Chapter 362: The Number One Person in Chinese Language: Planning and Invitations

In the film market, every day of box office for *Thieves* tugged at the hearts of those in the industry.

On the 26th, *Thieves* reported 17.6 million for the single day, leaving it just 74.4 million away from the record held by *Avatar*.

On the 27th, it reported 17.2 million, leaving a gap of only 57.2 million.

On the 28th, the Hollywood blockbuster *Rise of the Planet of the Apes* was released.

According to past conventions, *Thieves*, which was about to be pulled from theaters, should have had its screenings significantly reduced at this time.

But in reality, this situation did not occur; the number of screenings was only reduced by a tiny bit, to the point that *Thieves* was still able to rake in 16.6 million at the box office on that Friday.

Regarding this, production companies in the industry knew full well that the higher-ups had intervened, and the goal was very clear: to take down the record held by *Avatar*.

"Wei Jin, it's the final three days. The Extended Key has been obtained, but Director Tong's intention is not to announce it for now. Let's wait until this weekend is over and see on the very last day."

Wei Jin naturally understood the meaning behind Han Sanping's words.

The current box office gap was only a little over 40 million; when there was a chance to win with glory, no one would be willing to bow their head, let alone the Film Bureau.

As long as the box office could exceed 30 million over these two days of the weekend, it meant that breaking the record was an absolute certainty, and there was no need to resort to underhanded tactics.

"Fine, Han Dong, I have no objections. Let's wait to celebrate our success."

To be honest, Wei Jin himself was also very surprised; the tenacity of this film exceeded his imagination.

However, thinking about the exclusive dominance of the release window, the super-high number of screenings, and the overwhelming publicity, Wei Jin felt it was only natural.

"Of course, the celebration banquet must be held on a grand scale regardless. You must attend when the time comes, kid."

"Understood, I'll leave that matter to you, Han Dong."

After hanging up the phone, Wei Jin turned and walked toward the monitor.

After sitting down, Wei Jin looked around and, seeing that all the teams were ready, picked up the megaphone and shouted.

"Action."

What was being filmed today was the final scene for the young lead actress.

In the frame, Li Landi and a group of girls of similar age were chatting and giggling, laughing very happily.

They were putting on makeup, painting their nails, and sharing their joy together. "Cut."

Sitting behind the monitor, Wei Jin carefully checked the playback footage and finally nodded with satisfaction.

"Good, this take is a wrap. The crew will take a ten-minute break, prepare for the next scene."

The staff from various teams began to move quickly, while the actors stepped forward to offer their well-wishes.

"Xiao Di, congratulations on wrapping up!"

"Thank you, everyone."

Li Landi had a very sweet smile and bowed politely to everyone to express her thanks.

Although they had only spent a few days together, everyone was very fond of this polite little actress.

Wei Jin also walked over and patted the little girl on the head.

"Alright, I won't hold a wrap-up banquet for you. Hua Ge is still waiting for you to join his crew, haha."

Hearing the director's teasing, everyone on set laughed as well.

This little girl was truly lucky; not only did she debut at such a young age, but she was in both the big-budget film *Switch* and a film by the great director Wei Jin. One really cannot compare people to one another.

Farewells on set were always the norm. After sending the little girl off, Wei Jin prepared to start the next scene, but looking at Jing Tian's new look, he couldn't help but tease her.

"Tian Tian, with this blonde hair, you look quite like a Western princess, haha."

Jing Tian lifted her hair to take a look with some disdain and pouted.

"I'm so not used to it. Brother, you promised me you'd finish filming this part early."

"That's not up to me; it depends on your performance."

Hearing this, Jing Tian lifted her little face, looking proud and pampered.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely have no problem."

Wei Jin wanted to reach out and pat her head, but thinking that it would mess up her hairstyle and cause a delay, he put his hand back down.

"Fine, I'll be watching your performance today."

After saying that, Wei Jin headed toward the monitor; he had already seen the floor manager waving.

"Attention all units, prepare for a 30-second countdown."

Within thirty seconds, all areas that the upcoming shots would cover were cleared and checked once more.

All the staff on site checked their respective areas and reported one after another, "Ready."

Under Wei Jin's command, the entire set was as clean and efficient as an army, and Xu Yajun, who was watching from the side, nodded repeatedly.

"Action."

Entering the weekend, the box office performance of *Thieves* did not disappoint Wei Jin and Han Sanping.

Braving the pressure from *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, they raked in 33.8 million over the two days. Breaking the record held by *Avatar* was already a certainty! Now it was just a matter of what the new record would be.

Looking at the magnificent figures for *Thieves*, Zhang Weiping finally made up his mind about something he had been hesitating over for a long time.

Picking up the phone, Zhang Weiping dialed out.

