Chapter 805: The Creative Intent Behind "Dragon"

"Hey, don't worry, I just want to flesh out Wang Budao's character and his final ending based on his current storyline, but I'm definitely not killing him off."

Zhuang Hongyi barely managed to explain himself.

"I think if we market this exorcism team well, we might even turn it into a film series, just like those old Hong Kong zombie flicks from back in the day."

"The only regret is that there are limitations outside the mainland, and 'Dragon' itself has a political slant. I have no idea how the official release will perform. If it becomes a huge hit, it'd be a damn shame not to turn it into a globally recognized film IP."

If the original plot wiped out the team, dead was dead, and he'd have a hard time rounding up the original cast for a sequel. But if they survived, who could say whether a follow-up would come later?

Only works that could sustain long-term operation would yield long-lasting profits!

Xiao He: ...

So Director Zhuang was already dreaming about the release results before the movie was even finished filming?

And the real reason Zhuang Hongyi kept the main trio alive was just to make it easier to churn out sequels?

Xiao He closed his eyes, not wanting to say another word.

He thought the kind personality had taken over, but after a closer look, it turned out the capitalist personality was in charge again—that money-making brain had once again seized the high ground.

Xiao He really had to accept this reality with Zhuang Hongyi.

To think this far ahead, either Zhuang Hongyi was incredibly confident in them, or he was just ridiculously optimistic about the future.

"If that's the case, Director Zhuang, why don't you just cut out most of the supernatural elements and see if we can get a release on the mainland?" Lyu Dun cautiously suggested at this moment. "After all, most of the parts about Dragon can be explained through the Research Institute's experimental direction, right?"

The existence of Dragon as a monster was already pretty complicated. It was a brand-new creature Zhuang Hongyi specially created for the 'Dragon' script, built on the foundation of the little Japanese's human experiments. There was some scientific evidence to back it up, even if it was still unscientific in reality. But at least on the surface, it barely passed the supernatural hurdle.

So this part could easily weaken the metaphysical elements, amp up the little Japanese's horrific experiments, make the monster's existence more scientifically grounded, and better pass the mainland's censorship review for a release there.

After all, for actors who had spent years in the domestic film market ecosystem, the thought of entering an overseas market they didn't understand and had no fan base in, competing against movies of unknown quality, left everyone feeling a bit lost.

Little did they know, the moment Lyu Dun made his suggestion, Zhuang Hongyi flatly rejected it: "Ha? No way in hell!"

Zhuang Hongyi crossed his arms, showing a rare stubborn side: "My supernatural feng shui, ghosts, and bloody gore—I am absolutely, positively not cutting any of that. It goes against my original intent. Cutting it would only shatter the work and make it incomplete. I'd rather take it overseas and let those little foreigners see something new than settle for less."

"Besides, Xiao He is right here. Don't you have any faith in this Award-Winning Actor?"

Xiao He gave him a deadpan look: "...Director Zhuang, don't cut it if you don't want to, but I seriously suspect you're trying to provoke me."

What the hell good would an Award-Winning Actor do?!

And wasn't your original intent just to make more money in the end?!

"No, no."

Zhuang Hongyi patted Xiao He on the shoulder with a half-hearted "I believe in you!", then turned back to Lyu Dun: "Come on, let's go over your later scenes again. I've got some new ideas."

Without waiting for Lyu Dun's confusion, he strode off the set first, leaving Lyu Dun to quickly greet the others and hurry after Zhuang Hongyi.

Xiao He sighed helplessly, seeing right through it: "When he runs into a tough question, he just bails."

Meanwhile, Wang Sheng, who had been listening in, couldn't help clearing his throat and revealing some insider info when he saw everyone's half-doubtful expressions: "Actually, what you don't know is that Director Zhuang originally wrote this script purely out of spite."

"Huh?"

Hearing this juicy gossip, both Xiao He and Cheng Jingyu couldn't help but turn to Wang Sheng, waiting for his explanation.

"I remember it was a few years ago. Back then, our neighbors in Korea made a movie about feng shui and metaphysics that made a huge splash internationally. But at the same time, the barriers here were getting stricter and stricter, even Hong Kong films of that type weren't allowed to be made anymore. The zombie films that used to be iconic became a thing of the past..."

Wang Sheng recalled the situation back then and couldn't help sighing. "Then, as you all know, typical of them, they appropriated all that culture, made it their own, and even brazenly boasted about their own country's feng shui and metaphysics at the awards ceremony, claiming they were the origin, the birthplace."

"And right around that time, Director Zhuang heard about it. He got so pissed off that he locked himself in his Writing Cave and created this script non-stop, day and night. But back then, it was basically going against the current. There was no chance to actually film it, so he even got chewed out by Director Ning..."

Hearing Wang Sheng's explanation, everyone exchanged looks, not expecting there to be such a backstory.

"So, Director Zhuang's insistence on filming this subject matter is actually about preserving this positive culture. Some things passed down from our ancestors are worth preserving and learning from to a certain extent, and he also wants to prove to everyone—to the world—where these cultures truly originate."

"He wants to show that we Chinese people can still make these kinds of movies, and those despicable thieves will only ever be thieves."

As Wang Sheng spoke, he glanced over at the Taoist masters who were slowly packing up and preparing to leave.

"Otherwise, the people from the Tianshi Association wouldn't be so supportive of us."

A merchant as money-hungry as Director Zhuang wouldn't bother with such an unprofitable subject matter.

He was indeed a businessman, but he also had his own principles.

Xiao He fell silent for a moment, then nodded with some emotion: "Alright, I misjudged Director Zhuang."

Zhuang Hongyi still had a bit of chuunibyou idealism in him after all.

"But wait, Director Zhuang used to get scolded by Director Ning too?"

Director Ning naturally referred to Director Ning Jiaqi, the director of 'No Bait' and also Zhuang Hongyi's teacher. After 'No Bait,' he had officially retired and distributed his team among his students, with Zhuang Hongyi, as the most outstanding and exceptional of them, naturally taking on the heaviest burden.

Because of that, everyone often forgot that Zhuang Hongyi had also come from a student background, as if he had always been Director Ning Jiaqi's most favored pupil.

Wang Sheng paused, then suppressed a laugh: "Director Zhuang... well, of course. Director Zhuang often has some strange ideas, so getting scolded by Director Ning is only natural..."

Then he covered his mouth and lowered his voice: "Back then, Director Ning said that Zhuang Hongyi was suited for commercial films and shouldn't mess around with all that nonsense. But Director Zhuang didn't buy it, so right out of the gate, he made a few art films. Then he learned his lesson."

Xiao He: "Pfft—"

Well, that tracks. Director Ning really knew how to judge people.

But then, Xiao He hit him with a fatal question: "So, are we the 'nonsense' this time?"

Wang Sheng's expression froze: "Shit... Don't tell Director Zhuang I was gossiping about him behind his back."

Now that was a good question!