Chapter 332

The performance of Transformers 3 was indeed a miracle, a miracle unfolding all the way.

Starting from the second day, the daily box office stayed around one hundred million; in the first weekend's four days, the film's box office directly surpassed 420 million, setting a new record for the highest weekly box office, crushing domestic films into defeat.

The first to suffer was The Raid; as of now, after 25 days of release, the box office reached 368 million, but the daily box office was halved and halved again, now under three million, making breaking 400 million obviously hopeless.

Next was The Founding of a Republic; after 40 days of release, the box office had ground to 420 million, but the daily box office had already fallen below one million; despite still having 50 days of release left, the target of 500 million was definitely unattainable.

As for The Swordsman, after three weeks of release, the box office reported 125 million, the daily box office was already under one million, and the production side had already announced a definite loss.

All the production companies in the industry felt uneasy, only able to watch this beast from across the ocean wreak havoc in the film market, feeling stifled yet helpless.

More crucially, the following August and September were also crowded with imported blockbusters; it's unknown how many films will break through the encirclement and survive— Tianjin, the set of Once Again.

In half a month's time, the film's shooting progress was quite pleasing; according to this situation, Wei Jin estimated that in about two more weeks he could complete all shooting tasks.

"Click."

Behind the monitor, Wei Jin furrowed his brow.

"Yifei, your gaze is wrong; this still won't do. You have five minutes—find the feeling again."

"Okay, Director."

Liu Yifei took a deep breath, began to conjure emotion.

Wei Jin also took the opportunity, smoking while scrolling through news online.

The Venice Film Festival's shortlist was gradually announced; this year, a total of five Chinese-language films entered the Main Competition Section, truly a bountiful harvest.

The two from mainland China were Wei Jin's Whiplash and Cai Shangjun's People Mountain People Sea; the two from Hong Kong were Du Qifeng's Life Without Principle and Xu Anhua's A Simple Life; the one from Taiwan was the director of Cape No. 7, who set Taiwan's box office record—Wei Desheng's new work Seediq Bale.

Worth mentioning is also a film by Wei Jin's senior from Beijing Film Academy, Xu Haofeng's Traces of the Bandits, which also entered the Horizon Unit; and the chair of that unit's jury happened to be Xu Haofeng's classmate Jia Kezhang.

The media also extensively reported on this, hoping Chinese-language films could win a Golden Lion.

A few minutes later, Wei Jin extinguished his cigarette, walked toward the monitor, and continued shooting the scene just filmed.

"All units, attention: thirty-second countdown ready."

"Action."

This scene was a confrontation between Liu Yifei and her servant Wang Deshun.

In the shot, only the seventy-plus-year-old Wang Deshun was seen, carefully holding a cotton swab, treating Liu Yifei's bleeding spot on her foot.

The two surprisingly discovered that the skin at the bleeding spot had reverted to an elderly state.

This shot naturally required post-production special effects; for the actors, it amounted to no-object performance, making eye acting especially important.

Compared to the seventy-plus-year-old veteran actor, Liu Yifei's acting was completely overwhelmed in every aspect, so this take had already been done several times.

"Click."

Looking at the monitor's image, Wei Jin nodded satisfiedly; the little girl had finally had an epiphany.

"This take passes."—The shooting of Once Again was still ongoing.

In terms of performance, with Wang Zhiwen's patient instruction, the performances of Bai Yu and Wang Zixuan and others were still quite good.

Bai Yu clearly knew his identity; despite the starring role in Whiplash having already entered the Golden Lion race, on set he still performed very actively, even if he had no scenes, he would watch the other teachers' performances from the side, even helping the crew with odd jobs.

Wei Jin arranged for a camera to shoot his behind-the-scenes footage extensively; maybe later he could release it to slap those pretty boys.

Wang Zixuan also performed very well; despite being required to show off her figure, she performed very openly, only occasionally glancing at Wei Jin with eyes full of resentment—after all, being together every day but unable to get meat, she truly endured some hardship.

A scene: Wei Jin came to the set to prepare the washroom, just finished relieving himself, when the washroom door was opened with a click, then closed and locked.

Turning his head, Wei Jin's expression froze slightly: "Zixuan, how did you come in?"

Wang Zixuan, wearing the costume prepared by the crew, pushed Wei Jin into the washroom, closed the door, then bent down, revealing her ample figure, lifting her head with seductive eyes like silk: "Director Wei, can you teach me acting?"

