Chapter 321: Brother, a Little Slower, I Am a Bit Cold

In the film market, Wei Jin's prediction came true.

Originally, following the momentum of Ip Man 3, the box office should have seen a surge during the May Day holiday.

However, dragged down by Guan Yunchang, the box office for Ip Man 3 only reached 84 million over the three-day holiday.

As of now, Ip Man 3 has been in theaters for 11 days with a cumulative box office of 277 million; the hope of breaking 500 million has officially been dashed.

Wei Jin estimated that Boss Yang was likely having a spike in blood pressure again and starting to curse.

Pulling his thoughts back, Wei Jin signaled the crew to prepare for today's shoot.

The scene to be filmed today is after the heroine reaches the International Space Station following numerous hardships; she takes off her spacesuit piece by piece, the entire process resembling a rebirth.

Seeing that all departments of the crew were ready, Wei Jin picked up the megaphone.

"Action"—after finishing the day's filming, Wei Jin came over to Liu Yifei's side.

The young girl was as passionate as fire, and Wei Jin naturally could not neglect the beauty, happily accompanying her to play cards.

"Hoo~~ hoo~~, Brother, you can't do that, play your cards a little slower."

Liu Yifei's breathing was a bit rapid; if things went on like this, the card game would end too easily, and it wouldn't be satisfying enough.

"Yifei, it doesn't matter, I shuffle cards very fast, we can start a second round then."

As he spoke, Wei Jin kept playing cards without pause, either a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings; his card strength was so overwhelming that the young girl had no power to fight back.

"Brother, you still have to film tomorrow, you can't play too late."

To the young girl's words, Wei Jin turned a deaf ear, only focused on playing cards.

Finally, half an hour later, Liu Yifei could not hold on any longer and had to concede defeat, losing a point.

Looking at the girl's flushed, pretty face, Wei Jin scooped her up in his arms and walked into the bathroom.

After some playful splashing in the water, Wei Jin went to the study, smoking a cigarette while watching the fun online.

One has to say, Feng Dapao is truly a talent.

At the Student Film Festival two days ago, he took home two major awards: Best Film and Most Popular Director.

At the awards ceremony, Feng Dapao was beaming with joy, praising incessantly: students are the most authentic and least hypocritical group, and awards chosen by them are the fairest. This posture naturally drew mockery and teasing from netizens; the guy was just too double-standard.

"Director Feng, remember that year's Hundred Flowers Awards? You said the same thing. Sure enough, if there's an award, you call it mother; if there's no award, you start firing cannons. You truly live up to the name Director Feng."

"Director Feng, you're the one who's a student, so authentic."

"I remember Director Feng saying before that he didn't care about awards?"

"You have to savor Director Feng's words carefully. As for the European Big Three or the Oscar, Director Feng definitely wouldn't care, because he has no chance of winning them, haha."

Wei Jin shook his head and continued browsing other news. At this moment, Liu Yifei, having dried her hair, walked in and leaned forward, pressing against his back.

"Yifei, look at this."

Wei Jin saw a film that had some connection to the young girl and couldn't help but tease her.

"Brother, how can you still remember that?"

The young girl gently punched Wei Jin's shoulder; on the computer screen was the box office result for A Chinese Ghost Story.

After she turned this film down, they found Wang Likun to star in it. It must be said, the look was not bad, but the box office performance was hard to describe.

It has been in theaters for nearly half a month now, and the box office has just barely crossed the 100 million mark.

Compared to the 20 million USD production cost, the producers are likely going to lose everything.

"Haha, I'm just teasing you."

Wei Jin turned around and wrapped his arms around the young girl's slim waist, sliding his hand down her silky pajamas.

"Yifei, the second round of the card tournament should begin."

Wei Jin picked up the little beauty in his arms and strode toward the bedroom.

"Mm, Brother, be a little slower this time, I want to play a bit longer."

Liu Yifei's pretty face was slightly red as she leaned on Wei Jin's shoulder; she was becoming increasingly sensitive all over.

"Tonight, everything will be as you wish." — In the film market, the momentum of Ip Man 3 has been forcibly interrupted; as of now, it has been in theaters for 15 days, with a box office of 338 million.

Currently, the single-day box office has fallen below 5 million, and the downward trend is faster than expected. Media outlets predict the final box office for this film is expected to exceed 400 million.

But Wei Jin knew that this was no longer likely.

This time, China Film Group's scheduling had some issues; a total of 5 major Hollywood productions landed in the country in May: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda 2, Fast Five, and Thor.

Regarding this issue, Wei Jin had asked Han Sanping.

