Chapter 585: The Beauty That Cannot Be Described; Dividing Investments

Wei Jin did not expect that just by sleeping with Liu Yifei, he would actually see her trending on search.

It wasn't because their hanky-panky was exposed, but rather because Yu Zheng had forcibly latched onto the hype to get her on the trending list.

Ever since his demonic adaptation of *Swordsman*, Yu Zheng seemed to have found the password to traffic and started tinkering with *The Return of the Condor Heroes*.

This matter wasn't exactly fresh; after all, the hype had been building for over a month.

But no one expected that the casting results and character posters he released would catch the film and television industry off guard, leaving netizens completely dumbfounded.

In the photos, Chen Yanxi was wearing a white and blue ancient-style dress with two white ribbons in her hair, and combined with her naturally slightly plump baby face, the whole look gave people a very fat impression.

"Is this Xiao Long Nu or Nezha?"

"How come I feel like after Yang Guo loses his arm, he's afraid he won't be able to carry this Xiao Long Nu?"

"What Xiao Long Nu, this is a steamed bun, right? Is the food at the Ancient Tomb Sect too good?"

"No, in the original work, Xiao Long Nu is only ten? Is Yu Zheng blind?"

"Zhang Xinyu's Li Mochou is not bad, quite cold and beautiful."

"How did Chen Yanxi have the nerve to accept this role?"

The internet was flooded with ridicule, and netizens even posted Li Ruotong and Liu Yifei's versions of Xiao Long Nu under the Yu Zheng Studio Weibo, a direct slap in the face.

Even Zhang Jizhong couldn't help but jump out and mock it.

"Xiao Long Nu sleeps on a rope; the one Yu Zheng chose is probably going to have to sleep on a chain, right? I'm curious, how will the subsequent agile and elegant fight scenes be filmed?"

Facing the ridicule of the entire internet, Yu Zheng was completely unfazed and responded directly using his personal account:

"Xiao Long Nu was chosen by me, and I participated in the design of the styling, so I am very satisfied. I firmly believe that this version of Xiao Long Nu can absolutely rival the previous ones, and even surpass them. Time will prove everything."

Good heavens, once these words were out, they made this *The Return of the Condor Heroes* famous before it was even filmed, and a large number of netizens had already started boycotting it.

"Brother, do you think my Xiao Long Nu is better looking, or is Li Ruotong's better looking?"

After finishing the fun online, Liu Yifei sent over a life-or-death question.

"That goes without saying, of course it's you. Your Xiao Long Nu look is absolutely peerlessly beautiful."

Wei Jin held the girl's bare-faced yet still breathtakingly beautiful face and answered sincerely.

"Oh, so you mean my other character looks aren't the most beautiful?"

"Cough, cough, how can you say that? The others are of course beautiful too..."

After speaking, Wei Jin didn't give the girl a chance to continue asking, directly blocking her red lips, while his large hands began to roam over the hot and smooth delicate body under the thin quilt.

Soon, the singing of morning exercises echoed in the room again... In the film market, another blockbuster from over a decade ago—*Jurassic Park 3D*—was released.

The film's box office performance was very strong, raking in over 40 million on the first day, and after three days, the box office directly broke 100 million, closing at 126 million.

And with the release of *Jurassic Park 3D*, the days for domestic films became less comfortable.

The first to bear the brunt was *About Time*.

The single-day box office was slashed from over 10 million to six or seven million, and over the new week, the box office intake was less than 80 million.

However, even so, the total box office for *About Time* reached 579 million, which could be called a standout.

The entire film circle was sighing that films produced by Shanhe Media were as unreasonable as ever.

But with your performance being so stable, it makes other production companies look like trash.

Wei Jin had no time to pay attention to the bitterness in the industry; he called Guo Fan.

"There's still more than a week left, breaking 600 million is definitely stable, but if you want to surpass Lu Yang, you still have to put in some effort."

Wei Jin's meaning was understood by Guo Fan; offline promotion couldn't be done, but online, they could still continue to push.

"Don't worry, President Wei, I've already notified Bai Yu and the others; the actors are even more proactive than me, haha..."

"Mm, that's the logic."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin paid attention to the situation of other films.

How to put it, it could be called a miserable sight.

That film *Tiny Times 2* had completely fizzled out.

Currently, it had been released for 16 days, the total box office had just closed at 256 million, and the single-day box office had already fallen below 100,000.

Although the film was definitely making money, compared to the 500 million goal Guo Xiaosi high-profilely shouted before the release, this seemed somewhat ridiculous; this damn thing was even nearly 200 million worse than the first one.

That film *One Night Surprise*, however, performed quite well; in half a month, the box office quietly broke the 100 million mark, closing at 117 million.

Although the single-day box office had already fallen below one million, making money was definitely not a problem.

And Lin Chao-xian's *Unbeatable*, although the word-of-mouth was good, ultimately failed to make much of a splash.

It had been released for a week, and the box office hadn't yet crossed the 100 million threshold, but the single-day box office had already fallen below the 10 million mark.

There was no hope of breaking even; now it was just a matter of seeing if they could lose a little less.

