In a hurry, IA3 finally won the North American weekly championship from March 31 to April 6 with an opening box office of 85.36 million, with an average of $22,062 per venue (3,869 stores), and it swept away 46.77 million (-45.2%) in the following week, April 7-13, but this proud result did not allow it to continue to win the crown.

In the first week, "Ghost Shadow 4" received 52.7 million at the box office, with an average of $16,869 (3,124 stores) per museum, and its production cost was only 5 million! This made the Lionsgate soldiers so happy that they almost hugged their heads and cried, great, great! Last year, "Ghost Shadow 3" was 55.13 million in the first week! After making a huge mistake, they kept this lost miraculous fruit, but the evaluation and response of the media and the public dropped sharply, which also made Lionsgate a little frightened.

The three indicators of "Ghost 3" on Rotten Tomatoes are 55%/50%/85%, and the final 108 million North American box office / 210 million global box office; The freshness of "Ghost 4" fell to 45%/35%, but the most terrifying thing is that the audience liking is only 54%!

"Yawn, if you're watching Ghost for the first time, you might think it's OK, but you really should go and see Ghost Record, be careful of being scared. "Without Magic Young, everything is going bad, the terrible dullness and relentless sleep induction." "Didn't scare me, it was fucking exactly what I expected, I've had enough of these stupid sequels, and when you don't have Wang Yang, you should stop." "Andy C said, and Calvin R said, "Oh dear, it's terrible, sloppy, and stupid, and it's not as good as grandma's ghost story." ”…… This is an almost devastating blow for a genre movie that has to be operated and relied on the support of the "ghost fan" group, and "Ghost 5" will be GAME-OVER!

In the face of the accusations of fans and fans, Lionsgate is really miserable, if there was still a chance to move with affection back then, and he moved Wang Yang to continue filming "Ghost Shadow" with reason, is it possible now?

Of course, you can't watch the "Ghost" series go into the quagmire again, Lionsgate wants to shoot 8, 9, 10, Jon Feltimel hurriedly called Magic Young for help: "Have you watched "Ghost 4"? What went wrong?How to shoot "Ghost 5"?" Wang Yang has been busy lately, how can he have so much time to pay attention to him? And he didn't go to the theater to see "Ghost 4", so he said some official answers: "Pay attention to strengthening suspense, don't be simple ......"

Jon Philtimmel, however, wrote down all of Wonder's words and prepared them as an important reference for Lionsgate's production of "Ghost 5".

These days, the casting of "Infernal Affairs" is one of the focus of the media, and the two supporting actresses are even more uproarious, shaking Hollywood because of a small role, and it is only this magical movie. It is also because the film will start filming soon and will be released at the end of the year that this effect will be formed, although the public is very concerned about the audition, but there is not a lot of gossip news that has flowed out, but according to the summary revealed by some actresses' friends, whether it is Emily Blunt, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Jessica Bell, ...... They all said they needed to think about Wonder Young's advice.

And the four big names that attracted the most attention, Hathaway, Scarlett, Knightley, and Natalie, all invariably remained silent and had no news at all. Wang Yang, who was interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, said: "Everyone is doing well, but we have to make the most suitable choice. At the same time, he revealed that the starring cast of "Infernal Affairs" will be fully released at the end of April.

The American version of "Infernal Affairs" has been finalized as The-Departed.

Previously, after a period of consideration and selection, Wang Yang eliminated the names suggested by others and thought of The-Nameless, The-Fatal-Secret (the secret that determines fate), The-Mortal-Rumor (your reputation of life and death), Killing (deadly, unbearable) and other names, and decided whether the American version of "Infernal Affairs" would be "or" named The-Departed (the dead).

