Chapter 532: Picking Up Leaks, Losing the Lawsuit, and the Horror of Fan Films

The General Administration truly adheres to the principle that the strong remain strong; the application for an extension for *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons* passed without any surprises.

"The film *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons* will have its theatrical run extended until the end of March, with its public screening period extended by 20 days!"

Once the news broke, the industry was not surprised; after all, with *Journey to the West* performing so well, not extending it would be a disservice to its over one billion in box office revenue.

However, the films scheduled for release in March are feeling quite uncomfortable, all appearing as if they are facing a formidable enemy.

After all, the release window was not considered popular to begin with, and the overall market potential is limited; having another competitor come to snatch a share of the pie puts them under immense pressure.

Therefore, many films have begun intensive promotional campaigns.

*Left Ear*, produced by Shanhe Media, is set to be released in just a few days.

Although they have been running promotions since late February and are already extremely exhausted, everyone from the director, Lin Yufen, down to every single actor, is putting in their full effort and refusing to stop.

For Lin Yufen, this is her first film since transitioning from the television industry, and it is an adaptation of a bestseller; if the results are poor, she might never have the chance to direct a film again.

For Jiang Shuying, film work is her greatest weakness; if not for this, with the massive popularity from *Keep Running*, she should have been selected as one of the Four Dan Actresses this time.

As for Ma Sichun, this is also her first shot at entering the film circle; although she is not the female lead, it concerns her starting point.

The others, such as Li Xian and Zhu Yilong, are also looking forward to entering the big screen through this film.

Especially Li Xian; this is the first time he has taken on the lead role in a film since joining the company.

Although the company has abundant resources, there are many male actors of his age competing, so he must seize every opportunity! That film, *Chef Actor Rascal*, which was rushed into production, is set for release at the end of the month and has already begun pre-heating, hyping up the gimmick of its three best actors.

Of course, the core of the promotional force remains Huang Bai.

There is no helping it; at this stage, one cannot find a more prominent male actor in the entire film and television circle.

Among Chinese-language films, there are only 7 in total that have crossed the 1 billion box office mark, and he has starred in two of them himself; having both awards under his belt and the ability to carry the box office is truly rare.

Even the final round of the Beijing Film Academy's art exams had Huang Bai called back to make a guest appearance; the atmosphere on-site was incredibly heated, with nine out of ten examinees requesting photos and autographs.

From this, the heat surrounding Huang Bai is evident, and the producers certainly would not miss out.

*Witch*, also scheduled for release at the end of the month, has also begun its promotional path.

Liu Shishi, who just secured her spot as one of the Four Dan Actresses, is also cooperating with Jiahe's announcements to promote her first film as a female lead, *Witch*, on Weibo.

Although she has not yet proven herself in commercial films, Liu Shishi has accumulated quite a few fans over the years, and her appeal is no less; there is a long string of expectations under her Weibo posts.

Other domestic films, such as *Princess and the Seven Little Dwarfs*, directed by Wang Pangzi and starring Wang Zulan and Wu Junru, as well as *Eros*, starring Zhong Hanliang, have also entered their final promotional stages.

Over in North America, with Liu Yan there to serve him, Wei Jin is quite relaxed, and the filming these past few days has been very smooth.

*Nomadland* has many exterior scenes, and he is currently working on the third very important exterior shoot; Wei Jin expects to finish it in a few more days.

The remaining exterior scenes are relatively scattered, so Wei Jin does not need to worry too much; he can even arrange for an assistant director to shoot some of the minor landscape shots, and he only needs to control the quality at the final stage.

After a day of filming ended, Wei Jin had just returned to the hotel with Liu Yan to soak and relieve his fatigue when he received a call from Hunter.

While enjoying the gentle service of his assistant, Wei Jin listened to Hunter's work report.

James Wan's efficiency is high; in one month, *Annabelle* has wrapped up filming.

This film continues the brand and style of *The Conjuring*, so making a big profit is certainly no problem, though it may not necessarily achieve the same critical acclaim as the former.

Subsequently, Hunter reported on other work.

Since last year, Summit Entertainment has been seeking outside investment, and *Silver Linings Playbook* was produced this way.

Although the box office performance of this film is not considered very good, it produced the youngest Oscar Best Actress, the copyright price is good, and the subsequent revenue will not be small.

Therefore, Hunter, who was not very proactive before, now takes the initiative to seek out projects.

After hearing the names of several projects in a row, there was finally one that made Wei Jin's eyes light up.

"Boss, are we really going to invest in this *Dallas Buyers Club*?"

"What's wrong? Is there something I don't know about?"

