Author: Fork Less
Source: Char Siu in the past
This article is 6967 words and is expected to be read in 18 minutes
Recently, the movie "One Second" was released. The film was released for 8 days, the box office barely exceeded 100 million, and the scheduling rate was as low as 1.5%.
Looking back at 2002, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" with producer Zhang Weiping won 250 million at the box office, opening the era of Chinese film blockbusters.
The two were once known as the golden partners of the film industry, and together they launched blockbusters such as "Ten Faces Ambush" and "Full of Golden Armor", until the contradictions in the filming of "Jinling Thirteen Chao" intensified, and the two parted ways.
Subsequently, Zhang Yimou was exposed to supernatural life, and his reputation was greatly impacted. The whistleblower of the incident and Zhang Weiping are closely related.
First acquaintance
Zhang Weiping was born in 1958 to a military family. He likes to fight for his friends since he was a child, and is a famous child king in school. At the age of nineteen, he took over his mother's position as a pharmacist at the Beijing Fourth People's Hospital, and for nearly a decade, he thought that life would go on flat.
At the same time, Zhang Yimou entered the photography department of the Beijing Film Academy at the age of 28. After showing his cinematography talents through "One and Eight" and "Yellow Land", he got his first chance to direct a film, "Red Sorghum". After the film was made, he and Gong Li came together and carried Chen Shimei's insult.
In 1989, Zhang Weiping jumped to Siemens and became a customs broker for this foreign company. Compared with state-owned units, foreign companies have much higher wages. When Zhang Weiping was working, he smelled the taste of the market economy and thought about how to accumulate contacts to engage in business. At a certain dinner party, Zhang Weiping and his girlfriend Zhang Jing met Zhang Yimou and Gong Li.
Zhang Jing is a fan of Gong Li's film, and as soon as they met, he took out four thick star scrapbooks and asked Gong Li to sign them. At that time, Zhang Yimou's film film needed to be taken abroad for development from time to time. Zhang Weiping said he could help: "It is more convenient to have an acquaintance in and out of customs." ”
Several people chatted warmly, Gong Li left the BP machine number, and Zhang Weiping drove his own XiaLi at night to send Zhang Yimou home. Later, they often met to eat together, and Zhang Yimou said: "The delicious food I ate in Beijing was taken by Xiao Wei. ”
For the next six years, both of them had a smooth career. Bold and adventurous, Zhang Weiping came out of Siemens to do business in the sea, sold aviation food, did pharmaceutical and real estate business, and became the first group of people to get rich in the early 90s. Zhang Yimou has been deeply cultivating in the film field, and has successively filmed "Ju Dou", "The Big Red Lantern Hangs High" and "Qiu Ju Fights a Lawsuit", and the heroines are Gong Li.
< "Alive" >
One day, a car race invited Gong Li. Gong Li did not want to embarrass the cold field and asked her friend Zhang Weiping to go with Zhang Jing. When Zhang Jing returned, he told Zhang Yimou that Gong Li and sponsor Huang Hexiang danced a provocative veneer dance. Zhang Yimou didn't say anything after listening, but he had an idea in his heart.
After filming "Grandma Bridge", Gong Li proposed to get married, but Zhang Yimou said: "Wait a minute." Gong Li had been holding out for many years, and when she got such a reply, she felt cold in her heart. At this time, Huang Hexiang appeared in front of her again, showing gentleness and thoughtfulness, willing to provide a safe haven, and Gong Li decided to leave Zhang Yimou.
In 1996, Zhang Yimou wanted to make "Have Something to Say". Losing Gong Li's box office guarantee, many overseas investors withdrew from cooperation. Seeing that Zhang Yimou was in trouble, Zhang Weiping patted his chest and invested 26 million yuan in him.
In order to support Zhang Yimou in filming, he drove his own car, let his friends be extras, and made a cameo appearance as a gangster who beat Jiang Wen. After filming for a day, he said: "Empty fighting is more tiring than real fighting!" I think making movies is a boring thing. ”
"Have something to say" made Zhang Weiping lose 18 million. The following year, he went to the Venice Film Festival for the first time as a film investor. He has a big grin, does not take the film festival to heart, and feels that he is just traveling abroad, because he is too heavy on playing, and almost forgot about the copy of the movie.
