Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 768: Big Moves Continue

Potato Company Headquarters.

When Wang Wei saw the call from Gu Wei, he was suddenly shocked.

This reminded him of what his confidant had reported, which was that someone had been secretly buying up Tudou's shares recently. After much inquiry, he finally determined that it was Hongxing Wu, and the person who held the largest stake in this company was Liu Yifei.

Although he didn't know how many shares Hongxing Wu had acquired privately, Wang Wei had a feeling that it must be quite a lot.

Originally, Gu Wei was the second largest shareholder of Tudou, and the shares he held were only slightly less than those of him, the largest shareholder.

According to this situation, if Gu Wei was really the one who instructed Hongxing Wu, then the shares in Gu Wei's hands now exceed his own.

However, when Gu Wei invested in Tudou, he signed a contract. Even after Gu Wei became the largest shareholder, Wang Wei was still in charge of the daily management of Tudou.

It was precisely because of this situation that Wang Wei never took the initiative to ask Gu Wei about this matter.

"Boss Gu, what's up?"

There is no such thing as a visit without a request. Normally, Gu Wei seldom contacts Wang Wei, but now that he has taken the initiative to call him, it certainly cannot be to chat.

"Well, how's things going at Youku?" Gu Wei went straight to the point.

"The situation is very stalemate at the moment..." Wang Wei explained a lot.

"How many shares have been acquired?" Gu Wei obviously didn't want to hear the process and asked directly about the result.

"8.55%!"

"What about Ali?"

"8%!"

The two asked and answered questions, and after Wang Wei told them the result, the phone fell into silence.

After a while, "I heard that iQiyi has been making a lot of moves recently. Do you have any plans for the video website?"

Talking about this, Wang Wei couldn't help but straighten his back, "Boss Gu, even if you didn't ask me, I would have taken the time to tell you recently that we plan to charge a fee."

"TOLL?"

“Yes, cancel the previous charging standards of video websites and formulate new charging standards.

Firstly, it is to end the previous chaotic situation of random and inconsistent charges.

Secondly, the price of TV dramas is getting higher and higher. If we don’t raise the price, when will we be able to make back the money we’ve spent?”

Wang Wei said it very directly. In his opinion, Gu Wei was also making movies and running a company, and his ultimate goal was to make money.

Now that there is an additional channel to make money, I will definitely not refuse it. No one can resist money.

"I think potatoes should be left out of the mix."

"what?"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Wei was still immersed in what Gu Wei had just said.

Afterwards, Wang Wei thought about Gu Wei's investment in Tudou Video, the acquisition of Dadi Cinemas, the establishment of a company in Hollywood, and even the development of the Xingchen ticket purchasing software.

After thinking for a long time, Wang Wei suddenly understood the great director's plan.

But Wang Wei didn’t think the other party would succeed. After all, it was too difficult for one person to fight against the entire industry.

On the other side, after Gu Wei finished his call with Wang Wei, he called Wang Changtian again.

Since they are not considering investing in Guangxian, they naturally won't keep Lao Wang hanging.

"Director Gu, you really don't want to consider it?" Wang Changtian said helplessly.

"Lao Wang, let me give you a suggestion. Making good movies is the most important thing. In addition, there is a good prospect for domestic animated films in the future. You may also consider it."

Hearing this, Wang Changtian felt even more helpless. He was now just thinking about making a good movie, but the light was inherently insufficient. He considered having Ali invest in order to make up for it through acquired efforts.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Changtian thought about it for a long time.

"Well, let's continue negotiating the price with Ali." Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snowflakes falling, Wang Changtian muttered to himself.

...

outside world.

The news that Gu Wei once again rejected Ali's offer to acquire the company's shares spread, and all kinds of rumors were flying around.

Many filmmakers and film and television company CEOs in the industry do not understand what Gu Wei is thinking. In their view, this is an era dominated by the Internet, and it is obviously not a wise move for the other party to reject Alibaba many times.

Not to mention that there are reports that Alibaba offered a high price of tens of billions of dollars and only wanted to buy part of the original shares. Only a crazy person would refuse that.

So much so that some people think that Gu Wei is out of his mind, and when Alibaba's big entertainment plan succeeds, Gu Wei will inevitably regret it.

When this news reached the ears of Wang Da and Wang Xiao of Huayi, both of them had red eyes.

I remember that Alibaba only spent more than a billion to acquire nearly 10% of its own company's shares.

Now compared with Gu Wei, the gap is too big.

