In Hollywood, the romantic comedy is well into humdrum middle age. But in China, the genre is still in its honeymoon phase. 

　　在好萊塢，浪漫喜劇早已進入波瀾不驚的中年時期。但是在中國，這類影片仍舊處于蜜月期。

　　Rom-coms have been growing in popularity in China in recent years as audiences' tastes change and the mainland movie industry develops. Those tapping the trend include co-directors Tony Chan (陳國輝) and Wing Shya (夏永康), who scored a hit last year with “Hot Summer Days” (全城熱戀熱辣辣). The movie wove multiple stories and blended big-name stars with a snappy script and playful visual effects. It earned 128.3 million yuan (US$20 million) at the box office ─ on a budget of US$2 million ─ according to media-research firm EntGroup Inc.

　　近年來，隨著觀眾欣賞品味的改變和大陸電影行業(yè)的發(fā)展，浪漫喜劇在中國越來越受歡迎。趁著這一趨勢，去年由陳國輝和夏永康二人聯(lián)合執(zhí)導的《全城熱戀》去年獲得了極大的成功。這部電影講述了多個故事，融大牌明星和時興的劇本、幽默的視覺效果于一爐。據(jù)媒體據(jù)媒體調(diào)研公司藝恩咨詢（EntGroup Inc.）透露，這部電影以200萬美元的預算創(chuàng)造了12,830萬元（相當于2,000萬美元）的票房。

　　“At that time it was pretty new in China. A modern love story, creative ideas, a lot of movie stars,” Mr. Chan says.

　　陳國輝說：“當時，那種片子在中國很新潮──現(xiàn)代愛情故事、新潁的創(chuàng)意、明星云集。”

　　The duo's latest film follows the winning formula. “Love in Space” (全球熱戀) is a star-studded comedy about the romantic adventures of three sisters. (One storyline is set in a space station, hence the film's title.) The movie had a budget of US$6-7 million ─ triple the budget of their previous film and high by Chinese standards for a romantic comedy. It stars A-listers from across east Asia: Aaron Kwok, René Liu (劉若英), Eason Chan (陳奕迅), Kwai Lun Mei (桂綸鎂), Angelababy (楊潁), Jing Boran (井柏然) and Xu Fan (徐帆).

　　二人聯(lián)合推出的最新作品延續(xù)了這一成功思路。匯集明星、大腕的影片《全球熱戀》）演繹了姐妹三人的浪漫經(jīng)歷。（其中的一個故事情節(jié)拍攝于太空站，影片也因此得名。）影片的預算是600萬到700萬美元，是他們之前那部電影的3倍。按照中國對于浪漫喜劇的標準，這個預算就算是很高了。東亞的眾多一線明星如郭富城、劉若英、陳奕迅、桂綸鎂、楊潁、景柏然、徐帆等在影片中出演了角色。

　　The film is a co-production between Fox International Productions and Huayi Brothers, together with Sundream Motion Pictures (Hong Kong). Fox is owned by News Corp., which publishes The Wall Street Journal. It's currently playing in China and other parts of Asia. Messrs. Chan and Shya met several years ago on the set of 'Blood Brothers' ─ a movie produced in their native Hong Kong. Both studied film in North America before returning to Asia. They are now collaborating on two new projects: a contemporary action movie and period martial-arts film. They spoke with the Journal.

　　這部影片由?？怂箛H制作公司（Fox International Productions）、華誼兄弟（Huayi Brothers）、驕陽電影有限公司（香港）聯(lián)合制作。福克斯的東家是新聞集團（News Corp.），而新聞集團是《華爾街日報》（Wall Street Journal）的出版方。這部電影目前正在中國和亞洲其他國家放映。幾年前，陳國輝和夏永康在《天堂口》（一部在香港本土拍攝的電影）的拍攝現(xiàn)場初次相見。兩人在回亞洲發(fā)展之前都曾在北美學習電影。目前，二人正在合作推出兩部新電影──一部當代動作片和一部古裝武打電影。他們接受了《華爾街日報》記者的采訪。

　　The Wall Street Journal: Are big-name stars essential for comedies?

　　《華爾街日報》：對喜劇來說，大牌明星很重要嗎？

　　Mr. Chan: In Asia, it's really important. It's a very movie-star driven [environment]. To get people into the theater you almost need a superstar, unless you're a big Hollywood, special-effects movie. If you don't have a movie star to draw them in the first weekend, then how do you open a film?