After Wang Zixuan spoke, she didn't wait for Wei Jin's reply, but got to work on her own.

"Mm, Zixuan, you're also too eager to improve, huh?"

Although eager to start work, but going out with a tent pitched isn't proper; Wei Jin had no choice but to patiently teach Wang Zixuan acting.

But this teaching lasted half an hour, and the crew here had already been waiting anxiously for a while.

"Strange, why did Director Wei take so long in the washroom? Could it be that the morning's Goubuli buns had a problem?"

Shu Chang, while eating snacks with Liu Yifei, asked somewhat worriedly, after all, that breakfast was bought by her.

"It shouldn't be; we're all fine, aren't we?"

Liu Yifei had great confidence in Wei Jin's physical condition; these years she had never seen him get sick.

"By the way, Changchang, after this half month, what have you felt?"

In fact, Shu Chang's scenes had already been wrapped, but with nothing to do left and right, she stayed in the crew, first to keep company with her close friend, second to witness how an Oscar-winning big director shoots films.

"One word to describe it: awesome."

Shu Chang put down the snacks in her hand, raised her thumb, and said somewhat emotionally.

What Shu Chang said was true, not flattery; these days of crew life, she truly had her eyes opened wide.

In her view, Wei Jin's team had fine division of labor, worked efficiently; domestically, absolutely no second team like this could be found.

After all, it was operating according to Hollywood's management model; just this aspect alone, it thoroughly outperformed all domestic crews.

Moreover, the precision wasn't just in the team; all the crew's equipment also greatly surprised Shu Chang.

Just the few cameras on site plus all the backup lenses, the total price reached over six million US dollars.

In Shu Chang's view, this was simply unimaginable, truly too luxurious.

But after watching the monitor's replay several times, Shu Chang understood: no wonder Wei Jin's films sell so well—the texture is too excellent.

Hearing her friend's praise, Liu Yifei also shared in the honor, her face showing a proud smile.

"Of course, having filmed my brother's movie, then recalling past crews, tsk tsk."

Looking at her friend's appearance, Shu Chang teased.

"Xixi, restrain yourself a bit, your teeth are showing." "What? Changchang, you really have a sharp tongue."

After a round of giggles, Wei Jin finally returned to the set.

Seeing Liu Yifei about to walk over, Wei Jin directly called for the crew to start filming, after all, he still had the scent of rhododendron on him.

Liu Yifei, seeing this, could only adjust her state and prepare for the upcoming scenes.

Walking straight to the monitor, Wei Jin picked up the loudspeaker.

"All units, attention, thirty-second countdown."

"Action."—On the film market, the strong momentum of *Transformers 3* could not be maintained, and after entering the second box office week, daily box office had already dropped to forty or fifty million.

The reason is also simple: the audience's expectations for this film were too high, but the film's reviews were not good.

Firstly, there were too many advertisement insertions, various brands that didn't match the robots, which really affected the viewing experience.

Secondly, the female lead was replaced, and the new female lead's looks were too low, causing widespread dissatisfaction among movie fans.

As for why the originally scheduled female lead was replaced, Wei Jin had actually heard Hunter mention the details of the incident.

Perhaps it was because the first two *Transformers* films were too popular, this person suddenly became famous and got a bit carried away, she actually said in public that the director was a tyrant, comparing him to the Emperor of Broken Lunar and Hitler.

This naturally angered producer Steven Spielberg, for you must know, in today's North America, offending those who hold discourse power among the Jewish people basically means you're done.

No matter how popular you are, one sentence can directly send you rolling as far away as possible.

Megan probably didn't expect things to get this serious—truly, trouble comes from the mouth.

However, the momentum of *Transformers 3* slightly waned, which instead let the numerous production companies in the industry breathe a sigh of relief; everyone was truly afraid this guy would come out with another *Avatar*-like masterpiece, then life would really be unbearable. —The filming time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was August, and Ning Hao, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, came to visit the set.

"Is *The Great Buddha* finished filming?"

After a simple chat with the crew, Wei Jin and Ning Hao sat down together.

"Yeah, with Jiahe's cooperation, although I can't match your speed as a fast gunner, after three or four months, it should be wrapped up."

After Ning Hao joked around, he then said to Wei Jin: "Thanks, junior brother."

Although only two short words, Ning Hao truly felt grateful in his heart—having rushed the script and provided the filming crew, since they met, Wei Jin has been truly indispensable to him.

"Senior brother, do we really need to say all this about our relationship?"

