Chapter 165: Legend of Sword and Fairy 3

When Zhang Li received the notification from the company, her entire being was filled with immense surprise; she truly had not expected the boss to be so efficient, and she couldn't help but secretly feel glad about her decision.

This was, after all, the sequel to "Legend of Sword and Fairy"; although the viewership ratings weren't considered high when it first aired, the response it stirred up on the internet was not small, and the actors who performed in it had all become popular, even launching a currently trending young actor like Hu Ge.

Although she was only the second female lead, Director Zhang had said that as long as the role was performed well, it would also be very brilliant; after all, the boss's eye for talent had never once failed.

Fantasizing about her life after becoming famous, Zhang Li took out her phone and sent a text message to Wei Jin.

That same night, Wei Jin experienced the luxury package service brought by super-long beautiful legs + textured black silk stockings; the specific content belonged to a VIP paid item—"So, you're saying President Cai really went to invite Yifei?"

In the office, Wei Jin looked at Hu Ge sitting opposite him, feeling somewhat surprised.

He truly had not expected President Cai to be so stubborn; the result was as one might imagine, she was sternly rejected by Liu Xiaoli.

Are you kidding? The female lead of a 70-million-dollar big-budget movie coming to make a cameo or star in a TV drama for you?

"Yeah, I told President Cai before that it wasn't reliable and told her not to waste her efforts, but she insisted on trying."

When Hu Ge spoke of this matter, he also had a helpless look on his face; it was an obvious thing, yet she insisted on looking for trouble.

"What are you here for this time? You aren't just here to see me, are you?"

Wei Jin did know that "Legend of the Condor Heroes" had already wrapped up filming; this drama had taken over a year from start to finish, so it could be considered a case of "good things come to those who wait."

"I came to handle some private matters, and by the way, complete the task President Cai entrusted me with."

While speaking, Hu Ge handed over a script; having known Wei Jin for a long time, he wasn't as restrained as before.

"This is?"

Looking at "Republic Strange Records" on the cover, Wei Jin was somewhat surprised; what was President Cai up to? "It's President Cai's idea, she wants you to help take a look."

Tangren was starting to venture into the film circle, and Hu Ge naturally supported it, as it meant it would be easier for him to transition to the film circle in the future; there wasn't an actor who didn't want to star in movies.

"President Cai really has a good plan, tsk tsk. Fine, today for your sake, I'll take a look."

Wei Jin couldn't help but complain about President Cai a couple of times, then immediately opened the script and began to read.

"Then thank you so much, I, Lao Hu, have some face in front of President Wei now, haha."

A few minutes later, Wei Jin put down the script in his hand, feeling somewhat moved; there really are masters among the common people.

"The script is not bad; the suspense, thrills, and plot twists are all done very well. The screenwriter has talent. Tell President Cai that it can be done."

"That's great, I reckon President Cai can sleep well this time."

Hu Ge's words carried a bit of flattery; Wei Jin's eye for talent was famous in the industry for being accurate.

"Alright, is the person in the photo your girlfriend?"

Wei Jin didn't chat further on that topic, but was instead somewhat interested in what the reporters had photographed.

"She's an ex-girlfriend; we've already broken up. I came over just to handle this matter."

Hu Ge's complexion was somewhat ugly, and a sense of decadence emanated from him.

"It's been four years; I'm the one who failed her, I was too cowardly..."

Hu Ge's desire to confide was somewhat strong, but as an outsider, Wei Jin found it difficult to offer an opinion on such matters, so he had to change the subject.

"By the way, how is the preparation for 'Legend of Sword and Fairy 3' going?"

"Uh... currently, we've only submitted the script; I estimate we won't start preparations until after the New Year."

Interrupted by Wei Jin in his attempt to confide, Hu Ge was stunned for a moment, still not having reacted.

"The efficiency of your President Cai is truly low." "Who's to say it isn't? Women are just troublesome when doing things."

After complaining about his own company with Wei Jin, Hu Ge instantly felt much better. — Time entered January, and news arrived one after another from the south; the situation was not very optimistic.

Wei Jin also called upon the company's artists to donate money; he couldn't control the ordinary employees, but as public figures, they had to show responsibility.

