I am a director, but I have the skills of an actor

Chapter 182 Borrow money and inject water

After finishing talking about "Lust, Caution", under the guidance of Wan Qingshan, we talked about "The Journey to Love".

"Director Wan, "Unfortunate Love" has been filmed. When do you plan to release it?" Jiang Zhiqiang asked in a relaxed and casual manner.

“It will be around mid-January, I’m not sure yet, the specific time will depend on the progress of post-production.

If the progress is fast, then it will be released earlier; if the progress is slow, then it will be released two days later.But no matter how fast or slow it is, it will be around mid-January.

"Unfortunate Love" does not require special effects. Post-production, well, if you work overtime, I think it should not take two months. "

As soon as Wan Qingshan finished speaking, Jiang Zhiqiang said anxiously, "Director Wan, Zhang Weiping and I have already discussed the schedule for "The Golden Armor". It will be released at the end of December and will be confirmed in two days.

If you scheduled "Unfortunate Love" for mid-January, the two movies will be scheduled to coincide with each other.

Otherwise, you push "A Love Story" back one month and release it in early February.It happens to be the Chinese New Year in February, so Wan Daoqin can also dominate the Spring Festival schedule. "

Wan Qingshan put down his crossed legs and said with a smile,

"Mr. Jiang, among the movies that have been confirmed to be released in February are "The Disciple" directed by Er Dongsheng and Hollywood's "Casino Royale." With these two movies, how can I dominate the Spring Festival schedule?

If you, Mr. Jiang, think these two movies are not worth mentioning, then you and Mr. Zhang can discuss it and move "The City of Golden Armor" to February to dominate the Spring Festival schedule. "

Jiang Zhiqiang's expression froze, "Director Wan, even if the competition during the Spring Festival is fierce, then you won't release "Awkward Love" in January.

The two movies are scheduled next to each other, which has a great impact on the box office of both movies.

Besides, you are also the male protagonist in "The Golden Armor", so you are fighting against yourself, which is very inappropriate. "

Seeing that Jiang Zhiqiang was very anxious, Wan Qingshan felt happy. Then, his expression changed slightly, and he sighed with an embarrassed look on his face,

"Mr. Jiang, I have no choice. I will need a large amount of funds early next year, so I have to hurry up and release "Unfortunate Love".

If "Unfortunate Love" hadn't just been filmed, I would have been eager to release it right away. "

Jiang Zhiqiang took a long breath, and the anxiety in his eyes suddenly disappeared.

"Director Wan, this is what you want. Director Wan, we are so familiar with each other. If you are in urgent need of funds, I will definitely..."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Zhiqiang froze, and then he looked closely at Wanqing Mountain with deep eyes.

After a few seconds, Jiang Zhiqiang withdrew his gaze and leaned back on the sofa, his expression helpless and wanting to laugh.

"Director Wan, if you want to borrow money, just say so. I won't refuse, so why do you have to beat around the bush to scare me?"

After Jiang Zhiqiang was no longer so anxious just now, he suddenly reacted.

With Wan Qingshan's money-loving temperament, and the fact that he and Zhang Weiping had not offended Wan Qingshan, it was impossible for Wan Qingshan to compete with "A Journey to Love" and "A City of Golden Armor".

Wan Qingshan wanted to borrow money, but he didn't want to owe him a favor, so he deliberately came to scare him.

If he hadn't reacted just now, maybe he would have lent money to Wan Qingshan and had to accept Wan Qingshan's willingness to move the movie.

Wan Qingshan was not embarrassed after Jiang Zhiqiang saw through it.

He originally just had the mentality of giving it a try to see if he could avoid being indebted to this favor.If it doesn't work, say so.

At the beginning, after talking with Wang Changtian in the teahouse, Wan Qingshan hurriedly prepared to shoot "A Journey to Love".

But he also knows that unless he can conjure up magic and shoot "A Love Is Lost" within a few days, no matter how fast he rushes, the proceeds from "A Love Is Away" won't arrive early next year.

