Chapter 35: Box Office and Celebration Banquet

As of December 23, *Those Years* has been in theaters for 20 days, with a cumulative box office of over 98 million.

It is clear that the film's potential is basically exhausted; since the release of *A World Without Thieves*, the daily box office has been only two or three million.

However, thanks to the broadcast of *Happy Camp* on the night of Saturday the 11th, the box office on Sunday the 12th rose against the trend, closing at 6.8 million, but Wei Jin knows that this is as far as it goes.

*Kung Fu Hustle* had a first-day box office of 14 million, shocking the industry, and Zhou Xingxing was once praised to the skies.

Meanwhile, the daily box office for *Those Years* fell below 1 million; with about ten days left until it is pulled from theaters, the final box office is estimated to be just over 100 million.

*A World Without Thieves* is even more miserable; after 2 weeks in theaters, its first-week box office was 43 million, with a cumulative box office of 72 million, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to break 100 million.

Feng Dapao also had terrible luck; he thought he could go toe-to-toe with Zhou Xingxing, but he didn't expect to be knocked over by Wei Jin.

Huayi Brothers is also full of regret, having been suppressed and beaten by a college student director; if they had known, they would have used some underhanded tactics.

The premiere of *Kung Fu Hustle* also sent an invitation to Wei Jin, but Wei Jin declined, claiming he was busy, and had Chen Zhiming go on his behalf.

Wei Jin was truly busy; people from Taiwan had come, wanting to distribute the film *Those Years*.

In fact, Wei Jin's novel of the same name had already entered the Taiwan market in October, with quite good sales, and the songs also had high popularity in Taiwan.

Therefore, with this film release, the Taiwan side was interested in importing it.

For this kind of matter, Wei Jin felt it was better to leave it to General Manager Han of China Film Group to negotiate, so he made an appointment and went to China Film Group together with General Manager Liu, the person in charge of the distribution company from Taiwan.

After getting things settled, Wei Jin began to chat idly with Han Sanping.

Han Sanping was very satisfied with this cooperation; it was originally a casual move, but who knew it would bring him such a big surprise.

"It's a bit of a pity this time; the release was quite rushed. If the schedule had been arranged a little better, it wouldn't have been impossible to eye the championship."

General Manager Han said with a look of regret.

"I am quite satisfied; this box office has actually given me greater confidence in the domestic film market."

Wei Jin was quite relaxed; after all, his first commercial film broke 100 million, making him currently the second person in the country to do so.

"Actually, I didn't intend to make commercial films at first; the profit is too low. By the way, General Manager Han, you have to give me a discount on the distribution fee this time."

"You kid, fine. For the sake of the box office breaking 100 million, I'll give the publicity and distribution department a heads-up; from now on, your films will have a flat distribution rate of 7 percent."

General Manager Han was not angry; after all, Wei Jin's two films this year had both made China Film Group a lot of money.

"By the way, when the film is pulled from theaters, let's hold a celebration banquet. You should also walk around the circle more; the way you are, it's not good."

"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you. My personality is just like this; once the strength is there, they will naturally accommodate me."

Perhaps it was because he had too many social engagements as a client manager in his previous life, but Wei Jin was already somewhat weary and really didn't want to say certain polite pleasantries, so he simply didn't attend events.

Therefore, the industry thinks he is somewhat arrogant and cold-hearted.

"Do you have any projects recently? Don't forget China Film Group."

Han Sanping treated Wei Jin like a cash cow and wished he could turn him into a film-making machine.

"General Manager Han, even capitalists aren't as cruel as you, right? The film hasn't even been pulled from theaters yet; let me rest for a while, okay?"

Wei Jin didn't indulge him and spoke up to complain.

The two chatted idly for a while more, and Wei Jin was full from drinking tea, so he bid farewell and left.

Time quickly arrived in 2005. During this period, Ceng Li had been experiencing life in the countryside. According to her, she estimated she wouldn't be back until after the New Year, and she would have to join the crew of *Lurking* soon after returning.

News also came from Teacher Jiang that the crew preparation was going very smoothly, and they were currently scouting for actors; if things went well, they would start filming after the New Year.

Wei Jin didn't intend to interfere with the choice of actors; this play didn't really boost people, it was mainly for winning awards. Since the roadshow ended, Wei Jin had moved to live in 501; now this apartment had become his best place for recuperation after insomnia.