As the Spring Festival approaches, there are many big moves in the TV drama industry. "The Legend of Zhao Zilong", a TV drama set in the Three Kingdoms period, officially announced its main creative lineup.

Because it stars Lin Gengxin, South Korea's Girls' Generation's Lin Yoona serves as the female lead, supplemented by a large number of Chinese and Korean actors.

And almost all the main actors have one thing in common.

That is to say, they are all "vases" type, not only young but also very good-looking, with basically no drama.

Undoubtedly, this TV series is properly designed for the fans and traffic market, and the target group is very clear.

Meanwhile, Xingchen Films is also carrying out large-scale promotion for the upcoming drama "The Journey of Flower".

Even Chen Xiao, who had already joined the crew, was pulled over by Jiangsu and Zhejiang TV and Mango TV to urgently record several programs in order to seize the wave of traffic before and after the New Year.

However, compared with TV series and movies, the most eye-catching one is still the movie.

A few days after Gu Wei's last visit to China Film Studio, La Peikang finally made up his mind after repeated consideration.

With the Spring Festival period approaching, China Film Group took action.

"China Film announced that it will jointly invest with Sony in the Hollywood war drama film "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk."

"It is reported that Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a new film directed by Li An..."

"Director Li An said in an interview with the media that this film will be shot in a different traditional way..."

"Produced by Huang Lei, He Jiong's debut film "Gardenia Blossoms" has completed casting and will start filming after the New Year..."

"It is reported that the post-production of the science fiction film "The Martian", jointly produced by Warner, Tomorrow Star Pictures, and China Film, is progressing smoothly. Director Nolan said in an interview that the film will most likely meet the audience at the end of the year..." "The animated film "Frozen 2", jointly produced by Tomorrow Star Pictures and Disney, is currently being promoted globally, and its premiere will be held after the Spring Festival..."

As soon as the news came out, celebrities in the circle were the first to inquire about it, and it seemed that they couldn't sit still again.

But when Gu Wei saw the news, he felt nothing in his heart, and instead felt like laughing.

After the failure of "The Crossing", many people in the industry dug up China Film's previous large investments, and many people privately ridiculed Han Sanping.

But in Gu Wei's opinion, Chairman La Peikang not only wants to surpass Han Sanping in terms of performance, but may also surpass Han in terms of vision.

...

On the other hand, after Zhang Qiang and Gu Wei of Ali Pictures met, they naturally reported the situation to Tai Chi Ma as soon as possible.

"Boss, Gu Wei is very determined and will not accept any investment or acquisition from Alibaba."

Tai Chi Ma is in charge of the entire Ali, and his daily life can be described as very busy. He finally found time to meet Zhang Qiang, but this result naturally would not satisfy him.

"If we exchange the shares of Ali Pictures for Xingchen Pictures, do you think they will be tempted?"

Things didn't go well, so Tai Chi Ma immediately came up with this idea.

"It's unlikely. This time when I met Gu Wei, he scoffed at our large-scale entertainment plan and thought we didn't understand movies at all." Zhang Qiang said after thinking for a while.

"Haha, we don't understand movies? It seems that he doesn't understand the market." Tai Chi Ma sighed, and then continued to ask about the projects in Ali Pictures.

"The preparations for the film 'Grave Robbers' Chronicles 2' that we are working on with Shanghai Film Group are almost done, and we expect to complete the casting and start filming after the new year.

The new project has been discussed with director Wong Kar-wai and will be announced in the next two days. "Zhang Qiang is naturally familiar with the projects he is responsible for.

"Announce it as soon as possible and make it as loud as possible. Since Gu Wei said you don't understand movies, then prove it to him."

"Okay, Mr. Ma."

After Zhang Qiang finished his report, he immediately started to arrange the work.

Although we haven't reached a full agreement with Wong Kar-wai yet, it doesn't affect the release of the news at all.

That afternoon, Ali Pictures announced its latest film plan through the media.

"The film "The Ferryman" was produced by Alibaba Pictures, co-produced by Zedong Pictures, and supervised and produced by Wong Kar-wai. A large-scale media project launch conference was held in Beijing this morning."

"The movie "The Ferryman" is adapted from one of the 33 stories in the best-selling book "Passing By Your World". It was personally selected and produced by director Wong Kar-wai, who personally selected and supported the original author to direct. He said that he would stay on the crew throughout the filming to provide guidance and supervision!"

"Alibaba Pictures and Zedong Pictures announced that the movie "The Ferryman" will officially open casting for the film and television industry after today, striving to form the top starring lineup!"

