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

China Film Group.

Has Taken been released in North America?

"It's online now, it just launched today."

"Keep an eye on the opening weekend box office results and let me know as soon as they're released."

"it is good."

Seeing that President Han had no further instructions, the assistant continued, "President Han, 'Taken' is performing increasingly well in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and South Korea. Many of my friends who work in these places say that the locals absolutely adore this movie, and Shen Qing is rapidly becoming a star in these regions at a visible pace."

Han Sanping nodded.

The assistant continued, "Currently, it seems that the box office in Southeast Asia alone could exceed $1500 million."

Han Sanping pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked his assistant, "Do you think it's possible for China to produce another superstar like Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie, with global box office appeal?"

The assistant first shook his head and then nodded, saying, "If it were up to my previous thinking, it would be impossible for it to be made again, but after watching 'Taken,' I'm really not sure."

"Oh? Why?"

"President Han, I feel... Shen Qing isn't acting normally!"

"Tell me more about it."

"He was able to shoot a movie with a budget of 100 million yuan in just over ten days and grossed nearly 3000 million yuan. The movie 'Fame and Fortune' which grossed over 5000 million yuan had a production budget of only 170 million yuan. This achievement is enough to show that his directing skills are top-notch."

"What's even stranger is that he can still star in dramas, and his acting skills are pretty good. He's even quite good at fighting!"

"I heard that he was responsible for almost all the action design for 'Taken,' and the martial arts instructor he hired from the Cheng family stunt team was basically only responsible for execution. I heard that he could do the high-difficulty moves that even the martial arts instructors from the Cheng family stunt team couldn't do! He was even as daring as Jackie Chan. In the movie, there was a scene where he jumped from the overpass onto the top of a van. Even martial arts instructors with years of experience were scared when they saw it, but Shen Qing jumped on the count of one, two, three."

Han Sanping nodded upon hearing this.

The assistant continued, "I can't say whether another superstar like Jackie Chan and Lee Lien-chung can emerge, but if another one does, I think that person has to be Shen Qing."

Han Sanping pondered for a moment, unsure whether to agree or disagree, and said to his assistant, "Alright, you can go out now. Remember to keep an eye on the North American box office charts."

"it is good."

……

August 29, China Film Group.

Han Sanping was looking at documents in his office when his assistant pushed the door open and came in, holding a sheet of printing paper.

"Mr. Han, the North American box office charts for last week are out."

Han Sanping, his hands still flipping through the documents, asked, "How was the performance?"

The question was naturally about the North American box office performance of "Taken".

The assistant's gaze fell on the printed page in his hand, and he said, "$1960 million, making it the box office champion that week."

Han Sanping looked up at his assistant, who nodded. Han Sanping took the printed paper from his assistant and looked at the clearly marked $1960 million. Only then did he realize that he had not misheard.

"champion?"

"Yes, champion!"

"With a first weekend grossing $1960 million, what would the total North American box office be?"

"Most films' total North American box office is calculated by multiplying their opening weekend box office by 3 to 3.5."

"So there's a chance to break the $6000 million mark?"

"The chances are very high."

Han Sanping stood up and walked around the office, then said, "Over $6000 million in North America alone? You were right last time, Shen Qing is a bit strange."

The assistant said, "I didn't expect him to be so wicked when I said that."

Han Sanping walked back to his desk and sat down again. As if suddenly remembering something, he asked, "By the way, what was the opening weekend box office for 'Hero' in North America back then?"

"It grossed $1780 million in its opening weekend, making it the top-grossing film of the week, and ultimately earned $5370 million in North America."

Han Sanping frowned halfway through the conversation and asked, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

The assistant said, "At first I couldn't believe it either, so I checked it several times."

Han Sanping stood up again and walked around, seemingly talking to himself, yet also to his assistant: "This shouldn't be happening. 'Hero' has so many big stars, and Li Lianjie too. The sets and visuals are top-notch. It shouldn't be inferior to 'Taken'! This doesn't make sense!"

The assistant frowned and said, "I can't believe it either, but the reality is what it is."

"Tell me your analysis, what exactly made this movie such a box office success?"

