Chapter 203: Fierce Dragon Crossing the River and Tokyo Specialties

The filming of the Hong Kong portion concluded, and Wei Jin stayed for two days; firstly, because Jing Tian needed to rest, and secondly, to take the opportunity to check on the situation at Golden Harvest.

Thanks to the launch of the *Bodyguards and Assassins* project, Golden Harvest finally caught its breath on the stock market, and the subsequent news that several film copyrights had been purchased by North America's Summit Entertainment stimulated the stock price even further.

Up to this point, Golden Harvest's stock price was already 70% higher than when Wei Jin first took over, which shows just how depressed it had been back then.

Still in that same retro teahouse, Boss Zou took the initiative to invite him.

It was hard to tell if it was because his retirement life was too leisurely or because he saw Golden Harvest regaining its vitality, but Boss Zou was in much better spirits than before.

"Wei Sheng, your plan is correct. I didn't choose wrong; only in your hands does Golden Harvest have a way out."

Currently, several plans targeting Golden Harvest have already been launched, and this old-brand company has indeed shed its previous lifelessness.

Regarding cinema chains, Golden Harvest originally held about 15% of the Hong Kong market share, far inferior to the Broadway Circuit and the UA Cinemas of the Lai Sun Group, and the equipment was relatively old, with not a single IMAX screen.

Since Wei Jin took charge, the cinema chain has not been expanded; after all, the Hong Kong film market is only so big, with annual box office receipts of only 1 billion, so there is no need to continue expanding.

However, the internal equipment is already being upgraded; Golden Harvest currently has a total of 7 cinemas and fewer than 30 screens, which doesn't cost much, but it can greatly boost the confidence of shareholders.

As for films, Wei Jin has already provided several scripts, such as *Cold War*, *Mad Detective*, *Chasing the Dragon*, *Project Gutenberg*, etc. I believe that as the projects gradually advance, Golden Harvest will once again make a name for itself.

"Mr. Zou, this is my promise. Besides, Golden Harvest is my property now, so this is all as it should be."

Wei Jin did not believe that Boss Zou had invited him just to offer praise. He paused and asked, "However, is there something you wanted to see me about this time?"

"Media Asia and Edko Films asked this old man to act as a go-between, hoping to meet with you."

Although he was not on good terms with Lin Jianyue, they were all working in Hong Kong, so it was just a matter of passing on a message, and Boss Zou did not refuse.

"Oh? Lin Jianyue and Jiang Zhiqiang?"

Wei Jin understood. Having spent these years in the entertainment circle, he had gained some understanding of the various factions.

Since entering the new century, the old-brand Hong Kong film companies like Golden Harvest and China Star had gradually declined, followed by the rise of several new forces, the most prominent being Emperor Group, Media Asia, and Edko Films.

The rise of Media Asia was inseparable from the joining of the wealthy tycoon Lin Jianyue. In 2000, under the introduction of Cheng Long, he joined Media Asia, and the following year he acquired most of the shares from the founder Zhong Zaisi, leaping to become the head of Media Asia.

Relying on his wealth and fortune, Media Asia produced several films in just two or three years, including *Infernal Affairs*, *Touwenzi D*, *Breaking News*, and so on.

At one point, he even launched a takeover bid for Golden Harvest on the stock market, which forced Boss Zou to bring in Li Huanggua to help fend off the "barbarian at the gate."

This person has excellent vision and courage. In recent years, he has no longer been confined to the small pond of Hong Kong. After heading north, he collaborated with Huayi on films like *A World Without Thieves*, *The Banquet*, and *Assembly*, and many other co-productions also had the shadow of Media Asia behind them.

Edko Films started out doing overseas distribution. With the great success of *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, they developed a special fondness for large-scale costume epics. *Hero*, *Curse of the Golden Flower*, *House of Flying Daggers*, *Fearless*, *Lust, Caution*, etc., all had investment from Edko Films.

The boss, Jiang Zhiqiang, has a special fondness for great directors and has superb vision. He hasn't missed any works by Li An or Zhang Yimou, including *Monster Hunt*, which achieved over 2 billion in box office in later generations; that was also his handiwork.

As a top commercial director in Mainland China who also controls the rising Shanhe Media, Wei Jin currently has close dealings and a deep relationship with Emperor Group. It is not hard to guess what these two companies are planning.

"Please reply to them for me, Mr. Zou, that the timing is not right. Let's meet when there is an opportunity."

Wei Jin had no desire to deal with these people at all. Not to mention the character of these two, he had Golden Harvest as his base in Hong Kong, Emperor Group as his ally, and a good relationship with Yindu Institution; if there were to be cooperation, it wouldn't be their turn.

At present, these two are enemies rather than friends, and there is a great deal of competition. Plus, as they develop in the Mainland, they will inevitably clash sooner or later, so there was no need to meet.

