On June 9, the crew of "The Meg 2: Abyss" held its first press conference in Shanghai. Including the director, two leading actors and co-stars Cai Shuya, Cliff Curtis, Peggy Kennedy, Melisante Matthew, the producer representative Ying Xujun, vice president of CMC, guest director Guo Fan, etc. At the press conference, he shared with the media present all the front and back scenes of the film.
"We found each other's experiences very similar"
As the sequel to "The Meg" released in 2018, "The Meg 2" is produced by Shanghai Chinese Film Co., Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures, Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communication Co., Ltd., and China Film Co., Ltd. Produced by the company, Beijing Alibaba Film Culture Co., Ltd., Gravity Film and Television International Co., Ltd., Xi'an Qiaosong Culture Media Co., Ltd., Tianjin Chengzi Image Media Co., Ltd., Beijing Weimeng Chuangke Network Technology Co., Ltd., Douyin Culture (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. Co-produced by the company.
"Megalodon 2" poster
That year's "Megalodon" won a domestic box office of 1.053 billion yuan, setting a record for the highest box office of a co-production film, and it has not been surpassed so far; its global box office is also as high as 530 million US dollars, which can be called a dark horse at the box office in the summer of 2018. The story of "Megalodon 2" revolves around deep-sea diving expert Jonas Taylor (played by Jason Statham) and Chinese scientist Zhang Jiuming (played by Wu Jing) teaming up to enter the 7,000-meter abyss to perform an exploration mission, and the result is unexpected. Encountered the attacks of prehistoric monsters, the overlords of the sea, megalodon sharks, and groups of ancient monsters.
Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of "Megalodon 2" is that Wu Jing and Jason Statham, the two masters of East and West action, join forces to fight monsters. Before joining the film, Jason Statham had more than ten years of experience as a professional diver, and his water skills are very good. He specially came to Shanghai to attend the press conference this time. As soon as he came out, he greeted the guests and the media present: "Hi everyone, long time no see. The last time I came to China was a few years ago. I am very honored this time." To be invited to come here again. Over the years, I have been loved by Chinese audiences, so I am very happy to be in China again."
As an action actor, the theme of monsters is precisely the type of film that Wu Jing has never touched before. He said frankly that he wanted to take the challenge because the two children in his family liked this kind of subject matter very much.
Talking about this cooperation with Jason Statham, Wu Jing revealed: "Actually, a long time ago, an old man whom both of us knew - Director Yuan Kui, has always wanted to match us to make a movie together. The first time we took the opportunity of filming "Megalodon 2", we really met each other. Then, we found that each other's experiences are very similar: both are athletes, Jason has also participated in the Olympic Games; Their personalities are also relatively straightforward. When filming, I found a lot of actions, and we both like to use our years of accumulated shooting experience to complete them in person, and fully enjoy the fight scenes and the fun brought to us by various spectacle .”
"Also, I can disclose a little episode. Before I worked with Jason, a good friend of mine told me that his child and Jason's child are in the same school. He said that Jason is very approachable, He is very kind, and he rides a small electric motorcycle to pick up and drop off his children every day."
Regarding this cooperation with Wu Jing, Jason Statham said: "Before I knew Wu Jing, his image on the screen and his professionalism left a deep impression on me. The inspirations are all Chinese actors. We also have a mutual friend - Jet Li. I think Wu Jing is different from many American actors in that he can combine external martial arts moves with internal strength, and he There is a lot of joy in the process of acting, so our set is always full of laughter. At the same time, he also upholds good professional ethics and will not be like some American actors who are always late when shooting-but The performances of several American actors in our "Megalodon 2" crew are very good (laughs). We shoot every scene, and everyone will devote themselves to it, just like the gears of a mechanical watch, performing their duties in an orderly and precise manner , respect each other."
Wu Jing and Jason Statham attend the press conference of "The Meg 2" in Shanghai. The Paper reporter Xue Songtu
Jason Statham's role in the deep sea does not require coercion
In addition to fighting monsters, for Wu Jing, the challenge of the update of "Megalodon 2" may be that the entire film must be spoken in English. Jason Statham expressed his admiration for Wu Jing's ability to do this. "You know, usually when an actor wants to make a movie in a foreign language he doesn't master, his lines often only have one or two sentences or a few words. But in this film, the lines of Wu Jing and I are basically That is to say, he has to memorize the English script of the whole play."
"In addition, during filming, the director speaks English directly when communicating with other actors. If he can't grasp some information on the side, he may lack a sense of direction during the performance. Therefore, it is not only necessary to be able to In other words, it is a very big challenge to understand the communication between all other actors and directors. I think Wu Jing is very brave, and he is much braver than me." Jason Statham said.
