Chinese Entertainment: Becoming a Superstar After a Breakup

Chapter 108, Part 1?

"I told you before, it's a bit complicated, let's sit down and talk about it. I'll be in Qingdao tomorrow about 'The Coffin in the Mountain'." Shen Ze was filming when he saw Xin Yukun's call. He called back but didn't explain clearly, only saying that he would come to Qingdao to see him.

However, "The Coffin in the Mountain" is probably going to be released soon, right? I mentioned before that the release date was set soon. Why did you have to make a special appointment with me for the promotion? You could have just said it over the phone. Why did you have to be so serious and complicated?

He will definitely cooperate with the promotion of this movie, but the movie itself doesn't have much promotion budget, so he can't possibly run around promoting it everywhere. At most, he can go to a few screenings, and to put it bluntly, he might not even have enough for travel expenses. He can't possibly spend his own money on promotion.

The next day, Shen Ze met Xin Yukun and brought him a bunch of watermelons and dozens of cups of coffee, which cost quite a bit, at least several thousand yuan. This was a visit to the set, and he arrived quite quickly. Besides him, there was another person, Ren Jiangzhou, the film's producer.

"Director Xin, I've heard so much about you." Liu Chang was very enthusiastic. Xin Yukun is a film director. Although he only has one film, "The Coffin in the Mountain" is enough. His film has been nominated for and won many awards.

He is actually a new director, having previously worked as a screenwriter and assistant director. However, "The Best Time" can be considered his debut work, although it is a web series. It was clearly stated that the show was a web series when filming began.

However, he is indeed happier than Xin Yukun. Although he also endured some hardship, at least the investment in this film is definitely over ten million, unlike Xin Yukun, who had to scrape together a little over one million.

It was already evening when they arrived. After filming a few scenes, Shen Ze went out with two other people. This visit wasn't just a simple set visit; there was something else going on.

"Shen Ze, I didn't expect that such good news would happen just before the movie's release. Your Zhang Xianzong has been quite popular lately, which gives our movie another channel for exposure. Many netizens are looking forward to it on the movie's Weibo account," Ren Jiangzhou said.

His relationship with Shen Ze was so-so. Although the filming took place in their village, he himself didn't appear many times and communicated more directly with Xin Yukun.

"The main reason I'm talking to you is to discuss something with you. As you know, although our movie has a good reputation, the subject matter is limited, so we still need a lot of exposure."

We've considered it and are thinking of casting you as the lead in our movie. Actually, your storyline isn't that different from Mr. Huo's.

Ren Jiangzhou took a sip of beer and said.

"Lead actor? What do you mean?" Shen Ze didn't quite understand. Wasn't he one of the lead actors?

"This is something we've been thinking about before, and we've decided on it mainly to get your opinion. Taihe's idea is to promote you in this movie and put your name first," Ren Jiangzhou said.

Shen Ze understood. So this was the lead role. Come to think of it, he hadn't expected to be the lead in this movie. During the test screening, he was behind the actor playing his father, who got the role based on his academic qualifications.

Although the competition for top billing wasn't as intense in this era as it is in later years, it doesn't mean it didn't exist. For example, during the filming of "Painted Skin," the competition for top billing was fierce. And it's still happening now; the two male leads in the movie "The Lost Tomb" are currently vying for top billing.

Two months ago, Li Yifeng and Yang Yang had a minor conflict in the web series version of "The Lost Tomb". Then there's "Mr. Six", which hasn't been released yet, but the fan circles of Li Yifeng and Wu Yifan have already started fighting.

However, those competitions, whether for popularity, profit, or billing order, should have been driven by the individual and their team, but he didn't. He left Jaywalk Studio. If he hadn't left, Jaywalk would probably have tried to snatch him away from Zhang Xianzong if they saw his popularity.

However, he himself hadn't considered that he wouldn't accept something that was already agreed upon, but he couldn't resist others offering it to him.

Don't say that if he were the lead actor, then he could use his destiny, but it seems he doesn't want to. He thinks, "I only earn 10,000 yuan, but I have to give you hundreds of millions in box office revenue and make you rich. Why should I? He doesn't even know the people at Taihe."

He can actually choose this thing. His destiny is indeed to be the lead actor, but there's a prerequisite: he has to agree to it. You can't say that he can just make a movie and release the lead actor without his consent, and that's useless.

However, he remembered the information he had learned before, and it seemed that it was really possible. Taihe originally did not have high expectations for the box office. It had spent two million. If he could bring the movie back, how much money would it cost?

I originally thought that now that I have money, I might not even need the demolition compensation to pay back Gulinaza's money. But if I buy "The Coffin in the Mountain," it seems I'll still have to use the demolition compensation.

"This is good for me. What about Professor Huo?" Shen Ze asked.

"Old Huo is easy to talk to. It's all for the good of the movie. He mainly thinks that you need to cooperate with the movie's promotion." This is actually the reason why the two of them specifically sought out Shen Ze.

Otherwise, you can put him first and just say something. But if you want to use his current popularity and fans to get him to do his best to promote it, you can't do it without sincerity, and he doesn't have any real benefit to gain.

This is Zhang Xianzong's first film after his initial success, so it already had some buzz. However, the production team didn't have much of a budget, and people aren't naive about the subject matter—it's purely an art film, half crime thriller, so the box office was unlikely to be high.

Shen Ze has just become popular, and whether he is willing to take responsibility for this movie or not, low box office will also affect him personally. Therefore, the two of them went to Qingdao to find Shen Ze.

For the production company and Taihe Company, they don't expect Shen Ze to carry the box office, but he does his best to promote it. Even if the box office is only a few hundred thousand more, that's still a profit, so the billing order is worth it.

"I'll think about it and give you an answer tomorrow," Shen Ze said.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat some skewers," Xin Yukun said. He was actually embarrassed. It would be beneficial for some people, but for Shen Ze, who was currently popular, it was obvious that they wanted to take advantage of his popularity. They were friends, so he couldn't bring it up directly.

However, he couldn't not come. If he didn't come, Ren Jiangzhou and Shen Ze would have even less to say. Being the lead actor is a good thing, but a silent lead actor and a lead actor who promotes the show wholeheartedly are completely different. So far, the only one who has managed to gain commercial attention for this show is Shen Ze. The other actors are far inferior.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's Taihe's idea," Xin Yukun said to Shen Ze. Shen Ze nodded, he wanted to find out as soon as possible how much it would cost to buy back "The Coffin in the Mountain".

"I know, let me think about it, and I'll tell you tomorrow," Shen Ze said. How much money he could raise was quite important, as it determined whether he could take over the production of "The Coffin in the Mountain".

The group returned to their hotel separately. Shen Ze immediately called home. He remembered that the money would definitely arrive in October, and he estimated it would be within the next few days.

"Sister." Shen Ze dialed Shen Yan's number.