During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 842 Director Wei, I thought I could hold it in.
Admittedly, sometimes choosing a less popular release date has its advantages; at least the competition is less intense, and the audience has fewer choices.

Take, for example, Wang Pangzi's "Chasing the Dragon." The overall plot and quality were not outstanding; they were merely average and relied more on nostalgia.

However, in the November release window, with no strong competitors, this film demonstrated extremely strong dominance.

In just 11 days, "Chasing the Dragon" surpassed the 6 million mark at the box office, reaching 6.14 million yuan.

Even so, it was because of the release of "Ex-Files 2" last Friday that a lot of viewers and movie fans were diverted.

To be fair, this sequel to "The Ex-Files" is indeed much better than its predecessor, especially after bringing in Zhang Yixing, a top idol who returned from overseas.

A low-budget romantic comedy film grossed over 100 million yuan in just four days, reaching 120 million yuan and breaking even.

This excited Zhang Yixing's fans, who praised their idol's appeal.

In light of this, another movie starring Zhang Yixing, "Oh My God," immediately began to capitalize on the hype, making him the main force behind the promotion despite being the second male lead.

This move seems to have turned on the switch for the Lunar New Year film promotion war, with many films joining in.

On the 10th, Huayi Brothers held a press conference for their film "Mr. Six," and this was only the first one.

Their marketing strategy was also very targeted; instead of focusing on the lead actor Feng Dapao, they placed the selling points on Wu Yifan and Li Yifeng.

Clearly, this is an attempt to capture the young audience market.

However, at the press conference, Wang Zhonglei, Guan Hu, Feng Dapao, and others were subjected to probing questions from reporters.

In other words, with fierce competition from works such as "Fame and Fortune" before it, "Yunnan Insect Valley" after it, and "The Villain Angel" in between, can "Mr. Six" really stand out?
Faced with such a "malicious" question, Guan Hu, who has yet to prove himself in terms of box office performance, clearly lacked confidence.

But Feng Xiaogang, who was recently nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor, is different. He is full of confidence and high spirits!

"Deng Chao's level still needs improvement in comedy. 'The Villain Angel' and 'The Master' have never been our focus."

As for "Fame and Fortune" and "Yunnan Insect Valley," we are not worried. The former is released more than half a month after "Mr. Six," so they don't constitute strong competition.

While the latter benefited from the popularity of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" and Zhang Yimou is a well-known director in the industry, it was, after all, his first time directing a special effects blockbuster in the suspense and adventure genre.

The outcome is still uncertain. It's possible that they'll be overshadowed by "Mr. Six" this time.

Goodness, the reporters on the scene were all excited. Was Feng Xiaogang going to declare war on Zhang Yimou head-on?

Before they could ask any more questions, Wang Zhonglei took over the conversation and added to it, his tone even more arrogant!

"With the support of two renowned directors and the leading roles of two young top idol stars, 'Mr. Six' has a huge market audience, and we are very confident about its box office performance."

To be honest, the box office is guaranteed at least 10 billion yuan, and with some effort, 15 billion yuan is not difficult to achieve, and even reaching 20 billion yuan is by no means impossible.

Wei Jin was unaware of Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei's outrageous remarks, or perhaps he knew but wouldn't care, knowing the market would teach them a lesson.

After immersing himself in filming for about twenty days, he finally finished filming most of the "drama scenes" in the underground city, and today he's ready to put on the large props.

When the "Doomsday Project Transport Vehicle," designed and manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, appeared on set, its strong mecha style drew much praise.

This scene depicts Liu Qi, played by Li Xian, and Han Duoduo, played by Sun Qian, secretly leaving the underground city of the capital in this car.

Of course, although they left the underground city, the entire filming was still completed in a studio.

All the exterior scenes in the film were completed by the special effects team of Shanhe Shuimo. Even the self-built parts only played a supporting role in striving for greater realism.

Therefore, the bulk of the cost of "The Wandering Earth" naturally went to the special effects production.

Of course, from another perspective, this could also allow Wei and Jin to recoup their costs in advance, and then make a profit.

Well, to put it simply, the other producers will definitely make money, but Boss Wei will make money twice, at least twice!
"Boss, everything is ready."

The assistant director's reminder made Wei Jin turn his attention away from Li Xian and Sun Qian, pick up the megaphone next to the monitor, and give instructions.

