"There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests."
This sentence is particularly appropriate in the entertainment industry, and Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping interpret this sentence very well.
Before 2012, "Er Zhang" was a golden partner who had cooperated for 16 years, and they joined forces to open China's "blockbuster era", which was invincible in the film market and reached a height that no one could match, and Zhang Weiping was known as the man behind Zhang Yimou.
However, Zhang Yimou's father took his hand and said before his death: "Working with Zhang Weiping makes me very worried, I can't close my eyes when I think about it, once separated, I will be retaliated against, you are not his opponent." ”
Unexpectedly, Father Zhang's words became a slur. Now, Zhang Yimou has sued Zhang Weiping for the third time, and the two have carried out a 9-year-long tearing war, which can be described as scarred.
"One is a real estate boss, the other is a director from Nortel Photography, two unrelated two, why did they become "golden partners"? How did they fall in love and kill each other for more than 20 years? Learn about their feuds with the movie Little Love Letter. ”
01
First acquaintance, pure and beautiful
In 1990, Zhang Yimou, who won the A-class film emperor early, came to prominence internationally with excellent works such as "Red Sorghum" and "Ju Dou".
At the same time, Zhang Yimou chose to divorce his wife Xiao Hua for Gong Li, and the two officially began a veritable couple's life.
At that time, although Zhang Yimou was a little famous, he had always been relatively low-key and not good at socializing. Gong Li is different, she has many fans, and her beauty and emotional intelligence are high.
"Hello, I'm a fan of yours and I love your movies." Zhang Weiping's wife saw Gong Li for the first time and could not hide her excitement.
It was the Spring Festival in 1990, and Gong Li appeared at the home of Zhang Weiping and his wife with her boyfriend Zhang Yimou. The four of them talked happily at the dinner table, and Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping also saw each other as they were.
At that time, Zhang Weiping had just changed from a small employee of a state-owned enterprise to a rich man who made his fortune on real estate. Perhaps it is for the purpose of helping Zhang Yimou introduce, or perhaps it is only Zhang Weiping who has met 4 people today in order to meet his wife's desire to chase stars.
After that, Zhang Yimou became a regular visitor to Zhang Weiping's family, and Zhang Yimou's meals changed from simple lamb steamed buns to Beijing cuisine.
When the relationship is the most iron, 4 people often have dinner, two women nag about home, and two men talk about careers. I have to say that in the first few years of acquaintance, the relationship between them was pure and beautiful.
However, Zhang Yimou has always liked to be alone, but Zhang Weiping is very good at socializing. As a result, although they maintained contact with each other, the relationship did not go any further.
02
Holding hands and opening the era of "two sheets"
The real change in the relationship between Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping was in 1995, it is said that at that time, because Gong Li repeatedly forced marriage without results, so after filming the last shot of "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge", Gong Li proposed to Zhang Yimou to break up.
Coincidentally, at that time, Zhang Yimou was ready to make the movie "Have Something to Say", but his living sign Gong Li left, and the investor was worried that the effect was not good, so he suddenly withdrew.
This made Zhang Yimou difficult, during that time, he needed to heal his emotional injuries while pulling investment, and for a time he was anxious and stressful.
At a dinner party, Zhang Weiping carefully noticed that Zhang Yimou seemed to have something on his mind, so he asked, "Brother, what's wrong with you?" ”
Because he had already regarded Zhang Weiping as a brother, he had no ill will towards him. He frankly said his bitterness: "'Have Something to Say' may have to stop, and the investor has terminated the contract." ”
When Zhang Weiping listened, it turned out to be a question of money. He then said to Zhang Yimou, "What should I do?" It's a matter of money, how much do you need? ”
Zhang Yimou knows that Zhang Weiping is not bad at money, but he does not dare to guarantee that he will be able to make Zhang Wei earn smoothly or lose money. He replied cautiously: "26 million, but I can't guarantee that I will be able to make you earn it back." ”
Zhang Weiping smiled and said: "You are an expert, I believe in you, you just have to do what you want to do." Even if it is really a loss, quan should give his brother a hand training. ”
With the support of Zhang Weiping, Zhang Yimou let go of his hand and boldly opened his work. At that time, his "Have Something to Say" gathered Jiang Wen, Li Baotian, Ge You, Qu Ying and other powerful actors, and a sentence of "An Hong, I miss you" was even more popular all over the country.
However, under such a top match, Zhang Weiping still lost 18 million yuan, and only recovered the cost of 8 million yuan. Movies that could have been sold out did not perform well at the box office due to missed promotional schedules and other reasons.
Zhang Yimou was very guilty about this, but he couldn't blame him all. At that time, Zhang Weiping confusedly sold the film rights to an overseas company for 8 million yuan, and the other party sold it for 46 million yuan.
