Chapter 438: Li Jie Unleashes Her Aura; Wei Jin is Full of Youthful Vigor

December 5th, the twenty-second day of the tenth lunar month.

Favorable for weddings, travel, and starting work; all matters will be auspicious.

*Dixing Yinxing* held its premiere at the Great Hall; with Han Sanping overseeing the arrangements, this premiere could be called luxurious.

Old-school state-owned enterprises like China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Western Film Group, and Aerospace Science and Industry were all gathered under one roof, and private giants like Huayi, Enlight, Bona, and Wanda were all present without exception.

With this group of people gathered together, if they were to simply stomp their feet, the domestic entertainment industry would suffer a major earthquake.

Furthermore, almost every celebrity in the circle ranked second-tier or above was in attendance, and quite a few people were even pulling strings to get an invitation.

After all, being able to show one's face at an occasion like this was the only proof of one's status.

When Wei Jin arrived at the venue with the film crew, he saw that both sides of the red carpet were already crowded with reporters and fans.

The actresses walking the red carpet were all dressed in glamorous, bright, and alluring outfits, vying for attention and beauty.

However, there was no doubt that Ceng Li was the absolute protagonist of the day.

The usually laid-back Ceng Li had her aura fully unleashed today; in a black short-sleeved off-the-shoulder gown paired with big wavy hair, she looked both heroic and charming.

Topped off with diamond-shaped crystal earrings, a platinum diamond necklace, slightly heavy makeup, and fiery red lips, her queenly aura was instantly maxed out, making her the most dazzling presence in the entire venue.

"Li Jie, look, the media is all watching you. You really should come out and make appearances more often."

Wei Jin whispered with a smile into the ear of Ceng Li, who was holding his arm.

"Forget it, you've got it easy. I've been attending press conferences and cocktail parties lately, and just the makeup and removal alone is almost too much for me. Don't even think about me being this formal for the follow-up roadshows."

Although he was long used to Li Jie's laid-back nature, Wei Jin still felt torn between laughter and tears, and could only nod.

"Alright then, as long as you're happy, Li Jie."

While speaking, they finished the short red carpet walk. After posing for the reporters in the photo area, Wei Jin declined the reporters' interviews and walked directly into the venue with Ceng Li arm-in-arm.

Inside the venue, industry insiders were chatting in small groups before the ceremony began.

Yang Mi, who had just stepped onto the path of capital, was smiling as she led Ceng Jia to frequently weave through the crowd, moving between major directors and producers.

Although the farce at the Golden Horse cocktail party hadn't been widely publicized, people in the circle had heard the news to some extent, so their attitude toward her was still decent.

Yang Mi herself could feel that leveraging her influence was becoming smoother.

But the moment she thought of that man—since leaving the cocktail party, let alone a phone call, he hadn't even sent her a single WeChat message—Yang Mi felt a bit discouraged.

On the other side, because the *The Bride with White Hair* crew had suspended production, Fan Bingbing also arrived at the scene.

On one hand, she needed to maintain her connections in the circle; on the other, she also wanted to find that man to "extract essence."

However, Wei Jin had no time to deal with these two right now; he was surrounded by a group of big shots, receiving endless congratulations.

The faces of the heads of the three major production companies—China Film Group, Wanda, and Aerospace Science and Industry—were also beaming with smiles that they couldn't hide.

This was no wonder; although the film hadn't been released yet, Wei Jin's sci-fi films were basically a guarantee of box office success, as *The Martian* and *Passengers* had already proven this fact.

Furthermore, the overseas promotional reports from these past few days had been sent back to the country one after another, and whether it was filmmakers or the media, the reviews were almost unanimously positive.

Even James Cameron, who had watched a small screening, publicly stated:

"I was so shocked I fell to the floor! I think this is the best space film in history. The space cinematography presented in the film is the best in history; I have been longing for such a film for a very, very long time.

In the film, the human perspective is very interesting. The magical Oriental Wei has created an excellent portrayal of a woman struggling for life in a weightless space; it is truly amazing!"

Therefore, everyone present knew very clearly that the box office for *Dixing Yinxing* would definitely not be bad, and they were about to make a big profit again.

So at this moment, their congratulations were both somewhat sincere and somewhat envious.

Old Wang from Enlight hadn't been able to get on board this time and had been very regretful; after chatting for a few sentences, he pulled Wei Jin to the side.

"Little brother, I won't even think about a co-production, but in the future, you really can't forget your big brother when it comes to your films."

Listening to Old Wang's mushy address and looking at the resentment in his eyes, Wei Jin shivered on the spot and decisively surrendered.

