Chapter 423: Too Unfair

*The Great Robbery* and *Pifu* were released on the same day.

Although the investments for these two films were not large—the former was only 50 million, and the latter was a mere 30 million.

Yet the attention they received within the industry was by no means small, simply because the release timing was truly too awkward, struggling to survive in the cracks between a host of Hollywood blockbusters.

At the same time, the 2nd Beijing International Film Festival also ushered in its opening.

Wei Jin brought his red-carpet companion Jing Tian to attend this red-carpet show.

Although the Beijing Film Festival had no awards segment, the star power on the red carpet was in no way inferior to the European Big Three.

A large number of domestic stars and artists appeared one after another, and the flashes in the hands of the media on both sides of the red carpet never stopped.

With the arrival of the Hollywood camp, the atmosphere at the scene reached a climax.

Production company teams led by the Hollywood Six Majors, a group of world-renowned top directors led by Cameron, and over a dozen Hollywood film crews represented by *The Avengers*.

In addition, major members of the organizing committees of the European Big Three film festivals, as well as the Busan Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival, and other international film festivals, were all present.

And as the host city, the high-ranking officials of Beijing were all in place, including the heads of the propaganda department, the General Administration, China Film, Shanghai Film Group, Western Film Group, and other state-owned enterprises, not one was missing.

Among private enterprises, the bosses of film and television companies such as Shanhe Media, Huayi Brothers, Enlight Media, Bona, Starlight, and LeTV, as well as well-known directors in the industry like Zhang Yimou, Chen Shiren, Wu Ershan, and Feng Dapao, were also all present.

It was just that what made Wei Jin a bit strange was that even the director teams from Taiwan had come, but for Hong Kong filmmakers, there were only a few, such as Xu Ke, Xu Anhua, and Chen Jiashang; the others were not seen at the scene.

Seeming to see Wei Jin's confusion, Han Sanping explained quietly that the leaders above intended to give a warning and did not invite those who still clung to the old ideology that the "Hong Kong Circle is the World's Number One."

Regarding this explanation, Wei Jin was quite convinced; after all, that group of directors in the Hong Kong Circle basically had nothing impressive to show.

After two hours of entry, the opening ceremony gala officially began.

After the big leader finished speaking, he handed the stage over to the famous director who had just been wreaking havoc in the film market—the legendary truck driver from Hollywood, James Cameron.

Watching the truck driver looking high-spirited on stage, Wei Jin could not help but sigh that this man was indeed formidable.

A single *Titanic* had directly pierced through the entire Chinese-language film market; it was truly too terrifying.

Cameron's speech ended, and he soon handed the stage over to the award presenters.

In fact, the Beijing Film Festival did not set up awards, and what the organizing committee presented was only a title of Outstanding Film Contributor in the nature of recognition—meaning those who had made important contributions to Huaxia films in the past year.

The winners were Li Xuejian and Wei Jin, one old and one young, just like the inheriting of a torch.

Li Xuejian came from a family of artists, possessed both qualifications and prestige, and had appeared in many mainstream-themed films; he could be described as having both virtue and art, and was well-deserving of the award.

As for Wei Jin, as the most prestigious director in the country, he had repeatedly set box office records for domestic films, brought domestic films into the 1-billion-box-office era, and even reclaimed the top spot occupied by *Avatar* last year, so winning the award was a matter of course.

It is worth mentioning that he and Wei Jin's mentor, Tian Zhuangzhuang, were cousins; Tian Zhuangzhuang's mother was Li Xuejian's eldest aunt.

So when Wei Jin went on stage, the nearly 60-year-old teacher Li Xuejian hugged him affectionately, not hiding the appreciation in his eyes, as if inheriting the torch.

Watching Wei Jin standing on stage accepting everyone's applause, Jing Tian, sitting off-stage, had a face blooming with smiles; this was her man.

The opening ceremony ended, and Wei Jin took Jing Tian to a private cafe.

Just as they arrived, Hunter licked his big belly and stood up to welcome them.

"Boss, long time no see, I have missed you to death."

Looking at Hunter's increasingly massive body, Wei Jin finally could not help but give him a hug; counting it up, it had really been almost 2 years since they last met, and he actually missed this guy.

But even though they had not seen each other for a long time, the sycophantic attribute of this guy Hunter had not diminished at all; after hugging Wei Jin, he immediately turned to Jing Tian, revealing a fawning smile.

"Oh, Sally, my dear boss's wife, your beauty surpasses the moonlight tonight, it is truly too charming."

Flattery will get you everywhere; Hunter's address of "boss's wife" made Jing Tian's face bloom with smiles.

"Thank you, Hunter, I hope you have a good time in Beijing."

