Chapter 554: New Project: Celebrating After the Box Office Success (Seeking Subscriptions)

It took only 10 days for *American Dreams in China* to successfully break the 300 million box office mark, with its daily box office still maintaining around 20 million.

Looking at this box office trend, the film has great staying power, and the probability of breaking 500 million is not small.

At the same time, after a month of public screening, *So Young* and *Kung Fu Jungle* also successively came to the end of their runs.

However, what is very interesting is that the box office of the two films was exactly the same, both at 611 million.

If one really had to compare, they would have to go to the fourth decimal place, and the media could only crown them "joint May Day holiday champions."

"What? Looking at your expression, you're still a bit dissatisfied?"

In the office, Wei Jin watched Lu Yang with his head drooping and couldn't help but tease him.

"Of course? I've been in the industry for so many years after all; a tie means I lost, not to mention losing to a youth film."

"Forget it, kid. Do you know how many films of the same genre have been greenlit in these two months?"

"How many?"

"Heh, at least twenty or thirty, if not more, and it's estimated that the number will continue to increase."

"That many?"

Hearing this, Lu Yang was startled, but after thinking about it, he could understand.

This type of film has low investment costs, a simple story structure, low filming difficulty, and easily stirs up audience nostalgia, so wouldn't it lead everyone to swarm in?

"So, being able to tie is already very impressive. The celebration banquet has already been arranged, but I plan to hold it together with Director Zhang's side. You don't have any objections, do you?"

*Hidden in the Dust* took home the Jury Grand Prize, so it definitely needs to be celebrated; after all, with Ning Hao's treatment as a precedent, one cannot favor one over the other.

However, holding two separate events felt troublesome to Wei Jin, and his new film was also about to start shooting, so he planned to combine them.

Lu Yang clearly knew Wei Jin's temperament and quickly waved his hand: "No objections. It's just for the excitement anyway; the more people, the better."

"Alright, then it's settled."

In the afternoon, Zhang Yimou and his party returned to Beijing.

Wei Jin had originally thought everyone was exhausted and the celebration banquet was about to begin, so he hadn't arranged a small gathering.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yimou specifically came to his office to express his gratitude.

Looking at the sixty-something-year-old Zhang Yimou, who was still full of energy after a seven or eight-hour flight, Wei Jin had to sigh that he was indeed vigorous.

After instructing his secretary to make tea, Zhang Yimou took the initiative to chat with Wei Jin about the release schedule for *Hidden in the Dust*.

There weren't many options available at the moment, and the two quickly reached a consensus.

It was just that the next topic was something Wei Jin could never have imagined.

"Director Zhang, are you saying you plan to start a new project? So soon?"

Seeing the look on Wei Jin's face, Zhang Yimou knew he had probably misunderstood, so he smiled, shook his head, and explained: "President Wei, it's not *Shoplifters*. Although I like that script, the style is ultimately quite different. Rushing into it would be unfair to such a brilliant script; I still need to ponder it carefully."

"Then, you have a new script?"

"Yes, during the Spring Festival, I met with Yan Geling once. She had an idea that I thought was quite good, and then..."

Listening to Zhang Yimou's explanation, Wei Jin finally understood. At the end of the year before last, Yan Geling published a long novel, *The Criminal Lu Yanshi*, which was based on the history of her family's changes and created as a Republican-era novel with her grandfather as the prototype.

Perhaps feeling that Zhang Yimou would be interested, Yan Geling had spent the last few months adapting the novel into a film script, hoping to bring it to the big screen.

"President Wei, what do you think?"

"Hmm, that's fine. Since Director Zhang wants to do it, then let's do it."

Wei Jin pondered for a moment and gave an affirmative answer.

To be honest, for this type of biographical film, the box office and awards likely wouldn't have very good results.

From his heart, Wei Jin didn't really want Zhang Yimou to focus his energy on this.

However, a great director like Zhang Yimou always has his own ideas, and necessary respect must still be given; he would just treat it as him relaxing and adjusting.

The next day.

*Kung Fu Jungle* and *Hidden in the Dust* held their celebration banquet at the same time.

With the precedent of *The Great Buddha* and *Once Again* last year, the industry didn't find it surprising; it was quite convenient anyway.

The location for the celebration banquet was the Imperial Hotel, and Wei Jin booked an entire floor, which was quite large in scale.

There were also quite a lot of big names from the industry who came to show their support.

Top companies in the industry like China Film Group, Enlight Media, Bona, Wanda, and Huayi almost all sent representatives to attend, and even Shanghai Film Group, far away in Shanghai, specifically sent a vice president to show support.

As for the stars and artists in the industry, there were even more, all of whom were first and second-tier actors.

This included many stars and artists under Starry Sky Culture, almost all of whom were present if they didn't have other commitments.

The star power at the entire venue was comparable to a film festival awards ceremony.

The entertainment reporters guarding the entrance of the banquet hall were grinning from ear to ear; every time Shanhe Media held a celebration banquet, everyone had endless material to shoot. "President Wei, congratulations..."