Although this result was Zhang Weiping's loss, he made a decision because of this: to enter the film market.
In 1997, Zhang Weiping officially entered the film and television circle, partnered with his friend Zhang Yimou, and he invested 10 million yuan to register the "New Picture Film Company".
At this point, the legendary era of "two Zhangs" was opened, one was responsible for distribution and sales, the other was responsible for artistic creation, zhang Weiping became the man behind Zhang Yimou and began a 16-year cooperation.
Subsequently, the two joined hands to launch more than a dozen well-known domestic and foreign word-of-mouth masterpieces such as "My Father and Mother", "Hero", "Ten Faces Ambush", and Zhang Weiping in Zhang Yimou's eyes was a reliable partner who "did not read the ledger and did not read the script".
They also have a common dream: when they are old and don't make movies, they will travel together and find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers to rest.
However, the world is unpredictable, and no one expected that it is precisely because there is no clear account between the brothers that it will become a hidden danger for their future breakup.
03
Breakup: The contradictory collision of art and capital
From 1997 to 2010, the 13 years can be said to be the "honeymoon period" of Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping.
In that era when the film market was relatively low, the joint efforts of "two zhangs" opened China's "blockbuster era".
At that time, they were stronger than gold and trusted each other. The trophy was soft, and there were countless nominations for heavyweight awards. However, the unconditional and contractless model of the two has quietly changed its quality.
In 2002, "Heroes" was a great success, not only the copyright sold for a sky-high price of 17.8 million, but also the global box office was as high as 177 million US dollars, which is an unprecedented achievement of domestic films.
It was from here that businessman Zhang Weiping's heart changed, he began to pay more attention to profit, while Zhang Yimou was still immersed in his own creation.
Zhang Weiping, who was behind the scenes, began to meddle in Zhang Yimou's creation, and even interfered with his selection of actors.
It is said that in 2006's "Full of Golden Armor", the original male protagonist was Huang Xuan, but under Zhang Weiping's black box operation, he eventually became Jay Chou.
In desperation, Zhang Yimou could only revise the script. With this film, Zhang Weiping became the most profitable producer in China, while Zhang Yimou was saddled with the infamy of being an "unscrupulous director".
But this is not bad, and what is even more excessive is the later "Three Guns Shooting Surprise", from the script to the characters changed over and over again.
In 2009, "Three Guns Shooting Surprise" began filming, Zhang Weiping took a fancy to the spring evening popular Xiao Shenyang, insisting on using him as the male lead.
In order to cater to Xiao Shenyang's style, the Zhao family class disciples all went into battle, and Zhao Benshan personally sat down. What was originally a serious critical film turned into a patchwork of "four unlikes" comedies.
Undoubtedly, this drama has become one of the few bad films under Zhang Yimou's name, and it is the lowest-rated of all his works.
Many fans even doubt whether Zhang Yimou has exhausted Jiang Lang's talent, and while carrying the infamy, Zhang Yimou has nowhere to seek justice, and can only helplessly say: "I feel that I have fallen into the ditch, because it lacks cultural value and is the product of commercial coercion." ”
But the first two times only made Zhang Yimou feel suspicious, and what really made them conflict was "Jinling Thirteen Chao".
Because at the beginning of filming, Zhang Weiping came up with 3 bad ideas:
Add war elements to expand the content of the film;
Increase bell and Ni ni's passion play, more selling points, vigorous publicity;
The copyright of "Jinling Thirteen Chao" was sold at a high price.
To this end, Zhang Yimou directly angered Zhang Weiping: "You are squandering the fruits of everyone's labor and making people's faces dull." ”
However, Zhang Weiping is the chairman of New Picture, zhang Yimou is only the art director, and he can only choose to listen in the end.
The least "moral" thing is that when Zhang Yimou originally bought the copyright from Yan Geling, the original author of "Jinling Thirteen Chao", he promised the other party that the film would start post-production and return the copyright to her free of charge.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Weiping quietly sold the copyright to another company at a high price, which made Zhang Yimou lose his letter, and the money went into Zhang Weiping's pocket.
Therefore, in January 2012, when "Jinling Thirteen Chao" was shortlisted for the Global Awards, Zhang Yimou and the male and female protagonists did not appear, only Zhang Weiping awkwardly appeared with supporting roles.
At the Berlin Film Festival in February, Zhang Yimou appeared with bell, Ni Ni and other protagonists, but zhang Weiping was not seen.
Subsequently, on the social platform, Zhang Weiping officially announced that he and Zhang Yimou had no relationship anymore, and Zhang Yimou also left the "new picture".
The 16-year collaboration between the two came to an abrupt end in 2012, with the collision of capital and art, and in the end neither of them would bow their heads. The era of the "two" golden partners has also come to an end, but this seems to be only the beginning of their feud.