In the past few days, news also came from Tangren that *Chinese Paladin* had been confirmed for its premiere on Taiwan's CTV on January 24th; they would negotiate with Mainland TV stations based on the premiere results in Taiwan.

There was no other way; as the first domestic game-adapted TV series, major TV stations were unsure of the market, and the prices offered were very low, completely unable to cover costs. It just so happened that the investors included a Taiwan company, so they tested the waters in Taiwan first; after all, it was also a market on the scale of tens of millions.

The New Year's holiday ended, and the film *Those Years* was finally pulled from theaters, with a cumulative box office of 118 million. The few days of the holiday brought a wave of warming, which was an unexpected joy.

The celebration banquet was set for January 5th, and this time Wei Jin Fengliu Studio was in charge.

Wei Jin had Chen Zhiming prepare a digital ice sculpture in advance; this way of celebrating was still the first of its kind in the country.

On the evening of the 5th, representatives from major film and television companies had basically all arrived; the hotel venue was a complete Vanity Fair.

It seemed like all the artists in Beijing had come. Li Bingbing, Fan Bingbing, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun—famous ones, unknown ones—all came to greet Wei Jin one by one. Unfortunately, he didn't recognize many of them, and his face was cramped from smiling.

But this didn't affect everyone's enthusiasm at all. There was no other way; the second big director in the country to break 100 million at the box office, with an art film winning a Berlin Silver Bear and a commercial film breaking 100 million—isn't this better than Feng Dapao? As the host took the stage, Wei Jin and the main creators also walked onto the stage to express their gratitude to the guests present and to the main creators of the film. After a burst of blah-blah-blah, the staff finally pushed the ice sculpture out on a small cart, and the atmosphere of the entire venue reached a climax.

Several actors were also very excited; after all, the film's box office broke 100 million—how many films in the country had done that?

Wei Jin greeted everyone, picked up a small hammer, and together they smashed it onto the ice sculpture. A string of numbers, 118,000,000, was instantly shattered, signifying the breakthrough of the film's box office.

The crowd off-stage was also seeing this way of celebrating for the first time and felt it was very novel; the reporters present were also snapping photos, *click-click*.

The ice sculpture was smashed, and the banquet officially began.

General Manager Han of China Film Group also came today, and arriving with him were Wang Changtian of Enlight Media and Yu Dong of Bona. Wei Jin wasn't very familiar with these two and could only say they were nodding acquaintances, but they gave him a lot of face by accepting this invitation.

Of course, it was more likely that they came to seek cooperation; both companies' main businesses included film and television production, and they were also doing publicity and distribution.

At the main table of the banquet, Wang Changtian was chatting with Wei Jin with a look of enthusiasm, and Yu Dong was not to be outdone.

"Director Wei, you have become famous in one battle. If you have any projects in the future, you can completely consider Enlight Media; distribution is also possible."

Wang Changtian was somewhat emotional; the young man in front of him was no longer the green kid who had just won the Silver Bear.

"General Manager Wang is too kind. These are all small things I'm doing, not worth mentioning; I still have to rely on you big brothers to exert effort."

Wei Jin also said with a sincere look.

Wang Changtian curled his lips upon hearing this. You call this small stuff? An investment of 10 million, at most no more than 20 million including publicity and distribution, and a box office of nearly 120 million—this wave made Wei Jin and China Film Group a fortune.

Currently, the domestic box office split calculation method is as follows: first, deduct the 5% special fund and 3.3% business tax, which means that for a box office of 118 million, the distributable box office is only 108 million.

Then this part of the box office is split with the theater chain; the current split ratio is 43-57. The film production side can get 46.44 million. After deducting the 10 million in publicity and distribution costs and the 7% distribution fee, the production side can get 33.89 million, and China Film Group can get 10.17 million.

China Film Group invested 3 million, plus the distribution fee, and the total return exceeded 13.4 million; the profit margin was astonishing.

As for Wei Jin, an investment of 7 million, of which he actually only put up 4 million, returned 23.72 million in less than four months; it was indeed very eye-catching.

But it couldn't help that the base was too small; earning less than 6 million on average per month, it couldn't even compare to the money from a single ringtone. In Wei Jin's view, it was indeed just small stuff.

"General Manager Wei is too modest. You didn't see General Manager Han; he was grinning from ear to ear. Old Wang and I are truly envious."

Bo Na and Yu Dong also chimed in with a compliment.

"If there's an opportunity, President Wei, please don't forget about me, Yu, haha."

As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you, everyone. As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you, everyone.

(End of this chapter)