Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 360 He's so confident!

This year's market is sluggish, with all the big-name directors absent from the summer season, and the performance of domestic films is far from ideal.

"Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon" was highly anticipated, and its first-day box office of 6400 million yuan was indeed a great boost to morale.

Compared to her previous work, Yang Yingyin Ruiji's performance was surprisingly impressive. With the support of Huayi and Yinhuang companies, she now has a representative work.

When Li Qiutang returned to China, "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon" led the National Day box office, grossing over 4 million yuan in 9 days.

During the promotional tour for "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon," Yang Ying talked extensively about her acting career and made the above remarks.

The remarks seem normal, even quite correct.

But it would be inappropriate for Yang Ying to say that.

Li Qiutang didn't know what had happened between Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying, but based on the news they had taken in the past two days, speculation about a breakup began to spread again.

First, Huang Xiaoming was photographed entering and leaving a nightclub, leaving at 3 a.m. Then, he was photographed laughing and talking with several young women. Although there were other male friends with him, the reporters didn't care about any of that and said that Huang Xiaoming spent 200,000 yuan drinking in one night.

After that, Yang Ying began to speak about independence and self-reliance in the media. However, when reporters asked her about her relationship status, she said everything was fine, but then hinted, "Currently, my focus is on work, and I hope to live up to my fans' expectations."

The truth was mixed with the falsehood, and Li Qiutang was completely confused.

Back in Yanjing, before she could even adjust to the time difference, Li Qiutang threw herself into the work on "Mojin: The Lost Legend".

Ye Ning kept urging him to start work, saying that the script could be revised slowly, but the work could begin first.

But Li Qiutang continued to work at her own pace.

During Li Qiutang's absence, the four companies divided their investment shares. The copyright belonged to Wanda, and the project was initiated by Wanda, so Wanda should rightfully take the lion's share. Wanda has always been domineering, especially when it comes to money. Based on the initial budget of 1.8 million for production and 7000 million for marketing, Wanda took 50% of the equity in "Mojin: The Lost Legend," with Qiutian Pictures as the second largest shareholder at 20%, and Huayi Brothers and Guangxian each taking 15%.

The specific production companies are Li Qiutang Film Studio under Autumn Pictures and Chen Guofu's Kung Fu Pictures.

However, regarding Li Qiutang's personal remuneration, the only agreement reached by the four production companies is that Li Qiutang's director's fee should not be less than 3000 million yuan. But the specific amount is still under discussion among the four companies.

Qiu Tian still insisted that Li Qiutang should receive a share of the box office revenue, no less than 10%, but this suggestion was opposed by Wan Da, Huayi and Guangxian. Ye Ning even said, "In this way, we will become his employees."

But Ye Ning also said, "Director Qiu Tang can certainly take a share, but 10% is too high."

Huayi also refused to give Li Qiutang such a high share, and the reason was more direct: "His personal studio has already made a profit as the production company, and it is unreasonable for him to take another 10% share personally."

When it came to his own vital interests, Li Qiutang chose to turn a blind eye and let the company fight for it on his behalf.

He was also traveling all over the country with his art colleagues to investigate ancient tombs and learn archaeological knowledge.

He's currently having donkey offal soup at a roadside restaurant in Shanggu, and he'll be visiting the Mancheng Han Tombs later.

Sitting opposite Li Qiutang is Taiwanese actress Shu Qi, who was recommended by Chen Guofu to play Shirley Yang. Although he knows the chances are slim, Shu Qi is willing to meet and chat for a while.

It should be said that Shu Qi is not ugly at all. At 37 years old, she even has a unique charm. From a director's perspective, Shu Qi is suitable for many roles and would be a goddess in the hearts of many directors.

"Can you get used to the food?" Li Qiutang quite liked eating donkey meat.

“It’s delicious.” Shu Qi smiled. “Director, do you really enjoy traveling around like this? I know many directors who prefer to be alone.”

