The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

On September 15th, "The Hunger Games" was released simultaneously in all regions of the world except mainland China.

On its opening day, the film grossed $2240 million in North America.

This result is almost three times less than the $6700 million opening day gross of the first "Hunger Games" film.

This was only achieved thanks to the massive marketing campaign by Extraordinary Film Company.

After all, this movie is a female-centric film, and the lead actress is of Chinese descent.

Only Liu Yifei can carry the box office.

Of course, this is in comparison to achievements from a previous life. If there were no achievements to compare, this movie would be considered a success.

The following day, The Hunger Games bucked the trend and rose to $3530 million, almost half more than its opening day box office.

Besides publicity and promotion, the most important factor is word-of-mouth.

Liu Yifei really put in a lot of effort in this drama, plus she has a face that looks good in both Chinese and Western styles.

The more exciting storyline following the adaptation of "The Hunger Games" naturally boosted the film's box office.

After a one-month run, The Hunger Games' global box office totaled $5.34 million.

"Honey, I did it!"

On the very day Liu Yifei returned to China, the entire Beijing airport was packed with reporters from various domestic organizations.

The Hunger Games was a huge success, grossing a whopping $5 million, making it arguably the highest-grossing overseas film among Chinese actresses.

Liu Yifei was already a top-tier actress in the Chinese entertainment industry, and now she's in a league of her own.

As soon as she got off the plane, Liu Yifei saw Lin Bufan waiting outside the airport. Ignoring the stares of others, she rushed over to him, feeling both excited and proud.

Only at this moment did Liu Yifei finally feel that she was qualified to stand beside Lin Bufan.

……

The popularity of "The Hunger Games" didn't gradually decline for two or three months.

At the same time, Lin Bufan also devoted all his energy to filming.

In October, Lin Bufan went to Hong Kong.

Lin Bufan had only one goal for this trip to Hong Kong: to secure the chairmanship of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

After attending the conference, Lin Bufan became the chairman of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, while Shi Nansheng was appointed as the vice chairman, responsible for the daily operations of the entire film festival.

He couldn't stay in Hong Kong forever, so he needed to keep a trusted confidant, and Shi Nansheng was the best candidate.

Under Lin Bufan's guidance, the Hong Kong International Film Festival began to undergo sweeping revisions. Following these changes, it was decided that the first Hong Kong International Film Festival Awards Ceremony would be held starting in 2009.

This year's awards ceremony is modeled after the three major European film festivals, and with Lin Bufan's connections, invitations have been extended to filmmakers from all over the world.

The film festival is held every August.

In August, although there are some film festivals held around the world, such as the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, the Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia, and the Santiago International Film Festival in Chile, etc.

However, these film festivals are all small in scale and have almost no influence.

Lin Bufan had his own reasons for choosing this time to hold the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Just as Lin Bufan was heading to Hong Kong, Zotye Auto replaced its entire team with its own people, and the whole group underwent a complete reshuffle.

In mid-October, Arc'teryx acquired all its shares and recruited its team ahead of time, thus beginning its journey as an outdoor brand.

When November arrives, it will be a very important month for Kyoto.

On November 2nd, Jingxiu Culture successfully went public through a reverse takeover. On its first day of trading, the stock price was 9.34 yuan, with a total market value of 43 billion yuan.

On November 4th, Jing Le also went public through a reverse takeover, and its total market value reached 35 billion yuan after that day.

Following that, Jingyi went public on November 7, with a final market value of 32 billion.

With three subsidiaries going public independently and a total market value exceeding 10 billion, Lin Bufan became known online as a billionaire.

When the time came to November 16, news came from the Hong Kong stock market that Jingxing Media had independently listed through an IPO, with a market value of HK$13 billion.

At this moment, the entire mainland entertainment industry was in an uproar.

From this moment on, Kyoto officially became the leader in the entire Chinese entertainment industry.

Even stock market investors are looking forward to one thing: the listing of Beijing Film and Beijing Television.

Throughout November, four of Kyoto's subsidiaries went public, which allowed many shareholders to make money, thus boosting the company's market value.

Whether you're in the industry or not, everyone knows that Kyoto's most important subsidiaries are Kyoto Film and Kyoto Television.

Based on comparisons with several subsidiaries, everyone is predicting that if these two subsidiaries were to go public, their market capitalization would likely exceed 10 billion each.

Lin Bufan paid no attention to the outside noise and focused all his attention on filming the movie.

However, when December came, Lin Bufan had to return to Beijing because of the Film Association's leadership transition.

Lin Bufan returned to Beijing three days ago and officially became the vice chairman of the Film Association. During this time, he also met with many superiors and prepared to apply for the hosting of the Beijing International Film Festival, a world-class A-list event.

Currently, there is only one international film festival in China, namely the Shanghai International Film Festival, but its influence is extremely small.

Moreover, the Shanghai International Film Festival is mainly based in the Shanghai film circle, and Lin Bufan did not want to get involved in the affairs of the Shanghai film circle, so he decided to establish the Beijing International Film Festival ahead of schedule.

Given Lin Bufan's influence at the time, the approval was granted in less than a week, and the organizing committee for the Beijing International Film Festival was established.

Lin Bufan served as the chairman of the organizing committee, and he recommended Yang Yayun as the vice chairman.