"Well, this film started shooting last month, but after the investors hired a professional consulting firm to analyze it, they felt it wasn't promising and withdrew their capital directly. Now the producer is desperate and has run through almost everyone, including the Big Six and independent film companies."

Hunter tactfully indicated that he did not think highly of it.

"Hunter, what is the approximate funding gap?"

Wei Jin felt the warmth of his assistant and asked nonchalantly.

"Five million dollars."

"Then let's invest; with this little cost, it can't lose money."

Seemingly infected by Wei Jin's confident tone, Hunter did not continue to persuade him but nodded and agreed: "Okay, Boss, I will contact them right away."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin was in a good mood; this film wouldn't just avoid losing money—with a cost of five million dollars, it would earn at least two or three times that. Wouldn't the public relations expenses for this year's Oscar be covered? Thinking of this, Wei Jin felt it was necessary to celebrate and immediately reached out to pat the assistant working diligently beneath him.

"Little White Tiger, are you hungry?"

Liu Yan slowly let go of Wei Jin, then wrapped the man with her Innate Dharma Treasure, a hint of seduction on her face: "Boss, what do you think?"

Although she had been eating meat these days, how could she ever get enough of this? Without waiting for Wei Jin's command, Liu Yan rose from the water and sat onto the card game.

In an instant, the sound of applause filled the hotel bathroom. In 20 days, *Seattle* refreshed the record of *Love is Not Blind*, reporting 526 million.

With two consecutive hit commercial films, Xue Xiaolu has completely solidified her position as a 500-million-box-office director.

As a sitting professor at the Beijing Film Academy, the school's official website also made a big fuss, once again pinning her resume to the homepage to vigorously promote and praise her.

After all, she is the face of the school's teaching staff, and it once again proved one thing to the industry—that the Beijing Film Academy produces directors is no empty claim.

Especially coinciding with the final round of the art exams, this news overshadowed other art schools like the Central Academy of Drama and the Shanghai Theatre Academy, earning the Beijing Film Academy plenty of attention and buzz.

Yang Mi has also been riding high these days; although *Seattle* did not get an Extended Key, according to the film's current trend, breaking 600 million is not a big problem. Although the chance of breaking the box office record for a female-led film held by *Once Again* and *Bottom-Tier Girl* is slim, being ranked alongside Jing Tian and Liu Yifei as a 600-million-box-office lead is, in its own way, a form of progress, isn't it?

As for comparing box office with Ceng Li, Yang Mi was still very clear-headed; a sci-fi script with a big female lead like *Dixing Yinxing*, which is also a global blockbuster, is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

Nowadays, Ceng Li's status in the country can no longer be described as a top-tier star; she belongs in a league of her own.

Yang Mi felt there was absolutely no need to make things difficult for herself; they were not on the same track.

On Women's Day, several domestic films were released simultaneously, but the one receiving the most attention in the circle was undoubtedly *Left Ear*, produced by Shanhe Media.

Although this is the transition work of a television director, the original author, Rao Xueman, is herself a master of youth angst literature and has quite a few fans.

And this original novel, published in 2006, still has many loyal readers and supporters to this day.

The appeal of fan-driven films is known to everyone in the industry, and the theater chains are well aware of it too, which is why they gave it a high screen allocation, averaging as high as 22%.

For a small-to-medium budget film, this is already very impressive.

However, the film's performance did not disappoint the theater chains; it raked in 36.4 million on its opening day, directly crushing *Princess and the Seven Little Dwarfs* and *Amour*, which were released on the same day, into dust.

The former brought in 9 million, while the latter didn't even reach 4 million, not even seeing the taillights of *Left Ear*.

Perhaps because the initial audience consisted entirely of fans of the original work, *Left Ear* actually had decent word-of-mouth online on its release day, with its rating on Yinxiang Net holding steady at around 7 points.

But as the director, Lin Yufen clearly remembered Wei Jin's initial assessment and knew this was just an illusion; as the audience base expanded, word-of-mouth would inevitably be affected.

So, she immediately took the cast and crew on a frantic roadshow, hitting almost four or five theaters a day, vowing to secure higher box office numbers during the early release period.

The main cast had no complaints about this; they didn't even need Lin Yufen to pump them up, as they were all eager and ready, just waiting to become an overnight success.

Wei Jin, who was in North America, did not pay too much attention to the results of *Left Ear*; in any case, it was certain that this film would make money.

After finishing the filming for the crew, he took the time to call Liu Shishi; today was the young lady's birthday, after all.

As expected, Liu Shishi was very happy to receive Wei Jin's call, and they chatted about a lot of recent work and life on the phone.

