The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 542 Interest Exchange
When Lee Sheng-yew was filming "Parasite" on Hong Kong Island, he actually missed a lot of things, such as the mainland film market in October and November, and the Lunar New Year festival in early and mid-December.

October's "White Snake", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", November's "33 Days Later", "A Banquet at the Red Gate", and "The Twilight Saga 4" are all highly anticipated movies. Unfortunately, except for "33 Days Later" , other movies did not do well at the box office.

As we enter December and the Lunar New Year holiday arrives, competition in the mainland film market becomes more intense.

In early December, a series of movies such as "Happy Magic", "Racing Legend", "Big Deal", "Love Before Marriage", "Roll, Ashin", "Chasing Love" and so on were released.

Among them, "Happy Magic" is a movie produced by Huang Baiming. Like his past movies, he invited a bunch of stars to tell an embarrassing and inexplicable story.

It wants plot but not plot, it wants special effects but not special effects.

What makes people even more speechless is that the celebrities invited by Huang Baiming are all small-time celebrities from Hong Kong Island and have no market appeal.

Under such circumstances, Huang Baiming, who was full of confidence, suffered a major blow in his life. The first day of "Happy Magic" was only about 15.00%.

This made Huang Baiming very dissatisfied. He complained on Weibo, feeling that he was being targeted by mainland filmmakers.

Wang Zhongjun was also very angry and directly responded to Huang Baiming on Weibo, asking him to see what kind of messed up movie he made.

Hua Yi is the main investor in "Happy Magic". Wang Zhongjun is even more annoyed when the movie is so bad.

After this incident, Huang Baiming kept a much lower profile in the Mainland, and at the same time, Mainland theaters no longer gave him face.

His messy "happy event" movies can no longer get high-profile movies.

By mid-December, "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were released successively.

"Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" invited Bell to target the global market.

"Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" invites Jet Li and is billed as the world's first 3D martial arts movie. It also targets the global market.

The investment in both movies is very high. "The Thirteen Hairpins" is said to have an investment of 9000 million, while "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" has an investment of [-] million, of which Jet Li's salary was [-] million yuan.

With such a high investment, there is naturally pressure to repay the investment. The two films are now fighting like crazy, and fans of each company are constantly arguing on the forum.

When "The Thirteen Hairpins" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were released, Lee Sheng-yao was in Hong Kong. Both Lao Mouzi and Tsui Hark called him, hoping that he could attend the premieres and that Director Li would help channelize them.

They were all rejected by Lee Sheng Yew. He was filming the most important scene of "Parasite" at that time, so it was naturally impossible for him to leave Hong Kong Island to support them.

Lee Sheng-yew completed filming on the set of "Parasite". After the wrap-up party, he hurried back to Yanjing with the crew, intending to complete the film editing in his own editing room.

At this time, "Thirteen Hairpins" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were still great hits. Lee Sheng-yew went to the theater to watch these two movies and praised them respectively in front of reporters, which was considered as giving face to Lao Mouzi and Tsui Hark.

He then planned to focus on editing "Parasite". At this time, he received many film invitations.

Movies such as "Tears of a Fall", "Close Enemies", "Speed ​​Angel", "Double Bed Treaty", etc. were released one after another. The directors and producers of these movies all wanted Director Li to give them some advice.

They were all rejected by Li Shengyao.

Lao Mouzi, Tsui Hark had more respect, so he found time to watch the movie. In fact, he didn't watch it seriously at all, he just fell asleep in the movie theater for two hours.

He had watched these two movies in his previous life and didn't feel the need to watch them a second time.

The director of "Speed ​​Angel" Ma Chucheng and the producer Hou Jidong did not believe in evil and even visited the film in person, hoping that Lee Shengyao could give them more support.

Ma Chucheng is a first-class photographer in the Chinese film and television industry. He was the main photographer of "Sweet Honey". But is he shooting a movie?

Movies such as "Star Wish", "East View Raiders", and "Hancheng Raiders" are always less popular. They cannot be said to be bad movies, but even if they have big stars, they are still not attractive enough.

As for Hou Jidong, his master is very famous, Wang Jingchun in Beijing circles.

He worked as a manager of the brokerage department in Huayi and Guangguang, but later he quit and went out on his own.

"Speed ​​Angel" is his first film as a producer, so he must have invested a lot of money in it.

The movie invited Tang Wei, Liu Ruoying, Lin Zhiying, and Zhang Baizhi, all four of whom have no box office appeal.

In Lee Sheung Yew's previous life, this dreamer would quickly decline and be forgotten by the entertainment industry.

Li Shengyao did not see Ma Chucheng and Hou Jidong. He was in the editing room at the time. He heard the assistant's report and refused directly.

