Cheng Peng and Kim Ki-duk have one thing in common, the dialogue is relatively brief, they like to use images to tell stories, and in one point, the two have a sense of bosom friends.

When Kim Ki-duk saw Cheng Peng, a smile appeared on his slightly bitter face: "Mr. Cheng, I didn't expect to see you here!" ”

"It's really fate, I heard that your "Empty Room" this time is quite special, and I will definitely come to cheer when the time comes!"

"You made a horror movie this time, it's really unexpected, I'm going to support you!"

In fact, in addition to Kim Ki-duk, another director who met in Berlin, Johnny To, also came to Venice, and his film "Judo Dragon and Tiger List" was shortlisted for the screening unit.

However, because it was a screening unit, Du Qifeng was not arranged in this hotel, and Cheng Peng wanted to talk to him, but he didn't know where he lived.

The next morning, Cheng Peng inquired about Du Qifeng's address and number through the organizing committee and called him.

Du Qifeng had a very good impression of Cheng Peng, and when he heard that he was asked to come out to chat, he agreed without thinking about it.

Cheng Peng came down from upstairs, and as soon as he walked to the lobby, he met Li Binbin, who was about to go out.

Li Binbin saw Cheng Peng alone, and asked with a smile: "Leader, you said that you wanted to take us on a trip together, why did you sneak out alone, it wouldn't be an appointment with a beautiful woman, right?" ”

Cheng Peng lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Don't say it, I'm going to meet Nicole Kidman, and I'm going to work with her in the next movie!" ”

These words made Li Binbin laugh: "Aren't you afraid of Tom Cruise?" ”

Cheng Peng said disdainfully: "They are already divorced, why should I be afraid." Seriously, I'm going to talk to Director Du Qifeng, I don't have time to go shopping with you, you can go by yourself! ”

Li Binbin's eyes lit up when he heard Du Qifeng: "I haven't seen Director Du for a while, can I go together?" ”

Cheng Peng was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "I almost forgot, you collaborated with him in "A Hundred Years of Good Cooperation". ”

Li Binbin nodded and said, "Well, I played a small role in "A Hundred Years of Harmony". ”

"Okay, let's go together!" But after taking two steps, Cheng Peng stopped and turned his head to look at Li Binbin, "If you are photographed by a reporter, there will be a scandal, right?" ”

Li Binbin smiled: "Definitely not, the reporters participating in the film festival will not be as boring as the domestic tabloid reporters!" ”

Cheng Peng shrugged his shoulders and said, "It doesn't matter, if I am photographed today, I will ask Zhang Ziyi to come out tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I will ask Xu Jinglei to come out, I will make an appointment with one a day, I don't believe that they will think that I have an affair with all six actresses!" ”

Li Binbin laughed out loud, this idea is strange enough, I don't know what the effect will be if I really do this.

However, after they came out of the hotel, they did not meet reporters, and today Tom Hanks and Spielberg were coming, and reporters rushed to film them.

Although there is no frenzied siege by journalists, the atmosphere of the film festival is still blowing in the sea breeze when walking on the street. Both sides of the road are full of movie posters, and the posters of Tom Hanks' new film "Happiness Terminal" and Tom Cruise's new film "Murder by a Knife" are repeated one after another, completely stealing the limelight from other films.

Walking along the street for a few minutes, Li Binbin pointed to a poster of "Dark Invasion" on the side of the road and said in surprise: "That's our poster!" ”

"It seems that Venice is good to us, there are even posters of us on the side of the road!"

Cheng Peng is very satisfied with this, during the Berlin Film Festival, don't say that you can't see the poster of "The Two of Us" on the street, even on the day of the movie's release, there is no poster of "The Two of Us" outside the Movie Palace, which can only be described as miserable.

The hotel where Du Qifeng stayed was not far away, more than a ten-minute walk.

Walking into the lobby of the hotel, Cheng Peng saw Du Qifeng sitting on the sofa chatting, and talking to him was Gu Yule, the star of the movie "Judo Dragon and Tiger List".