Wei Jin smiled and handed over a cigarette, changing the subject, as he doesn't like being sentimental.

"By the way, what are your plans next?"

"There's plenty to be busy with next: the post-production of *The Great Robbery* and *The Great Buddha*, I'm afraid we won't be able to relax until after November."

Wei Jin nodded upon hearing this; according to general director efficiency, the post-production of two films would take at least two or three months. Ning Hao, unlike himself, doesn't have a finished product in mind for comparison, so whether it's editing or other aspects, he needs to ponder it thoroughly, striving for perfection.

After chatting for a while, Ning Hao seemed to think of something funny.

"Junior brother, you don't know, Wu Jing is currently very hot over in Hong Kong, with reports everywhere there; those who don't know might even think he's a Hong Kong actor, tsk tsk."

"Normal, Hong Kong media is just like that."

Wei Jin wasn't surprised at all—*The Raid* had already been taken off screens two days prior; despite the post-production pressure from *Transformers 3*, he had enjoyed nearly three weeks of box office benefits in the early run, and the final box office came in at 3.88 billion.

Compared to the production and promotion costs of under forty million, it's absolutely a classic example of achieving great returns with small investment.

As the lead actor Wu Jing, he is absolutely red-hot and purple, his fame now rivaling that of Zhen Zidan during the *Ip Man 2* era.

Seeing that Hong Kong actors have no successors, and that Wu Jing, a mainland boy previously looked down upon by Hong Kong media, has now transformed into what they call a "kung fu Hong Kong star"—one has to say, it's quite ironic.

After chatting and boasting with Ning Hao for a while, Wei Jin began the new filming.

Ning Hao also didn't rush to leave, just staying on set for a day.

After the evening dinner, Ning Hao took his assistant and rushed back to Beijing, while Wei Jin returned to his own room.

After a simple wash-up, taking advantage of the little girl not having come over yet, Wei Jin sat in the chair browsing industry news, and indeed saw an interesting piece of news.

*The Sorcerer and the White Snake* had good luck, managing to get into the exhibition unit at Venice in the nick of time—this now leaves Yang Zi wondering what his surname even is.

It's no wonder, really—this being the first film exclusively produced by his company, it got into a module unit of the European Big Three; given Yang Zi's arrogant personality, this surely won't stop him from getting carried away, right?

Well, this guy directly posted some yin-yang sarcastic remarks on Weibo, subtly mocking his rivals.

"Making films still requires sincerity—what can thirty million do? Can't even make *Painted Skin*! *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* is different: costing two billion, getting into the three major film festivals, it will absolutely be the most spectacular fantasy blockbuster of the National Day slot, far surpassing other films of the same type."

Although the content doesn't mention *Painted Skin* at all, anyone with eyes can see it—regarding Yang Zi's antics, Wei Jin can only shake his head; he's simply a greenhorn.

Although Wang Changtian keeps a low profile in the industry and is very amiable, often even bowing and scraping in front of Wei Jin, but if anyone truly thinks Old Wang is easy to bully, that's a big mistake! Not to mention anything else, just the fact that fiber optics came out of the television broadcasting system—Old Wang has operated for over ten years, and in the publicity channel sector, his strength is absolutely beyond question.

Yang Zi, this greenhorn, so humiliating him—if Old Wang this time endures in silence, he'd be sorry for his title as Tiger King, and thereafter would have no face to stay in the industry.

Wei Jin was sighing when Liu Yifei already opened the door and came in.

"What are you looking at, brother?"

The little girl hugged Wei Jin's neck from behind, pressing against his back; although separated by thin cartoon pajamas, Wei Jin could completely feel that softness.

Wei Jin threw his phone aside, stood up, and held the little girl in his arms, his hands touching her buttocks, slowly recounting the matter.

"So, they'll also have to go to the Venice Film Festival then?"

"Yeah, if we meet them on site, don't get too close, or who knows what embarrassment might happen."

While exerting force with both hands, Wei Jin spoke up to remind, for that couple, he truly doesn't want to have dealings with them.

"Mmm~~~"

Liu Yifei nodded obediently, her big eyes glancing around, clearly already somewhat moved.

Looking at the girl's appearance, Wei Jin's index finger twitched.

His hands flew up and down, and Wei Jin quickly stripped Liu Yifei down to a fresh state, then flipped her over and pressed her back down; the girl lay prone on the bed, thoughtfully placing a pillow under her lower abdomen.

"Yifei, you're so sensible, brother is coming to pamper you."

(End of chapter)