On the other hand, Wu Jing admitted that his English is not good, but this time he is still playing the role of a scientist. He will use a lot of unusual English words in the dialogue, which sometimes makes him seem like "my brain is about to flood" on the set. ". Fortunately, after being an actor for so many years, his comprehension is extraordinary, and he also has an exclusive coup: "Sometimes on the set, I will temporarily modify some plots. When I feel helpless, I ask Jason for help: I asked him, If you were me at this time, what kind of dialogue would you use to express the emotions of this scene and explain the tasks of this scene.”
The subtitle of "Megalodon 2" "Abyss" seems simple, but it actually has a lot of background. In Jason Statham's view, this is closely related to the content of the film. "We all know that the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean in the world and the deepest place on Earth. The 'Abyss' in the title refers to this. And this time in the film, we will travel to Wenzhou Below the jump. The deeper the ocean, the more unknown darkness and even evil things, and the stronger our survival instinct, so we call it the abyss.”
Wu Jing added: "My name in the film is Jiuming, which means abyss in ancient Chinese. Song Lian, a great literati in the Ming Dynasty, once wrote that 'Go to Lingxiaohan, and go down to candle Jiuming'. My understanding of 'Abyss' is Our human understanding of the ocean may only be 5% at present, and there are still 95% of the unknown world waiting for us to explore."
The "abyss" that the two face in the film is to walk 7,000 meters deep in the sea. Regarding this group of pictures, Jason Statham said: "We try to achieve a realistic effect through performances, but we wear special diving suits, the inside of the helmet is very stuffy, and there are various cables on the body. The process movements are also very particular. It is a challenge for each of us to perform in that suit."
Wu Jing "played the opposite" this time: "Actually, when I was filming this scene, I didn't feel hard at all. Why? I have to thank Director Guo Fan, because when filming "The Wandering Earth", he asked us to wear The spacesuits he wore were about the same weight as the armor he wore for The Meg 2, if not heavier—and he made me wear them for two scenes."
However, Wu Jing specifically mentioned that because of filming this scene, he especially admired Jason Statham's professionalism. "It's as if you have to feel weightless in a space suit. When shooting this scene, you have to express the feeling of floating under the water. Many people, including me, need to use wire to complete the performance, but Jason Statham Completed this set of movements without using wire at all."
Wu Jing is addicted to drama while stealing lessons from teachers
In fact, it can be seen from the released trailers that, in addition to the seabed scenes, "Megalodon 2" also has many thrilling action scenes, one of which is Wu Jing hanging on the outside of the helicopter with one hand.
Talking about the filming location of this scene, Wu Jing said bluntly: "The filming was very exciting and very cool. Because I am taking the helicopter driver's license test, I know that there are many rules that must be followed when flying a helicopter. You only know when you are filming. You can play unscrupulously and casually, and the safety measures are so good, and there is insurance, so I took this opportunity to play a few more times. In fact, I wanted to do some more dangerous moves, but our producer strictly stopped it gone."
Statham added: "It takes a lot of guts to actually do a shot like this, and a lot depends on what action the producers allow us to do. I did a shot a long time ago in "Heart of Rage." A similar scene was also standing on a landing gear outside the helicopter. Back then, that scene was filmed on the last day of filming, because even if there was an accident or something went wrong, it would not affect the completion of the entire film as scheduled. And there was no insurance company to insure us at that time.”
In addition to being addicted to the drama, the cooperation with the American filming team this time also taught Wu Jing a lot as a director. "For example, when shooting pictures like that of helicopters, there were always some shots that could not be completed. This time I found that the shooting technique they used was to add a roller to the front of the helicopter. This roller seems to be an old military radome. They put the camera back in with the shaft, and they pull a couple of wires straight into it, and it can rotate about 270 degrees."
When the shooting was finished, the American photographer saw that Wu Jing was very interested in the small object they made to fix the camera on his chest, so he simply gave it to him, and Wu Jing returned the gift with Erguotou soaked wolfberries.
Later, Guo Fan, who attended as a guest, came on stage and revealed that Wu Jing was simply stealing from the crew this time. "When Wu Jing was filming "Megalodon 2", in fact, "The Wandering Earth 2" hadn't finished yet. He would often send me some set photos, which he thought we could use on set in the future to further enhance our industrialization Little discovery—whether it’s hardware or software technology.” In the end, Guo Fan also deliberately left an easter egg of “Megalodon 2” when editing and producing “The Wandering Earth 2”.
During the whole filming process, the most memorable thing for the crew members was that on Wu Jing's birthday, he bought 1,000 packs of quick-frozen dumplings and dozens of bottles of Erguotou and invited the whole crew to "dumplings for wine", hoping that the box office will " The more you drink, the more rich you will be." As for whether their wish will come true, the answer will be revealed when the film is released on August 4th.
