At the same time, Fei Huang Studio.

Zhu Xiaoce was in a meeting room with the core members of Fei Huang Studio, as well as Cui Geng, Lu Zhiyao, Zhang Zuting, Lin Jiaqiang, and other actors he had worked with.

Huang Sibao was absent because he had gone on a trip with Hu Xianbin, and his departure was very peaceful... oh no, hurried.

Zhu Xiaoce was finding it a bit difficult on his own, but fortunately, Fei Huang Studio had been consciously cultivating the next generation of directors, so even with the departure of the person in charge, someone could immediately step up and prevent any problems.

The script for *The Successor* had already been written, and even the preliminary preparations were almost complete.

The purpose of this meeting was to finalize the script, unify everyone's thinking, and then prepare for the official start of filming.

This filming was different from the past, as it would be a collaboration with a team from the United States. The characters in the play would also be mainly foreigners, so casting would naturally take place abroad.

Therefore, Zhu Xiaoce hadn't originally planned to find actors from China.

However, Lu Zhiyao had clearly tasted the sweetness of previous collaborations and insisted on playing a minor role in the film, refusing to leave if he wasn't given one.

Zhang Zuting, Lin Jiaqiang, and others also stated that they must help with this favor, even if it was just a cameo for a few minutes.

Zhu Xiaoce was overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and had to find a way to forcefully squeeze them all in. Fortunately, their English proficiency was good, and they had no problem memorizing lines. Even if their accents had minor flaws, it would make the performance more realistic. If all else failed, they could dub over it in post-production, so it wasn't a big problem.

Zhu Xiaoce briefly introduced the basic content of the filming.

"This time, we're going to use the format of a web series, with a total of 12 episodes, each lasting about 50 minutes to an hour."

"The scripts for all 12 episodes have been distributed to everyone, with a brief synopsis of the story attached to help you better understand it."

"After the filming is completed, the series will be released in China. We may cooperate with video websites for exclusive broadcasting, but there are currently no plans for overseas release."

"The specific method of release isn't the main point. After all, if the quality of the film is good, there's no need to worry. It's too early to think about these things now."

"Cui Geng, the original author, is also here today. If you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask. Cui Geng and our writing team will do their best to answer them."

Lin Jiaqiang was also present.

Compared to the status of Lu Zhiyao and Zhang Zuting, he was clearly not qualified enough, but after all, he had cooperated with Tengda many times, so he came to help out with a minor role, not expecting to receive much pay.

If he still had his previous fat physique, he could only play comedic roles, which wouldn't be suitable for a cameo in this series. But now that he had lost weight, he could easily play a passerby.

However, at this moment, he was flipping through the script with a slightly puzzled expression.

Could this work?

This filming by Fei Huang Studio was full of flaws, more than any previous project!

First of all, despite such a large investment and collaboration with a crew from the United States, they were only filming a web series, not a movie.

Secondly, the entire web series was dubbed in English, telling a story that took place abroad, but there were no plans to release it abroad for the time being, prioritizing China.

Thirdly, in terms of theme and content, while it was said to be a superhero film, it had nothing to do with traditional superheroes. The entire series didn't even have a traditionally good person, and the main protagonist was exceptionally villainous.

Finally, the original novel had already been serialized on Qidian Chinese Website, but the reception wasn't very good. Chinese online novel readers didn't seem to be very receptive to it.

Could this work?

It looked like it was going to flop.

Lin Jiaqiang secretly glanced at Lu Zhiyao and Zhang Zuting, and noticed that although they seemed confident on the surface, some subtle movements revealed that they weren't 100% confident in the script either.

Clearly, no matter how many times miracles had happened, people would still doubt whether the next miracle would occur.

This was human nature, especially since the difficulty of this project was clearly higher than before.

Zhu Xiaoce had clearly realized this, which was why he had called this meeting to unify everyone's thinking in advance. If even the internal staff doubted whether this web series would succeed, then the filming would probably take many detours.

Since they were all old acquaintances, they didn't hide anything and honestly expressed their concerns.

Zhang Zuting was the first to speak.

"This script is... quite unique. But are you sure you want to use the format of a web series? As far as I know, web series are usually low-cost, small-scale productions, since the profit model for web series is limited."

"If you want to recoup a large investment, it's best to make a movie, earn box office revenue, and earn global box office revenue."