Even if he told Wang Changtian that he would pay part of it first and pay the latter part two months later, Wang Changtian would definitely agree.
But Wan Qingshan didn't want to accept Wang Changtian's favor. Considering Wang Changtian's character, Wang Changtian would definitely use this favor to make deals with him in movies in the future.

So during this period of time, he had been thinking about who to borrow [-] million yuan from. He considered coming and going, and decided to borrow it from Jiang Zhiqiang.

First, Jiang Zhiqiang is not short of money. When it comes to money, Jiang Zhiqiang is also very generous.

3000 million was paid to him to star in "The City of Gold", and 500 million was paid to him to direct "Ip Man". With this courage of not using money as money, Wan Qingshan only knew Jiang Zhiqiang.

Second, when Jiang Zhiqiang and Ang Lee invited him to star in "Lust, Caution", Jiang Zhiqiang expressed his desire to invest in his next big-budget film.

Wan Qingshan thought that he would only invest a small amount in this big production anyway, and planned to pull the rest of the funds from outside.

Let Jiang Zhiqiang invest, just to repay the favor of borrowing money.

But in order to take advantage of it and make Jiang Zhiqiang owe him a favor, that would be the best, so he just tried to scare Jiang Zhiqiang by using the release time of "Love in Love".

He never thought about competing against "The Golden Armor".

Unless he is stupid, he would compete with "A Journey to Love" with "The Golden Armor".

Excluding him, "A Journey to Love" only has Xia Yu and Yuan Quan, while "A City of Gold" has Zhang Yimou, Gong Li, Zhou Runfa, Zhou Jielun, and Fan Bayi.

Comparing the two sides, how can "Awkward Love" compete?

It was agreed at the bar that the three companies would stagger the release times of the movie.

So two days ago, Zhang Weiping called him to tell him the release time of "The Golden Armor".

Zhang Weiping also asked about the release time of "Awkward Love", and Wan Qingshan replied that it would be released in early March.

"Mr. Jiang, I'm too embarrassed to speak, so I came up with such a move. I'm really sorry." Wan Qingshan pretended to be embarrassed.

"it's okay no problem.

Director Wan, we have worked together so many times, why should I be embarrassed to say anything?

Director Wan, just tell me how much money is needed. "

"Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang, let me thank you first. Wait a minute, and after the premiere in the evening, I'll treat you to dinner." Wan Qingshan replied pretending to be surprised.

"Haha, Director Wan, you are going to treat me to dinner. That's very rare. It seems I have to eat freely tonight."

"Mr. Jiang, go ahead and eat. You and I will not come home until we get drunk tonight."

"Director Wan, you don't drink. You told me you wouldn't come back until you were drunk. It seems that the amount you have to borrow is not small!" Jiang Zhiqiang said in surprise.

"Haha, Mr. Jiang, I don't want to borrow much. I said I won't come back until I'm drunk. That's because I'm grateful that you agreed to lend me the money without even thinking about it."

Jiang Zhiqiang rolled his eyes inwardly and murmured in his mind, "I just said I wouldn't refuse, but when it came to his mouth, it was like I directly agreed. This guy is trying to tease me."

"Director Wan, why don't you tell me how much you want to borrow first?"

Wan Qingshan's reaction of never saying how much he wanted to borrow, but still using words to make people angry, made Jiang Zhiqiang a little worried.

If Wan Qingshan opened his mouth and asked for [-] million, then he would not be able to get off the stage.

"Haha, Mr. Jiang, I don't want to borrow much. I only need [-] million. I will pledge the proceeds of "Awkward Love" to you for the [-] million."

Jiang Zhiqiang breathed a sigh of relief and said boldly, "No, no, Director Wan, it's only [-] million, so there's no need for any collateral.

Your face, Wan Dao, is not even worth a mere [-] million. Why do you need a mortgage? Just sign a loan contract. "

Wan Qingshan couldn't help but roll his eyes in his heart, although he knew that if he borrowed [-] million, he would definitely have to sign a contract.