Han's explanation was that China Film Group's plan was to have Ip Man 3 and Guan Yunchang lead the way, bringing a group of small and medium-budget domestic films to charge into mid-May and seize market share.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes; because of Guan Yunchang, both films were dragged down to the bottom together.

Guan Yunchang grossed 64 million over the three-day May Day holiday; as of now, it has been in theaters for 8 days with a box office of over 88 million, but the single-day box office is already about to fall below 2 million.

The industry no longer holds any hope for this film; the only concern is how much money the producers will end up losing.

The popularity and prestige that Zhen Zidan built up through the Ip Man series have once again fallen to the bottom.

This circle is very realistic; whether an actor is a box-office draw will determine their own commercial value.

At this moment, Zhen Zidan appeared very anxious. One must know that for the film Guan Yunchang, he received a sky-high salary of 20 million for the first time, exceeding the vast majority of Hong Kong actors, second only to the "Two Zhous, One Cheng, and One Li."

But if he cannot carry the box office, it proves he is not worth that price at all, and his future commercial value will be greatly reduced.

Under these circumstances, Zhen Zidan's team began to exercise their tradition: shifting the blame externally.

In an interview with Yang Lan, Zhen Zidan stated directly: "Guan Yunchang is my most failed film, but it is not my problem; it is mainly the director and screenwriter, who fabricated history, and besides, the Mainland actor Jiang Wen was always stealing the spotlight."

Zhen Zidan felt he was telling the truth; Jiang Wen's aura on set was too strong, and just by reciting lines, he made him feel immense pressure, and the limelight was all stolen by Jiang Wen.

But the crew wouldn't have it. We paid you to come, you agreed, and now you're acting high and mighty? If you want to shift the blame, I will too. Thus, an anonymous insider from the crew leaked information to the public.

"Actually, before Zhen Zidan got the script, he hadn't even read Three Kingdoms, and didn't even know who Guan Yunchang was. What does he know about history? He only joined for the sake of the salary."

Jiang Wen wouldn't have it either. Is it a mistake for me to act well? He stood up directly to refute.

"Zhen Zidan, with a height of 1.7 meters, is playing the nine-foot-tall Martial Saint Guan Gong; he simply cannot grasp Guan Yu's expression and state. Every scene we had together required over a dozen retakes. Is it my fault for stealing the spotlight like that?"

The multi-party melee gave the netizens plenty of gossip to watch and enjoy to their hearts' content. —— Inside a hotel in Xiangshan Film and Television City.

"Xiaobai, I never thought you were so well-endowed."

At the end of April, *The Four* gathered a group of actors for preliminary training. As both were artists under Starry Sky Culture, Wan Qian and Bai Bin had spent over ten days together on set, and their relationship had become very intimate.

Tonight was the first time the two had slept side-by-side. At this moment, Wan Qian held Bai Bin's breasts in her hand and sighed.

"Ah, Sister Qian, you have your own, don't mess around."

Having been pampered by Wei Jin for four years, Bai Bin was already extremely sensitive. At this moment, Wan Qian's hand made her involuntarily let out a gasp. "Wow, Xiaobai, you're so sensitive."

Wan Qian noticed the change in her hand and was incredibly surprised; she had only touched her lightly, so why did it stand up? Instinctively, Wan Qian began to knead with her fingers, which drew a coquettish rebuke and desperate resistance from Bai Bin.

"Ah~~~ Sister Qian, stop quickly."

While speaking, Bai Bin pushed Wan Qian's hand away with some force. Wan Qian also felt she had gone too far and hurriedly apologized.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Xiaobai, I..."

"Alright, I don't mean to blame you, but you have to behave yourself tonight and stop acting up."

Bai Bin calmed down slightly and spoke. She knew her own situation; she hadn't enjoyed her boss's nourishment for a month or two, so she couldn't handle the teasing.

Seeing that Bai Bin didn't mean to be angry, Wan Qian felt relieved, but she was a bit curious in her heart and couldn't help but ask.

"Xiaobai, then what do you do in your daily life?"

"What else can I do? Either endure it or take care of it myself."

It must be said that women are no different from men; close friends often discuss sexual topics when together. At this moment, Xiaobai didn't mind sharing her private matters at all.

"Sister Qian, you don't have a boyfriend right now, do you?"

"Mm, no."

"Then what do you do if you want it?"

"I'm relatively cold-natured; I usually don't want it."

"Pfft, that's because you haven't met the right man, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what? Would I be as sensitive as you?"

"Hmph, Sister Qian, you're just being stubborn."

After a bout of playful fighting, the two chatted about the film crew for a while longer and then went to sleep.

But Wan Qian couldn't fall asleep no matter what. It was obvious that Bai Bin's condition had been developed by that man. Thinking of how that man was now sparing no effort to promote her, she felt an inexplicable panic in her heart.

