Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 444 Tonight, we can only put in double the effort to break the 5 billion mark in gravity.
"Not bad, let's take a break and do one more take!"

Gu Bei nodded in satisfaction. Although Tom Cruise was showing some genuine emotion at this moment, he still wanted to see if it could be improved. It was a habit he had developed from making so many art films.

Myron Dallas, the insurance company representative standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up: "Bruce, I think..."

Gu Bei turned and glanced at him: "Are you questioning my budget control skills?"

"No, we can do another one!"

Myron immediately shut up.

"Bruce, they're an insurance company!"

Christopher McQuarrie, seeing the insurance company representative get the short end of the stick with Gu Bei, couldn't help but say to Gu Bei with a hint of envy.

In fact, insurance companies are a powerful force in Hollywood.

Even in action movies like Mission: Impossible, their power is greater than that of the producers.

Because while budget overruns for drama films are predictable, budget overruns for action films are almost unpredictable.
The only option was for the insurance company representatives to rely on their experience to control the situation on-site and curb the improvisational skills of the director and hard-working actors like Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan.

After all, during the on-set filming of Mission: Impossible 4,

If Tom Cruise gets injured and filming is delayed, the insurance company will have to pay out.
If a stunt performer is injured or dies, the insurance company will also pay out.

Even if the filming progresses slower than expected, the insurance company will still pay out.

To avoid paying out, insurance companies naturally manage producers and directors at the top and props and special effects teams at the bottom.

Christopher, a novice director, had suffered a lot at the hands of insurance companies. Seeing Gu Bei directly confront the insurance company representative, he couldn't help but feel envious.

"Because we've collaborated many times, we've developed a tacit understanding."

Gu Bei said calmly, then turned to Christopher and said, "Don't follow my example, or you'll be fired from the crew for going over budget. I'm the kind of person who can directly approve another budget for the crew!"

Christopher: "..."

That's a bit heartbreaking!
Actually,
Gu Bei was indeed not joking.

Given his current directing achievements, especially after the success of Gravity, as long as he doesn't overspend like Cameron, Paramount will grit their teeth and write him checks for the overspending.

and,

The insurance company for Mission: Impossible 4 was changed once.

The insurance company that had partnered with Paramount for many years strongly opposed Gu Bei and Tom Cruise's plan to film on location at the Burj Khalifa.

Then he was eliminated by a vote cast by Gu Bei and Tom Cruise.

Then, Myron, who had been collaborating with Gu Bei since he was a wrestler, took over.

Myron did not refute Gu Bei, firstly because he believed in Gu Bei's consistently strong budget control capabilities, and secondly because he was afraid of following in the footsteps of his previous insurance company and being directly replaced by Gu Bei.

If Christopher Reece were sitting in the director's chair, the insurance company wouldn't give him any face. After all, Reece did have a history of such incidents. In the later Mission: Impossible films, Tom Cruise's injury, the death of a stuntman, and the actors' strike caused the insurance company to pay out a large sum of money.

After the blower stops,

Gu Bei stepped forward and couldn't help but laugh when he saw Liu Yifei's face covered in sand.

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes at Gu Bei.
If we weren't on a film set...

She absolutely had to smear sand all over Gu Bei's face too.

Let him laugh at his painted face.

"Crystal, your physical fitness is really good!"

Tom Cruise also came over and couldn't help but give Liu Yifei a thumbs up.

"Thank you!"

Liu Yifei smiled somewhat shyly.

Her physical abilities are only possible because of the system's 95 points in physique. Compared to Tom Cruise, who maintains this level of physical fitness at his age, she seems a bit too over-the-top.

If Tom Cruise were a few years younger, this scene probably wouldn't have been so easy to film.

Of course... that's not how the script was written back then.

"She's been playing the female lead in Chinese martial arts dramas since she was fifteen. Tom, you underestimated her before," Gu Bei said to Tom with a smile.

"So that's how it is!"

Tom Cruise's mood immediately improved.

Even though he was old, he was still resentful that a woman had outlasted him physically.

Hearing Gu Bei say that now, I feel much better.

Liu Yifei originally wanted to refute that when she filmed Wang Yuyan, the character didn't actually have many action scenes, but seeing Tom Cruise's relieved expression, she didn't say anything in rebuttal.

