A Top-Tier Life Begins with Sarcastic Phrases

Chapter 106 Investment is risky

When Meng Ziyi arrived, he brought five pairs of stockings, but they were all gone.

The next day, Gu Yun went to film a movie, while Meng Ziyi rested in her hotel room until Gu Yun returned in the evening, at which point she had the strength to move.

After taking a shower, Gu took her out to get something to eat.

Then we put Sister Meng on the plane.

With Meng Ziyi gone, Gu Yun estimated that he wouldn't dare to come looking for him for at least two months.

Of course, Meng Ziyi had already thought of all those messy, trivial matters.

She brought new sheets and duvet covers when she came, and took them with her when she left, so she didn't leave any evidence.

At the end of August, the first trailer for "Bear & Lion 2" was released.

This film was originally intended to be released during the National Day holiday.

But looking at the lineup for the National Day film season, there's Chen Kaige's *The Volunteer Army*, Ning Hao's *Good Guy*, Chen Long's *Project Panda*, and the highly anticipated sci-fi blockbuster *Bureau 749*.

It's full of big-name directors and actors with huge box office appeal.

Ahem, although something strange got mixed in!

However, Lu Chuan did have some notable achievements before, such as the much-discussed film "The Missing Gun".

Even though Lu Chuan's "The Missing Gun" gives the same impression as Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine," it seems like the film was shot by someone else.

However, Lu Chuan's version is more exaggerated.

In [Lion Boy 2], you can only choose to change gears.

But with its quality, it has no chance of competing for the Spring Festival release; it's practically committing suicide and will be completely crushed by the animated film "Boonie Bears."

With threats from both sides, the production team ultimately chose a middle date: December for the film's release.

They just wanted to make a quick buck.

After all, there were no other films competing with them in December.

However, Gu Yun watched the promotional video they released and couldn't say it was good; he could only say that it was heavily biased and contained their own agenda!

The first movie was alright; it capitalized on the sentiment of promoting traditional culture and made a small profit.

Moreover, it sold for a fairly good price at international film festivals.

However, in the second film, the director deliberately made drastic changes to the characters' appearances in order to cater to foreign tastes and fetch a good price at film festivals.

Single eyelids, squinty eyes—the characters have been altered haphazardly, all reflecting foreigners' stereotypes about Chinese people.

After watching the trailer, Gu Yun felt that the film's box office performance in China would not be very good.

A few years ago, due to the impact of the pandemic, the domestic film and television industry experienced a downturn. You sold nostalgia, and everyone made do with what they had, allowing you to make a little money.

Now that the pandemic is over, are you still treating the audience like fools?

Gu Yun originally didn't care about this matter, but after hearing that Yu Ren's company had invested a lot and owed him a favor, he felt he should repay it.

But directly calling Yu Qian and telling him the movie is no good is actually quite annoying, like a curse.

You can offer a reminder, but you should do so tactfully.

So, when Guo Qilin and Zhang Ruoyun came to Hengdian to visit the set in early September, the three of them had dinner together, and Gu Yun told them about it.

"Dalin, have you seen the trailer for [Bear & Lion Boys 2] yet?"

The three of them were eating hot pot and chatting, and after the atmosphere became lively, Gu Yun brought up this matter.

"Oh, that video, I saw it on TikTok, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

Guo Qilin was telling the truth.

He hasn't been idle lately either. He just came back from the set of "The Story of Bian Shui" and didn't rest for long before he came to visit the set with Zhang Ruoyun.

"I saw that too."

Zhang Ruoyun didn't know what Gu Yun was planning, but he still frowned and said, "The trailer we released doesn't reveal anything about the content, and the characters seem strange."

Gu Yun nodded: "That's what I was going to say too, Da Lin. Squinty eyes, wide-set eyes, and looking like a yellow-skinned monkey—that's a stereotype foreigners have of us."

"Even this one trailer has a lot of hidden agendas."

As he spoke, Gu Yun took out his phone and showed Guo Qilin the trailer while continuing, "This kind of film is obviously aimed at film festivals. It's meant to entertain foreigners, so its domestic box office will definitely not be high."

"They're treating the audience like idiots. They'll probably get a lot of flak when it airs."

Guo Qilin initially took it as a joke, but suddenly his expression turned serious.

He had actually heard his master mention this before, saying that in order to recoup his investment, the company's CEO borrowed over 100 million yuan again to invest in "Lion Boy 2".

His mentor invested in Moker and holds shares, but generally does not participate in management; he only receives dividends.

Basically, the entire Moker company is controlled by Zhao Renpeng, who holds a 50% controlling stake.

The previous "Hello Teacher" and "Wolf Warrior" series did indeed make money.

However, after making some money, Zhao Renpeng's ambition grew, and he began to invest with a gambling mentality!

Borrow one or two hundred million from others, and then use the company's capital of thirty or forty million to invest in movies.

The key point is that he signed a performance-based agreement, a contract that stipulates he only receives a percentage of the box office revenue, regardless of the actual box office figures!

simply put:

If you invest 200 million yuan, accounting for 50% of the total investment in this film, then after deducting the theater's share from the box office revenue, you will take half.

If the box office reaches 1 billion, that means a profit of 300 million, a tenfold increase from the initial investment of 30 to 40 million.

But if you fail, you'll lose everything, and you'll have to accept the loss.

When I invested in "Anti-Corruption Storm 4" last time, I suffered a huge loss. The company was in debt, and my mentor even had to pay out of his own pocket.

If we really lose money this time, plus the debts from before, the company will go bankrupt!

His master was to be forced to repay the loan.

Guo Qilin understood the intricacies of the law.

If you didn't understand these things, you would have been tricked into becoming a legal representative and taking the fall for others!

"Oh dear, is there really a problem?"

Guo Qilin was still quite cautious. He certainly trusted Gu Yun, but could he really draw such a conclusion based on just one trailer?

Most importantly, this company has already invested!

Nearly two hundred million was stuffed into it!

The only way to prevent the master from getting involved in these karmic consequences is to quickly sell his shares and sever ties with the company.

But this matter is too offensive to people.

After all, those people in the company are Yu Qian's business partners, and they've been working together for many years.

It's not worth ruining the relationship just because of one trailer.

"There will definitely be more promotional videos for [Lion Boys 2] later."

Gu Yun understood Guo Qilin's thoughts and didn't intend to convince him all at once. Instead, he said, "When the time comes, you can pay attention to the online comments. I'm not talking about paid trolls."

"become."

Guo Qilin nodded and silently kept the matter in mind.

"Stop with the nonsense, let's have a drink first!"

Zhang Ruoyun laughed and said, "When I first arrived, Director Deng told me that your acting skills were excellent, and on set they always called you 'Gu Yitiao' (meaning 'take one more take')."

"It's alright, it's all thanks to everyone's flattery."

This is indeed true. Gu Yun usually gets his scenes right in one take, and when something goes wrong, it's mostly because his co-stars can't handle it.

The nickname "Gu Yitiao" spread over time.