< "Something to Say" >
In 1997, Zhang Yimou's father, Zhang Bingjun, died, and Zhang Yimou went to see him for the last time.
The old father said to him: "The cooperation with Zhang Weiping makes me very worried, and I can't close my eyes when I think about it." If you don't work well together, you'll definitely get revenge once you break up. You are not Zhang Weiping's opponent at all, you can't deal with him. ”
resultant force
In 1997, Zhang Weiping invested 10 million yuan to establish Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd. Zhang Weiping served as the chairman and Zhang Yimou served as the artistic director, and out of trust in each other, the two only agreed verbally and did not sign a contract.
Generally, directors will fool investors into spending more money, but Zhang Yimou is very frank and directly tells Zhang Weiping: "The two films I want to make below ("No One Can Be Less" and "My Father and Mother") are not profitable. Zhang Weiping was righteous enough, and even expressed his support without reading the script: "I will lose money, and it is a big deal that I will eat less crab yellow buns." ”
Zhang Yimou threw off his sleeves and boldly adopted non-professional actors, wei Minzhi, the protagonist of "No One Can Be Less", is an ordinary mountain girl, and zhang Ziyi, the protagonist of "My Father and Mother", is a college student. The two films won the Venice Golden Lion award and the Berlin Silver Bear Award.
People are finally convinced that Zhang Yimou, who lost Gong Li, can still make a good movie. Zhang Weiping said: "I believe more and more in Zhang Yimou's feelings and talents for films, which no one in China can compare. So, I set a new mission for New Picture Pictures — to exist entirely for Zhang Yimou's films. ”
But always make films that do not make money, Zhang Weiping can not sit still, he said to Zhang Yimou: "Movies can not just pursue art, it is impossible to deviate from the audience." In order to repay Zhang Weiping's support, Zhang Yimou decided to direct the Lunar New Year commercial film "Happy Time".
Unexpectedly, when the screening was launched, many viewers said that they could not understand the ending. At the beginning, Zhang Yimou was very sharp: "The audience is used to seeing a Hollywood-style happy ending, but the creation should not be like this." Later, for the sake of box office, he still summoned the original team to come back to remake the ending. In such a screwed state, "Happy Time" is neither acclaimed nor popular.
< > Of Good Times
In 2001, Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" not only won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but also sold well at the global box office.
Zhang Weiping saw the commercial potential of Chinese martial arts films and asked Jiang Zhiqiang, one of the producers of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", to come to Beijing to discuss with Zhang Yimou how to replicate the successful model of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Zhang Yimou felt that everyone had filmed themselves and then filmed, which was a bit boring. But Zhang Weiping is very confident, believing that "Hero" will definitely be a box office hit.
Previously, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was first released abroad, because piracy was rampant, and the domestic box office was not satisfactory. Zhang Weiping was afraid to go down the old road and was determined to do the work of secrecy to the extreme. In order to run for the Oscars, the film will be released for a week. Zhang Weiping chose a theater in Shenzhen that was not yet open, removed the ceiling of the screening hall, and conducted an aircraft-level security check on the audience. Zhang Weiping took the figure with a head and a face to the theater, and a group of people were touched by the security inspectors, and their faces could not be hung. Zhang Weiping said: "Don't be angry, it's all drama, don't worry, it's all bureau." ”
As a result, the film's exaggerated security methods made the film unaired popular, and the national audience was satisfied.
Zhang Weiping also thought: "There is not a single film in the world that sold audio-visual rights before the release, and our strategy is not only to sell, but also to auction. He started at $5 million and ended up selling for a whopping $17.8 million. The industry was stunned - before the domestic film audio-visual copyright only sold 300,000 yuan at most.
While the iron was hot, Zhang Weiping spent 1.3 million yuan to hold a premiere ceremony in the Great Hall of the People, inviting more than 500 Chinese and foreign media to attend. Zhang Yimou stopped him: "Burn the money, hit the water, I am afraid of this." Don't throw so much money into it, don't make the activity so big, save money. ”
The ambitious Zhang Weiping did not stop, renting two business jets that Bill Gates and UN Secretary-General Annan had sat on, allowing the film's creators to tour major cities. Everywhere the plane went, it became the focus of local media coverage.