"Congratulations on the great box office success."

"Thank you, thank you all for coming. Eat well and drink well tonight."

Wei Jin walked along, surrounded by congratulatory smiling faces, but most of them perhaps felt a bit of bitterness inside.

There's no help for it; there are no secrets in the entertainment industry, and the specific earnings of the two films had long been dug up by the media.

After *Hidden in the Dust* took home the Jury Grand Prize, its rights were snatched up frantically. Excluding the Southeast Asia region, the rights sold for a massive 14.8 million USD.

According to the current exchange rate, the rights alone sold for nearly 90 million, and when it is released, there will be another large sum of generous revenue, which is truly a huge profit.

As for *Kung Fu Jungle*, there is even less need to say more.

This film chose a simultaneous release in the Southeast Asia region. In addition to the 611 million box office in Mainland China, the overseas box office also reached 11.6 million USD.

Although it couldn't compare to the company's previous big-selling films, it was still a significant amount of revenue.

Calculating it, the entire film's box office share alone belonging to the production side reached as high as 280 million.

Adding in trailer advertisements, product placement, etc., another 80 million must be added.

As for why the advertising was so high, this brings up the wealthy Moutai; white liquor and the martial arts world can be called a perfect match, and the other party directly offered a high price of 50 million.

Even after deducting production costs and marketing expenses, the net profit of *Kung Fu Jungle* was as high as 250 million.

This means this celebration banquet is celebrating the intake of over 300 million; who in the industry wouldn't be green with envy?

Of course, this does not include Boss Yang of Emperor Group.

At this moment, Wei Jin saw Boss Yang bringing Huo Wenxi around to greet guests, the smile on her face completely unable to be hidden.

Emperor Group took a 40% share for 40 million last year, and in the blink of an eye, the return was over 100 million; it can be called a massive profit.

More importantly, Emperor Group's stock price has also soared by a large margin during this period, which is simply double the happiness.

After some socializing, both groups of people stood on stage to accept interviews from the media.

"Director Zhang, may I ask when the film will be able to meet the audience?"

Zhang Yimou looked at Wei Jin; the two had already discussed this previously, and seeing the latter nod, he did not hide it.

"It is expected to be released at the end of August or early September; the specific release date will be announced by the company later."

This release window did not surprise the guests and media at the scene; after all, it always has to avoid Shanhe Media's own films, and besides, art-house films really don't need a very good release window, even if it is Zhang Yimou's.

Subsequently, another reporter asked a question, this time the target was Lu Yang.

"Director Lu Yang, may I ask, now that you have become a 600-million-box-office director, do you have any plans for a new film?"

"Yes, it is expected to start after assisting in the filming of *The Fault in Our Stars*; everyone is also very familiar with the script, it is the sequel to my debut work, *Eye for an Eye*."

Compared to Zhang Yimou's steady and heavy demeanor, Lu Yang's personality was much more lively; he blurted it out immediately, even revealing everything.

It's just that while this guy was happy with his words, it made things difficult for Wei Jin, who was immediately surrounded by inquiries from Han Sanping, Ye Ning, Wang Changtian, and others beside him.

There are no fools in the entertainment industry; although the box office of *Eye for an Eye* back then was only over 100 million, after so many years, the sequel definitely won't be bad.

The *Lost* series is the best example!

"Everyone, today is a celebration banquet, let's talk about it later, let's talk about it later."

Wei Jin tried to persuade them with all sorts of arguments and finally managed to calm these envious monsters down, while the stage had already reached the final segment.

When the two ice sculptures representing box office and copyright, 6.11 and 1480, were smashed simultaneously by the two groups of people, the atmosphere at the scene became even more heated.

Subsequently, Wei Jin waved his hand and distributed red envelopes to the main creators of both films.

On the side of *Kung Fu Jungle*, after Wei Jin and Boss Yang discussed it, they distributed a full 10 million in red envelopes; and *Hidden in the Dust* also brought out 3 million.

Besides that, the media present also had a share for everyone, and the atmosphere of the entire celebration banquet instantly reached a climax.

Inside Jinwujiuhao, a game of Zha Jinhua was in progress.

"Mm~~ I listen to the boss~~"

Ni Ni was already rehearsing in her mind how to handle things later and had no heart to consider anything else.

Seeing this, Wei Jin said no more, only making the preparations in his hands more thorough.

A few minutes passed, Bai Bin finished shuffling the cards, and Ni Ni also took a deep breath and sat down at the card table.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Wei Jin no longer delayed and began dealing the cards.

As everyone knows, Zha Jinhua is dealt one card at a time, and it must go around in a circle before dealing the second card.

So now one could see Wei Jin dealing cards to Ni Ni one moment and to Bai Bin the next, busy and enjoying himself.

This night, Wei Jin served as the dealer for the entire time, letting several beauties get their fill of the card game. (End of this chapter)