During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 525: Eating Alone, Assistant Fighting Landlords

The Film Bureau released a set of data showing that the number of audiences entering the cinema in February exceeded 6000 million, and the overall box office was close to 24 billion, second only to December last year.

The film market is developing in full swing, and many companies have made big moves since the beginning of the year, but none of them is more eye-catching than the release of Jiang Wen's new film.

Since Let the Bullets Fly, Jiang Wen has become a top domestic director, but his efficiency is very low and he has been polishing new scripts for more than two years.

Now, "One Step Away" has finally been officially launched and the casting has started.

But perhaps it was because "Let the Bullets Fly" gave him too much confidence. This time, Jiang Wen played it big, even making the film industry feel a little crazy.

The entire film has a budget of 3 million yuan, and a full set of 3D cameras and supporting equipment have been purchased to prepare for the IMAX version and the 3D version.

At the press conference, Jiang Wen vowed that "One Step Away" would be comparable to top Hollywood blockbusters, and the technical team was directly hired from Columbia Pictures.

However, what shocked the industry even more was yet to come: Jiang Wen did not bring any investor with him to the 3 million yuan investment in "One Step Away".

All of the work was undertaken solely by him and his close partner, 8-year-old Mark's film company.

Even his old acquaintance, Mr. Ying Huangyang, who had always supported him, was politely rejected.

People in the industry are joking that Jiang Wen had lost too much money in the past, so he is full of confidence this time and is ready to become a big fat man in one go.

However, Wei Jin, who was in North America, knew when he saw the news that Jiang Wen was likely to suffer a serious setback this time.

"Boss Yang, good people are rewarded."

Wei Jin shook his head, put away his sigh, turned around and walked towards the monitor, and started shooting a new scene.
Time flies and it’s already halfway through March.

"Left Ear" is still making huge sales in the film market. Even on weekdays, the daily box office is no less than 4000 million.

In just 7 days, it grossed 2.98 million yuan at the box office, which was even more terrifying than the original performance of "Seattle".

However, just as Wei Jin had expected, the reputation of the movie began to decline, and its score on Impression.com has dropped to around 6.5 points.

And looking at the current trend, there is still room for further decline.

The online reviews are mixed and full of controversy.

But no matter what, it is an indisputable fact that the movie was a hit, and Lin Yufen became famous overnight.

It is said that many companies have extended olive branches to him, and as long as he joins, he will be treated as a studio director.

There are also many colleagues in the industry who have set their sights on youth-themed movies and have begun collecting best-selling books with the intention of adapting them into projects.

For a time, the copyright prices of many youth novels on the market skyrocketed.

"So Young", also a youth film, took advantage of this favorable trend and started its promotion mode more than a month in advance.

Zhao Yanzi is quite good at hype. When she took the crew to a variety show, she specially invited Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun, He Lin and other old classmates from the Beijing Film Academy Class of 96, and also brought along her former class teacher Cui Xinqin.

It is euphemistically called a "youth-oriented" film promotion.

When faced with the host's questions about the box office, Zhao Yanzi seemed very confident.

"The recently released 'Left Ear' can be said to have set an example for youth films. The threshold for viewing this type of film is very low. 'So Young' is also a best-selling novel, and our main creative team has a wider fan base. I believe that the box office will not be bad."

“Are you worried about the movies that are released at the same time?”

"If we talk about competitors, Lu Yang's "A Man's Martial Arts" should be the most competitive."

After Zhao Yanzi said this, no one at the scene refuted.

"However, although Lu Yang's films have always been popular and Wei Jin's scripts are also very good, So Young has its own fan base. I think the two can face off and even have a chance to suppress it."

Zhao Yanzi appeared very confident, and Cui Xinqin, He Lin and others also agreed with her. Chen Kun did not say much, and only Huang Xiaoming stepped forward to smooth things over.

"I think the two films are on different tracks, so even if they are released in the same period, the competition won't be too great. I hope both films can sell well, haha."

At the end of the third weekend of March, "Seattle" was taken off the screen.

Perhaps Yang Mi’s appeal worked, and the film’s final box office just passed the 6 million mark, closing at 6.02 million.