After the two rested for a while and had their makeup redone, they filmed two more takes before it was considered a success.

In the next few days,
The crew has been filming in Dubai.
Gu Bei and Christopher got along quite well. Christopher did indeed have his own unique insights into the field of commercial films, which explains why he later became Tom Cruise's go-to screenwriter and director.
However, it does sometimes seem a bit too rigid, especially in terms of directing techniques, which are quite rough.

However, for a commercial film director, it's actually more than enough. The purpose of a commercial film is to tell a good story, a story that can resonate with most people around the world.

After filming the remaining scenes in Dubai...
Next up is their main attraction – the Burj Khalifa!

After its completion, the Burj Khalifa was renamed the Burj Khalifa. As the world's tallest building, inviting Mission: Impossible 4 to film there is actually part of their promotional strategy.

After all, starting in January of this year, the Burj Khalifa held the record for the world's tallest building.
The height of the Taiwan Provincial Highway 101 was increased from 509 meters to 828 meters in one go, an increase of more than 300 meters.
However, not many people in the world actually pay attention to the record of the world's tallest building. At least compared to the Burj Khalifa's $15 billion construction cost, its fame is still too low.

This time, Mission: Impossible wanted to use the Burj Khalifa for filming, and it was immediately approved.

This communication process went something like this:

Paramount: I want to use the Burj Khalifa to film a key scene from Mission: Impossible. How much would that cost?

Oil tycoon: How about six million dollars?

Paramount: It's a bit expensive, but acceptable.

Oil tycoon: The money has already been transferred!
Paramount: ? ? ?

The actual situation wasn't that dramatic, but Gu Bei originally only wanted to borrow the Burj Khalifa for free to film, and in the end, he was indeed forced to pay six million US dollars in advertising fees.

Even more so, the oil tycoons felt they hadn't spent all their money.
So they signed Tom Cruise and Liu Yifei as spokespeople for the Burj Khalifa; they were willing to pay them whatever it took.

When the film crew arrived at the Burj Khalifa to film...
The most luxurious hotel suite was immediately arranged for Gu Bei and Tom Cruise.
The remaining crew members were also all accommodated in five-star hotel rooms.

"The view from here is still the best!"

Standing in front of the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the lights of Dubai, Liu Yifei couldn't help but sigh.

Especially the huge swimming pool below, which is still brightly lit at night, as if it is ready for customers at any time.

"Then why don't you stay here tonight?"

Gu Bei leaned on Liu Yifei's shoulder, inhaling the faint scent of camellias on her body, and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

"I don't want it!"

Liu Yifei felt a slight itch on her neck and couldn't help but twist her body. "There's that crucial scene to film tomorrow, it's a major scene in the movie!"

"You have so much confidence in me?"

Gu Bei kissed Liu Yifei from her neck all the way down to her collarbone, causing her fair, jade-like skin to slowly blush along with her earlobes, like a ripe red apple.

"Durian mango!"

Liu Yifei couldn't help but spit out a curse.

It was unclear whether she was referring to Gu Bei's actions or his words. Despite saying that, she couldn't help but gently bite her lower lip, her eyes slightly narrowed and dreamy. Her mouth was the only part of her body that was truly stubborn.

next moment,
Gu Bei then captured her rosy lips.

"Well--"

The atmosphere between the two of them almost inevitably began to heat up.

It has to be said, oil tycoons are indeed rich.
Especially when looking down from the top of the Burj Khalifa,
Its style, which is completely different from other cities around the world, brings a great sense of novelty.

The novelty of a new environment was quite useful for Gu Bei and Liu Yifei, a couple who knew each other very well.

"I'm going to take a shower first!"

Liu Yifei blushed slightly and pushed Gu Bei away.

"Row!"

Gu Bei let her go.

After she finished washing up, it was Gu Bei's turn to go into the bathroom.

Liu Yifei's emotions have calmed down a lot now. Listening to the dripping water in the bathroom, her cunning eyes immediately started to dart around.

She secretly changed back into her previous clothes, grabbed her shoes, and prepared to quietly leave the room.

Tomorrow we'll be filming scenes at the Burj Khalifa.

She still didn't want to expend too much energy tonight.

After all, giving her all to filming is Liu Yifei's consistent professional ethics.

only……

When Liu Yifei was halfway there...
The bathroom door opened.

