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

July 19th, noon, Magical Film Company.

Shen Qing and Chen Zhixi sat on the sofa chatting. She wanted to sign Li Yitong into the company as well. When filming "My Love from the Star", Chen Zhixi often visited the set and had a good impression of the girl who played the young Song Lan (Cheon Song-yi).

Shen Qing strongly supports Chen Zhixi's idea. In Shen Qing's mind, Li Yitong is a very useful tool. In the future, when encountering roles that are difficult to decide on, as long as the age is right, she will generally be fine.

Just then, Shen Qing's phone, which was on the coffee table, vibrated, and the office immediately fell silent. Chen Zhixi stared at Shen Qing's phone, momentarily forgetting the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

"Don't you think so?"

Shen Qing asked a question out of the blue.

Chen Zhixi smiled knowingly and replied, "At this time, definitely!"

Shen Qing took the phone and opened the text message. Sure enough, it was the latest box office data sent by the distributor, China Film Group. Shen Qing glanced at it and smiled, "Good news. Let's go out for lunch."

He handed his phone to Chen Zhixi, who took it and saw that the text message showed that as of 24:00 on the 18th, the domestic box office of the movie "Little Lolita's Kung Fu Uncle" had officially exceeded 300 million yuan, reaching 3.02 million yuan.

Actually, everyone was mentally prepared. After the box office statistics came out on the 17th, everyone knew that if nothing unexpected happened, it should break the 3 million mark on the 18th. But when we actually saw the news, we were still incredibly excited.

After all, this is the first domestic film to gross over 3 million yuan.

Shen Qing got up, pulled a mask from her desk and put it on, then grabbed her sunglasses. Chen Zhixi had already stood up as well, touched the hem of her uniform skirt, and the two of them went out to celebrate, chatting and laughing.

……

July 21, China Film Group Corporation, Chairman's Office.

Han Sanping stared at last week's North American box office chart on the computer screen, almost unable to look away.

Last weekend, "Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle" earned another $1520 million at the box office, ranking third. As of 24:7 local time on July 20, the cumulative box office in North America was $2.07 million, and the global box office excluding Greater China was $3.5 million.

Not counting the 3.5 million in Greater China!

The film has only been released for three weeks, and the daily box office is not as exaggerated now, but even excluding Greater China, there is still a very high probability that it will break the $4 million mark.

Even though it's a Sino-US co-production, this is still an exciting achievement.

"We still need to go for a big production!"

Han Sanping was eager to try, but then he thought of the latest films that Shenqi Films had filed, and his enthusiasm waned.

"The Unknown" is a crime comedy film set in an urban environment.

The script was actually quite good, but given the global success of "Little Girl's Kung Fu Uncle," a film with an investment of only 20 to 30 million, which was unlikely to be a box office hit overseas, seemed completely out of place.

Yu Dong from Bernard has been calling me every day these past few days, wanting to get involved in Shen Qing's next movie, preferably a big-budget production.

There's also Wang Changtian from Enlight Media, and even Wang Zhonglei from Huayi Brothers Media. Everyone was watching Shen Qing's new project, but he just came up with a mere urban script that only required an investment of 20 to 30 million.

Twenty or thirty million US dollars isn't much!

……

"Mr. Shen, what's our next movie about?" Chen Zhixi asked.

Shen Qing didn't understand why Chen Zhixi, as the company's vice president, could ask such a question. "The Nameless" had already been filed for approval, so why ask what to film?

"Mr. Shen, what I mean is, the whole industry knows what the appetizers are, but what's the main course?"

Chen Zhixi sat opposite Shen Qing, her sideways crossed posture appearing very elegant, coupled with a pleasing smile, making Shen Qing unable to help but glance at her a few more times.

"The Unknown is the main course; I really like the script."

"Oh." Chen Zhixi was skeptical.

"However, there can certainly be elaborate meals in addition to regular meals."

After keeping everyone in suspense, Shen Qing looked at Chen Zhixi's surprised and delighted expression and said with satisfaction.

"Boss, what's the big meal?"

In her excitement, Chen Zhixi even changed how she addressed Shen Qing.

"I'll write it right away," Shen Qing said.

After Chen Zhixi left the office, Shen Qing sat back in her boss's chair, opened Word, and prepared to formally write her next major film.

The year after next, at the beginning of 2010, the film industry had a great opportunity: Cameron redefined 3D movies with Avatar, and 20th Century Fox invested heavily to help cinemas around the world upgrade digital projectors and 3D equipment. It can be said that the day Avatar was released was the true starting point for the popularization of 3D cinemas!