But Jiang Zhiqiang's tone and demeanor before were very similar to someone who just borrowed dozens of yuan and didn't have to pay it back.

"Mr. Jiang, I thank you very much. It's a pity that there is no wine here, otherwise I would have toasted you directly. Now I can only say thank you again for helping me."

"Haha, tonight, Director Wan, until tonight, we will follow what you just said, we will not come back until we are drunk."

Then, Jiang Zhiqiang couldn't help his curiosity and asked, "Director Wan, your girlfriend, no, you are getting married at the end of the year, she should be your fiancée. Isn't her family very rich? Why don't you ask your future father-in-law to borrow it?" ?”

Wan Qingshan hesitated and said, "Well, although the wedding date has been set, we haven't gotten married yet.

I don't think it's appropriate to ask for a loan of [-] million before getting married. "

Jiang Zhiqiang suddenly smiled again. What did he think was the reason? It turned out to be Wan Qingshan's machismo.

Jiang Zhiqiang smiled and did not continue talking on this topic. He could see that Wan Qingshan didn't want to talk about borrowing money from his father-in-law.

"Hey, Director Wan, can you tell me what you are doing with the money you need so urgently?
Of course, if it's inconvenient, just pretend I didn't ask. "

Wan Qingshan thought for a few seconds and said, "Mr. Jiang, this is not a big deal, there is nothing that cannot be said.

Wang Changtian, Mr. Wang is planning to sell Jiahe Cinema Line. I plan to buy it. I am short of money, so I thought of borrowing some from you. "

Jiang Zhiqiang raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of surprise.

"Director Wan, you are planning to swallow the elephant like a snake. Aren't you afraid that your Qingshan Cinema won't be able to digest it?"

Wan Qingshan shook his head slightly, frowned and said, "I can't help it, Mr. Jiang, you also have a theater chain, so you should know the theater chain better than me.

Qingshan Cinema Chain is now in an awkward situation. It wants to develop but cannot, so it can only stand still.

I am a rather impatient person and cannot bear the current situation of Qingshan Cinema, so I can only bite the bullet and swallow Jiahe Cinema. "Jiang Zhiqiang nodded, "I know that after the rapid development of the theater chain in the early stage, it will have to settle for a while.Swallowing Jiahe Cinema Line can help you overcome this settling period. "

Then, Jiang Zhiqiang sat up and whispered, "But Director Wan, I advise you to think carefully.

If you swallow Jiahe Cinema Line, you will definitely have to spend a lot of money to retain all the management personnel of Jiahe Cinema Line.

This is a difficult problem to keep them. They will rely on you to urgently need them, and the lion will open its mouth.

After crossing this level, there is another problem behind.

When mainlanders work hard outside, they form gangs with their fellow villagers.

Hong Kong Islanders are more xenophobic, and cliques will become more serious after they come to the mainland to work.

They formed a clique, and if they were sidelined, it would be a big trouble. "

"Mr. Jiang, thank you for your advice. However, I have no intention of taking care of this aspect.

Qingshan Cinema Line is being managed by Ye Nian, whom I recruited specially. He should be the one to consider these matters.

If he can't solve these problems, then I can only replace him and replace him with someone who can solve these problems to manage Qingshan Cinema.

If I had to worry about everything, I would be too busy. "

Jiang Zhiqiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Haha, Director Wan, you said it well.

If we had to take care of everything ourselves, the people who were paid high salaries to run the company would have to leave. "

Afterwards, Jiang Zhiqiang and Wan Qingshan chatted for a while, and then quickly left the room because his assistant came to see him about something about the premiere of "Ip Man".

,,,,,

The premiere of "Ip Man" was held at Xindongan Cinemas.

In "Ip Man", Wan Qingshan is only the director and no longer an investor, so compared to the premieres of "The True Meaning of Love" and "Loyalty, Loyalty, and Righteousness", he was very relaxed.

