Chapter 267: No Woman, No Joy: A New Project

Regarding Girls' Generation, Wei Jin felt they were no different from the young models in the Hong Kong circle; it was a hobby akin to collecting stamps.

However, since they were a group, the whole family had to be neat and tidy, so for several days in a row, the members of Girls' Generation took turns, satisfying Wei Jin's stamp-collecting fetish.

With the concert approaching and many matters still to handle, Lee Soo-man took the girls and said his goodbyes, heading for Shanghai.

As for the request from CJ, after several days of contemplation, Wei Jin had already agreed to it.

For one, both sides had cooperated for many years and gotten along quite pleasantly; for another, the other party had shown great sincerity and agreed to many of his conditions.

However, for this project, Wei Jin did not intend to go the route of a co-production; he only agreed to let CJ be a co-producer, and at most, he would invite a few South Korean actors to audition just to keep up appearances.

After all, the domestic revenue share for co-productions is still lower than that of local films.

In fact, CJ's arrival actually helped Wei Jin solve his decision paralysis.

*The Thieves* was released in 2012, and it was indeed time to intercept it.

This script had been written a long time ago, but the reason he hadn't brought it out was quite bizarre: he wasn't entirely sure if the film's performance would be good.

This was also normal; in his past life, Wei Jin was not an insider. Although he possessed a super memory after transmigrating, apart from some well-known Hollywood blockbusters and domestic super-hit films, who would normally pay attention to the box office figures of a foreign film?

He was not one of those peers who became omniscient after transmigrating, able to know which work won what award in which year.

However, looking at it purely from a commercial perspective, an ensemble treasure-hunting film like *The Thieves* followed the same path as *Now You See Me*, so it should have a very good market outlook.

"Forget it, let's just do it this way; anyway, it's not like I'm aiming for the box office championship."

This self-muttering counted as making a decision, and subsequently, Wei Jin began to revise the script.

The original film was led by a South Korean team, so the creative direction and style of the script were more in line with the habits of South Korean audiences, but now that he was leading it, he naturally had to make some adjustments to suit the tastes of domestic audiences.

With the experience from '08, the entertainment circle was much more proactive this time, and a large number of stars and artists donated enthusiastically.

Judging from the data released online, most first-tier actors and stars donated 200,000 to 300,000, all neat and tidy; it couldn't be ruled out that some wanted to donate more, but were held back by the "industry standard."

As a director, Wei Jin naturally didn't need to follow this rule; after Shanhe Media donated 30 million as usual, he personally donated another 20 million.

Jing Tian chose the channel of the Children's Charity Foundation; the young girl might really like children.

"Tian Tian, remember to ask them to issue a receipt for public welfare undertakings."

After their intimacy, Wei Jin specifically brought up this topic; he had always kept these things.

"Mm, I know, Brother, you've said that many times."

Jing Tian nestled comfortably in Wei Jin's arms, rubbing her head against Wei Jin's chin.

"By the way, Tian Tian, how is your graduation thesis defense coming along? Don't be like Zhao Yanzi."

Zhao Yanzi was truly something; a Graduate Student in the Director Department from the same year as Wei Jin, she had applied for a graduation extension again and again and again this year. It was fortunate that her advisor was in good health, otherwise, they would have been angered into a bad state by this "undutiful student."

"It's already prepared, Brother, do you want to come to the scene to see it?"

Jing Tian's little face carried a hint of anticipation; she truly held great yearning and longing for campus romance, and she was very envious of the fact that Liu Yifei had a graduation photo taken with Wei Jin.

"Tian Tian, I have to work on a script these days and prepare for a new project; it's highly likely that..."

Looking at the young girl's slightly aggrieved expression and the craving in her eyes, Wei Jin couldn't continue.

"Alright, I'll try my best."

"Yay, mua, Brother, you're so good."

Jing Tian immediately put away the aggrieved expression from just now and put on a smiling face; it was truly a pity for such acting skills.

"But Tian Tian, how are you going to thank me?"

While speaking, Wei Jin had already started to make his move; he discovered that his desires were becoming increasingly intense, almost to the point where he couldn't live without women. As long as there was no one around, he always wanted to be surrounded by warmth.

And sure enough, having just been intimate, there were already signs of it rising again at this moment.