Gu Bei looked at her with a faint smile on his face, his arms crossed.

"Uh... well... I can make an excuse."

Liu Yifei attempted one last desperate struggle.

but,

When she saw Gu Bei dressed neatly,

When the showerhead in the back is turned on, but there isn't a single water droplet on my body,
Liu Yifei knew that her little thoughts had long been guessed out.

"what!"

Before Liu Yifei could even begin to argue, Gu Bei scooped her up in his arms.

Gu Bei laughed and said, "Keep making excuses. I know what you're thinking the moment you move your butt!"

"Are you crazy?!"

Liu Yifei slapped Gu Bei, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.

"There's nothing I can do, you're just too easy to guess!"

After Gu Bei put her down, he gently brushed the bangs off her forehead and said with a smile.

Liu Yifei had no choice but to accept her fate.

They didn't escape last time.

Tonight, I can only put in double the effort.

……

Silent all night.

the next day.

Gu Bei and Liu Yifei were both full of energy.

In fact, given the physical enhancements the system provided to both of them, as long as they don't spend the whole night doing nothing, it won't significantly affect their condition the next day.

However, given Liu Yifei's personality, she always prepares thoroughly before giving her all during filming.

While the stunt team was still making preparations in full swing,
Gu Bei, however, received a call from Han Sanpin.
He said with a smile, "Mr. Han, if you call, it must be because you have good news to tell me, right?"

"no!"

Han Sanpin said with a smile.

"Then tell me the bad news!"

Gu Bei replied casually.

"Who said I had news to tell you?"

Han Sanpin said irritably, "What I want to ask you now is that Gravity has been released for two months now, and its domestic box office is about to break 13 billion yuan, only 50 million yuan away from Avatar's record."

But the Lunar New Year film season is just around the corner, and based on the current box office trend, it's basically impossible to surpass Avatar. Are you planning to pull yourself together and take back the top spot at the Chinese box office?

"Forget it then!"

Gu Bei shook his head.

Han Sanpin's meaning is actually quite clear.

If Gu Bei wants to become the box office champion, then China Film Group can use some methods.
Whether it's a ghost screening or a private screening, China Film Group can easily manage to generate tens of millions of yuan.

However, Gu Bei was too ashamed to ask for such a record that was only a few tens of millions.

He smiled and said to Han Sanpin, "If we're going to surpass it, we should surpass it to the next level. Next time, let's make a domestic film with a box office of 15 billion yuan. We might not even need to direct it. Maybe it will be released next year or the year after?"

"Fine!"

Han Sanpin nodded, indicating his approval of Gu Bei's idea.

Before hanging up the phone,
Han Sanpin suddenly remembered something: "By the way, don't forget to keep an eye on the box office of 'Little Days'. As one of the top ten box office markets in the world, it's the last place to be shown. The final box office of 'Gravity' basically depends on the box office of 'Little Days'."

"I see."

Gu Bei nodded.

Gravity will be released in mid-November on Little Days.
Compared to the mainstream film market, which is about a month and a half later,
But for small businesses, this is considered a normal release cycle. After all, some of their movies that have been released for one or two years still have people going to see them, which is a unique phenomenon in the world's film market.

After Gu Bei finished filming his scenes for the day, he went back and checked the emails the distribution manager had sent him.

Gravity, which premiered in its first week, grossed $500 million domestically, ranking first in the box office charts for that week, including both domestic and international films.

The main reason is that the November release schedule is not very good, with only next week's Harry Potter being a hot release.

The only movie that poses a threat to gravity is the local film SP, "The Revolution of the Bodyguard," which is a slice-of-life movie.

Gu Bei had never even heard of it. It made six million dollars in its first week and is now making three million dollars in its third week, which shows the special nature of the Xiao Ri Zi film market.

Gu Bei did the calculations.
Gravity grossed $30 million in its first three weeks.
This means that Gravity's global box office has surpassed the $7.5 million mark.

This number isn't big news in North America because it's not a round number, but for Chinese films, converted to the current exchange rate, that's a full 50 billion!

"what happened?"

Liu Yifei noticed that Gu Bei was looking at her strangely.

"It's nothing!" Gu Bei kissed her. "I just wanted to taste what it's like to be a 5 billion yuan movie queen!"

(End of this chapter)