During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 854 Brother, you've mistaken me for someone else, she's Shishi~~
In the film market, since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Yunnan Insect Valley has indeed faced considerable challenges.

Even with the creative team's constant encouragement, its daily revenue has been steadily declining, with daily drops amounting to hundreds of millions.

But by the end of the third week of January, "Yunnan Insect Valley" had still managed to cross that threshold that is considered a major obstacle for domestic films!

"Produced by Shanhe Media, China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Fiber Optics, and Wanda Media, directed by Zhang Yimou, and starring Liu Yifei, Pan Yueming, and others;

The fantasy adventure blockbuster "Yunnan Insect Valley," released during the Lunar New Year holiday season, has officially surpassed the 2 billion yuan mark at the box office, reaching 20.13 billion yuan after 18 days in theaters!

"Following directors Wei Jin and Ning Hao, the third director in the Chinese film industry to join the 20 billion yuan box office club has been born!"

"This marks the birth of the third Chinese-language film to surpass 20 billion yuan at the box office!"

"Looking back at the history of Chinese-language films, all three films that have grossed over 2 billion yuan were produced and controlled by Shanhe Media. We look forward to a flourishing of diverse talents in the industry."

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a Hollywood blockbuster produced by Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Walt Disney, has grossed $5.73 million in its first nine days of release, with daily box office takings falling below $10 million, indicating its potential is nearing its end."

"."

Despite being mentally prepared, the entire film industry still felt a sense of unreality and mixed emotions after the media reports came out!
From the moment "Fame and Fortune" broke 20 billion yuan on the 4th to today, in just two weeks, another movie with a box office of 20 billion yuan has been born in such a magnificent way.

As reported by the media, all the Chinese films that have grossed over 20 billion yuan at the box office are controlled by Shanhe Media, which is very disheartening.

Because this would make all the industry peers look like utterly useless, and no one would be able to refute them!
Many people were hoping that Star Wars: The Force Awakens could be a hit, but it seems that even this Hollywood blockbuster is not going to be a success.

After the weekend, the daily income dropped sharply, plummeting from 160 million to just over 20 million now.

This drop is even more outrageous than "Yunnan Insect Valley". Who the hell can we complain to?

However, compared to the bitterness or envy felt by people in the industry, the four companies—Fiber Optics, Wanda, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group—were only filled with excitement!
Companies that had previously collaborated, such as Xi'an Film Studio and Yinghuang Film Studio, which were unable to join the project this time, expressed more regret and envy, and even had considerable expectations.

Given the size of Shanhe Media, which produces more than a dozen films every year, there are bound to be many opportunities for collaboration.

"Great! 20 billion in 17 days! Even better than 'Operation Mekong' back then! The film market is really getting better and better!"

Inside the chairman's office of China Film Group, La Peikang was muttering excitedly.

He had a premonition that with the release of three Chinese films that grossed 20 billion yuan each, there would be more and more high-grossing films in the coming years, and the industry would usher in an unprecedented boom.

All of this happened during his tenure at China Film Group Corporation, making it a definite achievement!
Sitting on the sofa, Stephen Chow also looked longing. Having experienced the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, he understood a principle even better than La Pei Kang.

In other words, it is difficult to create the first film like this, and it is equally difficult to create the second one, but if there is a third or fourth one, the market will experience an explosive growth!
This means that "The Mermaid," released during the Spring Festival, can also enjoy the benefits of market development, and its box office performance may be even better than he predicted.

"Alright, calm down. It's only a 15% share. You're acting like you've never seen money before. Anyone who didn't know better would think China Film Group is the controlling shareholder."

Ren Zhonglun's lips curled up, indicating that he was in a good mood as well, but what he said was quite disappointing.

Sure enough, La Peikang's face immediately darkened, because "Yunnan Insect Valley" still had 15% remaining, but "The Wandering Earth" only had 5% left.

Glancing at Ren Zhonglun, La Peikang took a deep breath and said, "Let's call Zhong Lifang. The daily revenue is still around 30 million. Let's strike while the iron is hot and add some publicity resources. Also, we can apply for an extension of the key."

"You don't even need to tell me that. Old Wang and Zhong Lifang discussed and arranged it a few days ago. You, Chairman La, are too busy, and nobody is counting on you."

Ren Zhonglun's expression held a hint of disdain. "However, you should report this to your superiors. If it's rejected again this time, it will truly be disheartening!"

"Okay, I'll go to the bureau this afternoon and talk to them. This really can't be done."

La Peikang nodded, while Ren Zhonglun, too lazy to continue the small talk, went straight to the point.

"Okay, let's talk about 'The Mermaid' first. It's only three weeks until the movie is released, so let's set a date for the premiere."

The main reason for the three parties' gathering today is to discuss this matter. After all, it's a 4 million yuan investment, and the premiere certainly can't be taken lightly.

