Chapter 326

In mid-June, Twilight 4 (Part 2) was officially released globally.

Book fans and moviegoers were extremely expectant for this final installment of the film adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name.

The theater chains also provided immense support, opening in 4,070 theaters, with a first-day box office of 71.2 million USD, directly parachuting into the top spot for the week in the North American market.

In the first three days of the opening weekend, the North American box office reported 141 million USD. This figure was slightly inferior compared to the previous installments.

However, in markets outside of North America, the money-making power of Twilight 4 (Part 2) was quite eye-catching, raking in 199.6 million USD in 61 markets over the first three days of the opening weekend, setting a new high for the series.

Three days after the film's release, the global box office reached as high as 340 million USD, smoothly topping the global weekly box office chart; it was completely worthy of the reputation of a fan-driven film, truly terrifying.

Seeing these results, Wei Jin only felt that he had won big, and he was also full of anticipation for the upcoming best-selling novel films.

At the same time, the domestic film market also began to fill with smoke and fire.

The promotion for The Raid and Wu Xia had already entered the final, frantic stage, but correspondingly, the smell of gunpowder was also growing thicker.

The "arena match" topic previously initiated by Wu Jing was frequently mentioned by media reporters, and Zhen Zidan finally couldn't take it anymore and stated publicly:

"When the film is released, I am willing to have a contest with him, but for now, let him finish the promotion healthy and sound."

Facing Zhen Zidan's provocation, Wu Jing's reply was also very tough.

"The premiere of The Raid cordially invites Mr. Zhen Zidan to participate; right there, we shall decide the winner."

The media was boiling; Wu Jing had even picked the time and place for Zhen Zidan, it just depended on whether the latter had the guts to accept the challenge.

Netizens were even more eager to watch the drama, flocking to leave comments under Zhen Zidan's Weibo.

Informal Critic: "Mr. Ip Man, who fights ten at once, the location has been chosen, what do you say?"

Lemon Wine: "Zhen Zidan, don't you dare chicken out. A real-life celebrity PK will definitely blow up the heat; won't the box office take off? Charge!"

Coffee Foam: "Come, come, come, this little brother is opening a betting pool on the internet, anyone want to place a bet?"

Silent Person Quietly Not Speaking: "To the one above, better open a pool on whether Zhen Zidan will accept the challenge first."

Don't even mention it, this smell of gunpowder truly made the heat for both films rise instantly; those who didn't know would have thought Wu Jing and Zhen Zidan had planned it together.

Watching the news online, Liu Yifei was also very curious.

"Brother, who do you think is actually more powerful, Wu Jing or Zhen Zidan?"

"I don't know either; perhaps we'll only know after they fight."

Wei Jin was telling the truth; Zhen Zidan wasn't much of a person, but his martial arts foundation was quite good, with a family heritage, having been in contact with Huaxia traditional martial arts and Western combat since childhood, so he could be considered to have carved out his own path.

Of course, Wu Jing wasn't bad either; he entered the Beijing Martial Arts Team at 15 and won the national martial arts elite competition spear group championship at 20. Over these years, he had also begun to integrate Western elements like free combat and Sanda, and his fighting style was clean and crisp.

"Ah? I'm so looking forward to them having a fight."

Hearing this, Wei Jin pinched the pretty face of the fairy with some doting, smiling without a word.

This wish of the little girl and the netizens was destined to never be realized.

One must know that celebrity artists like Wu Jing and Zhen Zidan could not possibly really have an arena match; even if the two were willing, the teams behind them would absolutely not allow it.

"By the way, Yifei, for the role of the old lady in the film, I want to have your mother play it, what do you think?"

In the film Once Again, the elderly female lead had quite a lot of screen time; it was best to find someone whose appearance was somewhat similar to the young female lead, so it would be more convincing.

In the original film, the director also put a lot of thought into the casting, eventually choosing Gui Yalei, who resembled Yang Zishan, to play the elderly female lead.

"Really? That's great, I can act in a movie with Mom."

An excited expression appeared on Liu Yifei's face, but then she frowned.

"But, will Mom be too young?"

Wei Jin nodded upon hearing this; this was indeed a problem.

Liu Xiaoli had always maintained herself very well, and perhaps because she had been watching her daughter grow up over these years, her mood had become increasingly better; Wei Jin even felt that his mother-in-law was aging in reverse.

"She is a bit young, but we can use makeup; it just depends on whether your mother is willing to act."

"Then I'll ask her about it first. By the way, Brother, why did you let me be the producer this time?"

