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

At noon on November 25th.

A female dormitory of the 05 class of Beijing Film Academy.

Yang Mi's three roommates have all been somewhat mentally disoriented in the past few days.

Yang Mi's career was already quite successful before. She played Guo Xiang in The Return of the Condor Heroes, and acted in Nightclub and Lost in Thailand. She already had a certain level of national recognition, but this time it's really different.

Those close to her have the most direct experience of feeling this way. Yang Mi has truly become a sensation this time. Her acting skills have received professional recognition within the industry, and her popularity has exploded outside the industry, making her a rising top female star.

The new Condor Heroes is very popular, and Yang Mi's portrayal of Guo Xiang has won over many viewers. However, not many people have actually gone out of their way to research the actress herself. Many people see her on TV and point at her, saying, "Hey, isn't that the actress who played Guo Xiang?" But if you ask her name, many people probably won't know.

The situations of "Nightclub" and "Lost in Thailand" are also very similar.

This time, however, the situation seems to have changed significantly.

In "The Shallows," Yang Mi's figure, showcased in a surfing suit, attracted a large number of male and female fans. Her later battle of wits against the sharks, especially the scene where she treats her wounds, left a deep impression on countless viewers, and even many professional film critics praised her performance.

Director Shen Qing promoted the event with Yang Mi, and a large number of fans cheered and screamed for Yang Mi at the scene.

On the internet, searches for the name Yang Mi have skyrocketed, and the number of members on the Yang Mi Baidu Tieba forum is growing exponentially.

Everything indicates that Yang Mi, a Beijing Film Academy student who hasn't graduated yet, has really become famous—not just slightly famous, but incredibly famous!

The Shallows grossed 1100 million yuan on its opening day. The opening day was a Thursday, and the official release time was in the afternoon. In other words, it only took half a day to gross 1100 million yuan on its opening day.

Yuan Shanshan, Zhang Xiaofei, and Zhang Xuan, all students at the Beijing Film Academy, understood the significance of the opening day box office. Generally speaking, the total box office should be at least 10 times that of the opening day. There should be no doubt that "The Shallows" will eventually break 100 million yuan at the box office.

In an era where entering the 100 million yuan box office club is still a huge honor for a director, it is remarkable that a female actress, carrying the entire film on her own, could achieve a box office of over 100 million yuan.

"The first week's box office figures should be out by now, right? Mimi must have gotten the data." Yuan Shanshan said, picking up her phone from the desk.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaofei and Zhang Xuan silently surrounded them.

Yuan Shanshan quickly edited a short message and sent it over, and the dormitory fell into a brief silence.

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. During those five minutes, Yuan Shanshan sat in a chair, with Zhang Xiaofei and Zhang Xuan standing on either side of her. No one spoke; each was lost in their own thoughts.

When "The Shallows" was released, the whole dormitory watched it, and Zhang Xiaofei was the most moved by it.

Zhang Xiaofei knew Yang Mi's acting skills all too well. They weren't terrible, but they weren't great either, certainly not as good as Yang Mi's. But seeing Yang Mi's performance in "The Shallows," Zhang Xiaofei knew she had lost this time.

In fact, she had secretly imitated Yang Mi's performance in the movie, and the result was obvious, once again proving that Zhang Xiaofei could not act as well as Yang Mi.

This made her feel very frustrated.

Zhang Xuan felt more envy than anything else. It turns out that people who have good resources from the start will have even better resources later on. She wondered when she would be able to have such resources.

hum...

Yuan Shanshan's phone vibrated. She picked it up and, sure enough, it was a text message from Yang Mi. She opened the message and looked for the Arabic numerals in the text.

7760 million yuan.

The Shallows grossed a total of 7760 million yuan over the four days of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Yuan Shanshan was somewhat stunned; the figure was much higher than she had expected. In her estimation, the box office for the first weekend would most likely not exceed 5000 million, and preferably not exceed 5000 million.

Generally speaking, the final total box office of a movie is doubled by the box office revenue of its opening weekend. If the opening weekend box office is only 50 million, it means that the total box office revenue of "My Best Friend's Movie" is unlikely to exceed 100 million.

Of course, she wants her best friend to be good to her, but it's best if they're not too close. If the gap between their social statuses becomes too large, can their friendship still be maintained?

But to her utter surprise, The Shallows grossed 7760 million in its opening weekend.

This means it has a chance to reach 1.5 million in box office revenue?!

That's right, the biggest contributor to the box office success is director Shen Qing, but no matter what, this movie, which is almost a one-woman show by Yang Mi, is likely to gross as much as 1.5 million yuan.

It's her credit, and no one can take it away from her.

Yuan Shanshan had all sorts of random thoughts:

Mimi is just too lucky. Director Shen Qing likes her so much that he specially tailored a movie like "The Shallows" for her. He spoils her and promotes her too much.