Some people blame "Hero" for raising the threshold for domestic film publicity too high, Zhang Weiping said unceremoniously: "There are beggars on the street, will we not open a five-star hotel?" ”
< Heroes >
Zhang Weiping predicted that the box office of "Hero" would break through 100 million, and Zhang Yimou did not believe it: ""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is only 10 million, and our 20 million is almost the same." ”
As a result, the total box office of the national film that year was 500 million, and "Hero" took 250 million. Invested less than 30 million in the new picture, received a return of 130 million. Previously, Zhang Yimou only valued word of mouth and did not look at the box office when making movies, and "Hero" made him receive a lot of bad reviews for the first time.
contradiction
In order to promote Zhang Yimou's films, Zhang Weiping changed from a film layman to a marketing genius. In 2004, "Ten Faces Ambush" started, Zhang Weiping let the crew block the news to the outside world, and the premiere was selected in Cannes, always maintaining a sense of mystery.
Before the release, he decided to invest 20 million yuan to make a more luxurious premiere party than "Hero". The main venue is at the Beijing Workers' Stadium, and the sub-venues are located in Shanghai, Guangzhou, shenzhen and will be broadcast live to more than 200 TV stations across the country. Zhang Yimou said: "This is something that no one in the history of Chinese cinema has ever thought about, nor has anyone done! ”
The box office of "Ten Faces Ambush" exceeded that of "Hero" on the opening day, but because of the poor quality of the film and the lack of box office stamina, some people scolded: "Zhang Yimou deviated from the artistic spirit of the film." ”
Zhang Weiping came forward to respond: There is an artist who is fanatically in love with a perfect woman, but one day, he discovered a terrible thing, his lover actually wanted to. Oh my God, it's unbelievable! This is the mentality of people - Zhang Yimou is so vulgar, making movies to make money. But I have to ask rhetorically, do you have to make money for your art? He paused and said, "For a film to be successful, it must be a synthesis of an artist and a calculator." I think that's the way out for Chinese films. ”
Zhang Weiping's idea was very firm, but Zhang Yimou could not bear the scolding and wanted to go back. In 2005, he directed the literary and art film "A Thousand Miles to Ride Alone", returning to the realistic style of the past, and invited the seventy-year-old film emperor Ken Takakura as the male protagonist.
< "A Thousand Miles and a Single Ride" >
Zhang Weiping wanted to rush to celebrate the New Year file, and Zhang Yimou hurriedly stopped him, because there was Chen Kaige's blockbuster "Wuji" in the same file period. But Zhang Weiping did not listen, and invited a bunch of media to Lijiang to watch the premiere. As a result, the box office of "A Thousand Miles and a Single Ride" is much lower than that of "Wuji".
After the film, Ken Takakura wrote a letter to Zhang Yimou, asking him to insist on his inner choice of art and not to be bound and controlled by the producer. Zhang Weiping was furious after knowing the contents of the letter, and asked Zhang Yimou not to have any more contact with Takakura Ken: "I just don't like others to approach you, others are close to you, I am uncomfortable, I am jealous, I am jealous." ”
The following year, Zhang Yimou directed the commercial blockbuster "Full of Golden Armor in the City", and the heroine was his ex-girlfriend Gong Li. Gong Li already knew that Zhang Weiping and his wife had talked about her behind her back. She broke off relations with Zhang Weiping and his wife, and noted in the contract of "Full of Golden Armor" that she refused to see the two people on the set or in publicity.
Gong Li and Zhang Yimou's text planner Zhou Xiaofeng complained: "At that time, all my body and mind were on Yimou, and it was impossible to pick Huang Hexiang at the first meeting. ”
< "The Golden Armor in the City" >
Previously, the introverted Zhang Yimou was responsible for artistic creation, and the extroverted and active Zhang Weiping was responsible for commercial marketing, and the two became the best partners. Zhang Yimou often said: "I grow radishes, and Zhang Weiping sells radishes." Now China seems to be the most important thing to sell turnips, or even if there are turnips, they will rot in their own homes. But now Zhang Weiping is getting wider and wider, and gradually inserted himself into the casting of the movie, making Zhang Yimou more and more embarrassed."