"Hmm, I definitely will. I am going to stay for several days this time. I must properly taste the food of Huaxia. Sally, do you have any good recommendations?"

"Yes, I do, I do! I recommend spicy hot pot and Beijing roast duck, and also..."

Jing Tian reeled off several kinds of food, and Hunter's eyes were almost glowing.

Seeing the two chatting more and more enthusiastically, Wei Jin could not help but interrupt them.

"Ahem, Hunter, let's talk about business. How are the situations with *The Hunger Games* and *A Quiet Place*?"

Mentioning this, Hunter was even more excited than before.

"Boss, you are truly too amazing. These two films are almost going crazy in North America."

Listening to Hunter's report, a smile appeared on Wei Jin's face, and Jing Tian on the side also showed an expression of admiration.

*The Hunger Games* did not live down to its ratings; since its release, the box office had been creating miracles all the way.

It broke 200 million in eight days, approached 250 million in ten days, broke 300 million in 17 days, and topped the global weekly box office chart for three consecutive weeks! As of now, the North American box office was as high as 358 million USD, the overseas box office was 261 million, and the cumulative box office was 619 million USD.

Although it had entered the stage of routine disposal, its box office harvesting ability was still very strong, and the final box office was expected to be around 700 million USD.

The production cost of this film was no more than 75 million USD, and including marketing costs, it did not exceed 110 million USD. The net profit from the box office share alone exceeded 200 million USD, and the subsequent DVD rights and merchandise could still bring in tens of millions of USD in revenue every year; it was absolutely a cash cow.

In addition, the performance of *A Quiet Place* was also very eye-catching.

Since its release on the 18th, it had raked in 19 million USD on its first day, setting a first-day box office record for a thriller, and had already raked in over 70 million USD in the first five days of its opening weekend.

The key was that the word-of-mouth was quite good, with an IMDB rating as high as 8.1. According to the predictions of professional North American institutions, the global box office potential of this film was as high as over 300 million USD; it was absolutely a classic work that flew high in both box office and word-of-mouth.

"Very good, Hunter. Your bonus this year is probably enough for you to buy a big house in Beverly Hills, haha."

In order to motivate the workers, when Hunter took office as the president of Summit Entertainment, Wei Jin had transferred 5% of the incentive equity. According to the company's current profitability, the dividend was not a small amount.

"Boss, I am also very much looking forward to this, haha."

After chatting about work matters for a while longer, Wei Jin took Jing Tian back to Dongshanshu.

That night, Wei Jin was in a great mood, and the young girl was also exceptionally gentle, flying on all three paths, tasting the flavor of the beauty to the fullest... As expected, the next day, the grand opening ceremony of the Beijing Film Festival became the entertainment headline.

At the same time, the first-day box office for the two films *The Great Robbery* and *Pifu* also came out.

"Director Ning Hao's new film *Golden Robbery*, withstanding the pressure of Hollywood blockbusters, reported 14.8 million on its first day, once again proving that domestic films have the power to fight!"

"The film *Pifu*, starred in and invested in by Huang Xiaoming, encountered Waterloo on its first day of release, reporting 1.38 million; the producers may lose everything..." "As of now in April, imported films account for over 80% of the box office, while domestic films are less than 20%."

The media reports completely uncovered the fig leaf of domestic films; since March, except for *Whiplash*, not a single one had a box office exceeding 100 million.

People in the industry were mocking themselves, no wonder the foreigners gave so much face to this film festival; if it followed this box office ratio, they would probably wish they could come to show their support every day.

"Brother, I'm afraid Huang Xiaoming is going to lose quite a bit on this film, right?"

After a night of nourishment, Jing Tian looked as if she could drip water, like a lotus flower emerging from the water—truly beautiful—yet her tone carried a hint of regret.

"A loss is certainly guaranteed, but it doesn't affect him at all. On the contrary, his gains should be significant, and he will go further in the future."

From their previous meetings, Wei Jin knew that whether it was Enlighten Media or Huang Xiaoming, they should have been prepared for the film's loss, perhaps even from the moment the project was greenlit.

"Alright, Tian Tian, we should get going."

Today, Wei Jin needed to attend a director's forum, while Jing Tian was going to see some films on display.

"Mm, I reckon Qingzi should have arrived by now, it's just a pity Yezi couldn't come back."

Wei Jin had to attend a formal event and couldn't accompany her the whole time, so Jing Tian had made plans with her classmates and roommates early on; it was just a pity that the funniest person in their dorm wasn't there.

"Since *Sealed with a Kiss* only just started filming, I'm afraid it's still early for Gao; if you miss her, you can go visit the set after May Day."

"Mm, that is something to consider."