Actually, that's not quite right. It's that she was too cunning, selling a girl's most precious first time for the highest price.

I was so stupid to give my virginity to a high school classmate I've lost contact with. Looking back, it was such a waste.

Yuan Shanshan's mind was in a mess right now, with all sorts of chaotic and even shameful thoughts coming to mind.

I don't want the same treatment she receives, nor do I need him to treat me the same way he treats her. I just want him to flatter me a little. Is that okay? I've never done this before, but I can be very, very obedient and will never cause him any trouble.

If Yang Mi finds out, we might not even be able to be friends anymore, but it doesn't matter. After graduation, relationships from university are unlikely to last anyway.

Yuan Shanshan wanted to send Shen Qing a text message. She wanted to volunteer herself. Yang Mi could offer him more than just what they had done the first time. Besides, she wouldn't throw a tantrum, wouldn't act spoiled, and wouldn't need to be coaxed. She had her own advantages.

But this message can't be sent yet. Shen Qing and Yang Mi are currently in Chengdu promoting their new movie, and they're definitely sleeping in the same bed at night. Who knows if Director Shen Qing actually has his phone?

Zhang Xiaofei sat back in her seat. She also wanted to volunteer, but not to volunteer to get into bed; she wanted to volunteer for a role.

It's not just about becoming famous. Yang Mi's acting is usually like that, but she almost completely transformed in "The Shallows." Director Shen Qing's ability to train actors is simply amazing. The impact of acting in a film directed by Shen Qing on improving one's acting skills is probably immeasurable.

Zhang Xuan's mind was in complete chaos. She fantasized that Director Shen Qing came to the Beijing Film Academy to cast actors, accidentally discovered her, fell in love at first sight, and then pursued her relentlessly, even tailoring a film project just for her. But she didn't like him, and to avoid suspicion, she applied for a small supporting role in a small film crew next door, where she was bullied by the female lead. After he found out, he stormed into the small film crew to stand up for her, taught the bullying female lead a lesson, and then took her hand to his film crew...

On November 30, Shen Qing, accompanied by the assistant arranged by Chen Zhixi, flew to the United States. After all, the main investor in "Little Lolita's Kung Fu Uncle" was an American company, and some preparatory work required him to go to the United States in person.

When the plane landed in Los Angeles, Legendary Pictures Chairman Thomas Tull personally greeted him at the airport.

After checking into the hotel that night, Shen Qing casually picked up his phone and scrolled through the new messages. After reading dozens of messages, he finally saw a text message that surprised him. The sender was Yuan Shanshan.

She once played a female con artist in the movie "Lost in Thailand," and that's when the two exchanged contact information.

"Director Shen, hello. I'm Yuan Shanshan. I hope I haven't disturbed your rest. Mimi and I are very close friends, and she tells me everything. She says you're amazing, and you always make her feel like she's in heaven. I'm so envious of her, and so jealous of her too. I wonder what you think of me? Am I ugly? Or am I actually quite good-looking? If I could…"

Shen Qing put down her phone, chuckled, and muttered to herself, "She's an ambitious and good girl."

But he didn't intend to reply to her.

As for why he didn't reply, it was simply because he saw that she wasn't as excited, nothing more.

It's probably the huge success of "The Shallows" and Yang Mi's sudden rise to fame that spurred her on.

As of the previous day, "The Shallows" had been in theaters for 7 days, with a cumulative box office of over 1 million yuan.

A movie that was almost entirely carried by Yang Mi alone grossed 1 million yuan in just 7 days. Such a result was like a deep-water bomb thrown into the pool of entertainment industry, stunning many people.

A few days later, Shen Qing returned to China. While discussing the release date of "Mr. Donkey" with Chen Zhixi at the company, Yuan Shanshan went directly to the company.

"I heard from Mimi that you're back."

"Um, is something the matter?"

"Director, I sent you a text message, did you see it?"

"I saw it."

"If I were to ask you out for dinner alone, would you have time?"

"Let's talk about it another time."

After finally getting rid of the disappointed Yuan Shanshan, Chen Zhixi asked curiously, "President Shen, can I ask her what text message she sent you?"

Shen Qing looked at Chen Zhixi, who was standing in front of him in a business suit. Her question had gone a bit too far. Perhaps this was a sign that she was interested in Shen Qing.

In fact, Shen Qing also had some feelings for Chen Zhixi. She was the second-in-command of his company, the vice president, and also did his job as his assistant, and she did it very well. Shen Qing was becoming more and more dependent on her.

For a woman as important to him as she was, if possible, it would be best to possess her soul. And as Eileen Chang once said, the path to a woman's soul is...

Perhaps we could use Yuan Shanshan sending the text message to test the waters?

"Oh, you mean text messages? You can probably guess that this girl is quite sensible."

"Mr. Shen, there's something I might not be able to say."