After finishing the call, a smile appeared on Zhang Weiping's face. Just as he was about to make the second call, a voice rang out.

"Are you really planning to do this?"

Looking at his old partner standing at the door, Zhang Weiping's gaze was intense.

"You should know that our pressure to recoup costs this time is immense. With box office numbers like *Thieves*, even a single percentage point is worth tens of millions. I must go and fight for it."

That's right, the plan Zhang Weiping had in mind was precisely to increase the box office revenue-sharing ratio.

Regarding this matter, Zhang Weiping considered himself very experienced.

In 2002, he leveraged the momentum of the blockbuster *Hero* to pressure the theater chains, increasing the production side's share from 38% to 40%.

In 2004, he used the same trick again, leveraging *House of Flying Daggers* to increase it from 40% to 41%.

In 2005, *Curse of the Golden Flower* once again raised the revenue-sharing ratio to 42%.

Although the General Administration later set a rule of 43%, Zhang Weiping still felt it wasn't enough; he wanted even more! "But, after all, it is no longer 9 years ago."

"So what? The previous few times I handled it alone and got it done; this time I've brought along so many peers, I don't believe I can't get it done!"

Looking at the now somewhat obsessed Zhang Weiping, Zhang Yimou felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

After filming *The Flowers of War*, the once inseparable partners now felt like strangers.

Shaking his head, Zhang Yimou stopped trying to persuade him and got straight to the point.

"I came here this time because I want to transfer Ni Ni's contract to my..."

Before Zhang Yimou could finish, he was cut off by Zhang Weiping. "Impossible. She is the female lead of *The Flowers of War*; the contract must stay at New Picture. There is no room for discussion on this matter!"

Zhang Weiping's face was full of ferocity and malice; without waiting for Zhang Yimou to speak, he continued aggressively.

"Besides, I see that Zhou Dongyu is signed with you, and she is basically being left to her own devices. It would be better to transfer her to the company; after all, you don't have any experience in managing artists."

A flash of disappointment crossed Zhang Yimou's weary face. He closed his eyes, recalling the dozen years they had spent supporting each other, and sighed inwardly: "Everything can never go back to how it was."

Opening his eyes, Zhang Yimou shook his head and refused.

"Zhou Dongyu is doing just fine right now, going to school while taking on roles. Do not interfere in my affairs."

"Fine, I won't interfere with you, but don't bring up Ni Ni's matter again. From now on, you should be busy with the film's promotion."

Zhang Weiping issued a direct order to leave, but in his heart, he was determined to find an opportunity to bring all the Mou Girls under the company's control. October had just passed, and the eyes of the entire film industry were focused on the media headlines.

"*The Thieves* has been in theaters for 33 days, grossing 1.386 billion, breaking the domestic film record and topping the Huaxia film box office charts!"

"A new film box office record has been born: *The Thieves*, 1.386 billion!"

"The box office record for the Mainland China film market, held for 20 months by the Hollywood 3D sci-fi blockbuster *Avatar*, has been officially broken by *The Thieves*!"

"After more than five years, Director Wei Jin has moved the Hollywood mountain for the second time and reclaimed the top spot at the box office!"

"1.386 billion—will this be the ceiling for domestic films? I wonder how long this record will last, and which director will be the one to break it again?"

"Director Wei Jin has become the undisputed King of Film in the Chinese-language film circle!"

"."

The entire internet was full of praise; even the official website of the Film Bureau issued a separate brief for *The Thieves*.

Even the state media personally stepped in, led by the Movie Channel, to produce a special report on Wei Jin's film career since his debut.

This report recounted the domestic film works that Wei Jin had personally directed since his debut.

2003, *Buried*, 35.82 million; 2004, *Those Years*, 118 million; 2005, *Painted Skin*, 378 million; 2006, *Time-Space Cohabitation*, 232 million; *Room*, 158 million; 2007, *Brotherhood of Blades*, 334 million; 2008, *The Martian*, 668 million; 2009, *Lucy*, 487 million; 2010, *Passengers*, 1.016 billion; 2011, *The Thieves*, 1.386 billion! In 8 years, 10 Chinese-language films, with a current cumulative box office total of:

4.812 billion! Once this figure was released, it officially cemented Wei Jin's status as the number one person in Chinese-language cinema.

With such intense attention, Wei Jin had wanted to keep a low profile and hide away on set, going nowhere.

However, Wang Baoqiang had cordially invited him to the premiere of *Mr. Tree*, and Jia Kezhang had also called; the latter was one of the executive producers and presenters of the film.

Wei Jin simply handed over some of the transition scenes to Lu Yang and came to attend the premiere.

It must be said that Baoqiang's popularity in the circle was quite good; when Wei Jin arrived at the premiere location—the Beijing Film Academy auditorium—a large number of industry insiders were already there to show their support.

