Star attraction

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-02 09:10

To their surprise, they were soon flooded by calls from numerous stars and their agents. Everybody wanted in and some begged to be on screen for just one minute. And all these A-listers offered their services for free.

The film's budget was only 30 million yuan ($4.4 million), which in some cases, wouldn't cover the costs for even one big star. For example, Jackie Chan's usual paycheck can hit 100 million yuan.

"If we sit down and add up all their salaries, the film should have cost 400 million yuan," says Huang, who has 25 years of experience directing and producing films.

The film's subject of celebrating the mother country's birthday did pull many stars, Huang notes, but the "power of China Film Group and personal charm of Han" played a critical role.

Backed up by the Chinese government, China Film Group is the No. 1 film company in the country, producing films and distributing them in a number of cinema chains across the nation.

It also controls the importation of 20 foreign films every year and schedules their screening dates.

Han, who heads the group, is inarguably the top tycoon in the industry.

Stephen Chow once joked that "if Mr Han asks me to jump off a cliff, I would do it".

"They are all good actors," says Huang, who for the past 100 days has lived in his studio during the busy post-production schedule.

"Stars are not born. They have talent, but they also work hard. They are prepared when they come, and play the role quickly. They helped me fulfill the job at such short notice."

The film focuses on the time between 1945 and 1949, when the Communists, led by Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fought after the failed effort to set up a democratic coalition government.

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