Xue Xiaolu took another step forward and became a director in the 6 million box office club.

A large number of artists in the circle are congratulating "Seattle" for its huge success. Their purpose is naturally to curry favor with Xue Xiaolu, the big-name director who has achieved great success.

After all, there are not many directors in the circle who are good at depicting female themes. Now that there is an opportunity, shouldn’t you curry favor with them?
The person who benefited more than Xue Xiaolu was naturally Yang Mi. She became the third female lead born after 85 in China to earn a box office of 6 million yuan, and she is truly the leader of the four little beauties.

As Zeng Jia said before, Yang Mi's commercial value has ushered in a surge, and the offer of 1500 million yuan in external film remuneration has won recognition from many companies in the industry.

Because for production companies, as long as they can carry the box office, the pay is not a big deal. What they fear is high pay and a box office failure.

Just like Zhang Ziyi, there are basically no big productions in the mainland looking for her now.

Therefore, Yang Mi's two hit movies with a box office of over 5 million yuan can definitely prove his ability to carry the box office.

During the period when the movie was released, especially in the short ten days after the box office record was refreshed, Yang Mi's commercial endorsement contracts have been floating to Jiaxing Studio like snowflakes, which shows her popularity.

Even Guo Jingming came to take advantage of the popularity and sent a special congratulatory Weibo post, tagging Yang Mi:
“Congratulations to Director Xue Xiaolu and Yang Mi for their romantic film Beijing Meets Seattle, which has surpassed 6 million RMB at the box office! We also hope that the Tiny Times series starring them will also achieve the same success.”

The production cost of the movie "Seattle" is 30 million, and including publicity and promotion, it will not exceed 50 million.

Although it was unable to participate in the theaters' tiered profit sharing due to production costs, even with a 43% share, it had already earned more than 1.8 million at the box office.

Taking into account the interstitial ads and product placements, the net profit of this drama is at least over 2 million, which is definitely a huge profit.

Even in terms of revenue alone, it makes more money than blockbusters like "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate".

During his spare time from filming, Wei Jin made a special phone call to congratulate Xue Xiaolu, and also arranged for the company's finance department to pay her the latter's share of the box office revenue in advance. After all, it would take several months to wait for the theaters to pay back the money.

After that, Wei Jin devoted himself to the filming of "Nomadland" without distraction.

Perhaps it was because Da Meiyuan's due date was getting closer and Wei Jin was worried; or perhaps it was because after a period of adjustment, the tacit understanding between the actor and the director became stronger and stronger.

In short, the more we get to the end of the filming, the more gratifying the progress of the filming. It was only the end of March when the film had its last character scene.

Behind the monitor, Wei Jin repeatedly watched the performance of the heroine Francesca and nodded with satisfaction.

Then he picked up the big speaker at his feet, looked around, and gave it a sense of ceremony.

"I declare that the filming of Nomadland has officially concluded!"

"Yeah, we're finally done. We've traveled tens of thousands of kilometers, right?"

"It's more than tens of thousands. Adding up the several places, the journey has approached 2 kilometers. It's finally over."

Many crew members and actors breathed a sigh of relief.

Listening to the discussions on the scene, Wei Jin felt a little emotional. This was his first time to do such dispersed shooting, and the intensity was indeed very high.

In fact, the film has not been completed yet, only the roles of all the actors have been completed.

However, Wei Jin plans to hand over the remaining outdoor shots to assistant director and photographer Dong Jinsong. For the crew, the filming has indeed come to an end.

"Wei, I have to admit that you are really amazing."

Francis took the towel handed to him by the stage manager, wiped the dust off his face, and sighed to Wei Jin.

Even now, this actress, who has been in the film industry for almost 30 years, still feels a little unreal.

It was incredible that an award-winning film about a nomadic people traveling across seven states in North America was shot in less than 70 days.

"Hahaha, Francis, I told you a long time ago, don't worry."

Francis, who had short hair, tilted his head and said jokingly, "What I'm worried about now is the remaining few days of the schedule. Will you let me return the pay?"