However, a woman's recovery is much faster than a man's; although the flush on her face had not yet faded, Jing Tian had already recovered by this moment and quickly adjusted her posture to cooperate.

"Brother, tonight I'm all yours, but you have to be gentle..."

Three days later, Wei Jin finished the script and, without delay, went straight to China Film Group.

Since this project already involved foreign capital, it certainly couldn't bypass China Film Group; after all, when Huayi Brothers monopolized the co-production films back then, it had made Han Sanping angry for quite a long time.

"Chairman Han, you've been very active lately. What's wrong? Trying to be a model worker?"

Wei Jin's tone carried a hint of teasing. Han Sanping usually holed up in his office, but recently he had been frequently attending film premieres, many of which had budgets of no more than 20 million. In the past, China Film Group would have considered it giving face if a vice-chairman attended at most.

"You brat, watch your tongue."

After retorting, Han Sanping's expression began to turn bitter.

"Sigh, it's all because of *Avatar*."

Following Han Sanping's explanation, Wei Jin understood the situation.

Since the release of *Avatar* in January, there hadn't been many domestic films that didn't lose money. China Film Group had invested in nearly ten films, all of which were losing money miserably, especially *Future Police*, with an investment of 200 million and a box office that had just barely crossed 60 million.

Given this situation, Han Sanping had to take it seriously; after all, it was the group's money that was being lost.

"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet on coming up with another low-budget hit."

Han Sanping seemed to have been complaining for too long and was a bit thirsty; he sipped his tea and said.

"Hi, just making a little pocket money, hehe."

*Happy Death Day* had already finished its run in North America. Thanks to the reputation of Wei Jin and James Wan as two "masters of horror" co-directing, the theater chains were very supportive. It grossed 125 million USD at the North American box office, and the global box office was as high as 238 million USD.

This result, for a film with a budget of just over 4 million, was truly a huge profit.

Not to mention there would be quite a bit of DVD copyright revenue later on; come to think of it, this was the real long-term steady income.

"You call this a little pocket money? I was waiting for your news when we agreed to help bridge the connection back then."

Han Sanping started to complain. The profit margin of this kind of low-budget film was too high; he was truly envious looking at it, but unfortunately, for this kind of project, he couldn't bring himself to ask for a share.

"But you brat, with your status, you're still doing low-budget films; it's a waste of your identity." "Making money isn't shameful. As for the big projects in North America, I'll introduce one to you after I finish the project at hand."

He had almost fooled old Han into a limp last year, so Wei Jin also intended to provide some compensation.

"Mm, that's more like it."

Han Sanping's expression softened, he muttered a sentence, and then realized something.

"Hmm? You have a new project again?"

"Yes."

As soon as Wei Jin finished speaking, Han Sanping's spirits lifted; wasn't this like someone falling asleep and being handed a pillow? "What project, and what is the investment amount?"

"It counts as a commercial film, a crime genre. Because it's an ensemble cast, the actor costs will be much higher; the budget is at least 150 million."

"Good, very good. Small-time tinkering is no fun at all."

Upon hearing the budget, Han Sanping nodded in agreement without hesitation, then asked about the question he cared about most.

"Are you directing it yourself?"

"Yes, take a look at the script first."

While speaking, Wei Jin handed the script over.

Han Sanping said no more and began flipping through the script; the two had already formed a tacit understanding.

Ten minutes later, Han Sanping closed the script.

"Not bad. The main plot is clear, the logic is tight, and an ensemble crime genre has a lot of potential. Is it just our two companies again this time?"

Han Sanping's old habit of wanting to eat alone had flared up again, but Wei Jin had other plans.

"Han Dong, I forgot to tell you, this time there is South Korean capital participating."

Before Wei Jin could finish his sentence, Han Sanping started to get anxious.

"No, the domestic investors aren't even getting enough to eat yet, why are you bringing in South Korean capital?"

"Don't be anxious, Han Dong. They only participate in the South Korean box office split; they just want the name of a producer. To put it bluntly, their investment share is like a buyout price, and we can get a favor for free. Why not do it?"

Regarding this cooperation, Wei Jin had negotiated very clearly with the CJ side; his film was a high-quality resource. The South Korean side's investment ratio reached 20%, but in terms of the split, they only enjoyed 50% of the distributable box office in South Korea. After reporting to headquarters, Executive Park had already agreed.

