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

Less than 20 days after Shen Qing arrived at Dingxin with the script, filming for "Nightclub" officially began.

Inside the supermarket film set.

After failing twice in a row, Shen Qing began to personally demonstrate for Yang Mi.

He fiddled with the cash register, ignoring Yang Mi beside him, a look of disgust on his face. He said, "You really hate this He Sanshui, you don't even want to look at him, so you're busy tidying up the cash register. Then you say, 'No smoking in the supermarket,' and He Sanshui still lights a cigarette. Now you can't stand it anymore, you turn your head to look at He Sanshui, still with disgust on your face, and your tone is already angry. You say, 'If you want to smoke, go outside,' that's right. Do it again."

Yang Mi followed suit, imitating Shen Qing as she organized the cash register. Without looking at Shen Qing, she said, "Smoking is prohibited in the supermarket."

Shen Qing lit a cigarette, and Yang Mi turned to look at him, her eyes filled with both disdain and dissatisfaction. She said, "If you want to smoke, go outside."

After reading it, Shen Qing nodded and said, "That's right this time. You don't look down on He Sanshui and you don't indulge him. Get ready, we'll start filming right away."

Shen Qing's most common method for instructing actors now is through demonstration, because he is a really good actor, somewhat like Zhao Benshan instructing his apprentices.

Many videos of Zhao Benshan instructing his apprentices on acting appear online, and the most popular comments are often: "He chews the food up before feeding it to his students!"

Or: With this kind of guidance, I feel like I can do it too.

Zhou Xingchi also loves using this method.

As for Zhang Yimou, most of the online clips are still about his explanations, but that doesn't mean he can't demonstrate. After all, he is China's first international A-list film award winner.

The scene where Wang Xun buys soy milk and asks for a straw was filmed many times. In the end, Shen Qing personally demonstrated the scene, and Wang Xun acted it out after watching it, finally meeting Shen Qing's requirements.

This time, I used a digital camera, so I didn't have to worry about the aspect ratio, making the shooting process quite easy.

Filming wrapped up just 12 days after it began, even faster than the second TV movie that Shen Qing himself filmed.

The post-production editing was completed in just over twenty days, and the film was distributed by China Film Group. Then, heads of major cinema chains and managers of cinemas from various regions were invited to Beijing to attend an internal screening.

The response was pretty good, with general reviews suggesting it was a decent low-budget comedy, though it didn't seem like it would be a big hit. But before its release, "Fame and Fortune" didn't seem like it either, so major theater chains and cinemas still gave it a fairly good number of screenings.

And so the movie was officially scheduled for release on June 17th, exactly one month before the release of Taken.

The movie had earned a lot of money from product placement, and Shen Qing and Ding Xin decided to invest it all in promotion.

Currently, the biggest selling point of the movie is Shen Qing:

The director of "Fame and Fortune" made his second theatrical film, a low-budget comedy that he wrote, directed, and starred in.

I can't say how big the publicity will be, but it's certain that it will be more extensive than the original movie's publicity in the original timeline.

The original film "Nightclub" received almost no publicity when it was released. The media even interviewed the production company about it. The company responded that the combination of Xu Zheng, Li Xiaolu and Qiao Renliang had some selling points, but not that big. Rather than using limited resources on publicity, they would rather use the resources for distribution.

Shen Qing's selling points as an actress may not be as good as Xu Zheng's, but they are not necessarily much worse.

His portrayal of Qi Leshan last year was quite a breakthrough.

Shen Qing's biggest selling point is still his identity as a director. For many Chinese viewers, the sudden appearance of "Fame and Fortune" last year was definitely a huge surprise.

The selling point is Shen Qing, so Shen Qing naturally has to participate in some television events and accept some media interviews.

It can be considered as promoting both "Nightclub" and "Taken" at the same time, since their release dates overlap.

In an interview with Sohu reporters, Shen Qing shared his thoughts on his three theatrical films, surprisingly giving a clear ranking, which caught many people off guard.

"Director Shen, why did 'Nightclub' premiere earlier than 'Taken', which finished filming earlier?"

"Taken" has received more funding and effort, and its market potential should be the greatest of the three films, so it will be scheduled for release during a better period."

Do you think the upcoming film "Nightclub" will be inferior to "Taken"?