Speaking of which, Wei Jin even felt a bit sorry for Yu Pangzi of Bona.

From last year's *The Guillotines* to *The Last Tycoon*, and now to *Unbeatable*, almost every film was losing money.

His luck was almost on par with Boss Yang of Emperor Entertainment over these past two years.

"Boss, the front desk informed me that President Wang of Huayi has arrived."

The voice of the Assistant, Huang Mengying, pulled Wei Jin back from the computer screen.

"Oh? Invite him to the small conference room; I'll be there shortly."

Last time when allocating the shares for *Slaying Dragon 2*, Wang Changtian was the first to arrive, and this time he was still the first.

But it was understandable; after all, the Dongcheng District where Huayi was located was only two or three kilometers away from Shanhe Media in total, so Old Wang could just take a stroll over.

Taking advantage of the time before the meeting started, Wei Jin and Old Wang chatted over tea in the small conference room.

"Little brother, the Golden Rooster this year is really shabby..."

Wang Changtian was scrolling through the latest nomination list and sighed.

"Haha, normal. Among the three major Chinese film awards, currently only the Golden Horse still has a little bit of credibility; the Golden Rooster and the Hong Kong Film Awards have both been reduced to bush-league awards, and the big directors aren't stupid."

Wei Jin sarcastically remarked without hesitation, "If you want to know how much weight the Golden Rooster Awards carry, just look at the list of nominees."

"Aside from Feng Dapao's *1942* and Chen Kexin's *American Dreams in China*, there are almost no works worth mentioning."

"As for the directors who signed up, there are even fewer; the fact that even Zhao Yanzi counts as a big name among them speaks for itself."

"Little brother, I heard they invited you before?"

"Big brother, why do you say it like that? Isn't it fresh? Which year don't they invite me? I can't be bothered to pay them any mind."

In fact, this year's Golden Rooster didn't just invite Wei Jin; even Zhang Yimou's side had been lobbied.

It was just that since *Hidden in the Dust* had already won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Grand Prize, Zhang Yimou was afraid of going over just to act as a prop for others, so he ultimately signed up for the Golden Horse Awards.

After all, at the current stage, the Golden Horse Awards at least do a very thorough job in terms of superficial appearances.

This included the works of directors under his company; not a single one of them entered the competition.

Come to think of it, those old stubborn ones really are deeply rooted; that old guy Ning Hao mentioned, despite having already retired internally, is still active on the jury lists of major awards.

If Wei Jin wants to completely suppress these people, he really must establish a new award.

The reason he invited the Western Film Group and the Shanghai Film Group this time was precisely because Wei Jin was laying the groundwork for future matters.

Although the notification was for 10:30, the several investment parties had basically arrived one after another as it neared 10:00.

On the China Film Group side, it was indeed Han Sanping and La Peikang who came together; it wasn't out of a sense of importance, but because La Peikang would definitely have to follow up on this project later. However, seeing Ren Zhonglun from the Shanghai Film Group and Chairman Deng from the Western Film Group, a look of surprise appeared on La Peikang's face. With two new parties added, how much of a share could China Film Group still get?

Han Sanping, on the other hand, was calm and collected after taking his seat; he believed Wei Jin would not make things awkward for him.

And with the arrival of Department Head Zhong from the Golden Shield, everyone at the scene wore an expression of "as expected." If they could make those people at the Film Bureau bow their heads, there must be external factors involved.

"President Wei, can we begin now?"

Department Head Zhong of the Golden Shield asked. Everyone present was a group president or executive who might have leisure time, but he certainly did not.

The Golden Shield had many matters to attend to, but their manpower was limited; he still had to rush back later.

"Alright, distribute the materials."

Wei Jin gave the order, and Huang Mengying immediately distributed the prepared materials to the other six production parties.

"Everyone, this is the detailed budget for *Operation Mekong*, 240 million."

Speaking to this point, Wei Jin looked at Department Head Zhong of the Golden Shield, "Department Head Zhong, I know the Golden Shield has very high requirements for accounts, capital control, and the like. This budget is very detailed; you can take it back and file it directly into the archives."

"Mm, it is indeed very detailed. Thank you, President Wei, for saving us quite a bit of trouble."

Department Head Zhong flipped through the materials in his hand, expressing his approval and accepting Wei Jin's goodwill.

"Hehe, it's just a small effort."

Wei Jin responded with a smile and continued, "The project's preliminary preparations are already underway. I plan to start casting after the Venice Film Festival. The official start date is expected to be after the National Day, and the overall shooting cycle will be roughly within two months."

"Mm, it's arranged very well. Starting after the National Day is good, good."

Ren Zhonglun's abrupt praise made the people in the conference room feel a bit confused, though La Peikang kept feeling as if these words were meant for him.

"Now, let's talk about the shares."

As soon as Wei Jin finished speaking, the spirits of everyone at the scene were instantly lifted.

"Department Head Zhong, as we agreed before, the Golden Shield's 10% remains unchanged. You don't need to worry about the funding; it will go through the project's special fund account."

"Alright, no problem."