"Francis, I finally understand why Director Cohen is so fascinated by you"

Wei Jin shook his head and laughed, not continuing this topic which was obviously a joke.

"Well, Wei, don't be obsessed with me. Even though you are handsome and this cooperation is a pleasure."

"Haha, I think so too. I look forward to the opportunity to work together again."

Francis' expression straightened up: "I am looking forward to it too."

North America, inside the Beverly Hills villa.

Wei Jin hugged Da Meiyuan carefully, burying himself deep in her dark hair and taking a sniff from time to time.

The same was true for Da Meiyuan, who was already nine months pregnant. Her pretty face, a little swollen but still pretty, was pressed tightly against Wei Jin's chest, greedily breathing in the man's scent.

Although actors have mandatory vacation requirements when filming in North America, the filming of Wei Jin was so long that we spent most of our time shooting character scenes during the week and shooting related outdoor shots on weekends.

All in all, the two haven't seen each other for almost a month since the Oscars.

Pregnant women are very sensitive, especially when they are about to give birth. They feel very anxious and uneasy. Only when they saw Wei Jin at this time did Da Meiyuan feel truly at ease.

After a while of tenderness, Wei Jin helped Da Meiyuan to sit on the sofa, and he knelt on one knee on the ground, leaning against her round belly, quietly feeling the baby's movements.

But after a while, Wei Jin looked up, a little surprised.

"Why is there so much noise? Are you practicing boxing?"

Da Meiyuan rolled her eyes at Wei Jin in anger and said, "I'm talking about something like you, a father. You're so energetic and keep bothering me all day long."

Although he was complaining, Wei Jin could see the love in Da Meiyuan's eyes, which meant that the baby was in good health, so he reached out and held the beauty's hand, saying softly, "Sister Yuanyuan, thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard. When I think about meeting him soon, I feel it's all worth it."

Hearing this, Da Meiyu stroked her belly, a maternal glow flashing across her face.

"By the way, Sister Yuanyuan, I plan to arrange for Lao Zhu to go back in a few days to pick up Dad, Uncle, and our parents. What do you think?"

Da Meiyuan was a little tempted when she heard that, but then she shook her head and said, "Forget it, Xiao Jin, my mom is not in good health and my dad has to take care of her. It's better not to bother with a flight of more than ten hours."

"Okay, it's all up to you."

Da Meiyuan was about to give birth, so they definitely couldn't have sex. After Wei Jin accompanied the beauty to sleep, he went to the room of his young assistant Huang Mengying.

After all, the little girl hasn't eaten meat since the Spring Festival.

But Wei Jin didn’t expect that Liu Yan was also here. But it doesn’t matter. It’s more interesting to play Landlord with three people.

However, perhaps because they had not worked together for too long, the tacit understanding between Liu Yan and Huang Mengying was not enough, so Wei Jin had to use his director's ability to control the situation.

Under Wei Jin's guidance, the two finally made a good division of labor. Huang Mengying was responsible for adjusting the camera position and making preparations before the start of filming, while Liu Yan used his magic weapon to help the director get into the state.

Feeling Liu Yan's delicate softness and Huang Mengying's warm care, Director Wei Jin was very satisfied and got into the mood in a short while.

"Well, very good. Next we will prepare to officially start filming. Mengying, you haven't appeared on camera for a long time. You can go first this time."

As soon as Wei Jin finished speaking, Huang Mengying couldn't wait to sit at the card table, and then uttered a long and satisfied exclamation: "Oh~~~Boss~~Great~~"

Feeling the warm and tight embrace, Wei Jin raised his eyebrows with a hint of teasing on the corners of his mouth.

"Hehe, it will be even better later. You can play by yourself first, and I will greet your sister Liu Yan."

But the price was also very high. In just over ten minutes, Huang Mengying was defeated by himself.

Liu Yan, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately lowered her head and took over the camera position, cleaning up the traces left by her sisters.

Then, feeling the boss's pulse, Liu Yan turned around again and took the initiative to sit at the card table.

"Oh~~Boss, touch me~~~"

As Wei Jin held the big orange with both hands, Liu Yan seemed to have a support, and her proud body began to dance.
(End of this chapter)