This director is so innocent.

Chapter 181 The Mountain Eagle's Ambitions

The film crew wrapped up work at night.

Cheng Er picked up a megaphone and said, "Congratulations to our beloved director on wrapping up filming."

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crew.

Zhao Liying presented a bouquet of flowers to Su Jin, who accepted it and said thank you.

After rushing around, his scenes were finally completed.

His scenes are finished, which means the filming is almost over. There are only some leftovers left, which Cheng Er can handle. It should take about a week to complete.

As for Zhao Liying, she plays the protagonist's wife.

A character who only exists in the protagonist's memories has only three scenes: a prenatal checkup at the hospital and in the car, totaling less than five minutes.

She finished filming her show last month, but she hasn't gone back yet; she's studying here.

After removing her makeup, she didn't have a wrap dinner and went straight back to Beijing to attend the premiere of "Painted Skin" the following afternoon.

At the airport, she encountered many fans. Although Su Jin was a little tired, she still patiently signed autographs for them.

The plane landed safely in Beijing at around 4 a.m.

As soon as Su Jin stepped out of the airport, she looked up and saw a huge poster for "Painted Skin".

Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing were at the front, with Chen Kun behind Zhou Xun and Huang Xiaoming behind Fan Bingbing. Behind them were Yang Mi and Asahi.

The initial promotional campaign for "Painted Skin" did not intend to hype up the billing order between Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing, since it was obvious to everyone that Zhou Xun's billing order was higher than Fan Bingbing's.

However, Zhou Xun's agent, Yu Guangzhao, had strong opinions about the poster's positioning, feeling that Zhou Xun's billing was higher than Fan Bingbing's and that she should stand in the center.

Huang Jiaqiang ignored him and told Fan Xiaopang's agent, Shiman, about the matter, telling them to have a war of words.

The two argued fiercely, and eventually took it online.

Yu Guangzhao spoke based on the time he received the project and his salary, while Charmaine Sheh spoke based on the movie posters and her role in the film.

Both sides have their own arguments, and their fans are constantly attacking and criticizing each other.

Huang Jiaqiang discovered that the audience was very interested in the dispute over billing order, so he hired a group of online trolls to secretly fuel the flames.

And you know what? After this hype, the two became very popular, so their agents tacitly continued to intensify their efforts.

Although the two had a fierce argument and were almost at each other's throats, they still acted like close sisters when they appeared on shows together or when they faced media interviews individually.

They say everything online is just rumors, they don't care about billing order, as long as the acting is good, they're willing to try even a small role.

Do netizens believe it?

Of course I don't believe it, but life is like a play, just watch the show and don't overthink it!

At the arrival gate, a man and a woman were standing.

The man is Huang Jiaqiang, and the woman is Zhao Shan.

Huang Jiaqiang put his hands in his pockets, looked at Zhao Shan who was yawning, and smiled contemptuously. "You think you can fawn over me like this? You'll need to cultivate yourself for more than ten years."

"Zhao Shan, if you're sleepy, go back to the car and rest for a while. I'll wake you up when the boss arrives."

"It's okay, I'm not sleepy." Zhao Shan chuckled. She wasn't a fresh graduate; how could she believe such nonsense?

If Su Jin comes and she's still sleeping in the car, then her trip will have been in vain, and Su Jin might also have a lower impression of her.

-

After all, it's unreasonable for you to come all the way to pick someone up and then sleep in the car.

More importantly, if there's someone else making the comparison, then things are even more disastrous.

Huang Jiaqiang didn't care that Zhao Shan didn't believe his nonsense.

What bothered him was that someone who usually seemed so diligent and hardworking, always relying on his performance, would actually try to flatter him like he did, picking people up from the airport in the middle of the night.

Actually, Zhao Shan wasn't there to pick up Su Jin at all; she was there to pick up a friend and happened to run into Huang Jiaqiang.

Since Huang Jiaqiang was already there, how could she possibly pick up her friend? She sent a text message telling her friend to go home by themselves.

Before long, Huang Jiaqiang saw Su Jin's figure, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. He ran over with small steps.

Seeing this, Zhao Shan naturally followed suit.

Su Jin noticed Huang Jiaqiang, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. The way she was running with those little steps made it look like Li Dakang was meeting Sha Ruijin.

"Boss, you must be tired from your journey. Welcome home." Huang Jiaqiang naturally took the suitcase from Xiaoying's hands.

"Why are you two here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping at home?" Su Jin looked at the two of them with a slightly surprised expression.

He wasn't particularly surprised that Huang Jiaqiang came, but he was a little surprised that Zhao Shan came.