"Attention all units, 30 seconds countdown, prepare."

As soon as the words were spoken, the crew sprang into action, and the script supervisor appeared under the crane camera.

"Scene 32 of The Wandering Earth, Shot 1, Action!"

Han Duoduo grew up in an underground city and longed for the surface world, but Earth had been wandering for many years and the real world was completely different from what she imagined.

So when Han Duoduo first arrived on the ground and saw the completely frozen capital, her facial expression and eyes were complicated.

It was a mix of awe, satisfaction, and disappointment.
To be honest, because there were no props to film, this scene was quite difficult, and Wei Jin was prepared to have to do several takes.

But Sun Qian performed very well, completing the requirements in just two steps.

This pleased Wei Jin greatly, confirming that his choice of actress was indeed correct.

"Han Ziang, senior driver, the Beijing Third District Transportation Commission reminds you: There are thousands of roads, but safety is the first priority. Reckless driving will bring tears to your loved ones."

The morning's scenes ended with a broadcast script that was distinctly Chinese in style.

During lunch, Li Xian came over with a grin.

"Director Wei, when will those two big stars who are making cameo appearances arrive? We're waiting for their autographs and photos."

As soon as she finished speaking, many people at the table nodded in agreement, including Sun Qian, who was also waiting to take a group photo!

Matt Damon is still filming "Jason Bourne" and won't arrive until the 25th when the film moves to another location; Leonardo DiCaprio will be even later, probably in mid-December.

Wei Jin smiled and explained, without trying to hide anything.

From the moment they joined the crew and learned that Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio would be making cameo appearances in "The Wandering Earth," this group of people were very excited.

Even when they were seeing Lei Datou off that night, the kid complained that they hadn't been able to adjust his scenes.

However, it's understandable. If it weren't for Wei Jin, apart from Wu Jing, the rest of the crew would probably have had little chance of interacting with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio!
But compared to that, Wei Jin was more looking forward to his sister-in-law, Fan Bingbing.

I learned from our previous conversation that this woman would also be coming back with Matt to attend the premiere and some promotions for "Fame and Fortune".

To be honest, it's been over three months since the beginning of August that I've enjoyed that delicate body. I really miss it.
The scenes and plot of the second day pick up where the first day left off.

Han Duoduo and Liu Qi were captured and taken back to the underground city, where they met their prankster fellow inmates in the "prison".

"My name is Tim. My dad is from Beijing, my mom is from Melbourne, and I'm from a Sino-Australian joint venture."

On the monitor, Wei Jin looked at the foreign actors who frequently made cameo appearances in Chinese-language dramas and couldn't help but nod.

His Chinese is really fluent, far better than those Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors, so sometimes it's no wonder that Mr. Wei doesn't give him opportunities.

Of course, as Golden Harvest's influence in Hong Kong has grown, this situation has actually improved considerably.

Actors like Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Janice Man, and Nicholas Tse have all made great progress; let's take it slow. After one shot is finished, the scene will transition to Ng Man-tat's scene—he's there to rescue his grandson and granddaughter.

Adhering to the traditions of China for thousands of years, Han Zi'ang chose to use the method of "bribing with gifts" to get people out of trouble.

And then—he got himself thrown in too.

The key issue is that the gift he had been saving for fifty years was embezzled by the person he was trying to bribe. Who can he complain to about this?

Therefore, upon entering the "prison," Han Zi'ang proceeded to punch and kick Liu Qi.
"Cut! The crew will take a 15-minute break and wait for the special effects team to finish setting up the environment before we start filming again."

Wei Jin put down the loudspeaker, sat on the recliner next to the monitor, picked up the bottle of mineral water on the ground, and took a big gulp.

It must be admitted that making science fiction movies is much easier; there's no need to waste time with location changes, making it incredibly efficient.

Of course, the Wei and Jin regions were thrilled, but the special effects team for the landscape painting was incredibly busy. There were two teams on set this time, totaling nearly forty people.

Moreover, the subsequent rendering time is also particularly long, planned to be at least 10 months.

"Boss, Ma Sichun and her assistant have arrived."

"Where is everyone?" Wei Jin put down his bottled water and looked around.

"I just saw that they were filming on set, and she said she wanted to go outside for a walk."

