The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Yu Dong parked his car in the cinema, got out, stomped his foot, tucked his bag under his arm, and went upstairs.

Mr. Han called him yesterday to tell him that the post-production of "Taken" was finished and invited him to come and have a look.

You can roughly guess the outcome without even watching it; it should be a decent commercial film, but that's about it.

When he decided to invest, he didn't even read the script carefully before investing. Firstly, it's true that you can't really understand an action movie just by reading the script, and secondly, he didn't really expect the movie to make him much money.

Making money is secondary. The movie is unlikely to be well received. Directing and starring in a kung fu film is too big a leap, but no one should doubt that Shen Qing is talented.

His real purpose was to invest two or three million and build a good relationship with Shen Qing. A 24-year-old young director who could make a 170 million box office film with a production budget of 5000 million was a promising talent.

Who knows if he could be the next Zhang Yimou?

How much money did Zhang Weiping make from Zhang Yimou after helping him out?

In his opinion, the failure of Shen Qing's film might not be a bad thing. If it fails, wouldn't he have an opportunity to help in a difficult situation?

One shouldn't only look at what's in front of them.

He knew that President Han wasn't very optimistic about "Taken" either. The reason China Film Group invested in it was actually because of Shen Qing himself.

If the script were brought to China Film Group by an unknown director, instead of by Shen Qing, who directed "Fame and Fortune," do you think China Film Group would still invest in it?

After going upstairs, they went straight to President Han's office. The two chatted for a while until Shen Qing and Zhao Hongwei arrived, and then the group went to the screening room together.

As Han Sanping walked, he asked Shen Qing, "How many copies of the implanted GG were sold again?"

Shen Qing said, "350 million."

Han Sanping said with some emotion, "It seems the market recognizes you, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten so many gigs. This amount of money should be enough for marketing."

Shen Qing laughed and said, "More or less. We even saved more than 100 million in production costs, so it's enough."

The group sat down in the screening room, the staff turned off the main lights, the room darkened, the big screen lit up, and the movie officially began.

……

Shen Qing's main focus was not on the big screen in front of him. He had watched the raw footage, the editing, and the final cut countless times. His senses had long since become desensitized, and it was difficult for him to gain anything new from watching it again.

It would be better to secretly observe the reactions of the other people while watching the film to infer its quality.

Of the other three, Zhao Hongwei watched the movie most attentively, hardly looking around at all. From the very beginning, he appeared tense, and even as the plot reached key points, his expression remained tense.

Shen Qing estimated that the initial tension was due to the quality of the film, while the subsequent tension stemmed from the fact that the plot and action scenes were indeed so tense that one's palms would sweat.

Yu Dong wasn't that focused on the movie for the first 15 minutes. It wasn't until he saw the male lead's wife hiding under the bed and the male lead calmly directing her to loudly recount the robber's characteristics that he finally put his main focus on the movie.

As the plot unfolds, Shen Qing even sees President Yu clench his fists.

At first, President Han's face was relatively calm, but as the plot progressed, a smile would occasionally appear on his face. When Shen Qing looked at him near the end of the movie, she felt that he was probably even happier than she was on her wedding day, with a constant smile on his face.

Shen Qing was observing the other three, and the other three were also paying attention to Shen Qing.

A young, upstart director who has just achieved some success wants to direct and star in an action film right away—that seems incredibly unreliable.

However, now they are displayed here in large quantities.

How so?

The three of them had considered the possibility that Shen Qing might bring them a surprise, but was it really this incredible?

With a mere 1000 million, which he hasn't even spent yet, he's managed to capture the quality of a Jackie Chan and Lee Lien-chi film?

It can't be compared to ordinary Jackie Chan and Lee Lien-chung films; it has to be at the level of Jackie Chan's "Police Story" and "Who Am I?" and Lee Lien-chung's "Once Upon a Time in China" series.

The plot is engaging from start to finish, the protagonist acts cleanly and efficiently, and the fight scenes are incredibly sharp and realistic, even more so than the style of Jackie Chan and Lee Lianjie, giving the audience a truly stunning experience.

How many kung fu stars has Hong Kong cinema produced over the years?

Just those two or three.

This shows that being an action star isn't so easy.

First, you need to be good-looking and have audience appeal; second, you need to be good at fighting; and finally, you need a good script.

How come no one noticed before? This Shen Qing is actually a really good fighter!

No wonder he has so much confidence in this movie that nobody seems to have high hopes for.

The lights in the screening room came on, and all four of them fell silent for a brief moment.

"Gentlemen, what do you think of the movie? Please give us your feedback," Shen Qing broke the silence first.

Han Sanping frowned and asked Shen Qing, "I just asked you about the fee for the implanted GG, right?"

Shen Qing nodded: "Yes, President Han."

"What did I say back then?" Han Sanping asked again.

Shen Qing said, "You said the money saved from the filming fees and the film production costs would be used for film marketing. You said that's enough."

Han Sanping nodded and said, "That's what I said before! But now it seems that the plan was too conservative. Based on the quality of this movie, in my experience, no matter how much marketing expenses are spent, the box office will return by a factor of two."

Yu Dong nodded in deep agreement, saying, "I think the marketing budget could easily be increased to seven or eight million. Shen Qing's last movie broke the 50 million mark at the box office. If the marketing for this one is also very good, do you all think it's possible for it to break 100 million?"

Shen Qing looked slightly troubled and said, "If the marketing expenses increase to seven or eight million, I will also have to contribute a large sum proportionally. If the budget is too large, I may not be able to come up with it."

Yu Dong laughed and said, "That's easy. You have a 44% share of the film, so you can just sell some of it. I can give you a premium."

Zhao Hongwei replied, "I'll lend you the portion of the marketing expenses that you're supposed to cover."

……

After the discussion, the audience fell silent again, filled with envy. They stared at the big screen, which had already finished showing, their minds filled with various thoughts.

"An investment of less than 2 million yuan yielded 50 million yuan at the box office. This time, the investment has increased so many times over. Could it really break 100 million yuan at the box office?"

"Saying he might be the next Zhang Yimou was a compliment before, but now it seems this kid has even greater potential than Yimou! He can direct, act, and design action sequences. It's incredible, truly remarkable."

"Give him another three to five years, what heights can he reach?"

Han Sanping suddenly said to the staff, "Get ready, play it again."

Yu Dong immediately chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, play it again."

……

The group went to the restroom and drank water as needed, then returned to the screening room, where the staff played the movie again.

After a meeting, the film's release date was tentatively set for mid-July, the same release window as "House of Flying Daggers" last year.

With nearly three months until the movie's release, Shen Qing was feeling rather bored. It wasn't realistic to immediately start the "Ip Man" project. Although the producers were quite optimistic about the film after seeing the finished product of "Taken," he wasn't Zhang Yimou after all. Before "Taken" achieved success, the investors were unlikely to immediately throw in a large sum of money to start "Ip Man" right away.

What can I do in these three months?