Chapter 500: Li Jie

December 5th, the 22nd day of the tenth lunar month.

Auspicious for weddings, travel, and starting work; everything is auspicious.

*Gravity* held its premiere at the Great Hall. With Han Sanping's handling, this premiere could be described as luxurious.

Old state-owned enterprises like China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Western Film Group, and Aerospace Science and Industry gathered together, and private giants like Huayi, Guangxian, Bona, and Wanda were all present.

When this group of people gathered together, if they just stomped their feet, the domestic entertainment industry would experience a major earthquake.

In addition, almost all the second-tier and above stars in the circle were present, and many people were even pulling strings to get an invitation.

After all, being able to show one's face on such an occasion proved one's status.

When Wei Jin brought the crew to the place, he saw that both sides of the red carpet were already surrounded by reporters and fans.

The female stars walking on the red carpet were also dressed brightly and beautifully, enchanting and graceful, competing for beauty.

However, there was no doubt that Zeng Li was the absolute protagonist today.

The usually Buddhist-like Zeng Li had her aura fully unleashed today, wearing a black half-sleeve off-shoulder long dress, paired with big wavy curly hair, carrying charm within her heroic spirit.

Coupled with diamond-shaped crystal earrings and a platinum diamond necklace, as well as slightly heavy makeup and flaming red lips, her queen temperament was instantly maxed out, making her the most dazzling existence in the audience.

"Li Jie, look, the media is all looking at you. You should show your face more often in the future."

Wei Jin smiled and whispered in the ear of Zeng Li, who was holding his arm.

"Forget it, you're the one who saves trouble. I've been attending press conferences and cocktail parties during this time, and I'm almost exhausted from just putting on and taking off makeup. Don't even think about me being this grand for the follow-up roadshows."

Although he was already used to Li Jie's Buddhist nature, Wei Jin still felt like crying and laughing at this moment, and could only nod.

"Fine, as long as you're happy, Li Jie."

As they spoke, the short red carpet had been walked, and after posing for many photos with reporters in the photo area, Wei Jin refused the reporters' interviews and walked directly into the venue with Zeng Li arm in arm.

Inside the venue, before the ceremony began, industry insiders were chatting in twos and threes.

Yang Mi, who had just stepped onto the path of capital, was smiling at this moment, taking Zeng Jia to walk around frequently, shuttling between major directors and producers.

Although the farce at the Golden Horse cocktail party was not widely publicized, people in the circle had heard the rumors more or less, so their attitude toward her was quite good.

Yang Mi herself could also feel that leveraging the situation was smoother.

It was just that when she thought of that man, after leaving the cocktail party, let alone a phone call, he hadn't even sent her a WeChat message, and Yang Mi felt a bit discouraged.

On the other side, because the *The Bride with White Hair* crew had stopped work, Fan Bingbing also came to the scene.

On one hand, she needed to maintain her connections in the circle, and on the other hand, she also wanted to find that man to get some essence.

However, Wei Jin didn't have the time to deal with these two at the moment; he was being surrounded by a group of big shots, being congratulated endlessly.

The faces of the heads of the three major producers—China Film Group, Wanda, and Aerospace Science and Industry—were also filled with smiles that could not be hidden.

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, as *The Martian* and *Passengers* had already proven this fact.

In addition, the overseas promotional reports these days had been passed back to the country one after another, and whether it was filmmakers or the media, the evaluations were almost unanimously positive.

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

"I was so shocked I just lay down on the ground! I think this is the best space film in history. The space photography presented in the film is the best in history. I have been longing for such a film for a long, 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's truly amazing!"

Therefore, everyone present knew very well that the box office of *Gravity* would definitely not be bad, and they were going to make a big profit again.

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

Guangxian's Lao Wang didn't get on the bus this time, which was a pity. After chatting for a few sentences, he pulled Wei Jin aside.

"Little brother, I won't think about co-productions anymore, but in the future, you really can't forget your big brother for your films."

Listening to Lao Wang's cheesy address and looking at the resentment in his eyes, Wei Jin shuddered on the spot and surrendered decisively.

"Brother Wang, stop talking. Next time, even if it's 10%, I'll save it for you."

"Haha, good brother, in the future, the female lead for Guangxian's projects will always be saved for you."

After a brief pleasantry, the premiere officially began.

For such a large-scale occasion today, the host was naturally Shanhe Media's top star Liu Yan. At this moment, she was holding a microphone to interview the creators, and everyone was very cooperative, sharing many interesting stories during the film creation process.

On the side, there was also a film channel shooting team, which would be broadcast on TV in two days.

This set of procedures was too familiar for the crew who had been promoting for more than ten days.

However, even so, Brother Cheng Long threw out a basket of good words.

"Since *The Martian*, I have always wanted to cooperate with Director Wei. I missed the opportunity for *The Thieves*, and I really regretted it, so after receiving the invitation for *Gravity*, I was really happy to fly."

"Cooperating with Director Wei is really enjoyable. His unconstrained ideas and super avant-garde shooting techniques have refreshed my understanding of directors."

"The most impressive thing is, of course, the lightbox composed of 1.8 million LEDs. This is the first time in my decades of filming that I have tried this shooting method. It's so novel."

As a Cannes Best Actress and Oscar-nominated Best Actress, Zeng Li's status was not small, and the media gave her a lot of topics.

"The most impressive thing is the cooperation with the puppet show team. It was really difficult, and I was injured many times in the middle."

"I was very uneasy after filming because I didn't expect my scenes to be so many, and I was worried that I couldn't support the box office. But since Venice, I have been very confident in the box office."