The meaning of this title is very wide, the effect is very lucky, and more importantly, the phrase "losing your identity is the dead" is the common point of the Hong Kong version and the B American version, and it is a good interpretation of this undercover story, B "Infernal Affairs" of course uses the theme to talk about the importance of identity, the life changes brought about by different identities, and the pain caused by life contrary to ideals, etc., "Infernal Affairs" also includes these emotional connotations, Chen Yongren said: "Just give me an identity, I just want to be an ordinary person." Liu Jianming said: "I want to exchange with him." ”

The difference is that the Hong Kong version of Chen Yongren and Liu Jianming are affected by their respective environments, encounters and insights, and have doubts about their original beliefs and are in pain, especially Liu Jianming wants to be a real policeman;

So "Infernal Affairs" takes the confrontation between two undercover agents as the core of the narrative, slowly explores the good and evil of human nature, and finds more emotions to support the story, which adds a layer of "pain caused by the loss of identity".

And no one is lost in the world of the bright and violent "Infernal Affairs", Colin wants to do everything possible to maintain the identity of the police, like a shield; Billy, who always wants to get rid of the gangsters, is like a spear, and the contradictions collide to form a great dramatic conflict, which also directly leads to the film not having so many thoughts about good and evil in human nature, which relatively enhances the sense of realism in life and the sense of dramatic conflict, in other words, it is more commercial, a commercial art film under the Hollywood system.

This naturally involves the differences between Eastern and Western social cultures, film cultures, etc., so that two movies with the same core, but completely different styles and connotations have appeared.

All in all, every character confrontation scene in "Infernal Affairs" is full of exquisite and elegant camera use and editing, the sense of proportion in the actors' performances, that is, the control and mastery of the heat, as well as the refined and hidden lines, the emotional tension of undercurrent and confrontation, and the delicate soundtrack that sets off the emotions; The fiery lines and actions are more in the external body than in the inner conflict.

Wang Yang thinks that he will have a choice, about identity, about human nature, about good and evil, about emotion...... The story is told in the way he likes to interpret it, and the "The-Departed" with a taste of pity is just right.

However, at the end of the year, it will be released in the Chinese-speaking region of Asia, and judging from future information, will it also be translated as "Infernal Affairs" and "The Departed"? Wang Yang doesn't like these two titles at all, because they don't show any interesting meaning at all.

By revisiting Hong Kong police films such as "Marginal Man" these days, Wang Yang has a deeper sense of the charm of Hong Kong films, and he also knows more about what it is.

"Infernal Affairs can only be filmed in an environment like Hong Kong to capture an obscure despair. "Infernal Affairs" director Liu Weiqiang once said that it is a unique city like Hong Kong that has a refined temperament, fashion and blur, and has undergone vicissitudes of change, that it has its narrative mode and literary style, if its texture is copied to the United States, not to mention Boston in the 70s, it is also nondescript to New York in the 80s, and Boston and New York have their own temperament.

On the other hand, police and gangster films and gangster films have matured and developed for many years in Hong Kong, China, and the whole of Asia, and have cultivated countless Asian audiences with super ability to watch police and gangster films.

Therefore, in "Infernal Affairs", the narrative is very concise, it can be said that it is all point to point, and the audience understands it, and "Infernal Affairs" has to explain a lot to the audience many times. For example, in the paragraph "pretending to be a lawyer for interrogation", the Hong Kong version did not say anything and did not make any hints, while the American version had to explain again.

To put it bluntly, the culture is still different, and the American audience has too few "police and gangster backgrounds", but there are a lot of cases to investigate and handle.

At the same time, "Infernal Affairs" has a large number of implicit narratives that "can only be understood and cannot be spoken", and from the perspective of oriental cultural aesthetics, these details that are like Tai Chi and can be black and white are quite fascinating (such as whether Silly Qiang knows Chen Yongren's true identity);

All of this is because of different narrative strategies, and all adaptations are made to be more in line with American culture and highlight the theme of the film, so the plot of "Infernal Affairs" is simpler and clearer.

Just as Dragon and Tiger (1987) is like Reservoir Dogs (1992), and Infernal Affairs is like Infernal Affairs, these are two different societies and countries, two cultures with completely different textures.

