Chapter 238: Liu Xiaoli: Future Son-in-law, Think of a Way (Wish Everyone a Happy New Year!!)

The filming progress is quite good; Qiao Zhenyu's solo scene is about to end soon.

At this moment, Qiao Zhenyu is wearing a spacesuit designed by Aerospace Science and Industry, performing a No-object Performance.

This scene is where he accepts the suggestion from the artificial intelligence robot played by Lei Datou to enjoy the life of the present.

Right now, he has already stepped out of the spaceship and is performing a spacewalk.

Everyone watching on set feels it is a bit comical, yet they also admire Qiao Zhenyu; this requires an actor to have an extremely strong sense of conviction.

It is just that later in the final film, this shot will have special effects support, which will make it look much more realistic, but the cost will be very high; this is also where special effects films burn money.

"Cut."

Wei Jin repeatedly checks the monitor, then looks up to call for the makeup artist.

"Someone come over, do Zhen Yu's makeup. Everyone take a break, all camera positions prepare for the next shot."

Next is a series of continuous shots; the beard on Qiao Zhenyu's face grows longer and longer, representing the time in the movie passing by in a rush. ——In the June movie market, the first half was almost unremarkable; aside from *The Hunt*, the only other thing worth watching was *Terminator 2018*. This veteran series film did indeed show impressive combat power.

*Terminator 2018* broke 40 million in box office after only three days of release.

The key is that in terms of word-of-mouth, compared to the previous installment, it has also rebounded. A Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, this time it unexpectedly presented the characteristics of a slow-burn film that leaves people wanting more; many viewers who have seen it gave it positive reviews.

Han Sanping also did not expect that even with the lead actor changed, this film could still come back to life, which actually caused *The Hunt* to suffer some sniping.

However, despite this, *The Hunt*'s performance remained eye-catching; after one week of release, the box office reached as high as 86 million.

Compared to the 30 million buyout price, China Film Group has basically broken even, and the subsequent box office will be pure profit.

The key is that *The Hunt*'s word-of-mouth is particularly good; over 30,000 people on Yinxiang Net have given it a rating, an ultra-high score of 8.7, making people sigh in admiration—it is truly worthy of being a Berlin Golden Bear Award film.

Following this momentum, *The Hunt*'s box office could even challenge 200 million.

Although *Transformers 2* will be released in two weeks, this window period is already completely enough for *The Hunt* to harvest box office. ——"Time and loneliness are the biggest challenges that need to be faced during an interstellar journey."

On screen, Nazha wears a smile, guiding Qiao Zhenyu.

The young girl has already finished the college entrance exam, so she naturally returned to the crew smoothly and began her scenes.

At this time, Qiao Zhenyu has a full beard and messy long hair, his eyes revealing a sense of numbness and hopelessness.

This shot in the movie is already more than a year later; the male lead has been living a dissolute life during this time, eating, drinking, and having fun every day.

But gradually, he feels empty and begins to have emotional instability; this is the hesitation toward reality and the fear generated by the loneliness of the next few decades.

"Cut, this take is good, everyone take a break."

Wei Jin leaves the monitor, stretches, and shouts to the set.

Fishing a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, Qiao Zhenyu and Lei Jiayin immediately crowded over. The two of them are also old smokers, but they have to wear the crew's costumes and cannot carry cigarettes on them, so they look at Wei Jin with eager eyes.

Wei Jin tilts his head, and the two immediately understand, following him as they walk out of the studio.

Before long, the three men are gathered together smoking. It must be said, in this situation with many people, Wei Jin feels the cigarettes burn a bit faster.

"Yuan Yuanjie, what are you doing?"

Watching Gao Yuanyuan take out her phone to take pictures, Nazha is a bit confused.

"Nazha, hurry up and take your phone out, you take pictures too. These are all pieces of evidence; if Lei Datou and Qiao Zhenyu bully you in the future, you can post them on Weibo."

Gao Yuanyuan has been obsessed with Weibo these past few days; in one week, her followers have already exceeded one million.

Bored on set every day, she likes to look at the flattery from her fans when she has nothing to do, all kinds of sycophantic praise, which makes Gao Yuanyuan beam with joy.

"Yuan Yuanjie, is that okay? Isn't the boss also inside?"

Although Nazha says it is not good, her body is very honest as she takes out her phone and keeps the evidence.

"Your boss doesn't rely on fans to make a living; he works behind the scenes, so it has no impact."

There is indeed a big difference between a director and an artist. In the entertainment industry, one has never heard of any director being boycotted, but there are quite a few artists who have been.

Thanks to Nazha's sweet talk, Gao Yuanyuan gets along well with her, and the two women start chatting away.

