Chapter 46: The Intrusion of the Fifth Party and the Crazy Actresses

Since he had decided to use *Painted Skin* to reach the top of the box office, Wei Jin naturally watched the original film repeatedly.

In his past life, Wei Jin might not have had the professional ability to critique the film's pros and cons, and could only evaluate it like most audiences: very good, worth watching, average, not good, or complete trash.

But in this life, after two or three years of immersion at the film academy, combined with his eidetic memory and the repeated viewing of the finished film in his mind, Wei Jin was already capable of deleting and revising the irrational parts of the original plot.

Watching the original film from start to finish, the main focus was on the special effects and the human-demon love triangle that left people feeling unsatisfied.

But whether it was to pad the runtime or promote certain people, they added a hexagonal love affair on top of the three core leads.

The lizard demon liked Xiao Wei, Zhen Zidan was a sycophant for Pei Rong, and Sun Li liked Zhen Zidan; they were all dating in circles, which was chaotic. It not only disrupted the original rhythm but also added a bit of melodrama.

After Wei Jin's revisions, he kept the core selling points, relying on special effects and the tragic human-demon romance to win.

The original roles of Zhen Zidan and Sun Li were combined into one, becoming a character similar to Yan Chixia, and the lizard demon only had a secret crush on Xiao Wei without ever confessing; he didn't want romance everywhere. Additionally, the fight scenes were to be upgraded to emphasize flashiness.

Furthermore, the number of investors increased from the original four to five, which was something Wei Jin hadn't anticipated.

On the night he finished communicating with Han Sanping, Wei Jin received a call from General Manager Deng of the Western Film Group, who started the call by pulling at their hometown ties.

He then invited the Silver Bear Director to visit their hometown, saying it might spark some creative inspiration, and while he was at it, give a lecture to the directors at the old film studio on how to shoot commercial films, and finally, he subtly proposed wanting to participate in the investment for *Painted Skin*.

Wei Jin pondered for a moment and agreed, though he made it clear that the investment share would not be high; he would just have to make Bona and Enlight Media suffer a bit and squeeze out some shares.

When General Manager Deng heard on the phone that Wei Jin had agreed, he truly thought this Silver Bear Director who had left their hometown still cherished his hometown ties, and he went on to complain about their hardships again.

As policies became clearer and encouraged the film market to flourish, everyone knew that commercial films would be the mainstream and the box office was king.

But it was difficult for traditional film studios to transform, mainly because their foundation was set and their thinking was deep-rooted; the old directors couldn't play the commercial film game, and they couldn't cultivate new talent. In this regard, they were not even as good as private enterprises.

After becoming responsible for their own profits and losses and fully participating in market competition, the Western Film Group gradually began to fall behind. The reason was not complicated: the industry's talent was concentrated in Beijing and Shanghai, and the most famous art schools were also there, not to mention the economic disparity. The decline of the Western Film Group was inevitable.

Wei Jin understood this, and General Manager Deng actually understood it too; he just wasn't reconciled. In that position, one had to do something.

And so, seeing that a young director had emerged from his hometown—a Berlin Silver Bear Director with a box office hit of over 100 million—and having learned about the new project through internal news, this phone call happened.

Actually, Wei Jin's reason for agreeing to the Western Film Group's investment was simple: more people meant more strength, and he didn't have to give up any more of his own shares. Secondly, the Western Film Group could really help a lot with the location shooting for *Painted Skin*. Plus, they were a hometown enterprise, so it wouldn't look good for people to say he didn't cherish old ties.

Hanging up the phone with General Manager Deng, Wei Jin sighed; the former eight major film studios had declined just like that.

The final investment shares were determined as: Wei Jin Fengliu 50%, China Film Group 25%, Bona 8%, Enlight Media 8%, and Western Film Group 9%.

On the very day the news of *Painted Skin*'s project approval was announced, Wei Jin received calls from all directions, mostly from female celebrities.

This was normal; a big production with an investment of 100 million, written and directed by a Silver Bear Director with a box office hit of over 100 million, naturally attracted all kinds of attention in the industry, especially with rumors spreading through various channels that the female lead's role was stronger than the male lead's.