……

At 2011:12 pm on December 24, 7, the sky was overcast. There was no moon or stars in the night sky. A black cloth covered all the light in the night sky.

The cold wind was howling, and pedestrians on the road were hunching their necks and tightening zippers all over their bodies to prevent gaps.

Li Shengyao and his assistant drove to a courtyard house in Chaoyang District.

There is a vertical plaque hanging on the side of the gate of this courtyard, with five characters written on it - Wang's Private Kitchen.

This private restaurant is one of the top private restaurants in Yanjing. It is said that a table of dishes costs tens of thousands of yuan.

The ancestor of the chef inside once lived in the royal palace and was the royal chef who cooked for the royal family.

Li Shengyao came here this time because Yu Dong and Tsui Hark invited him together, so they came here.

When Ma Chucheng and Hou Jidong came to see Li Shengyao, he was too lazy to meet them.

This time Yu Dong and Tsui Hark invited him to come over for dinner. Naturally, it was not because Yu Dong and Tsui Hark were handsome, but mainly because these two people could provide benefits to Li Shengyao.

A batch of new films have been released in the past two days, whether it is "The Thirteen Beauties" or "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate". The film schedule has been further compressed, and the box office has naturally dropped in this single day.

Zhang Weiping called Li Shengyao and hoped that Fenghua Cinemas could provide more support and increase the film schedule of "The Thirteen Beauties".

It was fooled by Li Shengyao.

Zhang Weiping was just relying on Lao Mouzi to earn a living, so why should he give him face?

There are no benefits, so you have to increase the number of films. Who gives you the courage?
Now Yu Dong and Tsui Hark are looking for Li Shengyao. Director Li comes over and treats them as a good meal.

If we want to improve the film schedule, there is no benefit, and Lee Sheng Yew will still not give him face.

He then met Yu Dong and Tsui Hark. In addition to these two old men, there was also a petite and cute girl, Xiao S's best friend Fan Xiaoxuan.

Yu Dong was wearing a suit. He was fat and his thighs were particularly thick. He looked like an ordinary fat man with no aura.

On the contrary, Tsui Hark is more like a boss. He is thinner and has a mustache. He looks like a person hiding behind the scenes.

Fan Xiaoxuan is dressed in casual clothes, a blue sweater, black jeans, and a pair of ordinary Gaobang sneakers.

She has a pretty face and an average figure, but her legs are very straight and she wears jeans with a slight curvature, which is a bit tempting.

"Director Li, please sit down quickly."

Yu Dong reacted the fastest. When he saw Li Shengyao, he immediately stepped forward to invite him.

Li Shengyao sat down, and Yu Dong and Tsui Hark sat on either side of him. The two of them started to praise Li Shengyao and introduced the fragrant dishes on the table.

Li Shengyao was naturally not polite, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.Fan Xiaoxuan looked very shy, occasionally looking at Li Shengyao, but would quickly look away when meeting Li Shengyao's gaze.

Li Shengyao saw it in his eyes and secretly smiled in his heart.

In the past two or three years, Fan Xiaoxuan and Zhou Xun have become good friends. Zhou Xun took her into the film and television industry. Fan Xiaoxuan has acted in several movies and seems to be developing into an actress.

It’s not surprising that she followed Yu Dong, Tsui Hark, and Li Shengyao.

However, if Fan Xiaoxuan wants to establish a pure persona in front of Li Shengyao, it would be fanciful.

When Fan Xiaoxuan was in Wanwan, she played very aggressively with Xiao S's group of people and openly expressed their separation of sex/love.To put it bluntly, the number of women Li Shengyao has slept with may not be as many as the men Fan Xiaoxuan has slept with.

This is what Wanwan actress is like, with two different personas in Wanwan.

After almost eating, Yu Dong finally got down to business.

"Director Li, I invite you here this time mainly because I want to discuss something with you."

"You said."

"We hope that Fenghua Cinemas can arrange more films for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate"."

Yu Dong looked at Li Shengyao's young, handsome, and fat-free face, and couldn't help but sigh. A feeling of helplessness, unwillingness, and pain lingered in his heart.

When Fenghua Video was listed in the United States last year, it was a huge success and Lee Sheng-yao's net worth suddenly increased significantly. Even excluding TVB, Fenghua Film and Television's market valuation can now reach 500 billion yuan.

Bona was also listed in the United States last year, but the results were mediocre. One year later, Bona's market valuation was only 50 billion yuan.

Fenghua Video’s stock in Meiliguo has appreciated 35 times faster.

Bona's shares in Meiliguo have only risen about three times.

This made Yu Dong very distressed. What made him even more speechless was that film and television companies such as Huayi, Guangguang, and Huace chose to go public in the mainland and now make more than him.

Huayi's current market value has risen to 150 billion, Guangguang's market value has reached 120 billion, and Huace's market value has reached 100 billion.