"Director Wei, congratulations on reclaiming the box office record."

A chorus of congratulations filled Wei Jin's ears, and he could only smile and nod.

Seeing Wang Zhonglei of Huayi, Wei Jin remembered the news he had seen a few days ago.

Huayi had signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Busan with the UAM, an alliance of six major South Korean talent agencies.

They had signed quite a few artists from South Korea on the spot, all well-known boy bands and girl groups, and many more artist contracts were in the process of being signed.

This meant that film and television cultural exchanges between China and South Korea had entered a honeymoon period; in the future, a large number of South Korean idols and celebrity artists would use Huayi as a springboard to enter the Mainland China market to cash in.

By then, the domestic idols and stars would likely be hung out to dry.

However, thinking of Wang Zhonglei's "double-plug" nature, a very absurd image appeared in Wei Jin's mind: how many of those South Korean sissy boy bands could escape his clutches? A sudden voice rang out, interrupting Wei Jin's train of thought.

"Director Wei, congratulations. If you start a new film in the future and need anything, just give me a shout."

The person who came was Ren Zhonglun; Shanghai Film Group was also one of the presenters of this film.

However, Wei Jin found it a bit difficult to respond to this, but he really did owe a favor regarding the *Thieves* matter this time, so he could only smile and nod.

"Chairman Ren is too kind. Thank you for this time; we will definitely collaborate if there is an opportunity in the future."

Having received Wei Jin's promise, Ren Zhonglun was overjoyed; as long as there was a collaboration, that was a good start.

One must know that while China Film Group seemed to be sailing smoothly and acting arrogantly in the domestic film market, if one set aside their cooperation with Shanhe Media, their performance in the film market at other times was not much better than Shanghai Film Group's.

Now that Shanghai Film Group had connected with Wei Jin, he, Ren Zhonglun, might not lack the opportunity to give Zuoshandiao a hard slap in the face in the future.

After some pleasantries, Wei Jin went to his seat.

It was a coincidence that sitting to his left and right were two acquaintances: one was the Teacher Zhou from the 2002 acting class whose graduation photo he had crashed, and the other was Teacher Wang Jinsong, whom he had worked with before.

"Congratulations, Wei Jin."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhou. It's all thanks to the school's cultivation."

Wei Jin put on a humble appearance, while Wang Jinsong, sitting to the side, looked at him with some surprise, as if to say, "You kid, keep pretending."

Soon, the film began.

It must be said that Baoqiang's performance in this film was classic.

Whether it was the state of mental illness or the posture of smoking, there was a charm of returning to simplicity.

Glancing at the acting teacher beside him, Wei Jin shook his head.

The atmosphere at Beijing Film Academy was getting worse and worse; compared to a "wild path" actor like Baoqiang, the acting skills of those so-called professionally trained actors were simply being crushed.

"Teacher Wang, what do you think?"

"Very good. He acted very vividly and with great spirit. There are a few shots that even qualify to be put into the teaching films for the acting department. I'll have the academy contact them later..."

Wei Jin nodded. Wang Jinsong was indeed determined to change the current situation at Beijing Film Academy, but unfortunately, it was difficult to reverse the deep-seated problems; relying on just a few people would not be enough to turn the tide.

As the film ended, Wang Baoqiang walked over with his characteristic honest smile.

Along the way, no matter which teacher from the Beijing Film Academy he saw, Wei Jin would take the initiative to greet them, maintaining a very proper attitude.

"Director Wei, thank you for coming to show your support. How do you think I performed?"

"Very good. Just now, Teacher Wang even said he wanted to include a few of your shots in the Beijing Film Academy teaching materials."

Upon hearing this, Wang Baoqiang looked pleasantly surprised and immediately bowed to Wang Jinsong to express his gratitude.

"Baoqiang, you don't have any issues with your schedule for the first half of next year, do you?"

Wei Jin patted Baoqiang on the shoulder as he spoke, though he felt a bit helpless inside.

He had thought he'd found a tool man to start the project early, but he hadn't expected that his previous harsh words would make Xu Zheng feel so anxious, leading him to take the storyboards extremely seriously; a month had already passed, and he was still pondering them.

Wei Jin estimated that *Lost in Thailand* would probably have to wait until early spring to begin filming.

The soul of this film was undoubtedly the trio of lead actors, so securing Baoqiang's schedule in advance was only to be expected.

"None at all. If you need me, Director Wei, just say the word; my schedule is definitely not a problem."

Wang Baoqiang wore his signature smile and agreed immediately.

What a joke—Wei Jin had invited him personally; hadn't he seen how the eyes of the people nearby were turning red with envy? "Mm, that's good. The company will contact you later."

(End of this chapter)