"Brother Wang, say no more. Next time, even if it's 10%, I'll save it for you."

"Haha, good brother! From now on, the lead actress role in Enlight's projects will always be reserved for you."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the premiere officially began.

For such a large-scale occasion today, the host was naturally Shanhe Media's leading lady, Liu Yan. At this moment, she was holding a microphone and interviewing the main creators, and everyone was very cooperative, sharing quite a few interesting stories from the film's creation process.

There was also a film crew from the Movie Channel on the side, which would be broadcast on television in a couple of days.

This routine was all too familiar to the film crew, who had already been promoting for ten days or so.

However, even so, Big Brother Cheng Long still threw out a basketful of compliments.

"Ever since *The Martian*, I've always wanted to work with Director Wei. I missed the opportunity for *The Thieves*, and I truly regretted it endlessly, so after receiving the invitation for *Dixing Yinxing*, I was truly happy enough to fly."

"Working with Director Wei is truly a blast. His unconstrained ideas and super avant-garde filming techniques have refreshed my understanding of directors."

"What left the deepest impression was, of course, that lightbox composed of 1.8 million LEDs. This is the first time in my decades of acting that I've tried this kind of filming method; it's so novel."

As a Cannes Best Actress and Oscar Nominated Best Actress, Ceng Li's status was also significant, and the media gave her plenty of topics.

"The most impressive part was the coordination with the puppetry team. It was really difficult, and I suffered many injuries during the process."

"After filming, I was very anxious because I didn't expect my screen time to be so much, and I worried I wouldn't be able to carry the box office. However, since Venice, I've had a lot of confidence in the box office."

Subsequently, Wei Jin also shared quite a few of his creative concepts. When the sharing ended, the media reporters also began to ask questions, and the box office was always an unavoidable topic.

"I have high expectations for this film. Domestically, I believe it can reclaim the box office record."

Speaking of this, Wei Jin paused for a moment and looked at the crowd off-stage. Seeing that most people agreed with this figure, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

This was not only the reputation he had built over these years, but also the industry's judgment on the New Year Slot.

You must know that as the biggest slot of the year, last year's New Year Slot produced a full three billion plus in box office, while this year's New Year Slot, from the current look of it, had a generally weak trend.

Li An's *Life of Pi* had a very strong start, and after two weeks of release, the box office had already broken the five-hundred-million mark. However, with Huayi's exclusivity agreement, the daily box office inevitably fell back, posing no major threat.

Feng Dapao's *Aftershock* had been released for six days, and the box office was less than 120 million, with the daily box office barely maintaining around 15 million, basically declaring it out of the running.

As for Lu Chuan's *The Last Supper*, that was even less worth mentioning; it had no competitiveness at all. At least before films like *The Last Tycoon*, *The Guillotines*, and *Chinese Zodiac* were released, *Dixing Yinxing* was absolutely in a dominant position.

With a full two weeks, *Dixing Yinxing* could harvest the box office to its heart's content, and coupled with the extra-long shelf life of 3D films, breaking the record of *Pacific Rim* might really not be such a difficult thing.

"And what about the global box office?"

Wei Jin looked at this reporter acting as a straight man, the curve of his mouth growing wider.

"Just as the goal I shouted during my overseas promotion, I am confident that the global box office will exceed 1 billion USD!"

Truly, one must say something shocking or never stop!

When Wei Jin shouted his global box office goal in a categorical and sonorous manner, the crowd below was in an uproar.

Industry insiders found it somewhat unbelievable; even if the domestic record had truly been broken, it was still at least 700 million USD away from the 1 billion global mark. Was Wei Jin really that confident? To be honest, when the overseas reports came back a few days ago, everyone thought it was just a slogan, never expecting Wei Jin to actually launch a charge.

The media reporters were so excited their hands were trembling; wasn't tonight's headline secure? "So young and vigorous."

Ren Zhonglun narrowed his eyes, his tone somewhat sour.

Although he did not think highly of the 1 billion USD achievement, this project would at least not be worse than The Martian; it was guaranteed to make money.

If Shanghai Film Group couldn't get on board, that meant a loss, not to mention that old guy from China Film Group, Han Sanping, who loved to show off; he feared he would be mocked again at the end of the year.

"Hehe, Old Ren, look at how old you're acting at your age; if you aren't vigorous, can you still be called a young person?"

Han Sanping's face wrinkled as he smiled, looking at his old rival: "This time, I actually have faith in Wei Jin; he never lets people down when he does things."