The script of "Full of Golden Armor" has been completed, but Zhang Weiping feels that the combination of Zhou Runfa and Gong Li is too old-fashioned to attract young people, so Zhang Yimou joins the popular singer Jay Chou. The screenwriter and Zhang Yimou rushed to work day and night, and only then did they finish revising the script before filming began. Although the film has earned nearly 300 million at the box office, the media says that Zhang Weiping is the most profitable boss in China, but it has attracted the scolding of Zhang Yimou.
In 2008, Zhang Yimou directed the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Zhang Weiping's New Picture Pictures Company only serves Zhang Yimou, and when Zhang Yimou was busy preparing for the Olympic Games, he did not recruit other film talents to expand the film business, but instead gave employees a paid long vacation.
At that time, Zhang Yimou studied the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games during the day, and discussed with the screenwriter at night how to adapt Yan Geling's novel "Jinling Thirteen Chao". After the Olympic Games, the script of "Jinling Thirteen Chao" has not yet been decided, Zhang Yimou feels indebted to Zhang Weiping, and is determined to quickly make a commercial film for the company - "Three Guns Shooting Surprise".
In order to increase the box office, Zhang Weiping once again intervened in the casting and persuaded Zhang Yimou to use him as the male lead. The other actors who were originally scheduled were difficult to match Xiao Shenyang's "two-person turn" performance style, and the entire team was forced to change to Zhao Benshan's disciple class. Zhao Benshan was worried, worried that his team would not be able to take on this heavy responsibility, but the time was tight, and Zhang Yimou had no other plan.
During the shooting, Sun Honglei and Xiao Shenyang had a verbal conflict, and Sun Honglei smashed a fist on the coffee table and fractured his arm. The movie almost didn't go on.
Before the release, Zhang Weiping came up with viral marketing, so that Zhang Yimou sang RAP in Shaanxi dialect: "His uncle and his second uncle are his uncles, and the high tables and low benches are all wood." ”
The film received a high box office of 260 million yuan, but it humiliated Zhang Yimou. In the face of the interview, he said with chagrin: "I feel like I'm falling into a ditch." Because it lacks cultural value, it is the product of commercial coercion. ”
< "Three Guns Shooting Surprise" >
Zhao Benshan not only asked the disciple class to help, but also starred in friendship himself. The film's reputation hit the street, Zhang Yimou did not blame him at all, and invited him to come to the house for dinner. At the dinner table, Zhang Weiping scolded another famous director, Zhao Benshan did not want to go along, he then went to the wine to poke zhao Benshan a little, so angry that Zhao Benshan directly left the table.
Zhang Weiping said: "Why poke Zhao Benshan's brain hole, because he has a stent in his head, I let his blood vessels plug again, I poked him to death." Because Zhang Weiping was hot-tempered and offended many people, Zhang Yimou had to go out to communicate with people and repair the rift.
After that, Sun Honglei participated in the "Decisive Battle of Braking Horse Town". An international thief boasted that he knew "internationally famous Zhang Dao" and could ask him to direct a "Impression Brake Horse Town". The mayor of Tang Village, played by Sun Honglei, received a call from "Zhang Dao" and directly came to a rough sentence: "Your mother's leg Zhang Dao!" ”
Break
In 2010, in order to repair the relationship with Zhang Yimou, Zhang Weiping made a compromise, even if he knew that he would not make a lot of money, he also promised Zhang Yimou to shoot "The Love of hawthorn trees". But "The Love of the Hawthorn Tree" was released, and Zhang Yimou did not get a dime of remuneration, and there was no sign of payment. Assistant Pang Liwei said: "The director is embarrassed to open his mouth to ask for money. ”
At that time, Zhang Yimou was worried that the "Jinling Thirteen Chao" TV series would be released in advance and affect the film effect, so he bought the film and television copyright together. Yan Geling has never been embarrassed by Zhang Yimou in terms of price, and Zhang Yimou also plans to return the copyright free of charge to the late stage of film production.
