Chapter 147: Fan Films and Talent Show Posturing

"Old Zhou, the promotion and distribution are moving along well. Keep it up; I'll approve another ten million for the budget."

Wei Jin's voice carried a hint of excitement, as if he intended to go all out.

The promotion and distribution for *Brotherhood of Blades* had already begun long ago, and China Film Group was cooperating very well; it was Han Dong who was a bit anxious this time.

*Transformers* was truly too ferocious; the box office on its opening day was 24 million, and it hadn't dropped below 20 million on the second or third day.

It had been on screen for only four days, and the box office had easily broken 100 million, shattering the record for the fastest to 100 million held by *Time-Space Cohabitation*.

The key was that tickets for the film were hard to come by, with prices already being scalped to over ten times their value; many scalpers had already made a fortune.

These figures were truly terrifying; the box office would likely head toward 300 million. Many media outlets were speculating that *Transformers* was very likely to take this year's box office championship.

However, regarding the box office explosion of *Transformers*, Wei Jin didn't find it strange at all; childhood nostalgia combined with Hollywood special effects—it was very normal.

Who hadn't watched the *Transformers* cartoon when they were little? Or hadn't bought an Autobot toy? This could actually be considered a fan film.

Major theater chains were already frantically increasing their screening rates, rising every day, and even so, every show was still packed.

Cinemas were raking in money, but many film companies were gripped by panic. If this continued, how would everyone survive in the future?

Seeing Hollywood blockbusters running rampant, Han Sanping was also a bit anxious. Having just taken office this year, he didn't want the box office champion to be an imported film. If that really happened, he would likely become a target of public criticism. That was why he pinned his hopes on *Brotherhood of Blades* to achieve a high box office and give domestic films some confidence.

"Don't worry, President Wei. I guarantee I will complete the mission."

As the director of the company's promotion and distribution department, Zhou Wen had handled the promotion and distribution for many films over the past two years and was highly experienced. As long as the funding was sufficient, he was confident in winning this battle.

Not noticing his boss's abnormality, Zhou Wen said goodbye and left.

"Boss, you almost suffocated me."

The voice of the assistant, Xiaobai, came from under the desk; what just happened had given her quite a scare.

Having finished the filming duties for *Scarlet Heart*, Xiaobai naturally continued to serve in the role of assistant, and work in the office was naturally unavoidable; who would have thought she would forget to lock the door today.

"Continue, don't stop."

Over the past year, Bai Bin had become accustomed to Wei Jin's control and could be said to be completely obedient. Hearing this, she began to bury her head in her work again.

Feeling Xiaobai's dedicated service, Wei Jin felt very satisfied. While his body experienced pleasure, his mind also began to organize his thoughts.

*The Martian* had been sent to Digital Domain for post-production a few days ago, accompanied by a group of employees from Shanhe Ink for advanced training.

*Twilight* had also been released in North America. Summit Entertainment had truly made up its mind to conquer the Summer Slot, completely disregarding the numerous competitors, vowing to make a grand impression.

The film was scheduled for June 29th, and its opening weekend box office reached 72 million in three days, directly becoming the North American weekly box office champion, shocking the Hollywood Six Majors. With this box office momentum, it had the potential to become one of the top ten Hollywood box office hits of the year.

Subsequent developments were indeed as such; the second-week box office reached 85 million. The early explosive power of fan films was truly too strong. As of now, it had been on screen for 17 days, with a North American box office of 188 million, and the overseas box office was also very impressive; the box office in Europe, Canada, South America, and other places alone had already reached 150 million USD.

As for the domestic release, Wei Jin estimated it would have to wait until around September. The main reason was that there were simply too many Hollywood blockbusters this year, and China Film Group couldn't even schedule them all. Seeing that *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* was being released in August, the industry was practically wailing.

Professor Cao Baoping's film post-production had been completed, but the schedule for the second half of the year was a bit crowded, and Wei Jin hadn't decided when to release it yet.

*Scarlet Heart* had also wrapped up filming and was currently in post-production. Many television stations had already started making offers, but Wei Jin was not in a hurry.