He sat in the lounge chatting with Zhang Weiping and Wang Changtian. He no longer had to go up and greet people when he saw them coming in, like at the premiere of "Loyalty Liver and Righteousness".

"Director Wan, you must come to promote "City of Golden Armor"."

Zhang Weiping learned from Jiang Zhiqiang that Wan Qingshan would only attend the premiere and road shows in three cities, and he panicked.

If Wan Qingshan did the same to "City Full of Golden Armor", then he would have to vomit blood.

For "Ip Man", if Wan Qingshan is just the director and does not participate in the road show, Zhang Jin, Fan Bayi, and many Hong Kong stars will be there, which will not have much impact on the enthusiasm of the audience.

But "The Golden Armor" is different. Gong Li and Zhou Runfa have already decided not to participate in the road show.

If Wan Qingshan, one of the male protagonists, doesn't come, then only Fan Bayi and Zhou Jielun will come.

We can't have road shows in most cities with just Zhang Yimou, Zhou Jielun and Fan Bayi.

On the road show, none of the three protagonists of the movie came. For those viewers who bought tickets to support "The Golden Armor", they would have the idea of ​​being looked down upon.

Wan Qingshan thought for a while and then replied with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, I should not be so busy at that time and should be able to participate in the road show. Don't worry."

Wan Qingshan said two things, which made Zhang Weiping really uneasy.

But since Wan Qingshan said so, he couldn't say much more.He couldn't ask, beg or force him. Wan Qingshan had to participate in the road show.

When Wang Changtian saw Zhang Weiping's eyes full of worry, he couldn't help laughing and jokingly said,
"Haha, Mr. Zhang, with Zhou Jielun here, why are you worried about the road show? He has so many fans, so many people will definitely come to support him.

I think you should let Director Wan rest for a while.This year, Director Wan has not stopped, so he is allowed to have a good rest at the end of the year and not let him participate in road shows. "

Zhang Weiping scolded Wang Changtian with a "fuck" in his heart, and then sighed helplessly,

“He has a lot of fans, but most of them are little kids.

How can I go to the cinema to watch a movie? The most I can do is buy a CD, or wait until the movie is released and watch pirated copies online.

If only half of his fans could support him by going to the cinema to watch movies, "Initial D" would not only have a box office of over 6000 million.

When I invited Zhou Jielun to star in the film, I actually didn't expect him to have much impact on the box office. I just thought that his appearance would increase the box office by 4000 yuan, which would be great.

Therefore, the road show still depends on Director Wan. Director Wan has been busy for a year, so the road show should not be short of these days. "

Zhang Weiping's words made Wang Changtian's gossip mentality suddenly arise. He turned his head and glanced around, and asked in a low voice,

"Mr. Zhang, talking about "Initial D", last year, just a few days after the movie was released, didn't the "Beijing Youth Daily" question "Initial D"'s box office of 500 million in four days?
You are a veteran in the film industry. In your opinion, is "Initial D" really a box office hit? "

Wan Qingshan was also aroused by Wang Changtian's words, and he looked at Zhang Weiping closely.

Zhang Weiping was stunned for a moment, his eyes flicked back and forth on the faces of Wang Changtian and Wan Qingshan, and he said with a dumb smile,

"Mr. Wang, Director Wan, the box office of "Loyal Liver and Righteousness" is too high, and many people are watching it. You two should stop exaggerating the box office.

But don’t tell me that the external publicity costs and Japanese and Korean copyright fees for “Loyal Liver and Righteous Brave” are all true! "

"Mr. Zhang, I'm not new to the film and television industry. I know that the industry generally exaggerates the box office and cost of movies to the outside world.

What I just meant was whether "Initial D" was exaggerated to a great extent. The total box office of the external publicity was more than 6000 million, so was it particularly watery? "Wang Changtian replied.

Zhang Weiping glanced around and saw that there was no one within one meter, he whispered,

"The total box office is more than 6000 million, which should not be very high. It is estimated to be similar to the normal exaggeration in the industry. The total box office should be more than 5000 million.

