Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 688 Celebration
"Yifei, Yifei, I love you! The Yi family will always be with you!"

"Haoran, look this way!"

"Ah! Nazha, you're so beautiful!"

"So handsome, Yang Kun!" "Chen Kun!"

……

On March 1st, at Xinghe Amusement Park, around 4 PM, most of the visitors had gathered near the Chinese-style animation theme area, crowding around the red carpet to cheer on their favorite stars.

In March, the temperature in Beijing is still quite chilly. Even though the weather is sunny, you should at least wear a thick coat when you go out.

However, these tourists, huddled together, had fine beads of sweat on their smiling faces; the lively atmosphere completely dispelled the chill of early spring.

The invited celebrity guests began arriving at the celebration party after 4 p.m.

Some of them arrived at [Galaxy Park] in the morning and took the opportunity to wander around the park for most of the day, taking photos with other tourists and posting the beautiful pictures on Weibo and Douyin.

Some celebrities, however, were too busy with other commitments to arrive until now. Their cars drove directly through the park gates to the venue entrance.

Wang Hao was naturally among the last to arrive; there was nothing he could do about it, given how busy Xinghe Group was.

Jing Tian was also in the car with him. When the couple appeared together, a lot of cheers broke out. Fans on both sides of the red carpet waved and shouted Wang Hao and Jing Tian's names.

The two of them naturally smiled and waved to the fans on both sides. Under the dazzling flashes of the cameras, one of them looked extraordinary in a dark green suit, and the other looked elegant and noble in a bright green silk evening gown. They could truly be described as a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

Such a beautiful couple naturally attracted the attention of countless people. However, Wang Hao and his companion did not linger on the red carpet. After walking across the red carpet, they went directly into the venue.

Fortunately, behind them, there is still a steady stream of celebrities, artists, directors, behind-the-scenes workers, and even invited industry association representatives and relevant department leaders.

It can be said that this celebration party for "Ne Zha 2" brought together almost half of the entire Chinese entertainment industry.

"Chairman Wang, congratulations!"

As Wang Hao entered the venue, he was greeted by a smiling Jackie Chan.

As a representative of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, he was surrounded by several other stars from the same circle, such as Nicholas Tse, Aaron Kwok, Donnie Yen, and Wong Jing.

Wang Hao smiled and nodded in greeting, while also exchanging pleasantries with the people next to Jackie Chan.

After parting ways with that group, the Sony Pictures representative immediately brought over Masami Nagasawa and others.

Then came the vice president of CJ Entertainment from South Korea with some Korean artists, the new chairman of China Film Group, Chen Kun with Zhou Xun, and Shen Teng with the Happy Twist team...

At this point, Wang Hao and Jing Tian had become the center of attention at the celebration party, surrounded by everyone like stars around the moon.

With the box office success of "Ne Zha 2" as a benchmark, Galaxy Group's position as the number one film and television company in China is basically unshakeable.

So nowadays, it can be said that no one doesn't want to curry favor with Wang Hao; the only question is how to do so.

After these pleasantries and small talk, it was past 5 o'clock when the celebration party for "Ne Zha 2" officially began.

The two hosts for the celebration party were Shen Teng, a contracted artist from Xinghe Group and a borrowed host from the movie channel.

The two hosts, one serious and the other witty, created a particularly entertaining show, not only making the guests at the event smile but also keeping the viewers watching the live stream on Douyin entertained.

Of course, since it's a celebration party for "Ne Zha 2", the main focus won't be the two hosts.

Soon, two employees, dressed as Nezha and Ao Bing respectively, walked onto the main stage of the celebration party and waved to the guests below, eliciting cheers.

Next up were Jiaozi, the director of "Ne Zha 2," along with the producers, screenwriters, special effects artists, voice actors, and others, who, as representatives of the creative team, went on stage to receive their due honor.

Besides sharing some of the creative stories behind "Ne Zha 2", the celebration party also included several performances, which are interactive programs related to "Ne Zha 2" that will be added to [Galaxy Park] later.