Wei Jin smiled; he had thought the little girl didn't care, so he reached out to support her perky buttocks and said.

"Your salary is too high now; my small-budget film can't afford you."

After Inception, Liu Yifei's salary rose to 8 million, and as she rejected more and more scripts, her salary kept rising all the way. Previously, The Four had also planned to invite her to star, and Old Wang was even willing to offer 12 million, which showed how sought-after the fairy was.

"I can go without a salary, as long as the crew provides my meals, hehe."

Looking at the girl's silly appearance, Wei Jin scraped her nose.

"Are you stupid? If you don't take a salary, does the Red Star Dock team not need to be supported? Besides, I am a shareholder of Red Star Dock; if you make money, won't you have to share it with me?"

Regarding letting Red Star Dock be the producer, Wei Jin had also thought it through clearly; since Fan Bingbing had received support for going public, his own woman certainly couldn't be left behind.

"Brother, you are so good to me, I love you."

Since the little girl had issued an invitation, how could Wei Jin refuse?

Wei Jin suddenly stood up, his hands lifting the girl's perky buttocks, and the latter immediately hung on Wei Jin's chest like a koala.

"Yifei, let's try a different way of playing today, shall we?"

Holding the man's neck tightly with both hands, Liu Yifei already had the upcoming scene in her mind, and she nodded with a blushing face.

"Mm, but Brother, you have to be gentle."

"Don't worry, my baby." — The first blockbuster of June, Beginning of the Great Revival, was released.

Judging from the occupancy rates announced by many theaters, the film was packed, but everyone in the industry knew what was going on and wasn't surprised.

On the contrary, everyone was looking forward to this film with a super-luxurious star lineup to revitalize the film market.

There was no help for it; after the bloody slaughter of Hollywood films in May, it had been nearly half a month, and the market hadn't recovered yet. Amidst the anticipation of the masses, the first-day box office for Beginning of the Great Revival came out; the figure of 32.8 million could be considered a good start.

One must know that this data was even more than 1 million higher than The Founding of a Republic, which dominated the National Day Slot.

From the second day on, the film's box office rose to 36 million and maintained that pace; according to this situation, breaking 500 million seemed to be just a matter of time.

In view of this, China Film Group took the opportunity to shout a slogan.

"This data shows that the domestic film market is developing at a high speed; our previous goal was a bit low. We are confident that the film can charge toward 600 million."

Looking at the reports online, Wei Jin shook his head; Han really doesn't take other films seriously at all, it's going to hurt when he gets slapped in the face later.

Continuing to browse industry news, Wei Jin noticed a piece of information: the Shanghai International Film Festival awards ceremony had concluded.

Wang Baoqiang's film *Mr. Tree* won the Jury Grand Prix and the Best Director award, becoming the only domestic film to win an award at this year's festival.

The rest of the major awards, including Best Film, were all given to foreign films, and some from crews with no fame at all; it is truly the consistent style of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Wei Jin had seen the film *Mr. Tree* in his past life, and he had to admit, Wang Baoqiang's performance in the film was very brilliant and fully deserved a Best Actor trophy; it was a pity.

Withdrawing his gaze, Wei Jin buried his head and began drawing the storyboard for *Once Again*.

Two hours passed in a flash, and just as he was planning to rest for a while, Chen Xi knocked and entered.

"President Wei, shouldn't we start considering the roles?"

Having worked together for many years, Chen Xi had figured out her boss's habits, so she sat down and got straight to the point.

"Mm, send the character requirements to the industry; you can screen the resumes when they come in, and we'll hold small-scale auditions."

Wei Jin nodded; even though it was a low-budget film, if they wanted to achieve excellent results, the other roles could not be sloppy.

Liu Xiaoli had considered it carefully and ultimately refused to act; in her own words, she hadn't acted in too long and was afraid of ruining her daughter's film.

Since that was the case, Wei Jin did not force it; the role of the elderly female lead indeed had a lot of screen time and was very colorful, so it required someone with outstanding acting skills to pull it off.

"Understood, President Wei."

Just as Chen Xi was about to leave, Wei Jin called her back.

"By the way, how is the investment solicitation going?"

As a film with a modern setting, *Once Again* was very suitable for advertising; as long as the quantity was controlled and the quality of the film was not affected, Wei Jin would not refuse such a profitable endeavor.

"Currently, several brands have been confirmed, and the total price has been negotiated to 40 million."