There were too few big commercial productions in the entertainment industry centered on female characters. *Painted Skin* was a romance film to begin with, and since Wei Jin's previous work *Those Years* had pushed Liu Yifei to the position of "National First Love," the industry generally believed that Wei Jin was good at filming female roles.

Consequently, this group of popular actresses in the entertainment industry went crazy; those who had Wei Jin's number called him directly.

Gao Yuanyuan called to ask when he was going to 501; she had recently bought several new styles of lingerie and wanted Wei Jin to help see if they fit.

Wei Jin said he was very busy lately and might only have time after the film was finished, telling her to send photos instead.

Liu Xiaoli called to say they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Yifei missed him, and she wanted to invite Wei Jin to dinner.

Wei Jin stated directly that Liu Yifei had no chance because her acting skills were too poor.

Fan Bingbing sent a text message with a hotel room number, which Wei Jin simply ignored.

Those who didn't have Wei Jin's number also used all kinds of connections to try and get a role. Zhao Yanzi contacted her school teacher directly to pull strings.

Zhang Ziyi contacted the China Film Group and expressed her willingness to lower her salary.

Li Bingbing expressed her desire to perform to Wei Jin through Wang of Huayi, even stating directly that she could perform for zero salary.

Li Xiaowan of Rongxinda also called to say that their Zhou Xun had great acting skills and her salary wasn't high.

Hairun even stated that if Sun Li could get the role, they were willing to swap it for a high-quality television project.

Even Starry Night and Emperor Group, who hadn't had much contact with Wei Jin, called to push their own candidates.

Even slightly older actresses like Ning Jing, Xiao Taohong, and Xu Qing had ideas, and later, female stars from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and other places contacted the company through various means.

When Teacher Jiang called, he joked that more people had been coming to class at the school these past two days, as many female students were hoping to run into Wei Jin at school and land a role.

Wei Jin and the major investors were happy to see everyone fighting over it, treating it as a way to build hype for the film in advance.

When she received the invitation call from Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company, Zhou Xun felt as if joy had fallen from the sky.

Actually, she hadn't held much hope; the competition was too fierce, Rongxinda and Wei Jin Fengliu had no business dealings, and she herself had only met Wei Jin once.

However, Zhou Xun knew how to handle people; upon receiving the call, she immediately expressed her willingness to halve her salary.

Having finalized Zhou Xun's schedule, Wei Jin was also very satisfied. After all, having watched the original film repeatedly, Zhou Xun's performance was indeed brilliant; replacing her with someone else might not necessarily bring the character to life.

The male lead was finally settled on Chen Kun. Firstly, because Wei Jin had seen the original film and Chen Kun's performance was standard and qualified; secondly, because he and Zhou Xun had a deep relationship, great chemistry, and CP appeal; and thirdly, because Liu Ye and Zhou Xun had a grudge.

This matter was also told to Wei Jin by Chen Zhiming. It turned out that Liu Ye and Zhou Xun had worked together in 2002, and the two had argued on set. Liu Ye had cursed at Zhou Xun to her face, saying she had no acting skills and that her roles were all obtained by sleeping with directors. Zhou Xun had backhanded him with a beverage bottle to the face, and the two had not associated with each other since.

As for the other female lead, Wei Jin naturally gave it to Ceng Li. The moment she got the role, Li Jie was very moved, but she felt more uneasy.

"Xiao Jin, if you just let me perform like this, will it make things difficult for you?"

"It's fine, I'm the biggest investor; arranging a role is only natural."

"But I haven't acted in a film before, I'm afraid I won't perform well and will hold you back."

"It's fine, Li Jie, you have to believe in yourself. Teacher Jiang even said your performance in *Lurking* was excellent. Besides, you have to believe in me even more."

"But I don't have much name recognition. Why don't you find a popular star? It would also help the film's box office."

"Li Jie, believe me, *World's Number One* is about to air, and *Lurking* is expected to be released by the end of the year. After these two dramas, you will be a popular star."

"But..."

"Li Jie, no more 'buts', it's time to sleep."

"Mm..."

A newbie author writing a book for the first time, begging for collections, follows, catch-up reads, and recommendations. Thank you everyone. A newbie author writing a book for the first time, begging for collections, follows, catch-up reads, and recommendations. Thank you everyone.

(End of chapter)