04
Breakup is also "gold", defeat is also "gold"
After the "two Zhang" broke up, it was not as simple and free as imagined.
Where should Zhang Yimou go from the "Mou Men, Seek Girls" has become the first thorny question.
To this end, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Wei issued a statement, saying that Zhou Dongyu, Ni Ni, Dou Xiao and others had absolute management rights themselves.
When the stalemate is over, Zhang Yimou can only release the agent contracts of these artists and let them choose for themselves.
At the same time, Zhang Yimou was exposed to the supernatural incident.
In 2013, actor He Jun revealed that Zhang Yimou and Chen Ting already had 3 children, and attached Chen Ting's ID card photo, as well as Zhang Yimou's home address and children's household registration and photos.
It should be known that He Jun is the niece of Zhang Weiping's assistant Wang Xiaohua, and there are rumors that He Jun's revelation was zhang Weiping's instructions.
Whether true or false, this trick is indeed "yin" enough, it is enough to make Zhang Yimou discredited.
Zhang Yimou, who was pushed to the cusp of the storm, could only admit his mistake and was fined 7.48 million.
As a result, the feud between the two can be regarded as reaching its peak, and the relationship is completely broken.
Zhang Yimou also began to choose to fight back, and in July 2014, Zhang Yimou sued Zhang Weiping's new picture company in court with a paper complaint, on the grounds that it was owed a box office share of 15 million yuan for "Three Guns Shooting Surprise".
Zhang Weiping responded: do not owe money. The staff of the new screen pointed out that the salary demand was Zhang Yimou's malicious speculation.
There is no following on this matter, but in 2015, a book called "Fate: Lonely Zhang Yimou" came out, the author of the book is the literary planner Zhou Xiaofeng, who has been with Zhang Yimou for 8 years, because he can't see that the "honest man" Zhang Yimou has been bullied, so he wrote about the beginning and end of this feud.
In the book, she revealed Zhang Weiping's "Ten Deadly Sins" against Zhang Yimou, including provoking Zhang Yimou Gong Li's love affair, interfering in creation, and breaking news of Chaosheng.
After Zhang Yimou read this book, he gave an evaluation: "Words are dripping blood, knives and knives are flesh." ”
In response, Zhang Weiping responded: "There is nothing out of nothing, full of lies. And it is classified as another malicious hype that Zhang Yimou planned in order to sell books.
In the six years from 2015 to 2021, Zhang Yimou repeatedly filed lawsuits against Zhang Weiping's new picture company, which was nothing more than collecting debts.
In fact, after filming the films "Hero", "Ten Faces Ambush", "A Thousand Miles to Ride Alone", "The City Full of Golden Armor", and "The Surprise of the Three Guns Shooting", Zhang Weiping's wife paid a total of 10 million yuan to Zhang Yimou's wife Chen Ting.
However, in the five movies, Zhang Weiping has long earned a full pot of overload, but only gave the old strategist 10 million, and Zhang Weiping is not a real investor, and it is indeed a bit of an empty glove white wolf meaning.
In 2016, the court finally ordered Zhang Weiping to compensate Zhang Yimou for 2.4636 million yuan, but Zhang Weiping refused to enforce it, and the court restricted high consumption.
In 2020, Zhang Yimou continued to sue New Picture Company on the grounds of labor disputes;
Zhang Yimou, who is 71 years old in 2021, sued Zhang Weiping again on the grounds that "shareholders harm the interests of the company's creditors and liability disputes".
Perhaps the old strategist felt aggrieved and regarded others as brothers, but he was teased for so many years; or perhaps he regretted that he did not listen to his father's "last words" and insisted on partnering with Zhang Weiping, so that he had today's grudge.
In any case, Zhang Yimou had a thought of stumbling to the end with Zhang Weiping.
In fact, no matter what the truth is, this may be an ending-free feud.
In Zhang Weiping's world, interests are above all else, he is a businessman;
In Zhang Yimou's life, art is his lifelong pursuit and cannot be defiled.
Whether you choose to be a profit-making businessman or a high-level artist, it is only a personal choice, and it is nothing more than that capitalists and artists are doomed to not be able to cooperate simply all the time.
Without Zhang Weiping's interference, Zhang Yimou galloped in his art world and opened up a higher artistic world; Zhang Weiping, who lost Zhang Yimou, seemed to gradually disappear and fade out of the jianghu.
"The world is bustling, all for profit and profit", as Zhang Yimou said to Zhang Weiping: "When people are alienated, it is difficult to detect themselves." ”
It's true that businessmen are profit-making, but what we need is down-to-earth, not opportunistic. Once called brothers and brothers, now they have turned against each other, although it is lamentable, but I also hope that they can get together and disperse well, so that this feud can end as soon as possible.