Chapter 212: New Record, Bad Move, Profits, and Galloping Horses

Before the New Year's Day holiday had even passed, Zhang Ziyi stirred up trouble again.

A large number of photos and videos leaked, ruining her reputation domestically and sparking a wave of online abuse.

"Is she really that desperate?"

"She's even brought her shame abroad."

"In full public view, in broad daylight—how is this any different from an animal? The state of public morality is truly declining."

It was no wonder the netizens were cursing so harshly; the content was truly too explicit. Even Wei Jin felt it was a bit too wild after seeing it.

A red bikini, lying down to sunbathe, and then taking off the top while doing so.

She was clearly applying sunscreen, but as she went on, things became inappropriate. "Mei Lanfang" and "The Martian" were instantly brought back into the spotlight, though mostly due to negative influence.

Chen Shiren was so angry that he simply pulled "Mei Lanfang" from theaters, with the box office stalling at 108 million.

However, Wei Jin knew clearly in his heart that there were certainly many "pushing hands" behind the scenes for this matter to spread so quickly.

One must know that the competition between female stars in the country is far more ruthless than that between male artists; to suppress a rival, any means can be used.

Furthermore, there might even be people wanting to use this opportunity to target Shanhe Media and "The Martian." One must know that there have been many people green with envy over these years.

Fortunately, although she was the lead actress in name in "The Martian," most people were not there for her, so the impact was not yet too great.

The New Year's Day holiday ended, and the box office reached 640 million; the three-day holiday still brought in a lot of traffic.

Benefiting from the gimmick of a sci-fi special effects blockbuster, although many pirated versions had already appeared on the market, audiences were still willing to enter cinemas to enjoy the visual feast.

Even so, the film's box office potential had almost been exhausted; after the holiday, the daily box office dropped to three or four million.

Wei Jin knew that breaking the 700 million mark was already hopeless. — The authorities held a seminar to analyze the reasons for the massive success of "The Martian" and the logic behind it, hoping to provide some reference for the development of the industry. Well, it was very much in line with national conditions.

As the director and the main controlling party, Wei Jin naturally could not escape such an official occasion.

Sitting among a bunch of "scholars," listening to them talk over and over about "spirit," and hearing nothing but empty, high-sounding nonsense, Wei Jin's head was buzzing. Relying on this group to revitalize Huaxia cinema? They should just wash up and go to bed early.

But it was normal; after all, in academic research, if everything discussed was substantial, how would the experts and scholars pad their word counts? The premiere of "Red Cliff II" was held with great fanfare.

Facing reporters' interviews, Wu Baige actually said with mysterious confidence that he would break the record set by "The Martian."

A large number of netizens began to mock: "How much has this guy been drinking? Where is his brain? With a box office of over 600 million, nearly 700 million, what is he going to break it with, his head?"

"Getting fooled once is enough; you'd have to have water in your brain to go watch it."

"Any movie split into two parts is mostly garbage."

Sure enough, when the film was released, the first-day box office was 15 million, which was cut in half compared to the previous installment.

On the second and third days, the box office for "Red Cliff II" continued to decline.

The industry had already concluded that this film would break 200 million at most, and might not even compare to the first one. — On January 12, "The Martian" was pulled from theaters globally, with the domestic box office stopping at 668 million and the global box office totaling 556 million USD.

The heavy stone in the hearts of major companies in the industry finally landed steadily.

This film by Wei Jin pushed the domestic film box office record forward by 260 million.

Many media outlets had already hailed Wei Jin as the king of domestic film box office.

After all, the first to break 300 million was "Painted Skin," which he directed; the first to break 400 million was "Now You See Me," which he directed; and the first to break 600 million was also his film.

Since his debut, the records created by Wei Jin had never been broken by outsiders; there were no opponents in front of him.

No one knew how long it would take for a new film to break this record, and would the person who broke the record still be Wei Jin himself?

The moment the film was pulled from theaters, Han Sanping called to say that the celebration banquet must be held on a grand scale, to which Wei Jin naturally had no objections.

However, what Wei Jin did not expect was that before the celebration banquet had even begun, someone had already come to congratulate him.

In the reception room, Zhen Zidan's face was full of smiles. While congratulating "The Martian" on its massive box office success, he repeatedly thanked Wei Jin for his guidance, his words full of flattery, almost to the point of pledging his loyalty directly.

Although he did not say it explicitly, Wei Jin knew his intention; raising his salary was actually not a big problem.

But according to Emperor Motion Pictures, this guy was ungrateful and opened his mouth like a lion, demanding 30 million. That meant Zhen Zidan was getting carried away and had lost track of his own status.