"Viewers who like 'Nightclub' will think 'Nightclub' is better, and viewers who like 'Taken' will think 'Taken' is better. Neither film is inherently better than the other, but in terms of market potential, I personally believe that 'Taken' has a slight advantage."

"So, Director Shen has high hopes for 'Taken,' do you think its market potential will be even better than 'Fame and Fortune'?"

"Yes."

"How much better?"

"Hehehe." Shen Qing chuckled and said, "How much better is not something that can be easily quantified. Personally, I hope it can be twice as good."

"The box office of 'Fame and Fortune' has exceeded 50 million. Does 'twice' mean that Director Shen thinks 'Taken' has a chance to exceed 100 million?"

"There is definitely an opportunity, but whether it can be realized depends on whether the audience likes it."

What are your thoughts on the upcoming film "Nightclub"?

"This is my experimental work, my first theatrical film shot using high-definition digital equipment. The filming process was very relaxed and enjoyable, and I hope everyone's viewing experience will also be relaxed and enjoyable."

……

On June 16, a small premiere was held in Beijing for the film "Nightclub," which was attended by all the main actors.

Because "Taken" was mentioned repeatedly during the promotional tour, audience members asked questions about "Taken" at the premiere of "Nightclub".

"Director Shen, your low-budget suspense comedies are very distinctive, so why did you suddenly go and make an action film? And why did you insist on starring in it yourself? Do you even know kung fu? Why did you go and star in an action film?"

Shen Qing thought for a moment and said, "I will answer your question with my actions."

He handed the microphone to Yang Mi next to him and said to the people around him, "Spread out a bit, don't hurt yourselves."

Yang Mi, Wang Chuanjun, Liu Yan, and the others were all completely bewildered, unable to figure out what the director was trying to do.

After the center of the stage was cleared, Shen Qing stood for a while, seemingly about to make a move, then suddenly stopped. He then went down from the stage, borrowed a bottle of mineral water from the table in front of him in the first row, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, put the water on the ground, and finally, when everything was ready, he made a gesture of holding a cup.

Quick-thinking viewers have already figured it out.

Is he going to try and imitate Jackie Chan's Drunken Fist?!

Then Shen Qing moved, and it was indeed Drunken Fist!

Audience member: "Wow, it's true!"

Shen Qing has acquired Cheng Long's professional skills, so he should have no problem fighting his brother's Drunken Fist.

But to be honest, Jackie Chan's kung fu performances aren't very entertaining, since he mainly studied Peking Opera acrobatics.

As Shen Qing practiced his drunken boxing, he thought: What I want to obtain is Li Lianjie's ability. Now is the time to truly show my face, right?

What the audience might see now is more like a joke?

So he performed a few more somersaults and flipped more than a dozen times before stopping.

He clasped his hands in a fist salute to the audience and said, "The fighting was so-so, but movies are all fake, so it should be enough for making movies."

Suddenly, an audience member shouted, "His fighting skills are comparable to Jackie Chan's!"

Shen Qing quickly clasped his hands in the direction of the voice, saying, "Brother, thank you for your recognition!"

The guy immediately chimed in, "Jackie Chan's fighting skills are just average too."

Shen Qing: "?"

The audience burst into laughter.

After the interactive session ended, Zhao Hongwei leaned close to Shen Qing's ear and said, "Why did you change the premiere of 'Nightclub' to the premiere of 'Taken'?"

Shen Qing shrugged: "I don't know!"

The interactive session was followed by a movie screening, which was generally well received.

The following day, the movie "Nightclub" was officially released.

However, the media's focus was on whether Shen Qing really knew kung fu.

His drunken boxing and somersaults at the premiere unexpectedly went viral and became very popular.

What's even more popular is the audience's comment: "He fought at Jackie Chan's level, but Jackie Chan's level is only so-so."

Shen Qing even gave a media interview to respond, saying that he had only learned a little bit and that Jackie Chan was his idol. After all, it seemed like he had brought negative attention to Jackie Chan.

Then there's the box office performance of "Nightclub".

The box office was 170 million on the first day, 190 million on the second day, 250 million on the third day, with a peak daily box office of 270 million. It grossed over 1600 million in 10 days and over 2500 million in 20 days.

The box office performance subsequently weakened, and it is estimated that it will not be able to break through the 3000 million yuan mark. The final box office will most likely fall to around 2700 million or 2800 million yuan.