China Entertainment: I just want to give my child a home

Chapter 385 Calculation (Subscribe!)
"Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker dies in car accident."

"Li Yapeng came out of the shadow of divorce and kissed his new love passionately."

"Xiao S was involved in the endorsement scandal and was summoned by the court."

"The trial of Wu Zhongxian's case of embezzling assets from a listed company will begin on the 22nd of next month."

"The total box office of Pacific Rim has exceeded 6 million."

"Directed by Chen Musheng and starring Liu Qingyun, Gu Tianle, Zhang Jiahui, Yuan Qi, three emperors and one queen, the police and gangster action film "Drug War" achieved a box office of 1829 million on the first day in the mainland, breaking the nine-day record of "Gravity" as the daily box office champion."

"Liu Yifei posted a photo of her happy family of four on Weibo."

"..."

Chen Dong was surfing the Internet in the office and was a little surprised to see his wife's hot search.

After all, Liu Yifei has been out of the limelight for almost two years, but any random Weibo post she makes can still become a hot topic.

It can be seen that she has not lost many fans in the past two years.

After reading the news, Chen Dong played a game in the office. Seeing that it was still quite early, he got up and walked out of the office, intending to visit various departments of the company.

Soon, he wandered into the variety show department.

The variety show department is currently holding a meeting to discuss which guests should be invited to the last two episodes of "Go Fighting 2".

Chen Xi and director Yu Ming's eyes lit up when they saw Chen Dong suddenly bumping into them.

"It seems I came at the wrong time."

Chen Dong felt two 'unfriendly' gazes and his steps towards the meeting room suddenly stopped.

"It's time. Director Chen, please take a seat."

"What are you discussing?" Having arrived, Chen Dong still sat down doubtfully.

"Discuss the last two episodes, what content should be produced, and which guests should be invited."

“Have we reached the last two issues?”

Chen Dong remembered that only the seventh episode was broadcast last weekend, but this was not surprising, as the recording must have been earlier than the broadcast.

Chen Xi nodded, and then asked, "Director Chen doesn't seem to be busy recently. Would you like to come back as a guest and promote Director Lu's "Lost in Hong Kong"?"

"Won't he go up himself?" Chen Dong asked.

"Director Lu said his face was not suitable for the show."

"Well, Lu Yang is quite self-aware." Chen Dong made a joke. It happened that he hadn't had much to do recently. As a regular on the first season, he often saw some fans he had accumulated on the show leaving him messages, hoping that he would continue to record "Extreme Challenge". So... let's fulfill their wish.

Thinking of this, Chen Dong asked about the recording time of the last two episodes. Excluding the first episode which conflicted with his schedule, he chose to be on the last episode.

"The last recording session will be on the 5th of next month, right?" Before leaving, Chen Dong confirmed the time again and only left after getting a positive answer.

Lu Yang had already prepared the trailer for "Lost in Hong Kong" and had originally planned to hold a trailer release conference on December 12st.

However, when they heard that Chen Dong was going to promote his movie on "Go Fighting 2", they cancelled the trailer launch on December 12 and planned to let Chen Dong release it on the show.

In recent years, with the decline of Hong Kong films, more and more of their films have been sent to the mainland for premieres.

This time, even Zhou Xingchi was no exception.

The premiere of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was hosted by Huayi.

Chen Dong naturally received the invitation letter. Since the weather was too cold, he wanted to ask Lu Yang to help him meet the host.

His wife was curious about Zhou Xingchi's movie and wanted to see it, so Chen Dong had no choice but to risk his life to accompany her.

Although Zhou Xingchi was not a receptionist, when he saw Chen Dong and Liu Yifei appear, he naturally took the initiative to step forward and say hello.

"Director Chen, Ms. Yifei, I'm glad you're here today to attend the premiere of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons."

"We are very happy too, especially my wife, who has been looking forward to your movie, Mr. Xing."

Although Liu Yifei felt that her husband's words were a bit exaggerated, she did not spoil it, and even nodded in agreement, "Yes, I am a fan of Stephen Chow."

"Thank you, Miss Yifei..."

Although Zhou Xingchi's acting style in his movies is very humorous, he is actually a rather serious person in private.

So when he finished greeting Chen Dong and his wife and went to greet other guests, Liu Yifei started whispering in Chen Dong's ear.

"Honey, why does Zhou Xingchi give me the impression of being a bit meticulous?"

"So what style do you think he should be? Like the one he performs in the movies? He's a fun guy."

"I..." Liu Yifei admitted that he was indeed putting himself in the shoes of the classic roles he had played in the past.