But the previous "Initial D" had a box office of 500 million within four days of its release, which must be a lot of success.

"Beijing Youth Daily" is a state media and will not raise questions without any real evidence.

Furthermore, it only grossed 500 million in four days of release, but the total box office was only over 6000 million. This is obviously abnormal.

It must be that after being questioned by the "Beijing Youth Daily", Bona and Huanyu used the later box office to make up for the previous water, so the total box office is only this small. "

After a pause, Zhang Weiping smiled and said in a mocking tone,
"Tsk tsk, speaking of which, Yu Dong and Lin Jianyue are so brave. They dared to get a box office of 500 million despite publicity within four days of its release.

I estimate that if "Beijing Youth Daily" had not raised questions, after the movie was released, Yu Dong and Lin Jianyue would have promoted "Initial D" to have a total box office of over [-] million. "

Wan Qingshan and Wang Changtian didn't say stupidly, 5000 million, and they claimed to be over [-] million. The difference was too big, and they were not afraid of being noticed. Now the film bureau will announce the box office of last week's movies every Tuesday.

Both of them knew that the theaters were now required to use computers to sell tickets and install a movie box office system built by the film bureau.

But the above is just a request, not an order, so many theaters do not use computers to sell tickets. The box office is determined by the theater and the theater chain, so the film bureau cannot fully calculate the box office.

Therefore, the current box office of movies is the same as that of sexy porn stars. You can make it as big as you want. As long as it is not too outrageous, no one will pay attention to it at all.

This situation will have to wait until the future. There are too many theater chains and it has become a mess. The authorities no longer issue theater chain licenses. They have also issued policies to support large theater chains merging small theater chains and upgrading equipment.

At that time, almost all ticket sales were equipped with computers, and with the development of the Internet, it was easy to get these numbers, so it would be better to falsely report the box office.

But it's only slightly better, because the ghost scene still can't be solved because it steals the box office.

However, Wan Qingshan told Zhang Weiping that without the questioning from Beijing Youth Daily, Yu Dong and Lin Jianyue would have blown the total box office of "Initial D" to over [-] million, which he thought was impossible.

Nowadays, there are only a handful of Chinese-language movies with a box office of over [-] million in the Mainland. Every time a Chinese-language movie with a box office of over [-] million appears, it will attract widespread attention from the media and audiences.

Once this gets more attention, the media will naturally dig up the real box office of "Initial D".

Yu Dong and Lin Jianyue are not that stupid. At most, they can blow the total box office of "Initial D" to 9000.

If a box office of over [-] million could be boasted, then Wang Zhongjun would not have gone through so much trouble to extend the release time and buy box office for "A World Without Thieves" to exceed [-] million.

At this time, Wang Changtian said, "I estimate that Lin Jianyue not only wants to attract audiences through high box office, but more importantly, he wants to promote actors.

When the box office of the movie is high, the actors of "Initial D" will become famous in the mainland.

I just didn't expect to be named and questioned by the "Beijing Youth Daily", so I had to give up. "

Zhang Weiping was about to say, "It's useless to praise actors. Of those big stars in Hong Kong, they are well-known. How many of them can compete with the box office?" 'He came, but he saw Han Sanping walking towards this direction.

At this time, Zhang Weiping had not yet angrily criticized Han Sanping as a mountain eagle because the box office of "Three Guns" failed to meet expectations within a few days of its release and the movie was also very controversial.

At that time, China Film Group had arranged two imported blockbusters, and their release dates were not far apart from the release date of "Three Guns".

The relationship between the two is still very good now. Several of Zhang Yimou's movies were released by New Picture and China Film.

The same goes for "City of Golden Armor", which was jointly released by New Picture and China Film. The two have been working together for many years and can be regarded as 'close partners'.

Therefore, when Zhang Weiping saw Han Sanping, he stood up and shouted with a smile, "Director Han!"

(End of this chapter)