After all that was done, Wang Hao and other executives from Xinghe Pictures went on stage and, together with the crew of "Ne Zha 2," smashed the ice sculpture that symbolized 10 billion yuan in box office revenue.

Afterwards, Wang Hao praised the crew members and their animation department for the achievements of "Ne Zha 2".

This praise wasn't just spiritual; it also included material rewards. Almost every participant in the animation received a substantial red envelope, which brought them all smiles.

After that, leaders from relevant cultural departments took the stage to give concluding remarks, highlighting the important significance of the film "Ne Zha 2" for the entire film and television industry and the cultural field.

By the time the entire process was over, it was already 6 p.m., and most of the invited guests moved to the nearby traditional Chinese restaurant to enjoy the celebratory dinner.

Because of the large number of people attending, the organizer, Galaxy Pictures, has prepared a buffet-style event.

Of course, the main purpose of celebrities, directors, and company executives in such occasions is not to fill their stomachs.

They attend these gatherings primarily to expand their network, so there aren't many people eating and drinking excessively at the banquet. Instead, they often raise a glass of red wine or champagne to show goodwill and move between different circles.

Fortunately, given Wang Hao's current status, he doesn't need to do that. He just needs to sit there, and people will come over to toast him in an endless stream.

The celebration banquet was a great success, and since there was no live stream afterwards, bloggers were already sharing videos of themselves attending the banquet online before it even ended, attracting a lot of curious onlookers.

However, Wang Hao didn't care much about any of this. After the celebration party for "Ne Zha 2" ended, he completely shifted his focus to the various businesses of the group company.

"Chairman, this is a project that we will be releasing this year."

The day after the celebration party for "Ne Zha 2" reaching 10 billion yuan in box office revenue, he went to his office on the top floor of the Xinghe Building and immediately called over the general manager of Xinghe Pictures.

Wei Rongxuan had worked as a producer at Xinghe Pictures for many years and had also been in charge of logistics for the scriptwriting and special effects departments for a period of time. After a round of rotations within the group, he was finally promoted after Liu Wenwen, the former CEO of Xinghe Pictures, was promoted to vice president of the group's headquarters.

He hasn't been in this position for long, having only taken it last year, so Wei Rongxuan is extremely attentive to the company's plans for 2021, especially regarding the film sector.

As for Wang Hao, he had actually seen the report yesterday, but he only glanced at it at the time.

Looking back today, Galaxy Pictures has quite a few film and television projects planned for release in 2021.

There are a total of 6 films belonging to the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe]:
《饥饿游戏1》、《豹人》、《狂暴巨兽2》、《面壁者2》、《极速追杀3》、《游戏时代2》

Of these, *The Hunger Games*, adapted from the bestselling American novel, is part of the *Galaxy Cinematic Universe* and is a Sino-US co-production. *The Leopard Man*, also adapted from a Chinese science fiction novel of the same name, like *The Hunger Games*, has a weak connection to the main storyline of the *Galaxy Cinematic Universe*.

As for the remaining four, they are all sequels to the series. Rampage 2 and John Wick 3 go without saying, why not make them if they can make US dollars?

Wallfacer 2 and Game Age 2 are the key projects for this year.

Actually, calling them key projects this year isn't entirely accurate, because "Game Era 2" is scheduled for the summer of 2021, while "Wallfacer 2" is scheduled for the Spring Festival of 2022.

Of course, this is just a minor issue. In addition to the six works that belong to the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, Galaxy Pictures will also release the first work of the second phase of the Shushan Cinematic Universe, "Zi Qing", in 2021.

In addition, "Erlang," which also belongs to the "Fengshen Animation Universe," is expected to be released during the 2022 Spring Festival, further expanding the entire "Fengshen Animation Universe" after "Ne Zha 2."

Galaxy Pictures also invested in "My Father and I," a film made to commemorate this year's National Day.

"Okay, let's arrange it this way."

Wang Hao carefully reviewed the documents, confirmed the release dates of the different movies, and only after making sure there were no errors did he sign the report.

But that wasn't all. Next, Wei Rongxuan began to report to him on the progress of various projects that were currently being filmed and produced.