Unexpectedly, the copyright was sold by Zhang Weiping privately at a sky-high price, causing Yan Geling to suffer economic losses and lose faith in others. The outside world believes that Zhang Yimou must know about this matter, and he is very depressed: "That is the money that Zhang Weiping earned, how could he be willing to tell me?" ”
Something worse happened after the film started. Because another producer, Jiang Zhiqiang, was not optimistic about the overseas box office and temporarily withdrew his investment, Zhang Weiping took on the financial pressure alone. In order to raise a budget of 600 million, he mortgaged all his property to the bank: "After 16 years of filming, this is the riskiest and most exciting movie for me. ”
Zhang Weiping, who spent a lot of money, casually interfered in Zhang Yimou's creation and burned money without restraint. He felt that the scale of the film was too small, so Zhang Yimou joined the war drama: "There is no war drama, just in the church, is it not a literary film?" We want to photograph the bloodiness of Chinese in war. Spielberg introduced his royal team to Zhang Yimou, who had made "Saving Private Ryan", "Brothers Company" and "Pacific War", and Zhang Weiping was very relieved.
But he felt that the actor grade was not enough and wanted to use The Hollywood A-list actor Christian Bell. Zhang Yimou said that the film was paid too high, but Zhang Weiping felt that the money was worth it, because Bell had just won an Oscar at that time. Then, Zhang Weiping wanted to intervene in the choice of the heroine, thinking that Han Xiting could pick a beam.
After eating the losses of the previous casting, Zhang Yimou did not let up this time and identified Ni Ni. Zhang Yimou said: "I can endure other things, but the movie is my bottom line!" You can't add any plot you want to add, you can let who you want to act - even if the next film has not yet decided on what content, you have set the heroine first, then I have no autonomy, purely become a cash cow. Interfering in the creation is something I absolutely cannot tolerate. ”
But Han Xiting still joined the crew, and without a few lines, he was on the C position of the poster, and "Jinling Thirteen Chao" became "Jinling Fourteen Chao".
In order to increase the selling point of the film, Zhang Weiping proposed to add a bed scene to Bell and Ni Ni. Zhang Yimou reluctantly agreed.
Before the release of the film, Zhang Weiping demanded an increase in box office share, and used sarcastic remarks to make a stalemate with the theater. To ease the impasse, he was anxious to find selling points, and the title of the promotional draft was "My Bed Scene with Christian Bell."
Zhang Weiping publicized the selling point of the film and never consulted Zhang Yimou's opinion. When promoting "The Love of hawthorn trees", it was said that this was Zhang Yimou's first love story, and when promoting "Full of Gold in the City", he hyped up the old love of Zhang Yimou and Gong Li.
Zhang Yimou's long-accumulated resentment erupted: "There are so many places where the movie can be said, why does the new picture have to seize such a vulgar point of hype?" The grade is too low, it is simply a waste of the fruits of our labor. People have spent so much effort, and now it will be sad to see that we are all interested in this. This is not propaganda, it is troublemaking! ”
Zhang Weiping watched the yellow calendar and decided to release "Jinling Thirteen Chao" on December 15. A few hours after the release, the nomination list of the Golden Globe Awards was announced, and "Jinling Thirteen Chao" was shortlisted for the "Best Foreign Language Film Award".
Zhang Yimou did not pay attention to his heart: "So far my biggest dream is to make a good movie." That's all. The aura was also worn enough. What else? To whom? It's all outside the body. Zhang Weiping is ambitious: "The Golden Globe Awards are the vane of the Oscars!" ”
Later, Zhang Weiping took Han Xiting, the supporting role of "Jinling Thirteen Chao", to the Golden Globe Awards, and the protagonist Ni Ni and director Zhang Yimou were absent. Later, the crew went to the Berlin Film Festival for screening, zhang Yimou led the starring Bell, Ni Ni, Tong Dawei and other appearances, Zhang Weiping did not accompany him.