"Then call her and tell her to come back and try on the size of the exoskeleton armor. If it doesn't fit, adjust the size as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

After the assistant left, Wei Jin sat in a chair, watching the crew move between scenes while also browsing work reports on his phone.

News came from Zhang Yipei's side that the negotiations for "Where Are We Going, Dad?" had ended.

Hunan TV ultimately accepted the company's offer, giving a buyout price of 3 million yuan and a 20% share of advertising revenue.

However, Hunan TV is not going to let this opportunity slip by. It is said that they are already preparing to develop a feature film based on "Where Are We Going, Dad?".

No wonder, given the popularity of this variety show, the movie's box office will definitely be high, and Hunan TV will definitely make a fortune.

As for the potential negative impact, they certainly wouldn't care.

"Brother Wei, Director Wu, hello everyone." Ma Sichun's voice came from afar, and everyone in the crew looked at her upon hearing it.

"Here, you can just call me Brother Jing. As for director, I'm not qualified. There's only one director in our crew, haha."

Hearing Wu Jing's self-deprecating humor, everyone laughed along.

Wei Jin clapped his hands with a smile and said, "Alright, stop surrounding that young lady and go about your business."

During the next break, everyone can leave their mechs on my bed so we can film some behind-the-scenes footage and post it online.

"Okay, Director Wei."

Ma Sichun's arrival signifies the official debut of the rescue team and marks the beginning of the first climax in the filming of "The Wandering Earth".

When the entire rescue team donned their exoskeleton gear and went into action, the strong futuristic mecha vibe was immediately apparent.

But as good-looking as it is, this exoskeleton is quite heavy, weighing more than 30 kilograms in total – note that this is kilograms!

Weighing nearly 70 pounds, it's almost as heavy as Ma Sichun and Sun Qian.

Not to mention the older Ng Man-tat, even the younger Li Guangjie and Li Xian were having trouble keeping up.

However, veteran actors are different. Although Ng Man-tat's health is not good, he still maintains the dedication he had in his youth and insists on performing all his own scenes.

Wei Jin had privately advised him against it, but Wu Mengda directly stated that before joining the crew, he had made a medical order that if any accidents occurred during filming, the crew would not be held responsible.

Honestly, the dedication of the older generation is truly admirable.

Of course, Wei Jin also took precautions in advance. The production team specially assigned a doctor to him to conduct a check-up once a day to ensure that nothing unexpected happened.

With such close cooperation and a shared goal, the three-day shoot went very smoothly.

But when it was Sun Qian's turn to film her scene today, something went wrong. She had to do two takes in a row, even though the scene wasn't difficult—which is quite rare for her.

"Click."

After calling a halt, Wei Jin approached Sun Qian, who was wearing an exoskeleton, and frowned.

"What's wrong with you? Is the mech too heavy? Or are you feeling unwell?"

Wei Jin could completely understand that girls have periods, so his tone was relatively gentle.

But Sun Qian blushed upon hearing this, her legs unconsciously came together, and her voice was very low, "Um, Director Wei, I need to go to the bathroom."

"Huh? You're not wearing a diaper?"

Wei Jin had previously requested that members of the rescue team wear diapers as much as possible.

This exoskeleton is not only heavy, but also inconvenient to put on and take off, and you can't go to the toilet if you don't take it off.

This is not uncommon in science fiction films. When filming "The Martian," many actors in the crew, including Andy Lau, wore it.

After being asked to wear it this time, everyone except Li Guangjie, who seemed to have some psychological burden and explicitly refused, should have worn it.

Yes, at least Ng Man-tat definitely wore it.

"Director Wei, I...I thought I could hold it in."

Sun Qian's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom as she spoke. She hadn't expected that eating just a little too much at lunch would make her unable to resist.

This is so embarrassing!
Seeing the girl's embarrassed expression, Wei Jin didn't say anything more and waved his hand.

"Then let's go quickly."

Sun Qian felt like he had been granted a pardon and quickly took off his mecha with the help of the props team. But before he could even leave, he heard Wei Jin add a sentence.

"Put a diaper on me when I get back, otherwise if this happens again, you'll have to let me wet my pants."

Sun Qian: "0.0"

PS: The timeline was incorrect. "Soulmate" participated in the 2016 Golden Horse Awards. I made a mistake and have corrected it!

(End of this chapter)