Cheng Peng and Li Binbin stepped forward and greeted: "Director Du, long time no see!" ”

"Peng Zai, we are really fateful, I didn't expect to meet again in Venice! Ha, Binbin, you're here too! Du Qifeng was very happy to see Cheng Peng and Li Binbin.

Gu Yule didn't expect Cheng Peng to be so young, he was a little surprised, and greeted with a smile: "Mr. Cheng, I have heard Director Du mention you many times, saying that you are a rare genius, and I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate!" ”

Cheng Peng smiled: "It's my honor to work with a handsome guy like you, and I will definitely find you if there is a suitable role!" ”

"This is not the place to talk, I know there's a nice café nearby, and we can talk over coffee!" ”

Cheng Peng nodded and said: "I have never been to Venice, my eyes are black, listen to your arrangement!" ”

The café Du Qifeng said is facing the beach, and sitting on a chair, you can see a lot of beautiful girls in bikinis strolling on the beach, which is really a wonderful scenery for a normal man.

When the warm breeze mixed with the smell of sea water blows in your face, it makes people feel extra comfortable, and it is indeed a holy place for relaxation and vacation.

Cheng Peng and Du Qifeng chatted for a while, and the topic soon turned to their respective movies.

Du Qifeng looked at Cheng Peng and smiled: "I am recently preparing to make a movie "Underworld", the protagonists are Gu Tsai and Liang Jiahui, there is a role in it that is quite suitable for you, are you interested in trying it?" ”

Cheng Peng shook his head and said: "I really don't have time, you are a professional big company, you are only responsible for making movies, you don't care about anything else, there are special personnel responsible for marketing and distribution, but I have to come to everything by myself, after the film festival is over, I have to start preparing for the promotion of "Dark Invasion", the movie is scheduled to be released for the New Year, and the New Year file has Feng Xiaogang's "No Thieves in the World", Zhou Xingchi's "Kung Fu", if you don't do a good job of publicity, you will definitely die ugly." ”

Du Qifeng was a little surprised when he heard that Cheng Peng was preparing to fight with Feng Xiaogang and Zhou Xingchi: "You are really bold enough, the appeal of both of them is super strong, you still dare to go!" ”

Of course, Cheng Peng knows the difficulties involved, but he has no better choice, the Chinese New Year file is the best schedule of the year, and then the summer file, it is impossible for him to put the movie on the summer next year. Of course, he dares to be on this schedule, and he is not completely unsure: ""The Two of Us" can break through in the summer file, "Dark Invasion" can break through in the Chinese New Year, and the brave wins when they meet on a narrow road, I have confidence in my movie, and I believe that I can fight a bloody way!" ”

Du Qifeng thought about it, his "Judo Dragon and Tiger List" was released in early July, and it turned out to be cannon fodder for "Ambush on All Sides", and in the end it only had a box office of 5 million, while Cheng Peng's "The Two of Us" is a literary film, but it stands tall in the gap between "Ambush on All Sides" and "Thousand Machine Changes 2", and it has almost 20 million box office so far.

He couldn't figure out how Cheng Peng did it, but he could only describe it as a genius if he was able to sell a small-cost literary art for 20 million, and said with emotion: "It's a pity that you don't do distribution, otherwise I will hand over all my films to you for distribution, and the box office of my films in the mainland is not very good!" ”

Cheng Peng said with a smile: "I don't have the ability to do distribution for the time being, but if Director Du is ready to go north one day, we can cooperate!" ”

He knows that although Du Qifeng is often labeled as "hard neck" and "persistence", and has become a "banner" in the population that sticks to Hong Kong films, he is not a stubborn person, and he will eventually go north.

The matter is very realistic, the film industry in Hong Kong has shrunk seriously, and almost no one dares to invest in films. There is a particularly typical example, the script of "Eavesdropping" has been written a long time ago, but it can't be filmed, because no one is willing to invest money, even if Mak Zhaohui and Zhuang Wenqiang have filmed "Infernal Affairs". In the end, they found Er Dongsheng, and Er Dongsheng felt that the script was good, so he came forward to find Yu Dong, and finally completed "Eavesdropping" with Bona Investment.