Speaking of this, Chen Xi couldn't help but marvel at Wei Jin's pulling power; with Wei Jin and Yifei both converting their salaries into investments, the production cost of this film would not exceed 20 million, and just the current commercial product placement had already achieved a 100% net profit, which was truly terrifying.

"In addition, we are still negotiating the pre-roll advertisements; the highest offer currently is 6 million per spot."

Wei Jin nodded upon hearing this to show his understanding; pre-roll ads for a low-budget production certainly couldn't compare to a large-scale production like *Gravity*.

Previously, the investment solicitation for *Gravity* had gone very smoothly; the pre-roll ads sold for 20 million each, and three ads recovered a total of 60 million in costs, a price that set a domestic historical record.

In terms of product placement, because it was set in Space, only items used by astronauts inside the spacecraft cabin were placed, and the total price reached 50 million.

This meant that before the film was even released, 110 million in costs had already been recovered, and the various investors were quite satisfied.

"Alright, keep following up on this; also, how is the preliminary location scouting going?"

Modern dramas are not like period dramas; there will be quite a lot of exterior shots, and a suitable filming location can save the crew a lot of trouble.

"Currently, the ones that best fit the script are Tianjin and Shanghai; relatively speaking, Tianjin is more suitable, and the vast majority of the scenes can be completed there."

"Alright, pay attention to coordinating with the relevant local departments in advance."

"Don't worry, President Wei, our project will definitely have a green light all the way."

Chen Xi spoke very confidently; with Wei Jin's current status, when going to any place for location scouting, the relevant local departments would open wide the doors of convenience, and the treatment would definitely not be inferior to that of Chen Shiren, Zhang Yimou, and others.

However, seemingly thinking of something, Chen Xi covered her mouth and smiled, saying somewhat teasingly: "It's just that, President Wei, you have to be prepared to be lobbied, hehe."

Wei Jin slapped his forehead upon hearing this; he couldn't forget the visits from relevant local departments every few days when filming the exteriors for *Painted Skin*; it was truly a headache. The next day, Shanhe Media sent the casting requirements for *Once Again* to major talent agencies in the industry.

This film had many supporting roles and a wide age span, so there were plenty of artists in the industry who met the criteria.

Soon, relevant resumes drifted toward Shanhe Media like snowflakes, and everyone was looking forward to passing the resume screening stage.

Comparatively, the artists at Starry Sky Culture were much calmer; unless they were truly unsuitable, they were guaranteed an audition opportunity. — That film that had been bustling for a long time, *The Flowers of War*, had wrapped up.

Perhaps crushed by the pressure of loans, Zhang Weiping announced the release date directly even though the film's post-production hadn't even started, setting it for December 9th, aiming straight for the New Year Slot.

Once the news broke, the circle immediately became lively; *Mojin: The Lost Legend* had long been scheduled for December 15th, and although *The Flowers of War* had staggered it by a few days, they would ultimately have to face off.

On one side was the prestigious Zhang Yimou, and on the other was the newly rising 300-million-budget director Wu Ershan; this year's New Year Slot was going to be a good show.

Some meddlesome media went to interview them, and facing the reporters' lenses, Zhang Dapao appeared very confident.

" *The Flowers of War* is a magnificent epic war film with an investment as high as 600 million. Under fair competition, I believe in Yimou's strength. Our goal is to reclaim the box office record; as for other films, they are not within our line of sight."

Wu Ershan naturally could not avoid the fate of being cornered at his company for an interview. Facing the reporters' lenses, he still had a clear head and didn't say anything extreme.

"As the film market gradually prospers, there are already over a thousand commercial films approved for production this year, and over a dozen with production costs exceeding 100 million. But there are only so many popular slots, and the battle for release dates will become the norm in the future."

"I am honored to have the opportunity to face off against Director Zhang this time. As for the outcome, that can only be left to the audience, but I am equally confident in *Mojin: The Lost Legend*!"

Watching the news online, Wei Jin nodded; Wu Ershan's words were neither humble nor arrogant, and he didn't dampen Shanhe Media's prestige.

However, this fellow Zhang Weiping is very cunning; he raised a high-profile claim about reclaiming the box office record and deliberately emphasized fair competition—is he afraid that he himself might resort to underhanded tactics?

But this fellow underestimates people too much; with the way he has repeatedly interfered with *The Flowers of War*, can the film even be any good? There's no need for him to take action himself; Wu Ershan will be able to teach him a lesson.

"We'll see the truth at the box office then."

(End of chapter)