Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 31 Soaring Box Office

When I called, I learned that they went to study in 1994 and settled in the US. 🎄🍓 69 ...

Now that the person is not in the country, Chen An has no way to hang up the phone.

He hadn't expected this; there was this incident before the other person became famous. It was a miscalculation on his part.

Chen An had no choice but to make other plans.

It's not like there are no other options besides her.

While pondering the female lead's choice, Chen An went to the Central Academy of Drama to find Duan Long.

The plan is to have him play the female lead's junior, a supporting role, to help the female lead see a part of herself more clearly.

Just like last time, Chen An went directly to find him. The location had already been chosen, and they planned to start filming as soon as the script was approved.

We're going to film four seasons, and we'll finish filming three of them in the second half of the year.

The rest can be filmed next year.

The female lead was still thinking about getting the supporting characters sorted out first.

Those elderly people were left to Han Sanping, who knew more about this than I did.

When he arrived at the classroom, the teacher was still giving a lesson, so Chen An didn't disturb him. He found a place to have a smoke while he waited.

get out of class ended soon after he greeted his teacher, who warmly welcomed him and led him into the classroom.

"Hello, Director Chen!"

As soon as Chen An entered the classroom, the students below greeted him happily.

"Hello everyone," Chen An greeted politely.

"Teacher, I'm looking for Duanlong and Taohong."

Chen An stood next to the teacher and called Duan Long and Tao Hong over.

On his way here, Chen An was thinking about Duan Long when he suddenly thought of the female lead's friend, Ji Zi. However, Chen An changed Ji Zi to Ju Zi, and the female lead was named Shi Zi. He made a slight change.

Chen An called both of them outside and asked, "Have you received any work?"

Both shook their heads.

After filming "Run Lola Run", Duan Long stayed in school. Tao Hong did the same. After filming "In the Heat of the Sun" in 93, she officially entered the entertainment industry.

But I've spent the last few years studying at school.

"Alright, come with me. I'm starting a new movie project. You'll be playing supporting roles, though. Are you interested?" Chen An asked the two directly.

Duan Long immediately nodded: "No problem, Director Chen, I'm willing."

After speaking, he glanced at Tao Hong beside him, wanting to know her thoughts.

Tao Hong turned her head and saw Duan Long staring at her. She smiled with her big eyes and said, "No problem. How could I refuse your movie, Director Chen? I was just thinking about whether I could ask Duan Long to give me a role. I didn't expect you to come to me in person."

Tao Hong spoke very politely and pleasantly, and Chen An nodded with a smile.

"Alright, it's just the two of you then. I only brought one copy of the script. Since your characters get married at the end of the drama, you can watch it together and develop your relationship, hahaha."

Chen An winked at Duan Long and handed the script to the two of them.

Seeing Chen An's animated expression as he looked at Duan Long, Tao Hong understood why Chen An had sought her out. She magnanimously took the script and said:

"No problem, Director Chen, let's get used to it first."

Chen An didn't say much. Seeing Duan Long's embarrassed look, he nodded and left.

Duan Long and Tao Hong, who were smiling, were left looking at each other with amusement.

The students peeking from behind watched the two of them with a mixture of envy and gossip.

A few days later, the box office had exceeded 30 million and was heading towards 40 million.

The film was also shown on Hong Kong Island.

It grossed five million in box office revenue within a week, and should have a chance to break ten million.

When news of the European box office hit reached China, it raked in more than 23 million US dollars in just one week!

The news immediately caused a sensation in China, with the media reporting it extensively, leading to a surge in domestic box office revenue.

The box office revenue for the weekend has once again exceeded two million!

A box office of 40 million is just around the corner, and 50 million is also within reach.

However, to his surprise, he suddenly received a phone call.

It was Yu Jinghong, who had flown back from the United States, who called. He had already started planning to recruit auditioning actors, but unexpectedly, Yu Jinghong contacted him on his own.

"Hello Director Chen, this is Yu Jinghong. Thank you for calling to ask me to star in your movie."

Sitting across from Chen An, Yu Jinghong, with a rosy complexion and elegant demeanor, thanked him.