Listening to the dialogue between Wei Jin and Department Head Zhong, the others had no objections at all.

As a unit directly under the GA Department, the Golden Shield was an indispensable part of the entire project, so 10% was not excessive. They were more concerned about how much of a share they could get themselves.

Wei Jin did not keep them in suspense and went straight to the point, stating his plan.

"20% for China Film Group, and 10% for each of the other four. What does everyone think?"

As soon as he finished speaking, one could see some people in the conference room looking delighted, some confused, and some frowning.

The one delighted was naturally Chairman Deng of the Western Film Group; he had originally thought that among the 7 production parties, 5% would be enough for the Western Film Group. He hadn't expected it to be the same share as the Golden Shield, Fiber, and Wanda.

As for those confused, they were Wang Changtian and Ye Ning. It wasn't that they disliked the share being too small, but that they still hadn't figured out the purpose of bringing in the Western Film Group and the Shanghai Film Group.

The one frowning was La Peikang; he had thought that for the last project before Han Sanping's retirement, China Film Group would not get less than 30% no matter what. He hadn't expected it to be only 20%.

Only Han Sanping and Ren Zhonglun showed no change in their expressions.

The former understood Wei Jin's style of doing things; if you lose out here, there will always be a place to make it up to you later.

And the latter didn't care about the share of this project at all; he cared more about whether a fixed mode of cooperation could be formed in the future.

Taking in everyone's reactions, Wei Jin added calmly, "Everyone, there is no premium for this project; everyone enjoys the full copyright revenue."

The reason for not having a premium was that Wei Jin did not want to turn a good deed into a bad one.

Because it was impossible for the Golden Shield to pay a premium, it would be a bit excessive if he didn't treat everyone equally.

Sure enough, as soon as he said this, the atmosphere at the scene improved a lot.

"Alright, let's go with President Wei's method."

"Mm, China Film Group has no objections."

"Wanda is the same."

Ren Zhonglun was the first to express his stance, and the others followed one after another.

This distribution method now took care of both substance and face; to demand more would truly be exhausting their goodwill.

After finalizing the shares, the subsequent contracts could be left to the subordinates, and Department Head Zhong of the Golden Shield left first.

Ren Zhonglun of the Shanghai Film Group and Chairman Deng of the Western Film Group exchanged a few pleasantries with Wei Jin and did not stay long; after all, they couldn't poach talent right in front of the China Film Group.

Wei Jin did exchange a few words with the two when they left, but it was only to maintain the relationship, stopping at the right point; in any case, there would be plenty of time in the future.

After these three parties left, Wei Jin looked at the remaining few.

"Chairman Han, Director La, Brother Wang, President Ye, what we just discussed was the appetizer. I kept you all here now because there is a big project."

"Oh? A big project?"

The few looked at each other, not knowing what it was about. Wei Jin did not keep them in suspense and laid out the *Interstellar* project in its entirety.

After listening, Han Sanping wore an "as expected" expression, while La Peikang was completely shocked.

"President Wei, are you saying a 170 million USD co-production? Your script? Directed by Nolan? Warner and Summit Entertainment are coming over to negotiate in a few days?"

A series of questions, each louder than the last; it was clear that this newly appointed Chairman of China Film Group was indeed very surprised.

"Mm, Chairman La, be calm."

"."

Calm—La Peikang could not be calm at all.

If he had any objections regarding the distribution of *Operation Mekong* just a moment ago, he had none at all now.

Are you kidding? A 170 million USD co-production; someone hands over such a big gift right after he takes office, what more could he ask for?

"Brother, do you mean Enlight Media can also participate this time?"

The person even more excited than La Peikang was Wang Changtian; ever since Wei Jin laid his cards on the table regarding *Edge of Tomorrow*, he had never had such thoughts again.

Never would he have imagined that Wei Jin would actually be willing to bring Enlight Media along this time.

However, Old Wang's good mood didn't last for more than a few seconds before he saw Wei Jin shake his head:

"Brother, Enlight Media cannot be a producer; I can only say that you can participate in the domestic distribution work."

Wei Jin was telling the truth; Enlight Media was certainly not qualified to participate in such a top-tier project, but they could still help out with promotional resources.

"."

Damn, got excited for nothing; Wang Changtian looked disgusted, but quickly put on a smiling face again.

Even if it was just distribution work, for Enlight Media, it was still a very large piece of the cake.

Especially for such a top-tier co-production project, there would definitely be an increase in the stock price at the very least.

"President Wei, how much of a share can we secure this time?"

Wanda had already participated in several co-productions worth hundreds of millions of USD, so Ye Ning wasn't particularly surprised; he was more concerned about the share.

But before Wei Jin could open his mouth to explain, Han Sanping had already grasped the key to the matter.

"President Ye, with Warner being so eager, our share will definitely not be lower than fifty percent."

Wei Jin nodded in agreement: "Mm, Chairman Han has eyes like torches; that is indeed the case. However, as for the extent to which the Chinese side can participate in this project, it will depend on the progress of the negotiations. Everyone, get ready; we will know the outcome next week."

"Good."

(End of this chapter)