In his impression, Zhao Shan was not the kind of person who would go to such lengths to flatter and fawn.

Could something have happened at the company?

"President Huang, Sister Shan." Zhao Liying and Xiaoying greeted the two of them.

Chen Zhixi hasn't returned yet; he's the producer of "The Lone Agent" and needs to stay there to settle the final accounts.

"Is something wrong with the company?" Su Jin asked.

"No," Huang Jiaqiang replied.

"No, what are you doing here?" Su Jin asked, puzzled.

"It's been almost two months since I last saw you, boss, and I've been really missing you," Huang Jiaqiang said obsequiously.

"Old Huang, you're so greasy! I bet even your wife has ever heard you say such sweet nothings."

Although Huang Jiaqiang didn't understand what "greasy" meant, he felt it wasn't a good word.

However, he wasn't angry; on the contrary, he was quite happy.

If your boss is joking with you, it means you're a close friend or confidant, you know?

After chatting for a while, Su Jin asked, "How's the premiere setup for 'Painted Skin' going?"

"No problem, it can proceed as scheduled tomorrow."

"Where are the guests?"

"Third Master agreed. Xiao Wang, Yu Dong, Wang Changtian and the others have all replied that they will come, and several theater chain managers will also be coming."

"Painted Skin is our company's S-level project. If it doesn't gross over 200 million at the box office, it will be a failure. We must do a good job in promotion."

"Okay, boss."

None of them intended to go back; they went directly to the company and then booked a room at a nearby hotel.

I washed up and took a nap. I didn't get up until after 10 a.m.

"The sunshine is so lovely!"

Su Jin sighed, turned around and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face, take a shower, put on new clothes, and then style her hair.

After everything was settled, it was already past 11:30. We had lunch and then headed to the Great Hall of the People, the venue for the premiere of "Painted Skin".

He had wanted to put on a grand movie premiere a long time ago to show off his talent, and now he has finally realized it with "Painted Skin".

In fact, the Great Hall of the People began its commercialization process quite early on.

February 27, 1979.

That evening, a grand Spring Festival gala was held in Beijing, marking the first such event in 15 years.

The Great Hall of the People is often idle for long periods each year, yet its various expenses amount to millions of dollars.

In those days, this was a considerable expense, and could be considered an economic burden on the national treasury.

At that time, the Great Hall of the People's revenue came from only two sources: admission tickets and paid photography.

Tickets cost two cents each, and the photo opportunity is taken in front of the Chinese painting "So Many Beautiful Landscapes" in the Great Hall of the People.

Although it's commercialized, it's undoubtedly a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of dollars in expenses; it's better than nothing.

After 1984, many central government agencies began to pilot enterprise-style management, and the Great Hall of the People was no exception, submitting a report to higher authorities.

Approval was quickly obtained from above, and thus the Great Hall of the People underwent a comprehensive and sweeping reform.

For example, the auditorium with a capacity of 10,000 people is open to the public, the banquet hall is open to the public, and the conference hall is available for rent.

Weddings, cultural performances, press conferences, and more can be held here.

A hall like the one in Aocheng, which is about 100 square meters, costs 50,000 yuan to rent out for half a day.

That banquet hall, which can accommodate over a thousand people, costs 15 yuan to rent out for half a day.

The most expensive is the 10,000-seat auditorium, which is often seen on TV news. It can accommodate 5000 people at a time, and up to 10,000 people, costing 200,000 yuan.

东大厅10万块、新闻发布厅8万、小礼堂8万块、中央大厅12万块、金色大厅15万块。

This is just the basic cost; there are also additional costs for security, sanitation, tea, conference services, sound equipment, etc.

If you want to dine here, hold a wedding banquet, or have a cultural performance, you need to apply two months in advance, and there may even be a strict political background check.

In May, Guo Degang held a performance here to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Hou Baolin's birth.

Runtu also held a concert here, and Ms. Dong also held a product press conference here.

Of course, when meetings and wedding banquets or cultural performances are combined, meetings should take priority, and wedding banquets and cultural performances should be cancelled.

But what place could be more prestigious than holding a wedding in the Great Hall of the People?

Later generations of micro-business owners, Amway, and other teams liked to hold events here, and they could easily scam people.

The film crew rented two large halls here, one for backstage waiting and the other for the premiere.

The premiere was scheduled to start at 2 p.m., but it was already past 1 p.m. and most of the guests had arrived.

"Painted Skin" is the third film premiere held at the Great Hall of the People. The first two were "The Emperor and the Assassin" by Little Adult and "Hero" by Zhang Yimou.