After the release of Avatar, 3D cinemas and 3D screens will rapidly become widespread. It educated audiences, created an extremely strong demand for 3D movie viewing, and the market is extremely hungry for it.

Alice in Wonderland is a pseudo-3D movie converted from 2D to 3D, but because it caught the wave created by Avatar and was released right after Avatar, it was able to rake in a whopping $3.34 million at the North American box office, and its global box office reached a staggering $10.25 billion.

In Shen Qing's view, this movie was simply a pig standing on the cusp of a trend. Once the 3D craze subsided, its sequel's North American box office plummeted from $3.34 million to $7700 million, and its global box office dropped from over $10 billion for the first film to less than $3 million for the second.

It's fair to say that with the 3D craze fading, Alice in Wonderland 2 is swimming naked.

This movie is indeed a pig standing on the cusp of a trend, but the 10 billion US dollars in global box office is no joke. Shen Qing also wants to be such a fat flying pig; he also wants to stand on the cusp of a trend and take off!

So of course he had to make a 3D movie! A real 3D movie!

So, which 3D movie should we make?

The 3D effects in "Gravity" and "Life of Pi" are widely recognized as excellent, with many shots designed specifically for 3D effects, and all of them have been certified by Cameron himself.

But Shen Qing just finished filming an Indian movie, so he can't possibly film another new movie starring an Indian actor, can he?

However, Gravity also has its problems. It is almost a one-woman show, and in China, no actress has the status to carry such a big-budget film on her own.

It will cost at least $7000 million, plus at least $4000-5000 million in advertising expenses, bringing the total cost to nearly $1.2 million.

Which Chinese actress can carry a film with such a large investment and shoulder the responsibility of bringing audiences from all over the world to theaters?

No.

not a single one!

Gong Li is no good, Zhang Ziyi is no good, Fan Bingbing is no good, and Li Bingbing is even worse. If these people are no good, then the others are even worse!

So if we don't make this one, are there any other options?

Filming "The Martian" is the easiest.

This movie is described as a space film, but most of the plot actually takes place on the ground. The surface of Mars and the interior of the base are also ground, with gravity, so the protagonists can move around as if they were on land, which makes filming very simple.

The Martian surface can be depicted using real-world scenery combined with some CG effects; finding a Martian-like landscape in Northwest China is relatively easy. Spaceships, landers, rovers, and other props can be made into exquisite miniature models. In short, while this movie is described as a sci-fi blockbuster, it's actually not particularly complex to film. It's the easiest sci-fi film to shoot among the ones Shen Qing had previously scouted, besides *Prototype*.

But the problem is that it really didn't need to be filmed in 3D. There are no grand cosmic scenes, nor any amazing shots designed specifically for 3D effects that would make the audience instinctively reach out to grab or block. Essentially, this movie is just a talkative nerd sitting in a greenhouse listening to music and growing potatoes.

The movie is good, but it doesn't fully utilize the advantages of 3D movies. What Shen Qing needs most right now is a script that can truly leverage the advantages of 3D movies, so he can become the pig riding the wave of the upcoming 3D craze.

He wants to make the world's first 3D movie after Avatar, a true 3D movie, not a pseudo-3D movie!

So even though "Gravity" might have issues with casting a female lead, and the female lead's box office appeal might be insufficient, this film is still Shen Qing's first choice.

So, "Gravity" is the one, provided we can secure investment!

Now that the goal has been set, the next step is to write the script.

The comic book version of "Gravity" has been published in the United States and has gained a certain popularity, even earning Shen Qing a lot of US dollars. However, the American comic book version is a direct copy of the original movie plot, and Shen Qing did not make any changes.

It tells the story of Dr. Ryan Stone, who escaped to the Tiangong space station in China after the space station was damaged, and eventually returned to Earth using the return capsule inside the Tiangong.

Shen Qingfa's purpose in releasing the comic version is to reserve a spot. If the plot is changed rashly and becomes a different story from the original movie, wouldn't its effect of reserving a spot be weakened?

But now that we're going to officially film this movie, some things have to be changed.

Shen Qing wants to film a story about China, so the female lead needs to be changed to a Chinese actress.

Another question is, where will the female protagonist escape from and where will she go?

The original film tells the story of a woman who escapes to China's Tiangong space station after the American space station is damaged and returns to Earth using China's Shenzhou spacecraft.

If we want to translate it into Chinese now, simply swapping the plot would be the easiest way.