"Chairman La, Chairman Ren, when will Wei Sheng's project wrap up?"

La Peikang didn't respond to Zhou Xingxing's question; he hadn't been in contact with Wei Jin for a long time. Ren Zhonglun, on the other hand, replied:
"I contacted him around New Year's Day, and he said he estimated that filming would wrap up before the end of the month. How about we set it for early February?"

Upon hearing this, Stephen Chow glanced at the perpetual calendar on his phone; Hong Kong directors all believed in this kind of thing.

After a moment, he raised his head and looked at the two chairmen of state-owned enterprises.

"How about we tentatively set it for the 3rd? I'll confirm with Mr. Wei again around noon?"

"Okay, as for the next promotional direction, I think..."

Wei Jin naturally had no objection to the arrangements made by China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, and Star Overseas regarding the premiere of "The Mermaid".

However, just after hanging up with Zhou Xingxing, he received a call from Liu Yifei.

The girl said that the roadshow promotion had ended and she was currently busy with brand announcements in Hunan Province, but it would be over tomorrow and she wanted to fly over to be with her.

Wei Jin was of course in full agreement and looking forward to it, after all, a box office of 20 billion yuan deserved a good reward.

It's a pity that Jing Tian's schedule was also packed, and the timing was inconvenient; otherwise, the cast of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "The Fairy Tale" could have reunited.

After chatting on the phone for about ten minutes, Wei Jin thought for a moment and then called Zhong Lifang to tell her about "The Mermaid".

To avoid any scheduling conflicts when she's arranging the premiere of "Detective Chinatown," since even with competition, both films are still important to her.

"Mr. Wei, you're overthinking it. Someone from Xinghui just called me."

"Hehe, okay, they're quite thoughtful. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now and take a nap at noon."

"No, Mr. Wei, I actually have something to discuss with you."

Zhong Lifang on the other end of the phone quickly stopped Wei Jin and then said, "Mr. Wei, it's almost the end of January, and we should schedule the release dates for our other films as well."

"The dates for at least March or April need to be finalized in advance; otherwise, the timeframe will be too tight, the promotion too rushed, and it will definitely impact box office revenue."

“Yes, that’s true.” Wei Jin nodded.

As of now, apart from Wen Muye's "Sheep Without a Shepherd," which has just finished filming and is still in post-production, the other films, "Brotherhood of Blades 3" and "When Men Fall in Love," have already been released.

Including films that have already passed censorship such as "The Witch 2", "SPL: Paradox", "The Witness" and "Cock and Bull", there are a total of seven films awaiting release without a scheduled date.

"So what are your thoughts on this?"

"Mr. Wei, I've been taking into account the actors' schedules these past few days and I'm planning to release 'The Witness' and 'When Men Fall in Love' in March or April."

Additionally, if Director Zhang's "Shoplifters" is to be submitted to the Cannes Film Festival, the best release date would be after the awards ceremony, around mid-to-late May.

The same goes for Cao Xueqin's "Cock and Bull," which is also planning to participate in the Shanghai Film Festival this time, making it more suitable for the second half of the summer season. As for "The Witch 2" and "SPL: Paradox," I personally think the former has good potential and could try to compete for the May Day release.

The latter has limited potential; placing it in the July summer blockbuster season, between *Pacific Rim 2* and *The Bouquet*, should likely be acceptable to Ying Huang.

"hehe."

Wei Jin smiled but didn't say anything. Shanhe Media, as the distributor, had given "Sha Po Lang: Greedy Wolf" about 20 days of release time before and after, which was quite generous.

"As for 'Brotherhood of Blades 3,' that kid Lu Yang has mentioned it several times. This time, we need to choose a good release date for him, otherwise he'll nag me again."

"Mr. Wei, wasn't the National Day holiday release good enough?"

"That's good enough. Let's see what that kid has to say this time. Mr. Zhong, let's arrange it this way."

"okay."

Perhaps it was La Peikang who made the move, or perhaps the higher-ups had a change of heart, or perhaps the daily closing trend of "Yunnan Insect Valley" was not bad.

In short, after "Peerless" and "Fame and Fortune" were rejected one after another, the extension key for "Yunnan Insect Valley" was finally approved.

However, compared to the previous extensions of ten days, half a month, or even a month, the State Administration of Radio and Television's approval for this extension was very meager, only one week.

In other words, "Yunnan Insect Valley" must be taken off the screens on February 7th and will miss the Spring Festival season.

This also relieved many production companies in the industry, because if you look at this year's Spring Festival film season, they are all big-budget films.

Such as "The Mermaid", "Detective Chinatown", "The Monkey King 3", and "From Vegas to Macau III".
If "Yunnan Insect Valley" gets involved as well, things will really get tough.

However, this sense of relief did not last long. In the afternoon, information about the release dates of several films was published on the official website of Shanhe Media.

