Chapter 374: 500-Million-Yuan Director, Bold Performance

This year, domestic films have been brought to a new height of 1.386 billion by *The Thieves*.

This is basically an unshakeable achievement, but *Love is Not Blind* breaking the 500 million mark in just 27 days of release still shocked the industry.

You have to know, many commercial blockbusters with investments over 100 million find it hard to achieve such results, and even those tribute films produced by China Film Group don't have such results.

Ranked ahead of *Love is Not Blind* in box office are only five films: Wei Jin's *The Thieves*, *Passengers*, and *The Martian*, Feng Dapao's *Aftershock*, and Jiang Wen's *Let the Bullets Fly*.

In other words, *Love is Not Blind* is sixth on the domestic film box office chart.

Thanks to this film, Xue Xiaolu has leapt to become a hotshot director in the circle, becoming the next 500-million-yuan director in Huaxia after Wei Jin, Feng Dapao, and Jiang Wen, and the only female director at that.

The reports about her online are overwhelming.

It's just that Wei Jin didn't expect Xue Xiaolu to be so efficient; before the film had even finished its theatrical run, her new script was already complete.

When he received her call, Wei Jin had just left Golden House not long ago; looking at the surroundings outside the car window, he roughly knew where he was.

"Teacher Xue, I happen to not be too far from the school right now, let's meet nearby."

Wei Jin could understand Xue Xiaolu's urgency; it is very difficult for a director who has achieved a brilliant result by chance to gain recognition in the circle.

For example, Cao Baoping, even though he is already a 300-million-yuan director, his status as a big director was not solid until the appearance of his second successful commercial film.

This includes the likes of Ning Hao, Lu Yang, and Wu Ershan, who also had to prove themselves multiple times before they had their current status in the industry.

And as a faculty member at Beijing Film Academy, whether for the school's sake or her own, Xue Xiaolu really needed to stabilize this honor as soon as possible, so it was no surprise that she was anxious to start a new project.

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the coffee shop at the school gate."

"Alright, see you later."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin shouted to Lao Zhu.

"Lao Zhu, go to Beijing Film Academy."

"Alright, boss."

As an experienced driver, Zhu Wei was all too familiar with the roads of the capital, driving toward the destination with ease.

"Sister Xue, is it really appropriate for me to go?"

Walking side by side with Xue Xiaolu on campus, Hai Qing asked with some worry.

"It's fine, Wei Jin won't mind."

Xue Xiaolu patted her chest to reassure her, then a playful look appeared on her face.

"Besides, if you're going to act, you have to let the investor inspect the goods, right? Haha."

Black lines appeared on Hai Qing's forehead; what kind of wild talk was this?

"Sister Xue, you are a 500-million-box-office director and a Beijing Film Academy professor, after all; could you please mind your image?"

"Pfft, I have to act all proper while teaching every day; can't I let loose a little?"

Facing Xue Xiaolu's childish temper, Hai Qing had no choice but to helplessly spread her hands.

"Fine, fine, fine, you're the director, you have the final say."

Amidst the chatting and laughing, the two arrived at the coffee shop outside the school.

They had just sat down, ordered drinks, and chatted about some school gossip when they saw Wei Jin walk in.

"Teacher Xue, congratulations, though your efficiency is high enough; I'm afraid you were writing the script even while running promotions? Haha."

"Congratulations to you too, congratulations."

Ignoring Wei Jin's teasing, Xue Xiaolu smiled and gestured with her hand, inviting him to sit down.

"Wei Jin, sit down."

Hai Qing, who was to the side, also stood up to greet him.

"Hello Director Wei, I am the actress Hai Qing."

"Hello Senior Sister Hai Qing, I have watched quite a few of your dramas."

Wei Jin looked at the '97-class senior sister from Beijing Film Academy before him, and had some guesses in his heart.

After some pleasantries, the coffee was served.

"Wei Jin, why don't you take a look at the script first?"

"Alright."

Ten minutes later, Wei Jin closed the script, having already read the first half previously.

"The script is good; Teacher Xue is truly worthy of being a professor in the Literature Department."

Wei Jin gave a thumbs up in praise; although the female lead in this *Beijing Meets Seattle* is a gold-digger who eventually lets an honest man pick up the pieces, he remembered the box office was still quite good.

"Getting a compliment from you, I feel at ease."

Seeing Wei Jin express his approval of the script, a smile appeared on Xue Xiaolu's face.

"For the role of the second female lead in the film, I plan to have Hai Qing play it; what do you think?"

"No problem."

Wei Jin watched Hai Qing agree readily; as a teacher at Beijing Film Academy, it was perfectly normal for Xue Xiaolu to look after actors who were alumni of the school.