Wei Jin had calculated this account very clearly: assuming a 200 million budget, the other party would pay 40 million, which was about the same as selling the rights outright, not to mention there was still the South Korean regional split to be had.

Likewise, for the CJ side, it wasn't a loss. Although they didn't achieve the goal of sharing in the dividends of the Huaxia market box office, they could ultimately participate in Wei Jin's project.

One must know that the number of viewers for *Lucy* in South Korea exceeded 6 million, equivalent to over 30 million USD in box office. Based on this level, plus exclusive distribution, *Thieves* would definitely be profitable.

Furthermore, being able to let South Korean actors join in, bringing them closer to Wei Jin, enhancing CJ's brand influence, and even boosting their stock price—it could be said to be killing many birds with one stone.

"In that case, I have no objections, but China Film's share cannot be lower than theirs."

After some thought, Han Sanping agreed. China Film paying less and getting a larger box office split—there was no reason to refuse.

"Well, Han Dong, our two companies have been cooperating for so long, there are some things I need to make clear in advance."

For a long time, Wei Jin hadn't haggled with other producers regarding overseas box office, but things were different now. The domestic film market was beginning to flourish, and recouping costs was absolutely no problem, so for his projects, some terms had to change.

"China Film can take a 30% share this time. For the Huaxia box office split, we will follow the investment ratio, but that only applies to the Huaxia box office."

Hearing this, Han Sanping fell silent. He understood Wei Jin's meaning: there would be no share of the overseas box office for China Film.

In fact, he also understood that once outside the country, China Film basically had no competitiveness.

Over these years of cooperation, China Film had neither paid a premium nor had their split ratio discounted; in reality, it was Shanhe Media that had been making concessions. Wei Jin had already done enough.

"Fine. From now on, for your projects, unless it's a Hollywood big production, everything else will follow this."

Although Han Sanping was greedy, he wasn't someone who couldn't see the situation clearly. Wei Jin's projects were profitable regardless; there was no need to haggle over a little more or a little less.

"Thank you for understanding, Han Dong. I hope China Film and Shanhe Media will always be the firmest of allies."

Honestly, although Han Sanping was overbearing in the circle and somewhat greedy, he truly was single-mindedly thinking of the development of the Huaxia film industry.

As for Han, after all these years of getting along, Wei Jin truly considered him a friend across generations.

"You brat, why are you suddenly getting sentimental? Leave the script with me and hurry off to prepare the film."

Just after leaving China Film and while still in the car, Wei Jin received a call from Boss Yang of Emperor.

"President Wei, *Ip Man 3* can be launched."

Through the phone, Wei Jin could tell that Boss Yang was in a very good mood.

"Oh? It's already been settled?"

Regarding the conflict between Emperor and Zhen Zidan, Wei Jin would not comment, but since Boss Yang had decided to launch this project, both sides must have reached a consensus.

"Yes, 10 million in salary. I promised him 15 million for the next one. If he's still not satisfied with that, he's truly courting death, and I won't need to worry about Ms. Mai's face anymore."

Ms. Mai was Zhen Zidan's mother, a famous martial artist and martial arts coach, and the founder of the Taiji Association. Her network was extremely powerful; otherwise, her son could not have obtained such good resources back in the 90s.

"Fine, I'll have someone send the script to Mani later. By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet, Boss Yang. A Jiao's matter has finally passed, and you have another cash cow, haha."

Some time ago, A Jiao successfully made a comeback through the TV series *Nuwa Mends the Heavens*, which could be considered moving past the photo exhibition scandal.

Moreover, this comeback was approved by the authorities, completely different from the detour taken by Tang Nvxing; there were no hidden dangers, so it was indeed worth congratulating.

"Sigh, delayed for two years, her development momentum was interrupted, and she doesn't have much potential left. I plan to promote A Shan. President Wei, what do you think?"

"Hehe, they are all artists under Boss Yang, do as you please."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Wei Jin hung up the phone and couldn't help but shake his head.

Boss Yang had a good plan, but he wouldn't be fooled. It was fine to have a quick meal with a young model a few times, but he wanted him to spend resources promoting her? Perhaps there would be an opportunity if the role was suitable.

Second update of the day (End of chapter)