After these years of cooperation, Han Sanping wouldn't dare call himself a die-hard fan of Wei Jin, but he absolutely trusted the latter's judgment of the market.

What's more, this time they specifically invited Warner to cooperate on overseas distribution, even going so far as to give up a portion of the profits, which showed how great Wei Jin's determination was.

However, seeing his old rival's gloomy expression, Han Sanping was in a great mood and added a lukewarm remark.

"Sigh, that's true; you haven't participated in Wei Jin's big projects, so it's normal that you don't understand."

As everyone knows, lies have no lethality; only the truth is the most hurtful. Ren Zhonglun looked at the curve of Han Sanping's mouth, which he couldn't even suppress with an AK, and his own face was terrifyingly dark.

Yet he could only watch his old rival be smug, which made him feel very aggrieved! After the main cast interview ended, the lights in the venue gradually dimmed, and the film was about to screen.

Everyone at the scene took out the glasses previously distributed by the staff, waiting to enjoy this visual feast.

"Finally waited for it, Ceng Li's comeback work, hope it doesn't disappoint me."

"Wei Jin's third sci-fi film, it's finally here; I wonder how it compares to the previous two?"

"It shouldn't be bad, aren't many stars over in Hollywood recommending it?"

"Shh, keep it down, it's starting."

The screen lit up, the familiar Dragon Mark appeared, and the film critics began to focus, entering a serious working state.

As the subtitles of several production companies floated by, the film proper began.

Similar to the Venice Film Festival, when the first long take appeared, everyone at the scene was dumbfounded.

Especially the special effects fanatic Xu Laoguai; he had also been doing the post-production for Shendu Longwang during this time, and damn, compared to this, it was simply unwatchable.

However, Xu Laoguai also knew that it wasn't just a matter of budget, but also the special effects production process and pre-modeling; there was no way to compare.

As the plot unfolded, the repair team led by Cheng Long encountered a satellite debris Storm, and a self-rescue operation taking place in outer Space began.

"This visual effect is amazing, it has a sense of immersion; it's worthy of a blockbuster with a 450 million cost."

"It's said that it took thousands of computers and millions of hours to create these special effects; it's truly awesome, every frame is money burning."

"The sound effects are also great, the score and everything are simply perfect."

"This is the space station data provided by Aerospace Science and Industry, right? When can we turn this into reality?"

Listening to the audience's discussion, the people from the China National Space Administration whispered to themselves: "Soon, soon."

"No wonder even Cameron is convinced; Wei Jin's ideas and methods are truly awesome."

Jiang Wen gave a thumbs up, chatting with Ning Hao beside him, his face full of admiration.

"Yeah, I don't even know how he thought of it; it's simply superb, but I'm afraid only he can pull off this kind of method."

"Haha, Director Ning makes a good point." Jiang Wen smiled and gave a like.

Generally speaking, there are several ways to shoot weightless scenes.

Either in water; the advantage is that it's cheap, the disadvantage is that the shots are not continuous.

Or with wires; the advantage is that it's convenient, the disadvantage is that the surrounding scenery cannot cooperate, making it impossible to achieve the best visual effect.

Then there is using a large transport plane directly to realistically simulate a weightless environment.

The advantage of this method is that it is realistic enough, but the disadvantage is that it can only last for a few dozen seconds, making it only suitable for films with a few weightless shots.

And Wei Jin's method of using puppetry combined with a lightbox, supplemented by CG special effects, is perfect, it's just too expensive.

The 90-minute film came to an end, and the audience and guests at the scene all cheered and applauded for this visually stunning and magnificent feast.

Many female stars were applauding while feeling envious in their hearts.

The film was indeed great, but more importantly, Ceng Li's screen time was so much that even Big Brother Cheng Long was playing a supporting role for her; it could be called a female-led film.

Did this woman save the galaxy in her past life? She was a full 7 years older than Wei Jin, yet she could still be spoiled like this? Looking at Ceng Li sitting beside Wei Jin on stage, one young starlet after another wished they could take her place.

Unlike the joy of the production companies and the jealousy of the female stars, the producers of several upcoming New Year Slot films were more nervous.

Sitting in the audience, Yu Pangzi of Bona felt a faint sense of regret.

When The Last Tycoon was originally scheduled for the 21st, he thought that a two-week gap was enough, but now it seemed that participating in this year's New Year Slot might really not be a good choice.

Qin Hong was the same; The Last Supper was a total failure, and he was counting on The Guillotines to recoup some losses.

Unfortunately, it seemed the situation was still not optimistic.

(End of this chapter)