"It's alright, go ahead and speak."

"This woman is very unpleasant; you'd better be careful."

"Hehehe... It's okay, I'm not going to marry her anyway." After saying that, Shen Qing carefully observed Chen Zhixi's reaction.

She seemed a little anxious and said, "In short, I feel very uncomfortable with her, so you'd better not have too much contact with her."

Shen Qing said, "But she's very obedient. She'll probably agree to whatever I need, but that might not be the case with other people."

Chen Zhixi asked, "Who are the others?"

"You!" Shen Qing said, "I want to spend more time with you, would you agree?"

Chen Zhixi said, "I'm the company's vice president. When you're not filming, we can see each other almost every day. How many more times can we see each other?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what I mean."

Chen Zhixi stood there, her expression changing several times, before finally saying as if she had made up her mind, "If she can do it, so can I."

"Okay, I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"Mmm," Chen Zhixi replied in a barely audible voice.

The two left the company together in the afternoon. When they arrived at the parking lot, Shen Qing glanced at Chen Zhixi's business attire and said with a smile, "Isn't it inappropriate for you to wear this to dinner? Let me take you home to change your clothes first."

"Um."

When the car arrived at Chen Zhixi's rented apartment building, Shen Qing said she needed to use the restroom, and so she went upstairs with Chen Zhixi. After entering the apartment, Chen Zhixi told Shen Qing to go to the restroom first, while she went to change her clothes. Shen Qing then said, "Let me help you change; I have no resistance to these kinds of clothes."

Shen Qing had already made her point clear, and Chen Zhixi couldn't possibly not understand, but she just blushed and nodded. Then the two of them went into her bedroom one after the other.

……

Shen Qing quickly discovered the biggest advantage of winning over Chen Zhixi: it was incredibly convenient. Sometimes, he could even indulge himself temporarily in the office with the door closed.

The total box office of "The Shallows" has exceeded 1.3 million yuan. Shen Qing organized a celebration banquet. Yang Mi jumped, danced and sang at the banquet. She was very crazy and her excitement was evident.

Yang Mi had drunk too much, and Shen Qing had also drunk quite a bit. The company driver took Yang Mi to her parents' house, and Shen Qing sat in the back seat. Her parents came downstairs to pick her up, and their eyes lit up when they saw Shen Qing personally seeing her off.

Only after her parents helped her into the apartment building did the driver begin to take Shen Qing home.

The next day, Yang Mi finally sobered up and was called by her parents to have breakfast. During the meal, her mother subtly hinted at various things.

"Director Shen Qing must have feelings for you, right?"

"Is there?"

"Don't play dumb, he personally brought you back."

"I made money for him. The media predicts that the final box office will reach 1.6 million, and his company will earn at least tens of millions. So what if he personally drove me home? It's what he should do."

"Honey, you can't be so self-righteous. You need to leave a good impression. What if he starts pursuing you?"

"If I think I'll go for it, I'll just go do what I need to do."

"This child is so unruly. Your father and I think Shen Qing is a pretty good kid, you need to keep an eye on him."

"Okay, okay, I'll take it seriously, alright?"

She turned around and told Shen Qing about her conversation with her parents, laughing incessantly as she spoke.

……

Magical Film Company.

"Lu Chuan's 'Nanjing! Nanjing!' has been filming for several months now, is it still not finished?"

"I heard that filming won't wrap up until next summer."

"Next summer?"

"Here's the plan."

沈青记得这电影是09年上映的，但今年9月18号这电影就开机了，今年9月到08夏天，这是照着10个月来拍的吗？07年开机09年上映，跨度可够长的。

"It's time to start casting for our film 'Nanjing Photo Studio.' I'm taking this movie very seriously, so you should put in some effort too."

"understood."

"I'll film this one after I finish filming 'Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle'."

"If two movies with the same theme are released around the same time, they will definitely be compared. You are much more famous than your senior. If your movie is not as good as his, it will be seen as sacrificing yourself to make him famous."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

……

The final box office figure for "The Shallows" was 1.63 million, which was close to the media's prediction. Moreover, the film's overseas rights sold well. Although it was not as good as films like "Taken", it was still very impressive compared to other domestic films. It grossed about 1300 million US dollars. There was no box office revenue sharing, but it was a huge success relative to the film's cost.

The fact that the overseas rights to the film sold for this price demonstrates that exciting shark-themed thrillers still have a strong market overseas.

Yang Mi's fame skyrocketed after this incident, and various major brands flocked to her seeking endorsements, with her endorsement fees increasing exponentially. Resources that were previously inaccessible are now being offered to her.

She thoroughly enjoys her current state and strongly desires to become even more famous and successful in the future. She doesn't think this will be too difficult, because he will help her.

With the release of "The Shallows" over, Shen Qing officially went to India.

The movie "Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle" is about to start filming.