The film has no grain at the Golden Globes and oscars, and because of the cold in overseas markets because of the theme problem, Zhang Weiping's expected billion box office is far less. He reduced the number of Jiang Zhiqiang, Bell, and overseas commentators, which greatly damaged Zhang Yimou's international reputation.
Zhang Yimou has not seen Zhang Weiping in a year, nor has he returned text messages and phone calls. Zhang Weiping said: "If you are not satisfied with me, you must also give me an explanation, hiding is not a thing." ”
Zhang Yimou left the new picture and signed a contract with Wanda. Zhang Weiping was very angry, saying that the signed actors, including Zhou Dongyu, could not go with Zhang Yimou: "I am the child's parent, and Zhang Yimou is a midwife at best!" ”
revenge
In 2013, Actor He Jun, who was dissuaded by "Jinling Thirteen Chao", revealed that Zhang Yimou and Chen Ting were married and had three children, and attached an ID photo of his wife Chen Ting. The media asked Zhang Weiping whether there was indeed such a thing, and Zhang Weiping not only did not have emergency public relations, but also pushed it out: "I am not convenient to talk about this matter, you find an art strategy." ”
Soon after, a man named Chen Jian released a rumor that "every time Chen Ting gives birth to a son, Zhang Yimou rewards ten million", which made Zhang Yimou's reputation plummet. The Wuxi Family Planning Commission finally locked in the amount of the fine for overbirth to 7.48 million.
Zhang Yimou found that He Jun was the niece of Zhang Weiping's assistant Wang Xiaohua, Chen Jian had a close relationship with Zhang Weiping, and the exposed information on the child's household registration and home address was only known to Zhang Weiping in such detail. A group of photos of Chen Ting exposed on the Internet were also given to Zhang Weiping by Zhang Yimou as a souvenir. He believes that the manipulator behind the scenes is Zhang Weiping.
Zhang Yimou's three children were born, all of which were handled by Zhang Weipintuo's relationship. After the two broke up, Chen Ting lost a child's birth certificate, and had no choice but to go to the hospital to make up for it. Only to find that there was no record in the hospital system. Zhang Yimou realized that Zhang Weiping had given himself a false certificate.
He didn't expect that his brother, who had been shouting for many years, was such a person, and he was shocked to realize the sinister jianghu: "Zhang Weiping is the real acting film emperor!" He broke with Zhang Weiping completely, took the new picture to court, and recovered the box office share of "Three Guns Shooting Surprise".
After leaving each other, Zhang Weiping invested in the art film "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood", directed by Yu Hua's son Yu Haiguo. Zhang Yimou filmed the commercial blockbuster "The Great Wall" with full slots. Someone said, "They left each other, but they lived to become each other." ”
A few years later, Zhang Weiping, who once said that "only for Zhang Yimou to make movies", almost disappeared in the film industry, and Zhang Yimou, who left Zhang Weiping, is still making movies.
End
In 2019, Zhang Yimou's "One Second" was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Berlin Film Festival, but during the exhibition, it was urgently withdrawn due to "technical reasons".
A few months later, after the deletion and remake of "One Second", people can only guess what Zhang Yimou originally wanted to say through the mutilated version.
There is a meaningful dialogue in the movie:
"I'm only fourteen years old, what are you fighting with the adults?"
"She has to fight, fight to eliminate your influence on her."
Zhang Yimou said: "This is my love letter to the movie, my own youth memory, and the movie about the movie. ”
Many people say that this is Zhang Yimou's best movie since 2000.
Some references:
[1] "Lonely Zhang Yimou", Zhou Xiaofeng
[2], "Zhang Yimou Brand Builder - Zhang Weiping", Sanlian Life Weekly
[3], "Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping", Lao Liang watched a movie
[4], "Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping: 16 Years, Two Photographs Surprise", big people
[5], "Interview with Zhang Weiping", a film character
[6] Zhang Yimou and His Boss Brother, Business
-END-
Author | Few forks
This article is from the public account: Past Char Siu (id: wschashao), focusing on discovering the shining moments in the old times. What is written here is the past of the cultural circle and the entertainment industry. Time is a magician, and what seems to be insignificant at that time determines the history and the direction of life in the dark.