Chen Dong continued in her ear: "Although you haven't acted in Zhou Xingchi's movies, you should have heard that he was a tyrant on the set, right?"

Liu Yifei was speechless again, and then muttered: "I thought it was all a rumor."

After all, this was someone else's movie premiere venue, and there were people all around, so it was not convenient for the couple to keep whispering, so they quickly dropped the topic and when they saw an acquaintance waving at them, they walked over.

"Director Chen and Yi Fei are indeed a couple from the campus, their relationship is just great... They didn't forget to be close to each other even at the premiere, which is really the envy of others."

Looking at Yu Dong who was teasing him, Chen Dong thought of the daughter that the Peacock Princess in Journey to the West revealed for him some time ago, and responded with a smile: "Yu Dong, why should you envy us? I wonder how many people envy you for changing your beautiful wife every year."

Yu Dong's smile froze at this, and he immediately waved his hands with a wry smile: "Director Chen, you are joking. I don't have the conditions for that."

Seeing that the opponent surrendered after one round, Chen Dong did not pursue him.

Brother Da Gou, the chairman of Pony.com, also appeared at the premiere. Although he had a smile on his face the whole time, Chen Dong could tell that he was just forcing a smile.

Moreover, Big Dog looks very bad, probably because he has been under a lot of pressure recently.

Although Chen Dong had never dealt with this person in his two lives and the few times they met were just casual acquaintances, he knew that Brother Dagou had a good reputation in the circle and was a man who valued friendship and loyalty.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is that Chen Dong knew that Big Dog was going to die.

Died of a heart attack.

Out of kindness, Chen Dong still gave Brother Big Dog some reminders during their subsequent conversation.

As for whether Big Dog could escape this disaster, that was beyond Chen Dong's prediction.

Soon, the movie started. At his wife's reminder, Chen Dong stopped chatting with Brother Big Dog and turned his eyes to the screen in front of him.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is the beginning of Zhou Xingchi's transformation from directing and acting to behind the scenes.

Although Dong Zijian is listed in the director column, everyone knows that Dong Zijian is just a tool.

This is a Zhou Xingchi movie that everyone recognizes...

The main actors include Wen Zhang, Shu Qi, Huang Bo, Xiao Zhu and others.

Some people in later generations said that this movie was the prequel of "A Chinese Odyssey" because the film explained the origin of "I love you for ten thousand years".

However, the protagonist is not the monkey, but his master. It tells the story of how the young Xuanzang experienced life and death hardships on the road of exorcising demons, and was baptized by love. In the end, he realized what great love is and became enlightened and became a Buddha.

"Honey, Zhou Xingchi's design of the image of the four masters and apprentices in Journey to the West is so subversive."

As soon as she finished watching the movie, Liu Yifei couldn't help but confide her thoughts to Chen Dong.

After listening to his wife's point of view, Chen Dong stood with Zhou Xingchi this time, so he said: "Is it possible that Zhou Xingchi's version of the character is closer to the original?"

"what?"

Seeing his wife's blank look, Chen Dong reached out and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ears, then said, "Actually, there is not much point in discussing this, just like there are a thousand Hamlets in the minds of a thousand readers. The key is that I think someone is going to stand up and accuse Zhou Xingchi of tarnishing the classics."

Liu Yifei didn't react at first, but after carefully thinking about the meaning of Chen Dong's words, she suddenly burst out laughing.

"You mean Teacher Six?!"

Chen Dong smiled but said nothing.

After the premiere, Huayi also arranged a cocktail party, but Chen Dong and his wife did not attend. Everyone already knew Chen Dong's habits, so they were not surprised by it.

But before Chen Dong left, he suddenly remembered Hua Yi’s amazing operations in his previous life, so he took the opportunity to extend an olive branch to Zhou Xingchi.

Without asking for anything in return, just make your move at will.

"Husband, do you want to cooperate with Zhou Xingchi?"

On the way back in the car, Liu Yifei recalled what Chen Dong said to Zhou Xingchi before he left, and asked in confusion.

"If the cooperation you are talking about is co-producing a movie, then I don't want it. If it is just to invest in his movie, then I don't think any investor would refuse."

Liu Yifei said "oh" and asked Chen Dong about his box office prediction for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

"Didn't Zhou Xingchi say that his expectation is more than 10 billion?"

"I want to hear your thoughts."

"About the same. Zhou Xingchi's transformational work is of good quality. Plus, his directorial appeal is higher than mine, so I think it's not impossible to break 10 billion."

"..."

Today, Pacific Rim was pulled from theaters.