Over these years, Wei Jin donated to several Hope Primary Schools every year; it was actually very cheap, as in remote areas, the cost of building a primary school was no more than one million, which was not too difficult for the current Wei Jin.

At first, he did these things with a certain purpose, but after so many years, receiving photos sent by school leaders and seeing the students whose fates had changed because of him, a soft spot in his heart was deeply touched, and so he persisted in doing it.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Jin took out his phone and dialed a number: "Hello, President Shen, help me donate all the royalties from 'The Martian' to the victims of the snow disaster."

On the other end of the line, Shen Haobo was startled and couldn't quite believe it:

"Are you sure? This is not a small sum."

The physical sales of "The Martian" had already exceeded two million copies, and the English version's sales in North America were also not low; moreover, the royalty share he received this time was 18%, which had already placed him in the ranks of top-tier writers.

The book was divided into two volumes, with a single-book price of 20 yuan; the royalties alone were probably over ten million, and there was still about six or seven million yet to be collected.

"Yeah, donate it. There are plenty of opportunities to make money, I don't care about this bit."

In fact, Wei Jin didn't know how much the royalties were either; he wasn't short of money now and hadn't paid much attention to it at all.

"Alright then, I'll send the news to a few media outlets. Do you want to hold a press conference?"

"Forget it, there's no need. Don't make it look like I'm grandstanding. Just leave it at that."

As things stood, Wei Jin didn't need to build any particular persona for himself; on the contrary, it was better not to be overly prominent, because the highest donation record in the literary world was only five million.

In fact, the first moment the disaster occurred, the company had already donated 30 million; it wasn't that they didn't want to donate more, but they were afraid of embarrassing other companies in the industry, and Han Dong had also hinted at this to him.

Actually, regarding the matter of donations, there had been quite a bit of discussion online these days; there really were big-name stars who only donated a hundred thousand or so.

Regarding this, Wei Jin had some feelings; since celebrity artists occupied public resources and enjoyed convenience, they naturally needed to bear the public's comments—the so-called "if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight."

Many stars compare their status, their styling, their popularity, their schedules, their pay, and who is the bigger name; now that it's time to donate, saying that charity cannot be compared—isn't that nonsense?

However, Wei Jin didn't force anyone; the artists under the company also donated voluntarily, most of them donating one or two hundred thousand, while a few with high incomes like Qiao Zhenyu and Chen Xiao donated 2 million.

Wei Jin also expressed his understanding; one should do what one is capable of. The income of stars during this period was not yet too outrageous.

Generally speaking, a first-tier actress would only make 80,000-100,000 per episode of a TV drama, and the Four Dan Double Bing were around 150,000-200,000, far from the level of 208,000 per day later on.

However, Wei Jin didn't need to care about his own donation; he wasn't an artist, so he figured it wouldn't cause any public opinion pressure on them. — The large-scale snow disaster in the country also had a huge impact on the film market; most people wouldn't even step out of their doors, let alone go to watch movies.

How serious the disaster was could be seen from the freezing of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; this was the first time anyone had seen that.

Under this powerful wind and snow, "The Warlords" stalled; after being in theaters for over twenty days, the box office barely crossed the 200 million threshold and couldn't run any further.

The investment in the promotion and distribution of this film was huge; the premiere press conferences alone were held in five places: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, but although it was said to be a global release, it was actually just the Southeast Asian region.

Unfortunately, the powerful promotion and distribution work did not bring any results, and the audience didn't buy it; with an investment of 40 million US dollars, the global box office was only 42.8 million US dollars.

The key question is, where did such a large investment go? Counting it all up, the director and actors didn't receive a penny less than they were owed; Chen Kexin even used this to step into the 200 Million Club, and only the production company lost money.

Public opinion regarding the film crew embezzling money boiled over once again, and directors from the Hong Kong Circle were suddenly subjected to significant questioning.

In contrast, for Assembly, the box office settled at 280 million, and on the day it was pulled from theaters, Huayi held a grand celebration banquet.

Feng Dapao became the third director in the country to join the 200 Million Club, following Zhang Yimou and Wei Jin; for a time, he was riding high and was the center of attention. The second update of the day, I earnestly request all fellow readers to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up readings, and bookmarks. Please flip to the very last page for the follow-up reading, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)