Chapter 177: The Forbidden Kingdom and Shanhe Media

The President of Huayi Brothers pointed at the landscape on stage, seemingly full of confidence in the film, bluntly stating that the box office floor for this movie was 50 million USD.

If the global box office was lower than 40 million USD, then it would be considered an investment failure; if it could reach 70 million USD, then a sequel would definitely be arranged.

The film began to play, and everyone watched very attentively; after all, it was the first collaboration between two major Kung Fu superstars.

Wei Jin was also watching, but in his heart, he began to mutter about what he should say later.

As a great commercial film director, Ning Hao's appreciation ability went without saying; at this moment, his brows were already tightly furrowed, and he whispered his complaints to Wei Jin:

"Two major Kung Fu superstars, and they came up with a story like this? It doesn't match the previous promotion at all."

"It's normal. Co-productions are just like this; they have to cater to the aesthetics of both sides, which inevitably means pleasing neither. However, the director is Western, so the script is still more inclined toward Western aesthetics. Haven't you noticed that the foreigners are all watching quite intently?"

Upon hearing this, Ning Hao turned his head to look around, and it really was like that; the domestic guests generally had low spirits, while the foreigners were watching with great interest.

The film ended, and many people began to applaud.

During the reporter interview session, Li Lianjie's answers appeared much more objective:

"I am also an investor in the film; as for the question of a sequel, it still depends on the film's word-of-mouth."

In the guest commentary session, most of the foreign actors and filmmakers gave good evaluations.

It was not easy for domestic peers or artists to comment, so most picked a few nice things to say regarding irrelevant aspects like special effects, action, and visuals.

As the number one commercial director in the country, Wei Jin was naturally also asked, and Ning Hao was curious about how he would answer.

"The director filmed it well, and the actors were also very good. Just regarding this script alone, I wouldn't have been able to film it better than Director Ming Kefu."

Wei Jin's words were very tactful, and since there was no deep hatred, why bother looking for trouble for himself? He believed everyone could understand the meaning behind his words.

Sure enough, Ning Hao gave Wei Jin a thumbs-up from the side; high, truly high.

Cheng Long and Li Lianjie on stage also smiled somewhat helplessly. Having been in the industry for so many years, how could they not understand where the shortcomings of this film lay? They were even somewhat grateful for Wei Jin's statement; at least it wasn't their problem. —— "Not bad, you kid can indeed direct now. Have you made a detailed budget?"

Wei Jin looked at the storyboard in his hand; he hadn't expected Lu Yang's efficiency to be quite high, and in terms of martial arts films, he really had some level of skill.

"I've done it. If there are no big-name stars involved, 6 million is enough."

Having received approval, more smiles appeared on Lu Yang's face.

"Hmm, how are you considering the actors?"

This film had a very small budget, and the lead needed martial arts skills, so he could only look outside.

"For the male lead, I think Wu Yue is good; he's cheap and easy to use, and his appearance is also more fitting for the character."

Lu Yang had already performed many character simulations in his head over these days, and facing Wei Jin's inquiry, he spoke right up.

"Mm, that's fine. As for the other roles, just arrange for company artists."

Zhang Xu had already reacted more than once that many of the company's projects were not given to their own people; if this continued, the signed artists would have grievances.

This was also the reason why Wei Jin didn't want to develop artist management; there were simply too many aspects to take into account. However, this low-budget film was a good opportunity. Besides, Jiang Shuying hadn't had any particularly good roles given to her, so this time, he would give her the female lead of the film. Although her screen time wasn't much, for her, having only debuted for 2 years, it was definitely a big sweet treat. —— On April 18, *The Forbidden Kingdom* was released in North America first, and the word-of-mouth was actually quite good.

According to the data released by Huayi, whether in North America or Southeast Asia, the box office was at the top of the charts.

The overseas box office results also made Huayi Brothers full of confidence, and the main creators prepared to start a tight roadshow promotion.