"The location shooting for 'Out of Control Player' has been completed. Next week, the crew will move into Studio 5. The plan is to finish filming in two months and then enter the post-production stage, with the film scheduled for release next year."

"The script for Operation Red Sea 2 has been basically finalized. There will be a seminar next, and we will need your participation, Chairman, to determine the final tone of the film before we can proceed with the next installment."

“I’m free next Tuesday morning,” Wang Hao instructed his secretary to add the new arrangements to the work log, and then continued, “Have the scriptwriting department prepare several options so we can finalize it in one go.”

"Okay, Mr. Wang. As for 'Wallfacer 3,' the first draft of the script is currently being finalized and it should be completed by the middle of the year. However, Director Zhang has indicated that he doesn't want to film 'Wallfacer 3' for the time being after finishing 'Wallfacer 2.'"

"why?"

Wang Hao stopped turning the page and glanced at Wei Rongxuan indifferently.

Just one look from him made him nervous.

"Director Zhang... said he wants to get a brain transplant."

"Oh, he has a new project idea?"

"Yes, it seems to be a film about the Korean War."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hao pondered for a moment, then retrieved a work from his memories of his past life.

Sniper.

This is indeed a war film, set against the backdrop of the "sniper and artillery" movement during the Korean War. It tells the story of how the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, under circumstances of vast disparity in military strength between the enemy and themselves, engaged in a life-or-death struggle with an elite US sniper squad in order to protect intelligence and rescue comrades.

Of course, Zhang Yimou has actually made several war films, so that doesn't seem like the reason he would choose to make this one, unless...

Wang Hao quickly remembered Zhang Mo, another director of the film "Sniper".

So Director Zhang is really going all out with his daughter, giving her a helping hand.

"4 months."

"what?"

"The project sequence for the Galaxy Cinematic Universe is planned, and we cannot disrupt the overall rhythm for it."

So we can only give him four months. Before that, you guys continue with the preparations for *Wallfacer 3*, and we'll start filming once he's finished with his work.”

"I will talk to Director Zhang. Four months should be enough time to shoot a movie."

Wei Rongxuan nodded repeatedly as he listened, immediately making a mental note of the matter, while Wang Hao couldn't help but shake his head.

"Four months should be enough. It's not like he's making the movie by himself. He should let go eventually."

Wei Rongxuan immediately gave an awkward smile, knowing that Wang Hao had already discovered the secret of the project.

However, Wang Hao didn't mind. He just sighed and felt sorry that he was so old and still had to worry about his children.

You know, Old Zhang has seven children in his family. This is only one daughter who just started working. If the rest of the children grow up and all choose to enter the entertainment industry, they might really tear Old Zhang to pieces.

But on second thought, this is what Lao Zhang deserves, after all, he is so old but still vigorous and energetic.

It's worth noting that he didn't just make one film, "The Wallfacer 2," for Galaxy Pictures over the past two years.

In between filming and producing this movie, Zhang Guoshi also served as the chief director of the Beijing TV youth inspirational program "Hua Yang China" in 2019. The large-scale poetry and culture live-action performance program "Return to the Three Gorges", which he directed, also officially premiered in Baidi City, Fengjie, Chongqing.

In September of the same year, Zhang's conceptual performance "Dialogue·Fable 2047 Season 3" premiered at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

On October 1st, a celebration event marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, with Zhang Yimou serving as the chief director.

Last year, in 2020, Director Zhang's team launched a series of vertical-screen New Year's micro-films, which included four short films: "Meeting You", "Accompanying You", "Warming You", and "Thank You".

He then served as the executive producer of the comedy film "My People, My Homeland", directed the drama film "One Second", and was also responsible for the post-production of "The Wallfacer 2".

It's important to know that Director Zhang is already 70 years old, which means he has entered the ranks of the elderly.

Most of his peers are retired and enjoying their golden years.

He, on the other hand, has a packed work schedule every year, almost never stopping for a moment.

Such prolific creative energy and such consistent execution are truly remarkable among directors of the same age.

Compared to him, Chen the poet and Feng the cannon, who only have one or two children, can only be considered younger brothers.

(End of this chapter)