Subsequently, Wei Jin also shared many creative concepts. After the sharing ended, the media reporters also began to ask questions, and the box office was always a topic that could not be bypassed.

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

Speaking of this, Wei Jin paused and looked at the people under the stage. Seeing that most people agreed with this number, he couldn't help but hook the corners of his mouth upward.

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

You have to know that as the largest schedule of the year, last year's New Year season produced a box office of more than 3 billion, and this year's New Year season, from the current point of view, the overall trend is weak.

Li Ang's *Life of Pi* had a very strong start, and after 2 weeks of release, the box office had exceeded the 500 million mark. But with Huayi's exclusionary agreement, the single-day box office inevitably fell back, posing no major threat.

Feng Dapao's *Back to 1942*, after 6 days of release, the box office was less than 120 million, and the single-day box office barely maintained around 15 million, basically declaring it out.

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

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

"Then what about the global box office?"

Wei Jin looked at this reporter who was acting as a straight man, and the arc of his mouth became larger and larger.

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

It is said that if you don't surprise people, you will die!

When Wei Jin shouted the global box office goal decisively and powerfully, the audience under the stage was in an uproar.

Industry insiders were a bit unbelievable. Even if the domestic record was really refreshed, it was still more than 700 million USD away from the global 1 billion. Was Wei Jin really that confident? To be honest, when the overseas reports came back a few days ago, everyone thought it was just shouting slogans. I didn't expect Wei Jin to really launch an assault.

The media reporters were so excited that their hands were shaking. Wouldn't tonight's headline be stable? "Youthful vigor."

Ren Zhonglun narrowed his eyes, his tone a bit sour.

Although he didn't look forward to the achievement of 1 billion USD, this project would at least not be worse than *The Martian*, and it would definitely make money.

Shanghai Film Group didn't get on the bus, which meant they lost out. Not to mention that there was this old guy Han Sanping from China Film Group who loved to show off. He was afraid that he would be ridiculed again at the end of the year.

"Hehe, Lao Ren, look at how old you are, and you're so old-fashioned. If you're not vigorous, can you still be called a young man?"

Han Sanping's face wrinkled, and he looked at his old rival with a smile: "I am optimistic about Wei Jin this time. He never disappoints people when he does things."

After years of cooperation, Han Sanping didn't dare to say he was Wei Jin's hardcore fan, but he absolutely believed in the latter's judgment of the market.

What's more, this time he specifically invited Warner Bros. to cooperate in overseas distribution, even at the cost of giving up part of the benefits, which showed how determined Wei Jin was.

However, looking at his old rival's gloomy face, Han Sanping was in a great mood and said indifferently.

"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 arc of Han Sanping's mouth that even an AK couldn't suppress, and his face was terribly dark.

But he could only watch his old rival be proud, which made him very aggrieved! After the creator interview ended, the lights in the venue gradually dimmed, and the film was about to be screened.

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

"Finally waited for it, Da Li Zi's comeback work, I hope it won't let me down."

"Wei Jin's third sci-fi film has finally arrived. I don't know how it compares to the previous two?"

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

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

The curtain lit up, the familiar dragon mark appeared, and the film critics began to concentrate, entering a serious working state.

With the subtitles of several production companies floating, the main film 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, who was also doing the post-production of *Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon* during this time. Comparing this, there was simply nothing to look at.

But Xu Laoguai also knew that it was not just a matter of funding, but also the production process of special effects and pre-modeling, which could not be compared.

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 was staged.

"This visual effect is great, it feels immersive, worthy of being a blockbuster with a cost of 450 million."

"It is said that thousands of computers and millions of hours were used to create the special effects. It's truly awesome. Every frame is burning money."

"The sound effects are also great, the soundtrack and so on are simply perfect."

"Is this the space station data given by Aerospace Science and Industry? When can we turn this into reality?"

Listening to the discussions of the audience at the scene, the people from the Space Administration muttered in their hearts: "Soon, soon."

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

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

"Yes, I don't know how he thought of it, it's simply amazing. But I'm afraid only he can play with this method."

"Haha, Director Ning's words also make sense." Jiang Wen smiled and gave a like.

Generally speaking, there are several methods for shooting weightless scenes.

Either in the water, the advantage is cheap, the disadvantage is that the lens is not continuous.

Or it is wire work, the advantage is convenience, the disadvantage is that the surrounding scenery cannot be matched, and the best visual effect cannot be achieved.

There is also the direct use of large transport aircraft 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 tens of seconds and is only suitable for films with a small amount of weightless shots.

And Wei Jin's puppet show combined with lightbox, supplemented by CG special effects, can be called perfect, it's just too expensive.

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

Many female stars were also envious while applauding.

The film was indeed great, but more importantly, Zeng Li's scenes were too many, so many that Brother Cheng Long was playing a supporting role for her, which could be called a big heroine film.

Did this woman save the galaxy in her previous life? She was 7 years older than Wei Jin, and she could still be spoiled like this? Looking at Zeng Li sitting beside Wei Jin on the stage, one by one, the young female stars wanted to replace her.

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

Yu Pangzi from Bona, who was sitting under the stage, felt a little regret in his heart.

*The Last Tycoon* was originally scheduled for the 21st. He thought that two weeks apart was enough, but now it seems that participating in this year's New Year season might really not be a good choice.

Qin Hong was the same. *The Last Supper* was a complete failure, and he was counting on *The Guillotines* to get some blood back.

Unfortunately, it seems that the situation is still not optimistic.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 501 =====