While everyone in the circle was still marveling at Ali's wealth, Xingchen Film and Television Company also announced its latest film project.

Once the official Weibo of Xingchen Film and Television Company is updated, reporters will naturally be the first to reprint and report it.

"Jointly produced by Xingchen Films, China Film Group, Wanda, Enlight, Emperor Entertainment Group and other companies, "The Wandering Earth 2" is confirmed to be directed by Jiang Wen!"

"According to the official Weibo announcement of Xingchen Films, The Wandering Earth 2 will retain the original cast, and casting for several new characters will begin after the new year..."

"According to the staff of Xingchen Film and Television Company, the total investment of The Wandering Earth 2 is no less than that of the first one..."

The celebrities in the circle are going crazy. From August and September last year to now, in just half a year, the domestic entertainment industry seems to have entered a period of new movie boom.

Zhang Yimou's "The Great Wall", Gu Wei's "The Battle of Nantianmen", Wu Ershan's "Grave Robbers' Chronicles 2", Xu An's "Legend of the Gods"...

In addition, China Film Group has just announced "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" directed by Li An, as well as "The Ferryman" and "The Wandering Earth 2" announced on the same day.

Looking at these film projects, almost none of them have small investments, almost all of them are big directors with big investments.

If we also take into account Guan Hu's "Mr. Six" and Chen Kaige's "The Monk Comes Down the Mountain", anyone with a discerning eye has a premonition that from the second half of this year to the second half of next year, there will be a fierce battle in the box office in the domestic entertainment industry.

“Fuck, I just like these big companies and big directors competing with each other. I hope these movies can be made soon…”

"Tsk tsk, in the past, a movie with an investment of hundreds of millions could be called a big production, but now if a movie doesn't have a minimum of 300 to 500 million, it's embarrassing to call it a blockbuster..."

...

As the Spring Festival approaches, the festive atmosphere becomes stronger and stronger.

The annual meeting of Xingchen Film and Television Company is scheduled to be held on February 2th, and the entire company is filled with joy at the moment.

After all, distributing bonuses at the annual meeting is a long-standing company tradition, and many people have already thought of going home to celebrate the New Year immediately after receiving their bonuses.

There was constant laughter in the company, and there was also constant chatter and laughter in Gu Wei's office.

After more than a week, most of the casting for "The Battle of Nantianmen" was completed.

At this moment, in the office, besides Gu Wei, Miss Liu, Qin Hao, Hu Ge, Chen Minghao, Tong Liya, Su Chang and others were also present.

These people are here to sign the contract today. Once the other personnel come out, Xingchen Film and Television Company will announce them to the public at the same time.

With the addition of Guo Fan, Wu Jing, and Ning Hao and Lu Yang who came to join in the fun, the huge office was extremely lively.

"Haha, Ali just released the news, Director Gu, you should follow up at the same time. Now everyone in the circle is discussing The Wandering Earth 2, and The Ferryman has fallen out of the top three hot searches."

Ning Hao was reading the news on his mobile phone, making jokes from time to time.

Gu Wei smiled but said nothing. He asked the company to issue a notice at this time just to compete with Ali. If "The Wandering Earth 2" was not ready yet, he would have planned to hold the press conference and "The Ferryman" on the same day.

When the time comes, Tai Chi Ma must be shown what the influence of a big director is, and let the other party know that his production model of popular IP + fan movie + big director is simply not feasible.

"But Ali is really rich. There is no upper limit on the production budget, and the box office target is only high, not low. Tsk tsk."

Lu Yang handed the phone to Gu Wei to take a look, and kept sighing, sounding quite envious.

"Tsk, this is considered rich. If he has the guts, let Ali spend tens of billions to make this." Miss Liu said directly. After following Gu Wei for a long time, she didn't take ordinary blockbusters seriously at all.

"Yifei is right. When it comes to wealth and power, directors are the most powerful in the industry." Tong Liya said, hugging Liu Yifei's arm.

"I have to admit that Ali is indeed rich, but this is too much. Is there no upper limit on the production budget? Don't they consider making a profit?"

Guo Fan shook his head after reading the news. Although his first movie as the lead has not started shooting yet, after being in the industry for so long, he still feels that Ali Pictures is exaggerating a bit. It is obvious at a glance that such publicity is hype.

"Maybe they don't rely on box office to make money?" Gu Wei suddenly said.

When these words came out, the others were stunned for a moment.

"If not box office, what else can it rely on?" Miss Liu asked curiously.

"You will know when the time comes." Gu Wei kept it a secret and smiled without saying it directly.

.........

(End of this chapter)