In an instant, the entire film and television industry was filled with criticism, especially the small and medium-sized production companies, who were practically going crazy!
This is because from March to October, regardless of the size of the event, everything was within Shanhe Media's reach!
Moreover, it's obvious to anyone that there are movies coming out for the Lunar New Year season, but they're just too far away to be released yet!

However, these were things that Mr. Wei couldn't worry about. At the moment, he was focused on the scenes that were about to start filming, and another supporting actor was about to finish filming.

On set, actor Yang Haoyu, who plays He Lianke in the rescue team, was making final preparations with the help of the production assistants.

Yang Haoyu graduated from the 97 undergraduate class of the Performance Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy. Although he has been in the industry for quite some time, he has not been very well-known or had much of a presence in the industry.

The most noteworthy characters are probably the head镖师 (chief镖师) in "Longmen Express" who has ex-girlfriends all over the world, and the county magistrate in "The Legend of the Swordsman" who is both hilarious and absurdly logical.

In fact, this is not the first time Yang Haoyu has collaborated with Shanhe Media. Several years ago, he played the role of Jian Jiu Huang in the TV series "The Sword and the Brocade".

This is one of the reasons why he was selected for "The Wandering Earth," because Shanhe Media has a database of actors they have worked with in the past.

Generally speaking, supporting roles that are not too important are selected directly from among them.

According to Wei Jin's assessment, Yang Haoyu is the kind of actor who looks mature for his age and is a late bloomer, with good acting skills in both serious dramas and comedies.

Of course, he's not suited to leading roles, but he's perfectly capable of playing versatile supporting characters.

"Attention all units, 30 seconds remaining in the countdown."

In the green screen studio without any props, all the actors who were going to participate in the scene immediately got into character, and after a shout of "action," the camera officially started rolling.

There were quite a few supporting actors who finished filming with Yang Haoyu, including some foreign actors, so the crew specially arranged a wrap party for everyone that evening.

Because these supporting actors, including the main character, who were "wandering around committing crimes," definitely wouldn't be able to attend the official wrap party.

But Boss Wei didn't attend tonight because Liu Yifei had already arrived at the film set, and he took the girl to the city.

Hmm, the private dishes Huang Bai treated us to last time were pretty good. He'll definitely take the little foodie Liu Yifei to try them.

Sure enough, Liu Yifei, who had been on a high-intensity roadshow for a month, was very satisfied with tonight's meal. Her taste buds were completely awakened, and she even gained some weight.

After dinner, Wei Jin accompanied Tianxian to see a suspenseful romance movie, "The Vanished Lover".

This drama stars Leon Lai, Wang Luodan, JJ Lin, Zhang Rongrong, and others, which is a decent cast, but the plot is really hard to describe.

Moreover, director Barbara Wong's skills are also insufficient, with countless shortcomings in shot composition, camera movement, makeup, and so on.

Even JJ Lin's performance was full of exaggeration; it was supposed to be a romance film, but it somehow turned out to be a comedy.

Fortunately, the beauty was by his side. The movie was boring, but Boss Wei was not. His big hands lingered on the fairy's beautiful legs.

This was tough on Liu Yifei, who hadn't played cards for almost three months, and this simple flirting made the girl blush.

By the time the movie ended, she felt her legs were a little weak.

Of course, she did try to resist, but she seemed somewhat powerless.

So when they got back to the hotel, the fairy couldn't wait to kiss him.

The beauty had shown him great kindness, and Wei Jin, not wanting to spoil the mood, responded by gently caressing the girl's delicate body with both hands.

In January, the weather in Qingdao had already turned cool, but with the concerted efforts of Wei Jin and Tian Xian, it only took them a minute to go from being fully armed to being completely naked in front of each other.

Carrying the girl to the sofa, Wei Jin immediately lowered his head and kissed the graceful young woman.

"Hmm~"

In an instant, Tianxian couldn't help but raise her head and pout coquettishly, pressing Wei Jin's head down with both hands as if she wanted to merge him into her own body.

However, perhaps because she had been single for too long, Liu Yifei did not give Wei Jin any room to continue flirting and quickly pushed him down.

"Hmm~"

Enjoying the girl's gentleness, Wei Jin touched her delicate earlobe and asked curiously, "Yifei, didn't you say you were going to surprise me?"

What's the rush?

As she spoke, the girl took out an eye mask from her bag on the coffee table and put it on Wei Jin, then slowly sat down at the card game.

But the sound that came to his ears made Boss Wei overjoyed.

"Brother, you've mistaken me for someone else. It's Shishi~~"

Goodness, so this is the kind of thing they're going to do. They've even started playing the role of Liu Shishi. Next time, if they bring the Wealthy Flower along, wouldn't they be able to do a double role-playing?

Furthermore, thinking further ahead, is there a chance that the matter of the two celestial beings might also come to fruition?
That night, Liu Yifei switched back and forth between two "selves," exclaiming that she couldn't tell them apart.
(End of this chapter)