Guangxian would have to bear the inconvenience and give up a little of their shares.

When President Deng heard Wei Jin agree over the phone, for a moment President Deng truly believed that the Silver Bear-winning director who had come from their hometown still cherished his hometown ties, and launched into another round of complaints.

As policy grew increasingly clear and encouraged the film market to flourish, everyone knew commercial films would become mainstream and box office was king.

But transforming the traditional film studios was difficult. The main problem was that their established foundation was what it was, and their ways of thinking were deeply ingrained. The older directors couldn't get the hang of commercial films, while new talent couldn't be cultivated. In that respect, they lagged behind even private enterprises.

Once Western Film Group became responsible for its own profits and losses and entered full market competition, it gradually began to fall behind. The reasons weren't complicated: the industry's talent was concentrated in Beijing and Magic City, and the most famous art academies were there too. Economically, there was even less comparison. Western Film Group's decline had been inevitable.

Wei Jin understood all this, and President Deng actually understood it too, but President Deng couldn't accept it. In that position, one had to do something, didn't one?

And now a young director had emerged from their hometown, one who had won a Silver Bear in Berlin and earned over a hundred million at the box office. After learning about his new project through inside sources, President Deng had made the call.

Wei Jin's reasons for accepting Western Film Group's investment were simple, too. An extra person meant extra strength, and he wouldn't have to give up any more of his own share anyway. Secondly, Western Film Group really could be a great help with the location shooting for Painted Skin. Besides, it was a hometown enterprise, after all, and he didn't want people saying he had forgotten old ties.

After hanging up on President Deng, Wei Jin wore a wistful expression. One of the once-great Eight Major Film Studios had fallen into decline just like that.

The final investment shares were settled at 50% for Wei Jin Fengliu, 25% for China Film Group, 8% for Bona, 8% for Guangxian, and 9% for Western Film Group.

On the very day Painted Skin's approval was announced, Wei Jin received calls from all directions, most of them from actresses.

That was only natural. It was a major production with an investment of 100 million, written and directed by a Silver Bear-winning director whose film had earned over a hundred million at the box office. Naturally, it drew all kinds of attention within the industry, especially with word spreading wildly through various channels that the female lead had a bigger role than the male lead.

There were far too few major commercial productions in the entertainment industry centered on female characters. Painted Skin was a romance to begin with, and Wei Jin's previous film, Those Years, had elevated Liu Yifei to the position of "the nation's first love." The industry generally believed that Wei Jin was skilled at filming women's roles.

As a result, all these popular actresses in the entertainment industry went crazy. Those who had Wei Jin's number called him directly.

Gao Yuanyuan called to ask when he was going to 501. She had recently bought quite a few new styles of lingerie and wanted Wei Jin to help her see whether they fit.

Wei Jin said he was very busy lately and might not have time until the film was finished. He asked her to send him photos instead.

Liu Xiaoli called to say they hadn't seen each other in a long time, and Yifei missed him a little. She wanted to invite Wei Jin to a meal.

Wei Jin told her outright that Liu Yifei had no chance. Her acting was too poor.

Fan Bingbing sent him a hotel room number by text, but Wei Jin simply ignored it.

Those who didn't have Wei Jin's number pulled whatever strings they could and tried every way possible to land a role.

Zhao Yanzi contacted a teacher at the school directly to pull strings.

International Zhang contacted China Film Group and said she was willing to take a pay cut.

Through Young President Wang of Huayi, Li Bingbing let Wei Jin know she wanted to appear in the film, and even stated outright that she would do it for no pay.

Li Xiaowan of Rongxinda also called, saying that their Zhou Xun was a great actress and didn't charge much.

H&R went so far as to say that if Sun Li could land a role, it would offer a high-quality television project in exchange.

Even Star Media and Yinghuang, which had barely dealt with Wei Jin, called to put forward their own candidates.

Even the somewhat older Ning Jing, Xiao Taohong, Xu Qing, and others were interested. Later, actresses from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and elsewhere also contacted the company through various means.

When Teacher Jiang called, Teacher Jiang joked that attendance at school had risen over the past two days. Many female students were hoping to run into Wei Jin on campus and land a role.

Wei Jin and the major investors were happy to see everyone fighting for the parts, treating it as a way to build buzz for the film in advance.

When Zhou Xun received the invitation call from Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company, she felt as though joy had fallen from the sky.

She hadn't actually held out much hope. The competition was too fierce, Rongxinda and Wei Jin Fengliu had no business dealings, and she herself had met Wei Jin only once.

But Zhou Xun knew how to conduct herself. As soon as she got the call, she said she was willing to cut her fee in half.

Having settled Zhou Xun's schedule, Wei Jin was very pleased as well. After all, he had watched the original film many times, and her performance truly was excellent. Someone else might not necessarily have been able to bring the role to life.

Chen Kun was finally chosen for the male lead. First, Wei Jin had seen the original, and Chen Kun's performance had been conventional but acceptable. Second, he and Zhou Xun were very close, worked seamlessly together, and had couple chemistry. Third, Liu Ye and Zhou Xun had a grudge.

Chen Zhiming had told Wei Jin about that. It turned out that Liu Ye and Zhou Xun had worked together back in 2002. The two had quarreled on set, and Liu Ye had told Zhou Xun to her face that she couldn't act and had only gotten her roles by sleeping with directors. Zhou Xun had promptly struck him in the face with a drink bottle, and they had had nothing to do with each other since.

As for the other female lead, Wei Jin naturally gave the role to Zeng Li. The moment she got it, Sister Li was deeply moved, but even more uneasy.

"Xiao Jin, will letting me play the role like this put you in a difficult position?"

"It's fine. I'm the biggest investor, so isn't it only natural that I can arrange a role?"

"But I've never acted in a film before. I'm afraid I won't do well and will hold you back."

"It's fine, Sister Li. You have to believe in yourself. Even Teacher Jiang said you performed very well in The Infiltrator. Besides, you should have even more faith in me."

"But I'm not very well known. Why don't you find a popular star instead? That would help the film's box office too."

"Sister Li, trust me. World's Finest is about to air, and The Infiltrator will probably be on by the end of the year. After those two shows, you'll be a popular star."

"But..."

"Sister Li, no more buts. It's time for bed."

"Mmm..."