Although Hai Qing's acting range was relatively fixed, she still had acting skills; for just a second female lead role, Wei Jin didn't mind giving Xue Xiaolu some face.

As for Hai Qing's lack of emotional intelligence, what did that have to do with him, Wei Jin?

"Then, do you have any considerations for the rest of the cast?"

"As for the male and female leads, I do have a few candidates in mind, but I'd still like to hear your thoughts first."

Xue Xiaolu knew very well that Wei Jin had many artists under his banner, and as the investor, he certainly had priority.

Without knowing Wei Jin's thoughts, Xue Xiaolu didn't want to make suggestions rashly; after all, she had already taken the lead on the second female role, and if she were to take charge of the other roles as well, it would seem a bit tactless.

"For the female lead, how about letting Yang Mi work with you for a second time?"

Honestly, at first Wei Jin had thought about letting Wang Zixuan play this role, but considering she had just debuted, this kind of forcing growth might not necessarily help her go further, so he abandoned that thought.

Hearing this, Xue Xiaolu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"What about the male lead?"

"Who are the candidates you have on your side?"

The male lead for this film is a stylish middle-aged man, and the company's artists didn't fit this type at all, so Wei Jin couldn't be bothered to make an internal appointment.

"Wu Xiubo, Zhang Jiayi, Yu Hewei."

Hai Qing, who was on the side, had her eyes light up; she had worked with Wu Xiubo on *Please Forgive Me* and with Zhang Jiayi on *Dwelling Narrowness*, and they had gotten along quite well.

But she didn't expect that the name Wei Jin ultimately blurted out would be the one she hadn't worked with.

"Let's choose Yu Hewei. I quite like his Liu Bei, haha."

Wei Jin really wasn't joking; Yu Hewei's Liu Bei had been memed to death on the internet in later generations.

"As for the other roles, I will notify the company's artists; for the specifics, Teacher Xue, you can choose them yourself."

"Alright."

"By the way, Teacher Xue, have you done the budget?" Facing the investor's inquiry, Xue Xiaolu hurriedly indicated.

"I've already asked someone to do it; it's around 25 to 30 million."

Wei Jin nodded; this budget was about right.

"Then let's do it according to the 30 million standard; I will arrange for the finance department to handle it."

"Good."

It was rare to be near the school, so after finishing the business with Xue Xiaolu, Wei Jin walked straight toward the school, intending to visit his mentor, Tian Zhuangzhuang.

Strolling on campus and watching the students coming and going, Wei Jin felt a sense of emotion.

Many students noticed Wei Jin; after all, in the industry, remembering the faces of big directors is a required course.

But unfortunately, Wei Jin's status today was simply too high, so no one dared to come up to greet him or introduce themselves, only daring to stand in the distance and watch him.

Ignoring these students, Wei Jin walked straight toward the office of the Director Department.

It was just that Wei Jin didn't expect there to be other people in Tian Zhuangzhuang's office.

"Senior Brother Wei, hello, I am Wen Muye."

A young man with an ordinary appearance and round-rimmed glasses stood up with a smile to greet Wei Jin.

"Hello." Wei Jin also nodded with a smile, acknowledging his form of address.

Compared to those acting students at Beijing Film Academy who casually tried to climb the social ladder, Wen Muye, who studied under Tian Zhuangzhuang, could be considered Wei Jin's true junior brother.

"Wei Jin, if there's a chance in the future, take care of him more. This circle is becoming increasingly closed; it will be very difficult for ordinary people to have a chance to get ahead in the future."

Looking at the emotion appearing on Tian Zhuangzhuang's aged face, Wei Jin nodded solemnly.

"Rest assured, Teacher."

Afterward, Wei Jin chatted with Wen Muye.

It must be said that directors who can make a name for themselves in the film circle still have some level of skill.

In just over a year since entering Beijing Film Academy, Wen Muye had already written and directed two short films.

For Wei Jin, the more "tools" the better, so he immediately threw out an olive branch.

"Do you have any thoughts on directing a feature film?"

As soon as Wei Jin finished speaking, a look of surprise appeared on Wen Muye's face; there wasn't a director who didn't want to direct a film, and he was naturally no exception.

The reason he directed two short films in one year was also to prepare for directing a feature film later.

Of course, the main reason was that the investment for a feature film is not small, and as a newcomer who hadn't even graduated yet, he couldn't pull in investment.

The funds for these two short films were thanks to the "Inheriting the Torch Fund" established by Wei Jin.

But facing Wei Jin's trust, Wen Muye was a bit nervous and couldn't answer for a moment.

Watching this kid's bashful appearance, Wei Jin naturally knew his thoughts and couldn't help but tease him.

"Don't worry, if you lose money, you can just work for me until you've paid it all back, haha."