The female protagonist encounters danger at China's Tiangong space station and escapes to the International Space Station, where the crew has already been evacuated. Around 2010, the International Space Station returned via a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The female protagonist enters the Soyuz and finds that all the signs are in Russian, which she cannot understand. This corresponds to the female protagonist in the original movie who could not understand the Chinese signs on the Shenzhou spacecraft, which is exactly the same plot.

This is the simplest way to make the change.

But Shen Qing felt that the taste was not quite right.

The original movie probably gave American audiences the impression that the International Space Station, which is led by the US, is the most advanced. After the International Space Station malfunctions, the American female protagonist is very brave and resourceful, using the outdated Chinese space station to return home.

China is still catching up in space. If the story were designed so that the female protagonist escapes to the International Space Station after the Tiangong space station is damaged, and then returns using Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, it would seem to Chinese audiences that: we are ultimately not as good as the established space powers. Our Tiangong space station has a problem, and we need better equipment from the US and Russia to return to Earth.

The same storyline evokes different psychological feelings in audiences of the two countries because their space programs are at different stages of development.

Furthermore, would escaping to international space and then returning via a Russian spacecraft increase the sense of immersion for American viewers? Using a Russian spacecraft for the return doesn't seem to make much sense to American audiences either; the Americans can't do it all, they rely on Russia in crucial moments!

Would simply changing the nationality of the space station the female lead escapes to to the US-led International Space Station and assigning the spacecraft's nationality to Russia help the film's North American box office? Shen Qing thinks it might not be so. Adding a well-known American actress would make more sense, but this film only has one female lead.

Then Shen Qing naturally came up with another solution.

Design a space station called Tianque, based on the Tiangong space station.

Then, based on Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, design a Tianque Generation 1.

The first generation of Tianque has just completed its last experimental mission, and the personnel have been evacuated, leaving behind a return capsule.

After the female protagonist is unable to return to Earth due to damage to the Tianque space station, she escapes to the Tianque Generation 1, which is about to complete its historical mission and retire gloriously. She then uses the return capsule on the Tianque Generation 1 to return to Earth.

In this way, the story becomes China's independent rescue, and it also shows the inheritance relationship between the two generations of space stations. The older generation of space stations, despite their age, still play an important role at the critical moment. This is very much in line with the emotional characteristics of the Chinese people. This emotional core of "old generals never die, and the torch is passed on" is also more local.

The emotion it evokes in the audience will far outweigh the relief of surviving by escaping to someone else's territory.

Once the direction of the adaptation was determined, the rest was simple. Shen Qing completed the script in less than three days.

……

"The big meal has arrived, let's take it and register it first."

Shen Qing sent a copy of the completed script to Chen Zhixi and made arrangements.

Then, just a few days later, Shen Qing was invited to China Film Group.

In fact, Han Sanping knew what kind of story it was without even reading the script. He had read the comic book version of "Gravity," and the reason why the comic book version was able to be published in the United States was because of Han's help.

He simply glanced at the script to determine the differences between it and the comic, then handed the script back to Shen Qing.

How much money are you planning to spend to bring this story in the script to life?

"The production cost alone is seventy to eighty million US dollars. If you include the publicity costs during the film's release, it will be around 1.2 million US dollars."

After answering, Shen Qing asked Han Sanping curiously, "President Han, how's the script?"

Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?

Han Sanping made a rare move and showed a bit of humor.

"Of course it's the truth." Shen Qing answered without hesitation.

"The truth is, even if it were you, Shen Qing, with this script, I wouldn't invest any money in it, no matter who else did it!"

Shen Qing: "?"

Han Sanping nodded and said, "Surprised? Before this, all the Chinese films that were commercially successful internationally were, without exception, martial arts films, kung fu films, and action films. Art films might sell some rights, but other genres were really not doing well. Romance films and comedies might occasionally have some success, but there hasn't been a single influential science fiction film!"

Shen Qing nodded; Han Sanping was telling the truth.

Han Sanping continued, "This isn't even a question of whether Chinese-language science fiction films can succeed in the world; it's that nobody in China is making films in this genre! I ask you, how many Chinese-language science fiction films can you name? If you make other genres and they fail overseas, at least they can succeed domestically. But when it comes to science fiction, there aren't even any examples of domestically produced science fiction that have succeeded in China, let alone abroad."

Shen Qing nodded. He was confident in "Gravity," but what Han Sanping said also made sense.

Han Sanping continued, "1.2 million US dollars to make a film that Chinese-language films have never succeeded in, or even explored deeply, whether domestically or internationally. If it weren't for you, Shen Qing, tell me how I could believe you could succeed?"

Shen Qing asked, "Is China Film Group still investing?"

Han Sanping said decisively, "Throw!"