Similarly, Yang Yayun was his confidante, responsible for the daily operations of the Beijing International Film Festival and some international communication matters.

考虑到每年2月初是柏林国际电影节，2月末是奥斯卡国际电影节、5月坎城国际电影节、6月魔都国际电影节，8月香江国际电影节、9月威尼斯国际电影节的时间。

Ultimately, Lin Bufan set the date for the Kyoto International Film Festival on October 2nd each year, one day after National Day on October 1st. The awards ceremony would naturally be held in Beijing, while the gala would take place in one of Kyoto's flagship cinemas.

After finishing these trivial matters, Lin Bufan continued filming.

……

Before we knew it, it was September 15, 2009.

"Boss, it's time."

Inside a car outside the Kyoto Cinema, a leading cinema chain in Beijing, Ni Ni looked up at Lin Bufan with slightly flushed cheeks.

After the courtyard house was completed last year, Zhang Tianai moved in and naturally relinquished her position as a living assistant.

Ultimately, Ni Ni was chosen as Lin Bufan's personal assistant.

"kindness!"

Lin Bufan slowly opened his eyes and looked down at Ni Ni, who was cleaning up the traces.

Back in August, the first Hong Kong International Film Festival was a great success, and its influence gradually began to spread globally.

Although it cannot currently be compared to the three major European film festivals, its influence in the entire Asian region is in no way inferior to that of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

After all, Hong Kong was once known as the Hollywood of the East, and many Hollywood movies even borrowed some scenes from the Hong Kong Cinema Palace.

Lin Bufan's "Guixu: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas" was filmed in June and, after three months of editing, the premiere was finally scheduled for September 15th, which is today.

Since the beginning of 09, "Guixu: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas" has been promoted and distributed globally.

Of the 5 million investment, 20%, or 1 million US dollars, was used for marketing and promotion.

The main selling point is that it is the world's first immersive 3D movie, and the promotional videos released in the past six months have caused a great sensation.

The core of this film is Chinese culture, and since the main actors are all Chinese, it was natural that the premiere was held in Beijing.

In addition, the film will be released simultaneously worldwide after the premiere.

Let's go!

After Ni Ni finished getting ready, Lin Bufan opened the car door and got out.

As Lin Bufan appeared, cheers and the sound of camera shutters from reporters and fans from various countries on both sides of the red carpet resounded throughout the cinema entrance.

For the premiere of "Guixu: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas", leaders from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and even the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were present.

This is cultural export, and for these leaders, it is also an achievement.

Even more, many directors and superstars from around the world attended the premiere of "Guixu: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas".

Once the movie started, everyone was completely absorbed in it.

Especially when each of the mythical beasts appeared, the audience gasped in amazement, not only because of their grandeur, but also because of the immersive 3D effects, which were truly breathtaking.

Add to that the sheer awe-inspiring presence of the mecha, that colossal presence, and the feeling it evokes is simply breathtaking, almost indescribable.

It was precisely because of this shock that the global box office on its opening day reached a staggering $2.98 million, just $200 million shy of breaking the $3 million mark.

When this result came out, the whole world was shocked.

There are many movies with a box office of $3 million worldwide, even dozens, but only "The Return of the Ruins" has reached $3 million on its opening day.

Influenced by Sunday's box office performance, the box office of "Guixu: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas" began to climb steadily, and its box office revenue exceeded 10 billion US dollars in just three days.

A month later, when "The Lost Tomb: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas" finished its global run, it had grossed a total of 45 billion US dollars.

This achievement shocked the world.

A movie grossing $45 billion is something no one dares to dream of. It is also because of this movie that Lin Bufan has been elevated to the position of the world's number one director.

For a commercial film, "The Return of the Void: The Spirit Realm of Mountains and Seas" is enough to make him a legend, not to mention the ending of the movie clearly indicates that there will be a sequel.

In the realm of art-house films, Lin Bufan achieved a grand slam, winning both the European Big Three awards, including Best Director at the Oscars, though he didn't win Best Picture.

But everyone understands that the Oscar for Best Picture cannot be given to an outsider.

Even in the business world, Strong Wind Investment Company, located in North America, is associated with hundreds of companies.

With its market capitalization and valuation combined, Strong Wind Investment Company manages assets exceeding 10 billion US dollars.

Domestically, Zhewei Capital controls assets exceeding 100 billion yuan.

The Kyoto Group, including the Kyoto Cinema Circuit alone, has assets approaching 100 billion yen, plus the listed companies under Kyoto.

With the listing of two companies, Beijing Film and Beijing Television, the market value has reached over 30 billion yuan. At the same time, even Crystal Entertainment has been listed, although its market value is only over 3 billion yuan.

However, through this company, Liu Yifei has officially entered the ranks of capital investors.

……

In the blink of an eye, several years have passed.

Following the success of "Return to the Ruins", Lin Bufan gradually faded from the public eye.

With a net worth of hundreds of billions, Lin Bufan certainly wants to enjoy life, and he will maintain his pace of making one movie a year.

"Meng Ziyi, where are my pants?"

On a private island in the Pacific Ocean, Lin Bufan, after sunbathing, discovered that his pants were missing.

On second thought, among all his women, besides Meng Ziyi, there was no one else as eccentric.