As an "another" American version, Wang Yang naturally has to consider the feelings of the American audience, the explanation should still be explained, the clarity should be clear, and the artistic conception should be shaped when it is time to shape the artistic conception...... He really won't be as rough as Martin Scorsese.

To say why "Infernal Affairs" is a classic of the times in the endless Hong Kong police and gangster films, it is not as popular as before, but mostly literary dramas, it is an "IQ action movie" and "psychological action movie", and it is not like the previous emphasis on the opposition between black and white, but confused and lost, and the characters are gray. Because of Scorsese's personal style, "Infernal Affairs" focuses on the gangsters, which makes it not a police film, but a gangster crime film.

Wang Yang has little interest in gangster crime films for the time being, not this time, specifically, his version will not strengthen the role of the gangster boss, he thinks that although Jack Nicholson is superb in acting, it is actually a bad point, due to the old man's crazy scene-stealing, the performance of the two undercover agents was suppressed.

There is also one thing that is very headache for him now, female characters!! "Infernal Affairs" has Liu Jianming's fiancée Mary, Chen Yongren's psychiatrist Li Xin'er, and Chen's ex-girlfriend May;

If he could, Wang Yang really wanted to treat "Infernal Affairs" like "I Am Legend", there was not a single female character! Oh, there are still yes, Neville's wife, played by Will Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Neville's daughter played by Vero Smith, no one can compete.

However, he did arrange two for the film, Colin's police station colleague's fiancée, Billy's psychiatrist, and it seems that fortunately there are two, otherwise his head hurts even more.

"Jan, I'm wondering if I can shoot at the same time? What do you think?" A few days ago, Rachel suddenly called, and Wang Yang's enthusiastic words startled Wang Yang, and he hurriedly said: "Don't! Don't! Rachel, my head is about to explode! I really want to have an all-female version of "Infernal Affairs", damn it!" He and Rachel had nothing to hide their thoughts, and immediately told some distress, Rachel laughed crisply: "Then them! Don't you have the confidence to convince them all? You are a charming man!"

The audition was long over, and frankly everyone in the group was up to the task, and Knightley and Natalie were the best, almost completely unmoved by his troubles that day, sharp-tongued, confident, and dedicated...... If he hadn't kept a wooden face and occasionally found the opportunity to stab a few words, the two would have left laughing, and in fact they also walked away with a smile.

Since everyone is so good, the crew with the choice space will think more about the tacit understanding with the director, the on-screen chemistry with the opponent's actor, the role of the commercial box office, the role of the publicity topic, and the persuasiveness of other auditioners...... After doing this, Wang Yang came to the conclusion that Knightley + Natalie is an excellent match! Not to mention that their audition performance is the best, not to mention their box office appeal, fan popularity and the historical relationship between "Star Wars Prequel 1"; only to say that the similar characteristics of the two faces provide a screen image that allows makeup artists to deliberately make a similar shape, forming a wonderful contrast; at the same time, Natalie and him have a very tacit understanding, and Knightley's ability is enough to deal with it.

"Young, I don't mean anything else, you know, if Knightley joins the crew, then you can just kick me out! Anyway, there are so many good actors, it's not that I'm not professional enough, I can't stand her...... And that great plan of yours, let's make a movie together? Ha, ha, ha, let's dispel it!"

A few days ago, Natalie's angry words echoed in Wang Yang's ears, and he knew that Knightley also meant the same thing, "There is Natalie Portman, no me!", I really don't know what happened to them? Why did they suddenly look incompatible? His idea was to invite Natalie to play the role of a psychiatrist, and Knightley to play Colin's fiancée, but Knightley auditioned for the role of a psychiatrist, would she accept it? And it was a loss to Natalie? If she accepted, would Natalie accept it?

Thinking of Rachel's words, Wang Yang picked up the phone speechlessly and called Natalie first.

(To be continued)