However, towards the end, Liu Shishi started chatting with Wei Jin about the recent troublesome matters at Tangren.

The lawsuit between Tangren and Lin Gengxin had been adjudicated, and the first-instance result was somewhat unexpected; as a prominent local film and television company in Shanghai, Tangren had actually lost the case.

According to Lin Gengxin's demands, Tangren had to pay him 1.5 million in back pay owed for several years and confirm that the contract between the two parties had ended.

Once the judgment took effect, it would be tantamount to a direct slap in the face to Tangren; Miss Cai, of course, would not stand for it and immediately filed an appeal.

However, the first-instance result indicated that Tangren was at an absolute disadvantage in this agency contract dispute, and it was estimated that even if the court ruled again, it would be difficult to change the fact that the two parties had terminated their contract; at most, they could see if they could collect some liquidated damages.

"So, President Cai is in a bad mood and gave you a hard time?"

"That's not it, it's just that recruiting at Shanghai Theatre Academy these days seems to be going quite poorly, and she complained to me about it in private."

Wei Jin nodded; Miss Cai hadn't lost her mind yet, though for a woman in her forties, menopause issues might be quite severe.

"Shishi, don't worry about Tangren's affairs. Take a break for these few days. In another week, the promotion for *Witch* will begin, and you'll have to get busy then."

"Mm, Brother, I know, but can you come back to attend the premiere?"

Hearing the longing contained in the young lady's soft, sweet voice, Wei Jin felt a warmth in his heart, but after a pause, he still shook his head and refused.

"Shishi, my filming here hasn't finished yet, and there are still many things to follow up on, so I might not be able to make it back."

It wasn't that Wei Jin was stingy or unwilling to spare a day or two, but Da Meiyuan's due date was between the end of March and the beginning of April, and he truly couldn't spare the time.

"I see."

Across the phone, Wei Jin could feel the young lady's disappointment, but she was very sensible and quickly adjusted her mood, her tone soft: "It's okay, Brother, your important work comes first."

"Shishi, I promise you, once I finish what I'm working on, I'll take the time to properly keep you company, okay?"

"Okay, that's a promise then; anyone who breaks it is a puppy."

Wei Jin recalled the past at Xishan Villa, a playful smirk on his lips: "Shishi, I'm just afraid that if I turn into a puppy, some people won't be able to handle it."

Liu Shishi clearly also recalled the tenderness between the man's lips and teeth; her body, which had been empty for more than two months, instantly grew hot, her legs unconsciously pressed together, and a flush of crimson appeared on her pretty face: "You're annoying."

Entering the weekend, the terrifying nature of fan-driven films was fully revealed.

On the second day of *Left Ear*'s release, the box office soared by a large margin, raking in 48.6 million, and on the third day, it hit a new high, raking in 51.8 million.

Over the first three-day weekend, *Left Ear* tore 137 million away from domestic blockbusters like *Journey to the West* and *Seattle*, as well as imported films like *The Hobbit*; it could be called heaven-defying!

Even counting marketing costs, the total investment for *Left Ear* would not exceed 40 million; after just this one weekend, it had not only recouped its costs but also achieved profitability, which made companies in the industry truly envious to the point of exploding.

However, just as everyone had worried before, March itself is not a popular release window; when one person is full, others inevitably go hungry.

Because the tracks were different, *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons* was not particularly heavily affected; its daily box office dropped from around 10 million to seven or eight million, and its current box office has reached 1.233 billion.

Including the extension, *Journey to the West* still has more than 20 days of theatrical run, and it is almost a certainty that the box office will break 1.3 billion.

As for whether it can catch up to the 1.387 billion of *The Thieves*, the industry generally believes it is very unlikely.

The one most affected was *Seattle*, with its daily box office cut in half from 10 million to four or five million; its current box office has reached 572 million.

With less than a week left until *Seattle* is pulled from theaters, whether it can break 600 million still seems to be a toss-up.

At this moment, Yang Mi began to get anxious, posting three Weibo updates a day, calling on her fans to go to the theaters to support it.

After all, 600 million and 500 million are truly different concepts.

It must be said, although Yang Mi has great ambition, she is indeed very good to her fans.

Not only does she often interact with fans on Weibo, but she also holds fan giveaway events during holidays, and the level of feedback each time is not small.

There were indeed quite a few fans who hoped she could sit in the position of a 600-million-grossing lead actress, and they responded to the call one after another, starting a film buyout mode.

For a time, it actually allowed *Seattle*, which was nearing its end, to recover some strength, and also made the final result even more unpredictable. (End of this chapter)