A cigarette is quickly finished, and Wei Jin soon returns to the monitor position.

"Zhen Yu, there will be a falling action in a moment, pay a little attention..."

"Don't worry, Director Wei, no problem."

Qiao Zhenyu makes an OK gesture toward Wei Jin.

"Action."

Following Wei Jin's command, a new scene begins. ——Xu Laoguai coming to visit the set was something Wei Jin did not expect; the former soon stated his purpose.

"President Wei, I want to schedule *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame* for the National Day Slot."

This movie had already finished post-production and received its screening permit, but out of consideration for the box office, or rather, concerns about his own investment of over ten million, Xu Laoguai had been waiting for a suitable slot.

But seeing that Wu Ershan has become a 300-million-director, Xu Laoguai also cannot sit still anymore.

"Hmm, Director Xu, I don't recommend this slot. Those two films are both tribute films; you won't be able to compete in the National Day Slot."

Although the movie market is gradually prospering now, the box office potential of a single slot is ultimately limited. Currently, the National Day Slot already has *The Message* and *The Founding of a Republic*; it is truly too crowded.

"But, President Wei, if we go any later, there is only the New Year Slot. I'm afraid I'll have to compete with Zhang Yimou..."

Zhang Yimou's reputation as the 'National Master' is now at its peak; Xu Laoguai really does not have the confidence to compete with his film.

"You don't need to worry about Zhang Yimou; Zhang Weiping has interfered too much in that film. It is undoubtedly a bad movie."

Wei Jin naturally knows how bad this *A Simple Noodle Story* is and didn't take it to heart at all.

"You go directly to China Film Group. It is best to choose the mid-to-late December slot. If you don't understand, ask Han Dong."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, President Wei."

Xu Laoguai did not insist; he knows Wei Jin's vision.

"Director Xu, since you're here, why don't you do a cameo for me while you're at it."

"Okay, what role should I play in the cameo?"

The fact that Wei Jin pulls people everywhere on set to do cameos has already spread, so Xu Laoguai is not surprised.

"Just play yourself; cameo as a director."

All sorts of people are needed for the Hibernation Pods, and Wei Jin is not picky.

"Someone come over, take Director Xu to change clothes." Early in the morning, just after arriving at the set, Wei Jin received a call from Hunter; it was clear the latter had carefully calculated the time difference. After a brief report, Wei Jin understood the situation.

"Twilight 3" has been released, and thanks to the influence of its predecessor, the theater chains have been very supportive.

It opened in 4,500 theaters on its first day, setting a North American opening record and surpassing the previous record holder, "Iron Man 2".

With such a beautiful start, "Twilight 3" did not disappoint, raking in 69 million in box office on its first day.

Although it was about 10 million less than the second installment, one must know that it was facing powerful competitors.

It must be said that this is the power of a fan-driven film; no matter who the opponent is, they all have to bow down in the early stages.

The film has been out for three days now, with a first-weekend box office of 165 million, surpassing its predecessor and continuing to top the global weekly box office charts.

After instructing Hunter to report once a week, Wei Jin hung up the phone and turned to look at everyone on set.

"Yuan Yuanjie, are you ready?"

"I've been waiting for a long time; it's been nearly half a month, and it's finally my turn for my scenes."

Gao Yuanyuan was a bit excited; watching others act every day, she, the female lead, hadn't even appeared on screen yet.

"Alright then, Yuan Yuanjie, hurry up and lie down."

Wei Jin directed the main camera toward Qiao Zhenyu, who nodded to signal he was ready.

"Action."

Having not groomed himself for a long time, the disheveled Qiao Zhenyu wandered inside the spaceship, holding a bottle of red wine and feeling slightly tipsy.

Aimlessly strolling, he arrived at the hibernation zone where he was stationed.

Looking at the properly functioning Hibernation Pods before him, his own pod, which was still open, appeared particularly glaring.

At this moment, Qiao Zhenyu was having a mental breakdown; why could everyone else continue to sleep, while he had woken up early due to a malfunction? Taking a fierce gulp of the remaining half-bottle of red wine, Qiao Zhenyu angrily smashed the bottle away.

At this moment, an accident occurred: the wine bottle happened to hit the emergency switch of one of the Hibernation Pods.

This was also an adjustment made by Wei Jin, causing the cause and framework of the entire story to differ from the original version.

In Wei Jin's script, the male lead wakes up early due to a Hibernation Pod malfunction and later accidentally causes the female lead to wake up.

This event would cause the male lead to feel extreme guilt, and at the same time, because he is afraid of losing her, he will do everything possible to hide this truth.