What's more, Zhen Zidan's role was originally decided by Emperor Motion Pictures. This behavior of bypassing them to come directly to Wei Jin was simply stupid; he wondered whose bad idea it was.

"Your matter, President Yang has told me. The 'Ip Man' series is entrusted to Emperor Motion Pictures for production; I respect their opinion."

Zhen Zidan did not get the result he wanted and was somewhat disappointed. Just as he was about to say something, Wei Jin had already issued an order to leave: "Well, I have other things to do, so I won't keep you." — On January 15, "The Martian" held a grand celebration banquet at the Great Hall of the People.

Even more people came to attend this time; almost every company of any standing in the industry came. Needless to say, artists in Beijing even took leave from their sets to return, which could be described as a gathering of stars, comparable to an awards ceremony.

It was easy to understand why these people were so excited; the detailed profit situation of "The Martian" had been announced by China Film Group.

This film had an investment of 400 million, with a domestic distributable box office of 274 million. Adding 120 million in advertising revenue and deducting promotion costs, the domestic profit was also around 300 million.

The overseas box office was 456 million USD, with a distributable box office of 210 million. After deducting promotion expenses, the producers' share was 149 million USD, which converted to nearly 1 billion RMB.

The producers' cumulative revenue was 1.3 billion. After deducting costs, the pre-tax net profit reached as high as 900 million, a return rate of over 200%—simply exorbitant profits.

Many of the people who came today were eyeing Wei Jin's new film. Although they knew the chances were slim, what if? As for the celebrity artists, their reasons for coming to show support were even simpler: who wouldn't want to collaborate with Wei Jin? Didn't you see that Jing Tian had only appeared in two films, both as a supporting role, and now her status was already comparable to an A-list star? Although they knew Wei Jin was strict with casting, as long as it wasn't pre-determined, coming here today to get familiar would at least give them a chance in the future.

At the celebration banquet, the main creators shattered an ice sculpture symbolizing the box office, and media reporters recorded this historic moment.

One main creator was missing: Zhang Ziyi did not come, and everyone tacitly did not ask.

The beach incident, comparable to a photography exhibition, had left her overwhelmed, and she had already hidden abroad to avoid the limelight.

After the ceremony, several major producers also accepted interviews one after another.

"'The Martian' is the most profitable investment the group has made in recent years, and it is also the most correct investment decision since I took office. China Film Group is very much looking forward to the next collaboration with Shanhe Media."

In the reporter's lens, the smile on Han Sanping's face was about to overflow the screen.

"Wanda will enter the upstream of the film industry this year, cooperating with all excellent companies and excellent directors in the industry. Shanhe Media and Director Wei Jin will always be Wanda's first choice."

"Perfect World has collaborated with Director Wei Jin many times, and he never disappoints. When everyone else was not optimistic, Perfect World was the first to send a collaboration invitation to Director Wei Jin. Facts have proven that Director Wei's films are a box office guarantee!"

Old Wang from Perfect World lived up to his reputation as a veteran; his words both flattered Wei Jin and elevated himself, while also mocking other companies in the industry.

There were quite a few companies in the industry green with envy, but who told them they lacked vision? Whenever he thought of this, Old Wang felt he was simply a business genius. Several producers sat together, their faces full of smiles, and Wei Jin's smile was even greater, because he was the one who profited the most from this film. His director's fee was 20 million plus 5% of the distributable box office, which amounted to over 83 million.

Shanhe Media invested a total of 120 million, accounting for 40%, and the pre-tax net profit reached as high as 335 million.

Adding the special effects revenue from Shanhe Ink and the distribution fees from Summit Entertainment, Wei Jin earned at least over 600 million from this film alone. — The atmosphere at the banquet was very lively, and many people came to toast. Wei Jin naturally drank quite a bit, but his body could handle it.

"Brother Wei, let's have one, you must remember your old brother for the next project."

It was clear that Wang Changtian was truly happy, already showing signs of drunkenness.

But that was to be expected; with a 70 million investment and a net profit as high as 125 million, who wouldn't have a few extra drinks?

"Easy to say, easy to say."

Wei Jin had no time to ramble with a drunkard and gave a perfunctory response; besides, Fiber really didn't have anything worth showing off.

"Wei Jin, it really should have been extended in theaters, what a pity."

Han Sanping, having made money, was feeling regretful now; after all, they were only a little over 30 million away from entering the 700 million box office era.

"Han Dong, the figure of 700 million is right there. If we didn't reach it this time, we'll try again next time. We have the confidence now, don't we?"

