"How should I put it, it’s too neat," Wen Bing said. "Of course, the costus, makeup, and visuals in this movie are impeccable, especially the cinematography, which is of a very high standard and incredibly refined. But personally, I feel it’s just a story - it tells a complete story from beginning to end, and it’s quite interesting, but after watching it, it doesn’t leave much of an impression."
Zhou Yun thought to herself, her intuition was right.
"Sigh, to be honest, I had that feeling while filming."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Yao Yuanfeng kept trying to persuade , wanted to shoot a sequel," Zhou Yun said, "but I wasn’t happy filming it."
"I’ve dealt with Hou ngjie before too, he seems like soone quite full of himself. You don’t like his personality, is it hard to get along with him?"
"It’s not just that, it’s more about his directing style, which I find hard to adapt to," Zhou Yun said. "I can’t really say much more, maybe it’s my issue, but in any case, I just can’t adapt."
Wen Bing: "I’ve heard from others too that he’s very demanding on set, that everyone has to listen to him, right?"
"Yes."
"Yet you’re the kind of actor who can’t fully listen to a director unless you trust them," Wen Bing clearly understood Zhou Yun. "However, New Shield has high hopes for this movie, estimating it could make over a billion at the box office."
"Yao Yuanfeng told that, otherwise why would he be so eager to develop a sequel," Zhou Yun said. "He’s trying to lock in my schedule early."
Wen Bing chuckled.
"Rather than filming a sequel to ’Four Killers,’ I’d rather do more ’Female Assassin’ films with you," Zhou Yun said. "Both are action films, but it’s much more comfortable working with you."
"But they don’t see ’Female Assassin’ having the sa box office potential as ’Four Killers,’" Wen Bing said. "But then again, ’Female Assassin’ isn’t made in the comrcial blockbuster mold; it’s more stylized, and I don’t want to turn it into a popcorn movie."
"Don’t think that way. I never believe only popcorn movies can achieve high box office," Zhou Yun said. "Look at Nolan, Quentin; their films aren’t popcorn movies either, full of style, but they still succeed at the box office."
"Don’t compare to them, I’m not in the sa league."
"I know. My point is, we shouldn’t assu that stylized, auteur films can’t be loved by audiences. Look at ’Life,’ didn’t it exceed everyone’s expectations, earning several billion at the box office?" Zhou Yun said. "Production companies are always going to assess a movie’s box office potential from the safest perspective, doing all kinds of data analysis reports, but that’s not our concern, Wen Bing. We just need to do our best."
Wen Bing sighed and said, "Stop, you have no idea. New Shield has been wanting to add a romantic subplot for you in ’Female Assassin.’ I’ve rejected them many tis, but they’re very persistent, taking out all sorts of... data reports, telling that if we don’t do this, ’Female Assassin’ will earn much less. They want a handso male lead to attract more female viewers and want to add a bit of romance to your character, not just pure action fighting, to give your character a bit more femininity."
Hearing this, Zhou Yun felt her head spinning.
"Didn’t you tell them I don’t want that?"
"I did, but they... well, you know how they operate."
Zhou Yun was a bit annoyed.
"So even with both our opinions, they don’t take it seriously?" Zhou Yun questioned. "What if we ultimately refuse, what will they do then?"
Wen Bing said, "Of course they won’t do anything, but they’ll keep emphasizing internally that if the box office isn’t good afterwards, it’s because we didn’t modify the script according to their suggestions, so we can’t bla them."
Zhou Yun: "This is a bit frustrating to hear, but ’Two tigers’ is already set for a Spring Festival release; the promotional activities should have already started, right?"
"Warming up now, movie promotion isn’t like before where you extend the tiline. Starting now makes it easier for people to tire," Wen Bing explained.
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