The total box office reached 6.9 million, almost breaking 7 million.

Although "Gravity" is still half a month away from release, the film has not been well received in China. In addition, it will face the impact of Lunar New Year blockbusters. It is foreseeable that its box office potential is less than 1 million.

Before the film is released, its total box office will have to exceed 3 million, which is its limit.

The next day.

12 month 1 day.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which Stephen Chow spent three years preparing, was officially released amid great anticipation.

It also kicked off this year's Lunar New Year holiday season.

In fact, Chen Dong said something in the car yesterday afternoon that was not bragging, which was that Zhou Xingchi's directorial appeal was only higher than his.

After all, he has been filming for decades, directing and acting in his own films, and I wonder how many classic characters and shots he has created.

This is a respect that even famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Chen Kaige cannot compare to.

Of course, to say that Chen Dong’s current appeal is not as strong as Zhou Xingchi’s is too modest. Even if he agrees, his fans will not agree.

Weibo also specially opened a super topic for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons". In just one day, the number of views of this super topic reached 2 million. Although this does not mean that 2 million users viewed this super topic in one day, it is enough to show the popularity of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

However, on this day, Teacher Liu did not stand up to accuse Zhou Xingchi of some plots in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which made netizens feel uncomfortable.

Many people even went to Teacher Liu's Weibo and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Just when everyone thought that Teacher Liu had learned his lesson this time and was determined to turn a blind eye, he directly accepted an interview with the reporter. It turned out that he had been holding back a big wave.

"I still say the same thing, Zhou Xingchi's Monkey King is too fake, he must apologize to the people of the country!"

Chen Dong read the news overnight and was extremely happy.

Click on the comment section and find more funny people.

"He's coming, he's coming. He's coming on a colorful cloud."

"This episode is called The True and False Monkey King."

"I always felt like something was missing today. Now I understand, it was the criticism from Teacher Liu."

"Yes, yes, yes. Now that Stephen Chow is filming the Journey to the West series, I feel it would be incomplete if Mr. Liu didn't come out and say a few words."

"Other actors are done with acting once they've finished their performance, but Teacher Liu wants to play the Monkey King for his entire life. Excuse me, who is as dedicated as Teacher Liu?"

"Your post above reminded me of my brother Zhang Guorong. After he played Cheng Dieyi, he became Cheng Dieyi, and then Cheng Dieyi took my brother away."

“Alas, if Teacher Liu had also learned from his brother, perhaps he would not have died in his old age, but would have become a classic and legend of his generation.”

"..."

It was early morning and the night was quiet.

When Chen Dong closed his computer and prepared to take a break, Huayi, Da Wang and Xiao Wang had already received the first day's results of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

A total of 7684.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is the highest first-day performance among all the films produced by Huayi.

The brothers were naturally very happy, but behind this joy, there was also a sense of regret.

"Brother, judging by this trend, it shouldn't be too difficult for Zhou Xingchi's movie to achieve a box office of 10 billion. Alas, if we had known earlier, we would not have agreed to the gambling agreement with him. Now we have to lose tens of millions in vain, and he has made the bulk of the money."

"Gambling agreement? Zong Lei, what gambling agreement?"

"It's the 10 billion bet proposed by Zhou Xingchi..."

As Wang Zonglei was talking, he suddenly reacted and looked at Wang Zongjun in shock. His eyes lit up and he said, "Brother, do you mean that we don't recognize this gambling agreement?"

Wang Zongjun laughed and said, "There is no stamped agreement. It's just a joke. Why should we swallow this loss?"

"Hahaha, that's true."

Wang Zonglei then raised his concerns, "But if we do this, we will offend Zhou Xingchi to death. Is it worth it?"

"If it's just a few million or tens of millions of dollars, it's not worth offending Zhou Xingchi. But if the total box office of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons exceeds 10 billion, we will need to pay Zhou Xingchi an additional to million yuan according to the agreement. Zong Lei, are you willing to offend Zhou Xingchi for such a large sum of money, or are you willing to hand it over?"

"Seventy or eighty million... Of course I'm reluctant to hand it over. As for offending Zhou Xingchi, it's fine. He's a Hong Kong director. Apart from a few fans in mainland China, he doesn't have any foundation at all. There's no need to worry about what he might do."

"Yes, that's the truth... But Zong Lei, we still have to keep Zhou Xingchi stable. We can't let him know that we are planning to default on our debt, otherwise he won't work hard to promote the movie."

"Don't worry, big brother. I understand this principle. This matter is between you and me now, and it will never be heard by anyone else."

(End of this chapter)