It wasn't that Wei Jin was being high and mighty, but the daily box office for the film had already fallen below a million; clinging on would look too unsightly.

"That's true. A few years ago, who could have imagined that the domestic box office could actually reach such a high level?"

Han Sanping nodded, feeling somewhat emotional. The domestic film market was indeed developing too fast, and many ingrained ways of thinking had yet to be broken.

"By the way, what about your new film? What's the budget? When are you planning to start shooting?"

Seeing Han Sanping firing off questions one after another, Wei Jin rolled his eyes, feeling overwhelmed, and hurriedly interrupted him:

"Stop, stop, stop, Han Dong, let's talk about this after the Berlin International Film Festival ends, alright?"

"Then I'll be waiting. No matter what, China Film Group's investment cannot be missing, you know..."

Seeing that Han Sanping was about to start nagging again, Wei Jin hurriedly agreed; he had never intended to leave China Film Group out and go it alone anyway.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm afraid of you. China Film Group won't be left out, okay?"

"That's more like it." — The banquet continued.

Watching Ning Hao walk over with a woman, Wei Jin's face darkened. Could his senior brother have been holding back for too long? Na Jie was about to give birth; if he wanted to play around, he should at least be discreet.

"Junior brother, let me introduce you. This is President Zhong of Xiaoma Pentium. President Zhong, I don't think I need to introduce this person, right?"

"Of course, who in the industry wouldn't know President Wei? Hello, President Wei, I am Zhong Lifang. It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time, please look after me."

Zhong Lifang wore a smile on her face, appearing very approachable.

"Hello, President Zhong."

Although Wei Jin didn't know this fair-skinned, decent-looking woman, he had heard of Xiaoma Pentium and her big name.

At the beginning of last year, this company raised 40 million USD, shocking the entire film and television circle.

You have to know that with Huayi's scale, even after several rounds of financing, none of them compared to Xiaoma's first round.

As for Zhong Lifang, that was even simpler. In many of the entertainment novels he had read in his past life, this woman appeared as a professional tool character, but this also showed that she was extremely capable.

But what was Ning Hao's purpose in bringing her over?

Zhong Lifang was very perceptive; noticing Wei Jin's confusion, she immediately spoke up to explain:

"It's like this, President Wei. Our company has been doing television dramas, but recently we plan to enter the film circle, and we hope there will be an opportunity to cooperate with your company."

Once she said that, Wei Jin understood. It made sense; having raised so much money, they definitely had big moves planned. Today's behavior was likely more about paying respects to the powers that be.

Thinking of this, Wei Jin felt a bit emotional; without realizing it, he had also become a power to be reckoned with.

However, a company that had just stepped into the film circle wasn't qualified to cooperate with Wei Jin, but in front of Ning Hao, he still had to say the polite things he was expected to say.

"President Zhong is too polite. If there's an opportunity, we certainly will."

"Then thank you very much, President Wei. Director Ning, please continue your chat, I will excuse myself first..."

Seeing that her goal was achieved and that Wei Jin and Ning Hao seemed to have things to discuss, Zhong Lifang cleverly proposed to leave. She was indeed a smooth operator.

Watching the woman walk away, Wei Jin pulled Ning Hao aside and asked in a low voice:

"Senior brother, how do you know her?"

"Oh, they found me and proposed to invest in my future films. We got familiar after a few interactions. So, they came over today to show support and asked me to help introduce them."

Wei Jin nodded upon hearing this. With Ning Hao as a 200-million-box-office director, Xiaoma wanting to enter the film circle and proactively investing in him was indeed a decent way to break in.

"Hmm, investment is no problem, but senior brother, don't get too close to them..."

"Hm? Is there something to that?"

Ning Hao was a bit curious; he hadn't heard of any problems with Xiaoma.

"Their company's top management is all relatives, fighting for power and profit. I'm afraid you'll get dragged into it."

Wei Jin couldn't explain that this company would be too deeply entangled with LeTV in the future. Besides, he wasn't lying; after the founder died, Xiaoma really did fall into a power struggle.

"Hey, I thought it was something serious. That's simple, I'll just keep it strictly professional."

"Mm, that's the way. By the way, senior brother, when does your project start?"

Although Wei Jin didn't invest in "No Man's Land," he had shares in the Studio, so he still had to care about it.

"It's already in preparation, but the start of filming will have to wait. Your Na Jie is about to give birth, I have no heart for other things. By the way, you must have the red envelope ready..."

"Hey, do you even need to say that? It's been ready for a long time."

First update of the day, I humbly request all readers to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up reads, favorites, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets. Thank you, everyone! (End of chapter)