Led by the experienced driver Zhu Wei, the two chatted and laughed all the way until they quickly arrived at the venue.

Sure enough, they saw Kan Qingzi was already waiting for Jing Tian.

"Brother, I'm going to go play now."

"Mm, have fun."

Bidding farewell to Jing Tian, Wei Jin walked toward his designated direction; he hadn't gone two steps before he saw Ning Hao, with dark circles under his eyes, waving at him from not far ahead.

"Senior brother, you were dragged here too?"

"You bet. *The Great Robbery* just premiered, and I'm worried to death, yet they still called me in the middle of the night and forced me to come."

Ning Hao started complaining as soon as he opened his mouth, and Wei Jin could only comfort him, "Don't be too anxious; breaking even is definitely not a problem, it's just a matter of how much profit you make."

Wei Jin's words weren't entirely just comfort; at the very least, in the half-month before *The Avengers* premiered, *The Great Robbery* should still have some time to grow.

"I hope so."

As the two spoke, they walked toward the conference hall, and soon staff members came over to greet them.

"Fuck, why is this prick here too? Isn't that too low-class?"

Before they even arrived, Ning Hao couldn't help but complain; not far away, Lu Chuan was holding Qin Lan's hand and chatting with a group of people.

"Junior brother, you say this Qin Lan looks quite decent, so why is she blind enough to fancy this guy?"

"To each their own; if you're unhappy, senior brother, why don't you go poach him?"

"What kind of rotten idea is that? Your sister would probably hack me to death."

"Hahaha."

After some laughter, the two entered the conference hall, and greetings rang out instantly.

After a round of greetings with Zhang Yimou, Chen Shiren, Jia Kezhang, Xu Ke, Gu Changwei, Feng Dapao, Wang Quanan, and Wu Ershan, Wei Jin and Ning Hao sat down in the second row next to Zhang Yimou, with Feng Dapao sitting diagonally in front of them.

Come to think of it, this guy had been having a run of bad luck; after *1942* wrapped up, he had expressed his feelings on Weibo, only to be mocked by netizens as "bootlicker," which made him so angry he cursed out loud.

And look at that, even his vitiligo had gotten worse from the anger.

The forum started quickly, but Wei Jin didn't expect the host to actually be Chen Shiren; he really had been living off that one Palme d'Or for over a decade.

Seeming to see what Wei Jin was thinking, Ning Hao chuckled in a low voice.

"Hehe, junior brother, if you're willing, I reckon the officials would be happy to have you swap with him, haha."

"Forget it, I don't have that kind of free time."

While they were joking, the LED screen displayed today's forum topic—it was actually film technology? "It's over, today we're just going to watch Cameron show off."

This was Wei Jin's true thought, and he believed no one present would disagree; the truck driver's technology was absolutely world-class.

Sure enough, Chen Shiren soon introduced the keynote speaker with much flattery, though Wei Jin still preferred the great poet's usual rebellious demeanor.

It had to be said that Cameron really had the goods; much of the content he shared was full of foresight and practicality.

Many directors at the scene, including Wei Jin, listened very carefully; after all, when it came to 3D, Cameron really had gone very far.

Xu Laoguai was the most notable among them, occasionally letting his mind wander and raising questions.

After the hour-long sharing session ended, applause erupted in the hall, and then it moved to the media interview segment.

But as soon as the question came out, Wei Jin wanted to laugh a little.

The reporter was quite something, actually asking: "Do you think Huaxia cinema lacks technology or substance?"

"Neither. In fact, in my view, Huaxia cinema is first-class, especially with excellent filmmakers like Wei Jin; he has achieved great results in both awards and box office, and I am very much looking forward to the shocking release of his *Dixing Yinxing*."

It had to be said that this old friend had high emotional intelligence, actually blowing some smoke for Wei Jin, but what he said next didn't give much face.

"However, I believe that what limits the development of Huaxia cinema might be the filming restrictions on certain special subjects, just like *Ghost Rider*; the Huaxia market allows it to be imported and screened, but it wouldn't allow a Huaxia director to film it."

As soon as Cameron said this, the audience began to whisper.

The censorship system had always been a pain for Huaxia filmmakers, and many famous directors had been blocked by censorship, but to have it brought up by a foreigner like this made everyone feel like they had lost face.

"It's only because he's a foreigner that he can say that; if it were anyone else, they'd be getting a verbal lecture at the very least."

Ning Hao couldn't help but complain in a low voice; his *No Man's Land* still had no news at this point.

Wei Jin, Zhang Yimou, Feng Dapao, and the others on the side also smiled helplessly; the man was stating facts. The censorship for imported films and domestic films was completely different—it was too unfair!

(End of chapter)