In this way, even if the female lead eventually learns the truth, it will be easier for her to accept, as it was, after all, an unintentional mistake.

This logic appears more reasonable than the original version, where the male lead intentionally opens the female lead's Hibernation Pod out of lust, yet the female lead still loves him to death even after learning the truth.

At this time, the second camera was aimed at the opening Hibernation Pod, while the main camera remained on Qiao Zhenyu.

In the shot, Qiao Zhenyu instantly sobered up from his tipsy state, panicked, picked up the wine bottle that hadn't shattered, and ran away.

At the doorway, he happened to bump into Lei Jiayin, who was carrying a case of wine.

"Sir, the bar no longer has..."

"... You... woke up?"

Lei Datou accidentally saw the Hibernation Pod opening and displayed an unexpected sense of stuttering, with a hint of an intelligent robot about him; it was a very vivid performance.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhenyu ignored him and instead accelerated his escape.

"Cut, this take is good. Nazha, get ready."

Soon, the first shot of the female lead, Gao Yuanyuan, began—"Director Kang, congratulations."

Wei Jin was congratulating Kang Honglei over the phone; this year at the Shanghai Magnolia Awards, "My Chief and My Regiment" stole the show.

It swept four major awards, including the Gold Award for Best TV Series, the Most Watched TV Series Award, the Most Powerful Director Award, and the Most Popular Actor Award; it could be called a great harvest.

"This is thanks to the strong support of President Wei. It's just a pity about the ratings..."

Although Kang Honglei won the awards, for a TV series, ratings are undoubtedly the most important indicator.

Since its premiere in March this year, the ratings for "My Chief and My Regiment" were extremely eye-catching, breaking 2 within less than a week of airing.

The four television stations broadcasting it all thought "My Chief and My Regiment" would be the new annual hit, but who would have expected that to be the peak, with subsequent ratings continuing to decline, failing to live up to such a start.

"It's very normal. Good word-of-mouth doesn't necessarily mean high ratings; perhaps it needs some time to settle."

Wei Jin didn't mind this; although the ratings didn't meet expectations, they were still acceptable. The key was that the rating was very high—a score of 9.5 on Yinxiang Net meant it was a classic TV series.

In this way, it didn't tarnish the reputation of Shanhe Media.

"Does Director Kang have any other plans? If you need anything, just ask."

"Thank you, President Wei. I plan to take a break for a while and also dig up some scripts along the way..."

"Hmm, that's fine. Let's leave it at that for now. Goodbye."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin turned and walked back onto the set to begin new filming. Soon, China Film Group announced the latest news on scheduled films, with "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" and "Inception" prominently listed.

"Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is scheduled for December 18, and "Inception" is scheduled for November 27.

The media didn't pay too much attention to the news of the former, at most issuing a press release; after all, a cost of less than 100 million can't even be called a blockbuster these days.

People in the industry were a bit emotional; Shanhe Media is producing more and more films, and there have been several in a row this year.

But the latter truly caused a collective earthquake in the media and the industry; a 250 million USD production was suddenly scheduled just like that.

With Leonardo leading, followed by Sophie Marceau, Liu Yifei, Zun Long, and others, plus a billion-dollar director, Christopher Nolan, and gold-medal screenwriter Wei Jin, this lineup was truly too luxurious.

It is foreseeable that in the first half of this year's New Year Slot, it will be difficult for any opponent to compete with it.

The female stars who auditioned last year felt as if their wounds, which had just healed, were torn open again, and they were heartbroken.

For the main cast, especially the only domestic star, Liu Yifei, this kind of news has the most obvious reinforcing effect.

The day after "Inception" was scheduled, Liu Xiaoli received 18 new brand endorsements, her charming face full of smiles.

However, she was not in a hurry; she wanted to choose slowly, and at most, she would only keep three or five.

Now that she is handling endorsements, Liu Xiaoli has basically formed a tacit understanding with the team to focus on high-end, boutique routes. After all, Liu Yifei's status is already set, and dealing with low-to-mid-end brands would indeed be too demeaning.

Liu Xiaoli was certainly delighted by the improvement in her daughter's fame and status, but what followed was distress; there are too few film resources suitable for Liu Yifei now.

Although she received many acting offers, including many female lead roles, Liu Xiaoli knew that most of them just wanted to take advantage of her, hoping to rely on Liu Yifei to attract investment; it was a complete drain on her daughter's fame and of no help to her career.

However, it is not a solution for my daughter to always be this idle; for a moment, Liu Xiaoli pondered that she still had to find a way to ask her future son-in-law for help. Wishing everyone a very auspicious Year of the Dragon, and a Happy New Year!!! (End of chapter)