"This old man understands. Wei Sheng, your thinking is correct; Hong Kong is too small a place to hold so many true dragons." — Wei Jin's refusal to meet soon caused a storm in the Hong Kong Circle. After all, in this territory of Hong Kong, it is rare to see someone who dares to snub both Media Asia and Edko Films at the same time. He truly is a fierce dragon crossing the river.

"Chairman Lin, it seems our plans have fallen through. This kid is really impervious to reason."

Jiang Zhiqiang looked to be around fifty years old, with a scholarly appearance and a somewhat short stature. Even though he had been rejected by Wei Jin, there was no sign of anger on his face.

"It's normal. Wei Jin holds Golden Harvest and has formed an alliance with Emperor Group; he can walk sideways in Hong Kong."

"In the Mainland, it goes without saying; he has deep ties with China Film Group, and Huayi Brothers is nothing in his eyes. Young and frivolous, it is only natural."

Lin Jianyue wore gold-rimmed glasses and had a somewhat stout figure. His appearance looked harmless, but his tightly clenched hands showed that he was not calm.

"President Jiang, since he has refused, we should make our plans. After all, Golden Harvest's output in Hong Kong is limited and doesn't pose a threat. The key is the Mainland; Shanhe Media's output is not small. They have already greenlit five films this year. Will we have any soup left to drink in the future?"

"I understand the logic of what you're saying, but the problem is, who is going to step up to challenge him? Huayi Brothers? The Wang brothers are both cowards. Zhang Weiping of New Picture has also been beaten into submission. You wouldn't be counting on Orange Sky, would you?"

Jiang Zhiqiang counted them off and found that there was no one in the Mainland who could compete with Wei Jin.

They actually didn't necessarily want to go against Wei Jin; they just wanted to seek cooperation. But thinking about it, what did Media Asia and Edko Films have that was worth Wei Jin's time to trade? After pondering for a while, Lin Jianyue also felt there was no good way for now. If the other party won't cooperate, what can you do? Snipe him? You're probably dreaming.

"Let's leave it at that for now. In the future, he will eventually have to face those few companies; we can figure it out then." — *Ip Man 2* had already finished its theatrical run, with a Mainland box office of 238 million, a Hong Kong box office as high as 48 million, and a box office in Southeast Asia reaching 210 million.

This celebration banquet was held on a grand scale, and many guests from all sides attended.

"Boss, is President Wei really not coming?"

Huo Wenxi looked at the scene; the artists from Emperor Group who were worth mentioning were basically all here.

If Wei Jin came, he could at least get familiar with everyone; who knows what opportunities might arise in the future?

"He has already taken the crew to Tokyo for filming. Sigh..."

Boss Yang felt a bit emotional. If he had known the news earlier, he would have insisted on investing.

However, the fact that Wei Jin did not cooperate with the other two companies also made Boss Yang breathe a sigh of relief.

"By the way, what did Jiang Wen want with you earlier?"

"It's like this: Director Jiang said he is working on a script and asked if we want to invest. It's a commercial film, but the script isn't perfected yet."

"Go and reply to him: as for the investment, no problem. Emperor Group will take as much as he has."

"Boss, shouldn't we be more cautious? The last one lost quite a bit..."

Huo Wenxi reminded him. She felt that investing was fine, but they could diversify the risk.

"You, you just don't see clearly. Domestically, it's a director-centered system. Investing in a film is investing in the person. I have high hopes for this man, Jiang Wen."

Boss Yang's tone was unquestionable; he had adhered to this philosophy for all the investments he had made along the way.

"Understood, Boss. I will contact him later."

Huo Wenxi nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps the film industry really was like that.

"By the way, did Danny really say that?" Looking at Zhen Zidan, who was in high spirits and chatting everywhere, Boss Yang's tone was somewhat cold.

"Boss, it's true. For the next one, he wants a salary of 30 million."

With two consecutive huge successes, Emperor Group naturally wanted to start a third installment.

But what Huo Wenxi didn't expect was that the lead actor, Zhen Zidan, would actually open his mouth like a lion.

"You tell him: 10 million. This is my bottom line, and it is the last time he will bargain with me."

Including distribution fees, Emperor Motion Pictures can earn at least 80 million from this film; it is definitely the most profitable series currently in their hands.

As the lead actor, Zhen Zidan requested a slight increase in compensation, which Boss Yang could accept, but asking for 30 million was simply a slap in his face.

"Very well, Boss."

Although the boss did not state the consequences of disagreeing, Huo Wenxi could already imagine them. — After the banquet ended, Zhen Zidan arrived in the car, his expression somewhat gloomy.

The Assistant at his side saw this and hurriedly asked:

"Brother Danny, did Sister Mani not agree?"