"The web series format, foreign subject matter, foreign actors, English audio, and the need for subtitles when broadcasting in China... these restrictions all narrow the audience base, making it a rather niche format."

"Can you really recoup the costs this way?"

For actors like Zhang Zuting and Lu Zhiyao, whether the series could recoup its costs wasn't very important, since they were paid a fixed salary. If the series became popular, it would increase their fame, and if it didn't, they wouldn't suffer any major losses.

But they were worried that if this project failed, it might negatively impact Fei Huang Studio, both financially and mentally.

What if, because of this failure, Fei Huang Studio lost its usual wild, unconventional imagination and adventurous spirit, and the quality of its future works declined? That would be a pity.

Therefore, it was necessary to give a reminder.

Zhu Xiaoce replied, "Uncle Zhang, these questions you're asking were specifically requested by President Pei."

"Actually, at first, I had the same thoughts, thinking that this approach wouldn't be very successful. But then I thought about it carefully, and this series must be filmed this way!"

"First of all, this kind of subject matter must be filmed abroad, just like *Struggle*, it must choose a foreign country as the background, otherwise it won't have the same feel."

"Secondly, the amount of information contained in this script is very large, and there are many key scenes. If it were split into movies, it would have to be split into at least three, and many key pieces of information would be lost."

"Even if it were successfully split, each individual film would be lacking in meaning, and the whole story would be fragmented. It must be made into a series to present the complete core to the audience in its original form."

"As for why we're considering China first... it's because only Chinese audiences, from an outsider's perspective, can better understand the deeper meaning of this story."

"It's not to say that foreign audiences definitely can't understand it, but that we want to prioritize Chinese audiences."

"Considering all these points, we can only make this choice. Although this reduces the chances of success, I believe that since it's a script that President Pei has approved, as long as we film it carefully, we can definitely stand out!"

Lu Zhiyao couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is the core of this story? I don't really understand it. I read the synopsis, and all I know is that a despicable villain carries out a series of plans and succeeds in the end."

Zhu Xiaoce replied, "According to my personal understanding... this story should be viewed in conjunction with realistic works like *A Beautiful Tomorrow* and *Struggle*."

"As for its specific meaning... let's have the original author explain it."

With that, he looked at Cui Geng.

This situation was different from before. Previously, the scripts were mainly based on President Pei's ideas. As for how to interpret President Pei's ideas, that was up to Huang Sibao and Zhu Xiaoce to develop.

But this script was entirely Cui Geng's original work, and President Pei wasn't involved, so the final right of interpretation definitely belonged to the original author.

It was precisely because the author wasn't President Pei that everyone wasn't particularly confident in the script.

Cui Geng cleared his throat and said, "Actually, this story of mine was really inspired by President Pei."

"To put it simply, *A Beautiful Tomorrow*, *Struggle*, and *The Successor* have something in common in certain aspects, and all have some reflection on reality."

"*Struggle* and *A Beautiful Tomorrow* are connected. If the society in *Struggle* were to develop for several more decades, and technology were to experience several more leaps and breakthroughs, and the entire social structure became more extreme, it would become the social structure in *A Beautiful Tomorrow*."

"And *The Successor* is more like a story that takes place in a parallel universe. The premise of this story is based on an assumption: what would happen if this were a world where 'superheroes rely on faith and supervillains rely on mutations'?"

"Just like the concerns and distrust of the social structure expressed in *A Beautiful Tomorrow*, I was surprised to find that the story in *The Successor* is also filled with this concern and distrust."

"This core is completely consistent."

"In fact, the theme of this story was chosen for me by President Pei. At first, I didn't understand President Pei's intention at all, and I felt that the superhero theme was actually a theme that was impossible to write anything good about."

"But President Pei enlightened me. He said three things: 'Superhero themes can also be written for Chinese readers', 'It's not necessary for Chinese readers to like these superheroes', and 'It's okay to write these superheroes as being half-dead'."

"I thought about it for a long time and finally understood. So President Pei wanted me to use our own cultural perspective to subvert the popular superhero theme, to observe Western stories from a Chinese cultural perspective, to deconstruct them, to tear apart the perfect exterior of these works, and to fully reveal their inner workings!"

"Just like *Struggle*, the meaning of *The Successor* is to deconstruct the false 'ideal state' constructed in Western cultural works, and to use a relatively absurd form to show some social problems."

"Stepping out of the circle of reality makes it easier to see many problems clearly."