Wan Qian couldn't imagine how tasteless life would be if one day she were also developed to be as sensitive as Bai Bin, yet couldn't receive favor for a long time.

After a flurry of wild thoughts, Wan Qian drifted into a hazy sleep.

In her dream, she felt Bai Bin's happiness — mid-May, the 64th Cannes Film Festival was about to open.

Xu Laoguai had arrived in Cannes early with the main cast of *Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* to sell the distribution rights.

A lot of news also traveled back to the country along with media reports, and Wei Jin saw several interesting stories.

Several domestic media outlets were surrounding Zhang Ziyi for interviews; she had gone to Cannes with the *Amour* crew to sell distribution rights.

However, the questions these media outlets asked were truly quite difficult for her.

"May I ask Ms. Zhang Ziyi, do you have anything to say about the casting change for *Snow Flower and the Secret Fan*?"

"May I ask Ms. Zhang Ziyi, what is your opinion on Fan Bingbing's new work, *My Way*?"

"May I ask..."

In the on-site photos sent back to the country, Zhang Ziyi had a dark face the entire time; these media outlets were truly touching on sore spots.

*Wu Xia* was selected for the Midnight Screenings section and was naturally promoting in Cannes as well.

To salvage his collapsing reputation, Zhen Zidan had high hopes for the film and followed the crew everywhere to accept interviews.

But the media's questions were very embarrassing.

"May I ask Director Chen Kexin, do you still have the confidence to defeat *The Raid*?"

"May I ask Mr. Zhen Zidan, have you chosen your next script? Will it be a bad film again?"

"May I ask..."

It must be said that these media outlets really had no integrity, specifically rubbing salt into people's wounds, but Wei Jin liked it very much.

After watching the news for a few minutes to adjust his mood, Wei Jin stubbed out his cigarette and turned to walk toward the set to continue with new scenes... Entering mid-May, the film market ushered in a bloody slaughter, with *Thor* and *Fast Five* entering the fray first.

The former was released on the 8th, and as of now, it had been showing for 8 days, raking in 58 million in box office.

The latter was released on the 12th, and as of now, it had been showing for 4 days, raking in 84 million in box office.

Under the pincer attack of the two, *Cai Li Fo Quan*, starring Wang Baoqiang, was finished; after 5 days of release, the box office was less than ten million.

The performance of *Ip Man 3* was no better; after 25 days of release, the box office stood at 377 million, and the single-day box office had already fallen below one million; breaking 400 million was clearly hopeless.

As for *Guan Yunchang*, it was even more unbearable; after 18 days of release, the single-day box office had already fallen below 100,000, and major theater chains could only remove it from their screening schedules.

Giving it half a month of screening time was already the theater chains being polite.

The media immediately began reporting on the relevant data for *Guan Yunchang*.

"*Guan Yunchang* released for 18 days, abandoned by the market..."

"With an investment of 150 million, *Guan Yunchang*, starring Zhen Zidan, was released for 18 days, with a box office of 106 million, ending in a dismal failure!"

"After the *Ip Man* series, Zhen Zidan has suffered huge losses on several consecutive films; his drawing power is open to question."

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. Zhen Zidan had intended to rely on *Wu Xia* to win market attention again, but the film's rights sales in Cannes were not going smoothly.

As of now, the reported news indicated that the cumulative sales amount did not exceed one million US dollars.

At the same time, Wei Jin also received news from Xu Laoguai. Despite the drawing power of Li Lianjie and the help of Shi Nansheng and Du Qifeng in standing by them, the overseas rights for *Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* still met with a cold reception, making one have to lament the decline of martial arts films in the overseas market.

Currently, excluding the North America region, the cumulative quotes for other regions did not exceed 8 million US dollars.

As for why the North America region was not included, it was because Xu Laoguai and Yu Dong of Bona, who was leading the team this time, had a disagreement.

"You mean, Yu Dong proposed a theatrical release in North America?"

Wei Jin was somewhat surprised; did this Yu Pangzi really think he was something special? Had he completely failed to grasp who was in control?

"Yes, Chairman Yu's meaning is that Li Lianjie has strong appeal in North America, and perhaps taking the distribution route would bring greater profits."

"What is the highest offer from North American film distributors currently?"

Wei Jin asked, for he had to admit that Yu Dong's argument had some merit.

"3 million US dollars."

"Hmm, ignore him, just sell it directly."

Wei Jin pondered for a moment before giving his answer; the core of this film would find it difficult to secure box office returns in the North American region, so rather than racking his brains to release it and waiting for the return cycle, it was better to sell it outright.

"Understood, President Wei, I will continue to peddle it over the next few days."

(End of chapter)