The film "The Promise" by Little Adult was not held here; it was held in the CPPCC Auditorium.

Of course, other big-budget films are held here because of two reasons: firstly, the review process is complicated, and secondly, it is related to the film's theme.

For example, the play "Red Cliff" was held at the Zhuge Liang Temple in Sichuan Province, with large-scale performances on site. The Great Hall of the People would not allow them to do such a thing.

Su Jin greeted them one by one, and finally came to Zuo Shandiao.

"Third Master."

Han Sanping glanced at Su Jin and laughed, "Su Jin, you've gotten quite tanned in two months!"

"It's so hot in Bangkok, like an oven. I almost got heatstroke."

"Has filming wrapped?"

"Not yet, but there are only some scraps left."

"I heard you're working with Shanghai Film Group and Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary on 'Mulan'?"

"Yeah, they asked me to be a director, and I shamelessly asked for a small share of the investment."

"Are you shameless? I heard you withdrew one of the investors' money."

"Third Master, you overestimate me. I don't have that much power. I didn't kick Starlight International out. It was the other three companies that withdrew their investment and stopped playing the game, and then they started cooperating with me."

"Hahaha—" Han Sanping chuckled meaningfully, then said, "How much do you think 'Painted Skin' will gross at the box office?"

"I've seen the finished film of 'Painted Skin,' and the visuals, plot, and action sequences are all above average; it's a standard commercial film."

Breaking 100 million is no problem at all; 200 million depends on the promotion and the quality of "Connected" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

"Connected" will be released on September 25, one day earlier than "Painted Skin".

Produced by China Film Warner, Hengdian Film & Television, and Emperor Motion Pictures, this film is an adaptation of the Hollywood movie "Cellphone," and stars Louis Koo, Zhang Jiahui, Barbie Hsu, and Liu Hua. The director is Benny Chan.

A grand premiere was held in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, the day before yesterday.

However, "Connected" poses little threat, as Su Jin has little recollection of the film, and its box office performance was poor.

On the contrary, "Journey to the Center of the Earth," which was released on September 29, is quite threatening.

Hollywood blockbusters and 3D IMAX movies have ticket prices as high as 100-120 yuan.

Yes, you read that right, it's a 3D movie. This is the first 3D movie in mainland China, earlier than Avatar.

Although Su Jin had never seen "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Hollywood movies have always been popular with audiences, and even bad movies can rake in 50 to 60 million yuan at the box office.

Ma Chucheng's "The Butterfly Sword" was originally scheduled for release on September 28, but last week it was suddenly announced that it would be withdrawn and rescheduled for October 16.

I guess they're scared off seeing three big movies released.

It's fortunate that he withdrew the film; otherwise, being caught in the middle would definitely have resulted in a loss.

The current number of movie screens is a winner-takes-all situation; the second-place winner gets a small share, while the third-place winner gets nothing.

"Seventy percent of the screenings, 1500 copies, 20 million in publicity expenses, isn't 200 million in box office revenue enough?" Han Sanping frowned.

Su Jin looked at Han Sanping, a little puzzled in her heart. Why was Zuo Shandiao so concerned about the box office of "Painted Skin"?

Logically speaking, a blockbuster film is considered a victory if it grosses over 100 million, a profit if it grosses 200 million, and a profit of 300 million is extremely difficult, requiring favorable timing, location, and people.

"Red Cliff Part I" made money from all three; otherwise, it's unlikely they would have made even a fraction of 300 million.

Thinking of "Red Cliff," Su Jin suddenly recalled Zuo Shandiao's boastful words at the meeting: the goal of Chinese-language films to break 50 billion yuan at the box office this year.

"Third Master, are you worried that Chinese-language films won't break the 50 billion yuan mark this year?"

Han Sanping felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this, but his face remained expressionless, and he simply gave a soft "hmm".

Sigh! I should have known better than to brag.

Now we're completely at their mercy. Since the second half of the year, every time I attend a press conference, some brainless reporter asks me this question.

"What's the total box office revenue for the movie now?" Su Jin asked.

"37.3 billion." Han Sanping accurately reported a figure, indicating that he had been having a difficult time lately.

"I've calculated it carefully. As long as it's your 'Painted Skin,' Chen Kaige's 'Mei Lanfang,' Chen Xiaogang's 'If You Are the One,' and Wilson Yip's 'Ip Man,' it's all possible."

Each of these four blockbusters grossed over 200 million yuan. Adding in other films, 5 billion yuan is no longer a target, but something tangible and attainable.