She was also very curious as to how Chen An, this up-and-coming director, knew about her and even came to ask her to act in his movie.

When the nanny contacted me, I couldn't believe it and thought it was a scam.

After specifically checking Chen An's background, I felt even stranger, as I didn't know this junior of mine who was the best director in Cannes.

Chen An couldn't possibly say, "I've seen your future television works," so he made up an excuse:

"I've seen your movie 'The Joy Luck Club,' so I wanted to invite you to act in it. I just didn't expect you to be my senior, so I asked my teacher for your contact information."

After saying that, he handed over the script: "Take a look at the script first and see if it's suitable."

Yu Jinghong reached out her fair hand and took the script, saying without even looking at it:

"I am honored to act in Director Chen's film. I don't need to read the script; I am willing to act."

With a smile on her beautiful face, she spoke softly.

Seeing that others were being so proactive, Chen An felt a little embarrassed and said, "Well, the investment isn't large, and I want to put the funds into filming, so I can only offer 10,000 yuan per actor. Also, the filming period is a bit long; we need to go to the Central Plains and film for four quarters."

Chen An knew that the other party's family was well-off, but given the current situation, even though she was the female lead, Chen An only wanted to offer this price.

Yu Jinghong, not minding her fair face, nodded in agreement: "No problem."

"Okay, I'll contact you once the script is approved. Then we'll sign the contract and head to filming as soon as possible."

Chen An was happy to hear her agreement, as it perfectly met his expectations.

After discussing the script, Chen An treated the other person to a meal. After the meal, the other person drove away and went home, while Chen An took a taxi back to school.

Upon returning to school, Chen An first discussed the matter of requesting leave with Teacher Mu.

Teacher Mu didn't say much. His student had already won the Best Director award at Cannes and the box office had exceeded 30 million. He couldn't keep the student at the school any longer.

However, there is one requirement: there must be an exam at the beginning of each semester. Even if you can't attend the exam, you must take it separately and pass.

Chen An agreed, thinking it wouldn't sound good if he failed the exam.

He's a big director, after all.

When Chen An returned to his dormitory, he happened to find Chen Wei there.

Chen An leaned over and said in a pretentious tone, "Forget about all those other jobs, bro, I'll take you to film a movie by a legendary director!"

"Is he the legendary director who won the first Best Director award for a Chinese-language film at Cannes?"

Chen Wei also cooperated by asking Chen An.

Hearing his roommate's perfect comedic timing, Chen An laughed heartily: "Hahaha. Of course! This time, I've got Lv Le to mentor you. Once you've mastered the craft, we'll team up and dominate all the major film festivals, even the Oscars!"

"Keep bragging. I'll go and get things arranged first."

As Chen An's words became increasingly absurd, Chen Wei inquired about the time so he could arrange his own affairs first.

"Hurry up and start filming as soon as the script is approved. This time the filming will take a long time, and we'll be going to the Central Plains. Get ready, and we'll set off together."

Chen An told him to go and arrange things first, since he wanted to start work as soon as possible.

"Okay, I'll go and ask for leave now."

After saying that, Chen Wei didn't dawdle and left the dormitory, leaving Chen An alone.

A week later.

The box office for "Run Lola Run" has climbed to over 40 million and is heading toward 50 million.

Chen An's script has also been approved.

Han Sanping had already found all the other supporting roles for Chen An; they were all older generation actors he didn't know.

Chen An was satisfied with the small roles.

Prior to this, part of the film crew had already arrived.

Chen An got several actors to sign the contracts and also borrowed Zhao Xiong from Lin Dajiang.

He also asked Zhao Xiong to gather a few of his brothers and hire security personnel.

After all, this time we were going to film in the mountains, and the security situation was not as good as it is in later years.

The two actresses are as beautiful as angels; if anything happens to them, Chen An can't afford to take responsibility.

Lin Dajiang did not refuse and let Zhao Xiong go.

Zhao Xiong and a few professional brothers joined him.

The rest of the crew went directly to a small village in the Central Plains, the filming location for this shoot.

Seeking everything

(End of this chapter)