Du Qifeng was stunned when he heard Cheng Peng's words, he also had the heart to go north, the main problem was that he was not familiar with the mainland market, especially the types he was good at, which usually had some sensitive elements, and it was difficult to practice in the mainland market where the rules were complex and ambiguous. If there is someone who understands the mainland market to help, then things may be much easier: "Oh, how to cooperate? ”

"Last year, Radio and Television issued a rule that co-productions can directly enter the mainland market without accounting for the share of imported films, we can invest in your films, and the domestic market will be operated by us. Take your "Underworld" as an example, by the way, how much does this movie cost? ”

"18 million!"

Cheng Peng nodded and said: "According to the regulations, the mainland capital of the co-production must account for one-third, I can invest 6 million, and then file it with radio and television in the name of the co-production, and finally it can be released in China in the name of the co-production." The advantage of this is obvious, everyone shares the risk, is not limited by the number of imported films, and directly enters the domestic market. ”

Du Qifeng is very clear about this cooperation model, and now Xiangjiang directors are doing it, but he has his own concerns: "I'm worried that "Underworld" can't pass the review, even "Big Man Has Great Wisdom" and "Judo Dragon and Tiger List" have been cut beyond recognition, not to mention this kind of sensitive theme!" ”

"Censorship is indeed a big problem, but each country and each region has its own rules, and it is useless to scold, the most important thing is whether you want this market, if you want it, you have to adapt to this rule. I am also crossing the river by feeling the stones now, and "Dark Invasion" was filmed in two versions, both domestic and foreign. However, co-productions are definitely much easier to pass the review than pure Hong Kong films, and the deletion is definitely not so powerful. ”

Of course, Du Qifeng wants the mainland market, but he has always had an inaccurate grasp of the mainland market, but he appreciates Cheng Peng's method very much, and said: "Shoot two versions, this is one way, but I have no concept of the scale of censorship at all, I'm afraid that the written version can't be passed, when I call the screenwriter, let's talk about the script together." ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Cheng Peng and said: "Peng Zai, co-production regulations stipulate that there must be mainland actors to play important roles, you play the role of the plane, you speak Cantonese very well, and your acting skills are no problem, which is quite suitable!" ”

Cheng Peng shook his head with a smile and said, "I really don't have time, the problem of the character is easy to solve, there should be a heroine in this film, right?" ”

"Yes, Liang Jiahui's wife, sister-in-law, but there are fewer scenes."

"Although there are relatively few scenes, she is also the heroine, just use domestic actors."

"Do you have any suitable candidates?"

Cheng Peng glanced at Li Binbin next to him and said, "What do you think of Binbin?" ”

Li Binbin was stunned, she didn't expect Cheng Peng to recommend herself, she brought so much trouble to the crew when filming "Dark Invasion", not only did he not care, but recommended him to be the protagonist of such a big production, at this moment she admired and thanked Cheng Peng in her heart.

Du Qifeng has worked with Li Binbin, and his impression of her is not bad: "Binbin is a very hard-working actor, you can try!" ”

However, Cheng Peng and Du Qifeng did not talk deeply about this issue, after all, there were outsiders present, and specific cooperation matters had to be discussed privately, and the two sides quickly shifted the topic to the movie itself. Both of them are movie maniacs, chatting very speculatively, and they didn't wave goodbye until the afternoon.

On the way back to the hotel, Li Binbin looked at Cheng Peng, and his dark eyes flashed with gratitude: "Director, thank you!" ”

Cheng Peng looked indifferent, and said lightly: "I just know a few of you, Yang Fan and Wang Luodan are too young, Zhang Ziyi will not take this kind of scene and rarely play, Xu Jinglei is busy with her own movies, only you and Fan Binbin are suitable, you happen to be present, so I recommended it by the way." Also, please call me the head of the regiment! ”

Li Binbin smiled: "Yes, regiment leader!" ”;