　　陳國輝：在亞洲的話，確實很重要。這是個明星驅(qū)動的[市場]。要想讓觀眾進影院看你的電影，超級明星幾乎必不可少，除非你是好萊塢的特效大片。如果沒有明星在第一個周末把觀眾吸引到影院里，那么你怎么進行首映？

　　WSJ: Does the setting for the new film have anything to do with China's growing presence in space exploration?

　　《華爾街日報》：這部新影片的拍攝背景是不是和中國在太空探索方面的發(fā)展有關(guān)系？

　　Mr. Chan: No. Seven or eight years ago, this idea just popped into my head: a zero-gravity love story and an image of a female character crying and the tears floating across the air to a man's face. It just stuck in my head.

　　陳國輝：沒有。七八年前，我的腦海里就閃現(xiàn)出了這個想法──在失重情況下的愛情故事，以及這樣的場景：女主人公悲痛欲絕，眼淚漂浮在空中，沾濕了男主人公的臉龐。這個想法一直留在我腦海中揮之不去。

　　WSJ: Does your background in commercials and photography give you a unique perspective in films?

　　《華爾街日報》：是不是廣告和攝影師的從業(yè)背景為你拍電影提供了一個獨特的角度？

　　Mr. Shya: It helps. I worked as a photographer for 20 years, so I am really into these kind of visuals. And it's a benefit working in commercials for so many years. I know how to do the lighting, the styling, the art direction, setting ─ everything. I worked with Wong Kar-wai and his art director, William Cheung. I learned from these masters ─ how they put the visuals together.

　　夏永康：確實有幫助。我做了20年的攝影師，非常喜歡這樣的視覺畫面。這么多年的商業(yè)廣告經(jīng)歷確實是一個優(yōu)勢。我知道怎樣進行照明調(diào)整、風格設計、藝術(shù)指導和背景設計，所有這一切吧。我和王家衛(wèi)、他的藝術(shù)總監(jiān)張卓慶有過合作，跟著這些大師學了不少東西，學習他們怎樣組合視覺畫面。

　　WSJ: What are the challenges?

　　《華爾街日報》：在這方面，你們遇到了哪些挑戰(zhàn)？

　　Mr. Shya: Sometimes I see photographers turn to movie directing, and there are always too many visuals that don't fit the story. You don't understand what is going on in the film, even if the visuals are amazing. I don't want to do that. I want people to focus on the movie ─ it's from the story that we create the visual world.

　　夏永康：有時候，可以看到攝影師轉(zhuǎn)行去做導演。他們拍出的電影中有太多的視覺畫面不符合故事情節(jié)的需要。你搞不清楚他們的電影到底在表現(xiàn)什么，就算這些畫面很生動也是不行。我不想那樣。我想讓人們專注于電影情節(jié)──情節(jié)是我們設計視覺世界的基礎。

　　WSJ: How do you divide directing duties?

　　《華爾街日報》：你們是怎樣分配導演職責的？

　　Mr. Chan: We talk about a lot before shooting. We find the tone for the story, and we talk about what kind of film we want to make. During the shooting it's more like execution: I talk with the actors lot, and Wing will do a lot with the director of photography, lighting, art direction, costumes, makeup, camera movement.

　　陳國輝：開機前我們會做充分討論。我們會設定故事的基調(diào)，探討要拍一個什么樣的片子。拍攝過程更像一個執(zhí)行過程：我和演員們交流，夏永康和負責攝影、燈光、藝術(shù)指導、服裝、化妝、攝像機移動的導演進行交流。

　　Mr. Shya: When we have a problem, we share everything.

　　夏永康：遇到問題的時候，我們都開誠布公地一起探討。

　　WSJ: How crucial is the opening weekend?

　　《華爾街日報》：影片上映的第一周到底有多重要？

　　Mr. Chan: It's unlike the U.S., where a film with really good word of mouth can gradually open up. In China, they look at the first three days' ─ the first weekend's ─ box office. If the box office is average, they will drop the number of screenings immediately.

　　陳國輝：這里和美國不一樣。在美國，如果一部電影口碑很好的話，它慢慢就可以打開市場。但是在中國，影院只看前三天，也就是第一個周末的票房情況。如果前三天的票房一般，影院馬上就會減少放映的次數(shù)。