*Let's Get Married* had officially started filming in June. This urban fashion drama was not complicated to shoot, and it was expected to wrap up by the end of August.

*The Empress of China* had also been approved for production, and the preliminary preparations and casting had been completed. Taiwan had pushed many artists into it, which was a prerequisite for the cooperation, and Wei Jin did not intervene.

The second season of *Boys and Girls Rush Forward* had already aired, and the ratings were still good. Beijing TV was very satisfied with this program, and their previous payments had been very prompt.

Wei Jin suddenly remembered that it seemed he hadn't experienced Liu Yan's talents for a long time, and he was still missing it in his heart. He secretly thought that having too many women made it easy to neglect some, so it seemed that unlocking a multi-person combination was imperative.

Looking at Xiaobai, who was still working, he had an idea in his heart; the assistant camp could be a good place to start.

Patting Xiaobai's head, Wei Jin signaled that she could proceed to the next step of work—the hottest talent shows this year were *Super Boy* and *My Hero*. He didn't know if Mango TV and Shanghai TV had discussed it, but both had started doing male talent shows this year.

However, these types of talent shows were somewhat pandering to male beauty. At the very least, the Hong Kong artist Wu Junru, who was invited as a judge by Mango TV, would occasionally take advantage of the contestants.

The host of *Happy Camp*, Xie La, was also having a heated rumor with the contestant Zhang Jie. Wei Jin didn't know how the latter had taken a fancy to Xie La, but even though the two became a couple later, as far as the current situation was concerned, Wei Jin personally thought that Zhang Jie had some intention of climbing the social ladder.

Huayi had even spent a large sum of money to sign the champion and the third-place winner of Shanghai TV's *My Hero*, and even touted that the champion Jing Boran had the potential of Li Ming, which was truly going too far.

*Super Boy* and *My Hero* were just the most popular talent shows in the eyes of the audience. If one were to talk about the most watched in the industry, it had to be the *Dream of the Red Chamber* talent show.

After going back and forth for a year on the talent show for the leads, they finally got the results, but the production team didn't acknowledge them, playing the participants around in circles and getting free hype for a year. This kind of operation was truly one of a kind.

On the contrary, the supporting roles that were determined in advance were very stable. It was no wonder that as a core member of Rongxinda, Yang Mi would be selected for a supporting role in advance.

However, this was not strange. Adaptations of classic literature had always been highly regarded in the industry. For this new version of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, China Film Group was the largest investor, but China Film Group did not intervene in casting, so other investors had many ideas. At the very least, Emperor Motion Pictures had many ideas because it had too many artists under its name.

Compared to talent shows, putting on a show could be considered the traditional skill of companies in the industry.

The recent battle for artists had also been quite intense. Cheng Tian had signed many artists, the most notable being Tang Yan from the 2002 class of the Central Academy of Drama. Not long after signing, she was arranged to develop in Hong Kong and even starred in *Tiger, Stick, Chicken*, and held a film wrap-up press conference some time ago.

However, Wang Jinhua was in a bit of a bind. She brought many artists and her agent team to join Cheng Tian. On the surface, she was the artist director of Cheng Tian, but the artists signed by Cheng Tian were not handed over to her for management, and their contracts were signed directly with the company.

This was exactly the same as when she was at Huayi. Coupled with Fan Bingbing establishing her own Studio, the hearts of the artists under her were becoming increasingly wild. This former number one agent in the country no longer knew where the road ahead lay.

Facing what seemed to be a provocative act from an old rival, Huayi announced that the set of *The Forbidden Kingdom* would be open for visits, while simultaneously releasing many behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the filming. The promotional effect was immediately maxed out, and for a time, they were unrivaled, as if proving to the market once again that Huayi was the boss of private film and television companies—what was Cheng Tian? However, this news reminded Wei Jin that he still owed a little girl a set visit. Today's second update, I earnestly request all book friends to reward with a subscription, follow-up reading, and collection. Please flip to the last page for the follow-up reading, thank you everyone! There will only be two updates during these few days of the holiday; I need to take care of my child, there's really no way around it. I will make up for it after the festival, please forgive me!

(End of chapter)