"Emperor Motion Pictures is too stingy, only willing to give 10 million; are they trying to dismiss a beggar?"

The offer from Emperor Motion Pictures was too far from his current market value; Zhen Zidan was somewhat indignant, as he felt he had already been reasonable enough.

When filming *Ip Man 1*, he only took a salary of 3 million, and later Boss Yang gave him a 2 million red envelope, so he just accepted it.

But this time the box office was higher, yet his salary only rose to 5 million; according to the contract, the next one would be at most 8 million, which was something he could not accept.

"Brother Danny, what should we do now? Should we agree to it?"

"If I don't agree, what else can I do? Drag it out for now?"

"The copyright belongs to President Wei, perhaps..."

The Assistant's words made Zhen Zidan's eyes light up. — Wei Jin, who was in Tokyo, naturally did not know about the conflict between Emperor Motion Pictures and Zhen Zidan.

The filming here in Tokyo was handled by their long-term partner and distributor, Toho, so Wei Jin did not need to worry too much.

The filming progress was also very smooth; in a few days, the scenes here were almost finished.

Only waiting for the arrival of the last actor to complete his scenes, the film could be declared wrapped.

The person playing the Chinese boyfriend whom the female lead meets in Tokyo this time was Hu Ge.

This could be considered Wei Jin giving Miss Cai an explanation, after all, he had already been "eating" Liu Shishi for such a long time.

Originally, Wei Jin intended to have Liu Shishi play the role of the female lead's roommate, but considering there would be many scenes opposite Jing Tian, there was no need to forcibly create a "shura field," and the other female roles didn't have much screen time, so he gave up on that.

As for the role of the female lead's boyfriend, relatively speaking, it had a few minutes of screen time, and the shooting schedule was quite concentrated, so it wouldn't take up too much of Hu Ge's time; it was considered a pretty good choice.

"President Wei, you finally remembered me."

As soon as they met, Hu Ge gave Wei Jin a hug.

"Hello, Miss Jing Tian, we really have fate; we met in Shanghai last time, and this time we are even playing boyfriend and girlfriend. More importantly, I was also called Jingtian in *Chinese Paladin 3*, haha."

Hu Ge greeted Jing Tian with a somewhat familiar air, but his humor drew a burst of giggles from the young lady; this Li Xiaoyao was too funny.

After some pleasantries, the group returned to the hotel.

That night, Wei Jin took Hu Ge to film the nightclub scenes; there were no special requirements, just to get hyped up, and the filming went very smoothly.

It was just that on the way back, Hu Ge kept complaining that Wei Jin was not acting like a human, not even giving him time to rest, simply squeezing his labor force. — Early the next morning, Wei Jin brought the crew to the hotel that had been decorated in advance.

"Attention everyone, scene 92, take one, action!"

On the monitor screen, Jing Tian and Hu Ge stood at the hotel entrance, the two of them pulling back and forth over who would deliver the box.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going home. I have an exam next Monday, and I still need to take a shower, then read, is that okay?"

As the dialogue between the two progressed, the camera shots and angles were also constantly switching.

The two used Chinese for this scene; throughout the entire film, English dialogue was not used much, only when talking to the big drug lord and some of the underlings in Tokyo.

This large scene looked like it only lasted a few minutes, but it was divided into over a dozen shots during filming, taking a whole half-day to complete.

As the camera switched, Hu Ge was shot and slumped against the hotel glass.

"Cut!"

Wei Jin looked at the footage on the monitor, thought carefully for a moment, nodded, and then picked up the megaphone.

"I announce that *Lucy* has officially wrapped."

In fact, only the Tokyo filming was finished, but the remaining fragmented shots had already been arranged for the assistant director to film before coming to Tokyo, so saying this was completely reasonable.

"Yay..." — That night, under the arrangement of Toho, Wei Jin and the crew held a simple wrap party.

After the banquet ended, the person in charge from Toho specifically communicated with Wei Jin in Japanese; seeing Wei Jin shake his head, the other party was somewhat disappointed.

On the way back to the hotel with the group, Hu Ge asked out of the blue: "Director Wei, what did that little Japanese guy say to you just now?"

Jing Tian was also a bit curious, because everyone had been using English to communicate before.

"He asked if I wanted him to arrange some 'Tokyo specialties,' and I refused."

Wei Jin held Jing Tian's hand and kissed it, the intention of seeking credit couldn't be more obvious.

Jing Tian was also very satisfied upon hearing this, pondering what kind of reward to give her man that night.

Only Hu Ge, after realizing what it meant, let out a wail: "Director Wei, why didn't you ask for my opinion?"

The second update of the day, I humbly request all book friends to provide subscriptions, follow-up reads, bookmarks, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)