"Perhaps even if 'Hero' is good, it's just a source of curiosity about the mysterious East in the eyes of Western audiences? On the other hand, 'Taken' has a simple and straightforward logic: rescuing one's wife, which can be understood all over the world, and the action design is indeed top-notch globally."

Han Sanping nodded first and then shook his head, saying, "What you said isn't entirely unreasonable, but this movie is, after all, a Chinese movie with Chinese actors, so it still doesn't make sense."

The assistant was silent for a moment, then looked up at Han Sanping and said, "Perhaps if they really replaced the lead actor with a white star, then today's opening weekend box office wouldn't be $1960 million?"

Han Sanping looked at his assistant.

The assistant continued, "If they had used a white star, the opening weekend box office might have been $2500 million?"

Han Sanping was silent for a moment, then finally nodded slightly and said, "The other companies all thought that Shen Qing's valuation of himself was too high, but now it seems that he can no longer get that valuation."

The assistant nodded.

Actually, it wasn't just a few other companies that thought Shen Qing had overvalued himself; even China Film Group had a similar opinion.

Everyone was waiting, waiting for Shen Qing's temper to subside.

But judging from the overseas market performance of "Taken," how can Shen Qing's pride possibly wane? If you were Shen Qing, could you wane your pride?

……

Representatives from several companies interested in investing in "Ip Man" gathered again at Dingxin Film & Television.

"Please be patient, everyone. Director Shen Qing is stuck in traffic, he'll be there soon."

Representatives from all the companies had arrived, but Shen Qing had yet to show up. The task of receiving these representatives naturally fell to Zhao Hongwei, the chairman of Dingxin Film and Television.

The representatives were the same ones as last time, but their mindset was completely different from when they came last time.

Last time, Shen Qing valued his non-cash payments at 1000 million, and everyone surprisingly agreed that it was too much of a premium.

But today, when everyone came to Dingxin again, they just hoped to sign the contract as soon as possible based on Director Shen Qing's previous quote, and that nothing unexpected would happen.

After all, Director Shen Qing said last time that if the market changes in his favor, the price will be different.

As expected, the market changed in a way that favored Director Shen!

"When the North American box office charts came out last week, I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought the Chinese website had translated it wrong, so I specifically went to check the original English website, and... who would have thought that movie would actually become such a hit in North America?"

"What a coincidence, I also specifically checked out foreign language websites."

"Who can argue with that?! $1960 million in opening weekend box office—who would believe such an outrageous number right off the bat?!"

"Actually, Director Shen Qing's last quote was quite reasonable."

As the man spoke, the room fell silent.

The previous price was the previous price. Now that Shen Qing has clearly become popular overseas, is the price still the same?

"Everyone, please hear me out."

Seeing that the room had quieted down, the host, Zhao Hongwei, began, "As you all probably already know, Shen Qing's film 'Taken' was a huge hit in North America, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and South Korea. Director Shen Qing's commercial value is now on a completely different level, so..."

He paused to observe the crowd's reactions, and seeing that they seemed to have anticipated this, he continued, "So I think that true cooperation means everyone makes money and no one loses out. Given Director Shen Qing's current value, his roles as screenwriter, lead actor, and director can be converted into a 4% share of the film. What do you all think?"

The total investment is 3500 million, and 4% of the shares are worth 1400 million.

Last time it was 1000 million, and now it's increased by 400 million?

Although the words were spoken by Zhao Hongwei, an outsider, everyone knew that Shen Qing was definitely manipulating things from behind the scenes.

No one really thought that Shen Qing's delayed appearance was because he was stuck in traffic.

Then Zhao Hongwei continued, "Director Shen Qing's salary is set at 1000 million, and the director and screenwriter's fees combined are 400 million. The total figures do seem high, but that's the market price. You're all veterans in this industry; you all know how much Director Shen Qing is worth now. The investment is 3500 million, with 2700 million for film production and 800 million for promotion. Of the 2700 million production budget, 1400 million is for Director Shen Qing's screenwriting, directing, and lead actor fees—what do you all think of this plan?"