Li Qiutang chatted while eating: "It's alright. You should get to know the outside world more. It's good for both your life and your work."

I didn't talk much about work with Shu Qi; the rest of the conversation consisted mostly of various anecdotes and gossip, and it was a pleasant chat.

Shu Qi accompanied them to visit the Han Dynasty tombs. The Mancheng Han Tomb is the tomb of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, the ancestor of Liu Bei. During a break in the visit, Shu Qi shared her understanding of Shirley Yang.

But in reality, Shirley Yang is not a very deep or three-dimensional character; her prototype is undoubtedly Lara Croft from Tomb Raider.

As long as the appearance and physical skills are up to par, many actresses can play Shirley Yang.

Shu Qi is indeed trying to align herself with Laura, but as I said before, Li Qiutang has no prejudice against any particular group. As long as an actor meets his requirements, he will use actors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

Shu Qi's accent is a rather troublesome issue.

"Let's have a proper talk when we get back to Yanjing, okay?"

Shu Qi readily agreed, then said she had work to do and left halfway through.

Liu Bei claimed to be a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he is said to be a seventeenth-generation descendant, but in official history, it is impossible to verify which generation of Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Sheng.

According to the museum's explanation, the novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* exaggerated Liu Bei's seniority.

"Because according to the genealogy chart in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was the eighteenth generation descendant of Emperor Jing of Han, while Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, was the thirteenth generation descendant of Emperor Jing of Han. Therefore, Liu Bei was not only not Liu Xie's uncle, but was actually his fifth generation descendant."

Li Qiutang laughed: "So he was the one taking advantage of others."

After spending three days in Shanggu, Li Qiutang and her group headed west to Shazhou to see the murals. Shazhou hadn't gotten cold yet, so now was the perfect time to go.

However, when Li Qiutang and his group arrived at the Yungang Grottoes, it was already a bit chilly in Shanxi Province.

Shanxi cuisine...

Forget it, Li Qiutang is from Northeast China, and she's almost developed a phobia of noodles in Shanxi Province.

Upon leaving Shanxi Province and returning to Yanjing, Li Qiutang and her companions collected two full suitcases full of materials. Screenwriter Zhang Jialu joked, "Bringing so much stuff back proves you really went to work, not on a publicly funded vacation, haha."

Then he took out a stack of manuscript paper: "I've revised it all according to your requirements. If you're still not satisfied, I can't help you anymore."

Li Qiutang left with the script. Three days later, she polished some of the wording and expressions, and when she felt it was fine, she handed it to the four producers.

They had no objections; they couldn't wait for Li Qiutang to start work right now.

However, Wang Zhonglei had concerns about the scenes in the script related to "breaking the four old traditions": "Can it be filmed?"

The script was very simple, just two sentences, but based on Wang Zhonglei's understanding of Li Qiutang, he would definitely make a big deal out of this scene.

"What's wrong with filming this? Don't censor or self-censor when making a film." It was the director who advised the investors to let go and do their thing.

"If you say it's possible to film, then I have nothing to say."

The script was handed over to a professional breakdown team. At the same time, Mojing Tianhe, a special effects company under Autumn Pictures, joined forces with another major special effects company in China, Tiangong Yicai, to begin concept design and pre-production preparation.

This is a major development for the "Mojin: The Lost Legend" production team. Wan Da was just thinking about how to promote it extensively, but Lu Chuan beat him to it and stole the headlines:
"This is my first commercial film. People say I'm taking my time, but I'm making quality films with patience. I'm very satisfied with 'The Last Supper'. I can say that this film is worthy of history and worthy of the audience."

"Our adaptation of 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' will definitely give the audience a huge surprise. We have a sufficient budget and a strong cast. I know that 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is a very big and popular IP. I believe that our team will set an example for subsequent adaptations!"

He's always been so confident, which is good.

(End of this chapter)