In Beijing, inside a villa, Liu Yifei was packing her things.

"Xixi, what is going on with Wei Jin? Why does he bring that little girl named Jing Tian to every red carpet?"

Liu Xiaoli had looked at the photos of Jing Tian stealing the spotlight on the red carpet more than once in the past two days. After hesitating for a long time, she finally asked: "Oh, Tian Tian is a relative of Brother Wei Jin from his hometown. Plus, I have to walk with the crew, so I brought her along."

Liu Yifei didn't dare tell her mother that Jing Tian was her competitor; she didn't want to deal with external enemies while also worrying about internal relatives holding her back.

"Then what did Wei Jin say about the Studio?"

In order to buy back the shares of Red Star Dock, Liu Xiaoli had almost fallen out with Zhang Jizhong, and she had paid a not-insignificant price.

"Mm, Brother said to wait for a while, and at that time, he will give me a signing gift."

Liu Yifei's face carried a few traces of longing; the man did have her in his heart after all, and she didn't know what the gift would be.

"Sigh, I even regret letting you enter this line of work. Seeing that you haven't rested for a few days, you have to run promotions again, and then you have to enter a crew to film; it's too hard."

"It's okay, Mom. I think it's quite good. Alright, enough talk, I should set off."

Liu Yifei finished packing, took her Assistant, and began the roadshow journey for *The Forbidden Kingdom*. —— On the same day, Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company released a public announcement: Due to business expansion needs, the company is officially renamed Shanhe Media Group Co., Ltd. effective immediately.

For a time, the industry discussed whether Wei Jin's company had any big moves again. Actually, there really weren't any; it was just business integration. Besides, Chen Zhiming had complained to Wei Jin more than once that the company name wasn't very serious, and with the increase in business volume and the rise in industry status, it should have a more resounding name.

Chen Zhiming's words were also very reasonable. Last year, the total domestic box office was 4.8 billion, and what Wei Jin's company produced or invested in accounted for nearly 1.3 billion, more than a quarter of the market share; it was the undisputed number one private company.

Wei Jin pondered for a while and settled on the two characters "Shanhe" (Mountains and Rivers); only when the mountains and rivers are safe can there be the "Wei Jin Fengliu" (Wei Jin's romantic style).

Of course, the group structure also underwent some changes. The original six major departments, namely the Variety Production Department, Music Production Department, Television Production Department, Film Production Department, Artist Management Department, and Publicity and Distribution Department, remained unchanged, but an Animation Production Department, Public Relations Department, and Screenwriting Department were added.

The original Publicity and Distribution Department had public relations responsibilities within it, but with the expansion of the company and the increase in artists, external public relations had become a task that could not be ignored, so taking advantage of the group integration, a new department was established separately.

The Animation Production Department was a completely newly established department. With the gradual rise of the internet and online literature, the animation industry would usher in a peak, and Wei Jin could be considered to have laid the groundwork in advance.

At the same time, many technologies of Shanhe Sleepy Hollow Special Effects Company could also be directly grafted and used in animation production, which could be considered killing multiple birds with one stone.

As for the Screenwriting Department, it was expanded from the previous Screenwriting Center. Wei Jin knew deeply that even though the company's momentum was strong now, to maintain its industry advantage, high-quality content was the core competitiveness. Over the years, he had also continuously recruited relevant talent to enrich the company's foundation.

In addition, the group has wholly-owned subsidiaries: Shanhe Ink, Shanhe Cinema Line, and Shanhe Technology.

Shanhe Technology was the upgrade of the Shanhe Games Studio, currently mainly responsible for the gaming business and Yinxiang Net; its future positioning would be an internet technology company.

Regarding external investment matters, Wei Jin still mainly used Qingtian Capital; this was his other basic foundation.

Currently, all of Wei Jin's related industries have been relocated to the new headquarters building — Shanhe Building. A towering entertainment empire is rising. The second update of the day; I implore all book friends to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up readings, collections, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets. Thank you all! (End of chapter)