Since Wei Jin had said it to this point, Wen Muye naturally didn't hesitate anymore and immediately indicated that he would go to the company to sign a contract in a few days and follow his senior brother from then on.

Watching the two brothers getting along happily, Tian Zhuangzhuang was deeply gratified, and the wrinkles on his old face bloomed like a flower with his smile.

The most anticipated film of the New Year Slot, *The Flowers of War*, was released.

It must be said that Zhang Weiping chose a relatively good release window.

Because in the current film market, there were almost no competing works that could pose a threat to *The Flowers of War*.

After the box office of *Love is Not Blind* exceeded 500 million, it had already reached the end of its run, and its single-day earnings had fallen below 3 million, so the cinema chains naturally couldn't give it more screenings.

As for *White Vengeance*, it had only been released for 10 days with a box office of 130 million, but its daily box office was already less than 5 million, so its screening rate naturally couldn't go up.

As for other films, such as *Happy Magic* produced by Huayi and Tianyu, and *Huge Transaction* produced by LeTV, they were even less worth mentioning.

These two films were both released at the beginning of this month, and the former's first-day earnings were 1.1 million, which directly left the industry stunned.

You have to know that this film had an investment of 70 million, pulled in *Ip Man* director Ye Weixin, was produced by Huang Baiming, and featured Gu Xiaozhang, Wu Zun, Wu Jing, and others.

Wang Zhonglei even shouted a box office target of 150 million at the premiere, but looking at this trend, 15 million would be about right.

The latter was invested by LeTV for 50 million and directed by Golden Rooster Best Director Ma Liwen.

This female director was also actively transitioning toward commercial films, but facts proved that it is not an easy thing for an art-house director to transition.

*Huge Transaction*'s first-day box office of less than 500,000 was very telling.

Therefore, although these two films had only been released for a week, they had already been defaulted by the cinema chains to have the minimum screening rates.

As an epic masterpiece with an investment of 600 million, and directed by the already legendary Zhang Yimou, plus the backing of the original novel, the audience's expectations for this film were maxed out.

Therefore, the cinema chains were also very optimistic about *The Flowers of War* and gave it screening rates exceeding 50%.

After all, before *Mojin: The Lost Legend* and *Flying Swords of Dragon Gate* were released, the cinema chains were counting on this film to reap a wave of New Year Slot dividends.

Thanks to the super-high screening rates and the poor performance of competitors, even though the 9th was a workday, the major cinema chains could still be described as packed.

After finishing the editing work for *Bottom-Tier Girl*, Wei Jin was also dragged by Jing Tian to the cinema to watch *The Flowers of War*.

To avoid being mobbed by a massive crowd of viewers, the two chose a private cinema under the Shanhe Cinema Line.

Wei Jin had to admit that compared to himself being merely a porter, Zhang Yimou was truly impressive; even though it was his first time filming a war movie, he performed very well in both the construction of visual colors and the orchestration of camera scenes, and the plot was also quite profound.

It was just that in Wei Jin's view, the 600 million investment was completely unnecessary, as this already exceeded the investment ceiling for domestic films.

As far as the current domestic film market is concerned, it cannot yet support such a large-scale production.

When Wei Jin previously attended a dinner party at Zhang Yimou's home, he heard him say that a single piece of glass in the movie cost over ten million.

Regarding this, Wei Jin did not believe it; this was purely adding pressure and burden to the film's ability to recoup its costs, and given Zhang Weiping's nature, he definitely wouldn't make such a choice.

Wei Jin guessed that there was a high probability of some off-the-books operations, such as money laundering or inflating investment figures to offset taxes.

However, this matter had nothing to do with Wei Jin, and he was too lazy to look into it deeply.

Returning to the content of the film, "The Thirteen Flowers of War" was undoubtedly a good movie, but compared to the same genre's "Schindler's List," there was clearly still a gap.

Mentioning "Schindler's List," the first reaction in a film fan's mind is that shocking crimson on the little girl.

As for "The Thirteen Flowers of War," what the fans were looking forward to was probably that passionate scene around the two-hour mark of the film.

It must be said that because of Zhang Dapao's interference, this film with a heavy theme was successfully lowered in quality.

"Brother, everyone online says Ni Ni looks incredibly alluring in a cheongsam; what do you think?"

Just as the movie ended, Jing Tian threw out a lethal question.

"I think it would look even better if Tian Tian wore one."

How could Wei Jin not know the little girl's intentions? With a playful smirk, he turned the passive into the active.

"Tian Tian, why don't we try it tonight?"

Seeing the genuine anticipation flash in the man's eyes, a satisfied smile appeared on Jing Tian's face.

"Mm, Brother, I'll listen to you."

(End of this chapter)