He had spent all his time and effort on crossing the ocean in an attempt to make money from the people of the United States. However, people in the United States were not optimistic about Bo Na at all. Investors in the United States did not believe that Bo Na had a bright future at all.

This time, they spent a lot of money to invite Jet Li to create the world's first 3D martial arts movie - "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", just to earn box office around the world and let investors in beautiful countries see the strength of Bona.

However, it turns out that it is very difficult for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" to prove itself in the global market.

Long before the movie was released, Bona invited many European and American film producers, but after watching the movie, these foreigners didn't think it was good.

They think this movie is far inferior to "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Even with Jet Li, they are still not optimistic about the future of this movie in Europe and the United States.

Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" to become popular in Europe and the United States.

They can't even enter European and American theaters.

The global popularity that Bona's top management had expected proved to be a delusion of strength.

In the end, everyone thought about it, and still wanted to fight to the death. No matter what, he planned to win the mainland annual championship and see if he could deceive the investors of the beautiful country.

And this requires "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" to maintain a high box office, not only to surpass "The Thirteen Hairpins", but also to surpass "1937".

The current market forecast is around [-] million for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" and about [-] million for "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins".

There is still some hope that "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" will become the 2011 Chinese film annual champion.

Of course, this requires more film arrangement, especially the support of several major theater chains.

Fenghua Cinemas are all modern, high-experience cinemas. Although the number is not as good as that of Wanda and Hengdian Cinemas, the revenue of a single cinema is among the best.

This is an important reason why many movies like to be screened in Fenghua Cinemas.

Upon hearing this, Li Shengyao nodded without hesitation and said: "No problem, I will tell the people below to arrange more films for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate"."

Yu Dong and Tsui Hark looked at each other, and Yu Dong understood that Li Shengyao just responded casually without any certainty.

Telling your subordinates does not mean that you can actually implement it.

If you want others to do things, you naturally have to pay.

"Director Li, Bona's future theaters will fully support Fenghua's movies. In addition, Bona's artists will fully cooperate with Fenghua's film and television dramas and variety shows."

Hearing this, Li Shengyao nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Yu, for your support."

"The third is that all of Bona's exclusive online broadcast rights for film and television dramas have been sold to Fenghua Video."

Bona's film and television pants still have some movies, which is good for Fenghua Video.

Li Shengyao smiled and nodded, but did not answer.

Upon seeing this, Yu Dong knew that Director Li was still dissatisfied, and continued: "Director Li, this time, all the box office revenue from the daytime screenings of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" will be shared by Bona and it will all go to Fenghua Cinemas."

Hearing this, Li Shengyao smiled slightly and raised his tea cup, "Mr. Yu, it's a pleasure to cooperate."

Yu Dong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

The new movies released in the past two days are actually blockbuster movies. They are not interesting, but they occupy the film schedule.

Fenghua is actually not losing money by increasing the number of performances of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", especially on weekends, it is definitely profitable.

Li Shengyao and Yu Dong continued to chat for half an hour, and then left with his assistant.

He did not show any interest in Fan Xiaoxuan. Fan Xiaoxuan was a smart person and did not follow her.

Yu Dong looked at a table of dishes, and there were still many unfinished dishes. He regretfully shouted to the chef, "Come two people and pack them for me."

Tsui Hark had a good relationship with Yu Dong, and he whispered: "Don't worry, since Li Shengyao has agreed, Fenghua Cinemas will support you."

The investment of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" is 5 million, and the box office will be more than [-] million, which will make it back.

Tsui Hark is very satisfied with the current results and his mentality is very relaxed.

Yu Dong sighed, "I'm afraid that I won't be able to fool the investors of Beautiful Country."

Tsui Hark thought for a while and said in a low voice: "If you want to deceive the stock investors of the beautiful country, Jet Li is not as good as Cheng Long, and Cheng Long is not as good as Lee Sheng Yew. If Lee Sheng Yew can be invited to direct Bo Na's new movie, maybe more Chinese people will know about it. Bona.”

When Yu Dong heard this, he turned around and looked at Tsui Hark blankly for 30 seconds before suddenly slapping his thigh and said, "Yeah, why didn't I think of this? If Lee Sheng Yew helps me make a movie, he will definitely be able to make a movie for me." If Beautiful Country sells well, won’t Bona’s reputation be spread out by then?
A great director like Lee Sung-yew has several hits in Hollywood and is unmatched by anyone in the Chinese film and television industry. How could I have forgotten him? "

When Tsui Hark heard this, although he understood that this was the truth, he felt a little unhappy, "Mr. Yu, Director Li may not be willing to go to Hollywood to make movies now."

Yu Dong shook his head, "No matter what he wants, I must let him help Bona make a movie."

(End of this chapter)