Movies With Butter

Because Vincent Zhao has been badmouthing the “Special Identity” production in the media, the producer held a press conference yesterday to clear things up. Donnie Yen, who Zhao blames for his exit, had already presented his side of the story.

According to producer Zhang Wang, Zhao wanted to stay in a “chairman suite” of a hotel instead of an “executive suite.” I’m guessing the “chairman suite” is more expensive. Wang said they offered to increase Zhao’s salary to compensate for that, but Zhao refused.

Now this is just getting petty, and it reflects poorly on both sides. The budget for the film is $20M - just give Zhao his goddamn “chairman suite.” Let him rest comfortably when he's not getting his arse kicked by Donnie Yen in the film. Unbelievable.

I can understand that as the producer, Wang needed to save and spend money wisely, but he would get a lot more back at the box office by having Zhao in the film than the amount he saved by not doing the room upgrade.

The other thing that Wang wants to clear up is actually the real news. Andy On isn’t replacing Zhao. The producers created a new character for him.

I can see why they've decided to do this. They don’t have to reshoot any of Zhao’s scenes, and they can still use whatever Zhao shot. After all, they did pay for it. It’ll be interesting to see how Zhao’s character will be let go in the film.

Anyway, all this drama over a room upgrade. Not mentioned at all by the producer were the script changes that Zhao felt reduced his role in the film.

I'm now wondering how much longer this soap opera will go on for.

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