Chapter 180

After leaving Shanhai Pass, I encountered Zhao Benzhan.

Upon hearing that Jiang Heng had arrived in Shenyang, Uncle Benzhan brought his disciples and warmly entertained him.

In 2004, Uncle Benzhan was at the peak of his artistic career.

That year, the pioneering work of Northeastern cultural revival, *Ma Dasha*, took the stage, and 'Biaoxue' gradually became a shining cultural symbol.

Also during this period, the 'Laogen Grand Stage' opened, and Uncle Benzhan's business empire began to take shape.

At this time, Uncle Benzhan wielded great influence and also harbored ambitions to enter the film industry.

In original history, Benzhan Media collaborated with director Zhang Yimou to produce *Three Shots of Surprise*, and also released *The Great Jianghu Laughter*.

In this life, it's only natural for him to turn his gaze toward Jiang Heng.

Of course, Jiang Heng wouldn't film something like 'Three Shots', but he still held some respect for Uncle Benzhan.

"Director Jiang, I raise a cup to you. In this world, the person I respect most is my master; without my master, I would be nothing—it is he who taught me my abilities. Second most respected is you, Director Jiang—being able to earn foreigners' money is truly amazing!"

Mainly because Uncle Benzhan and his disciples spoke humorously, bursts of laughter often rang out inside the room.

Furthermore, when filming the second season of *Great Feng Night Watchman*, Jiang Heng was planning to invite him for a cameo as Kou Yangzhou.

Given Uncle Benzhan's acting skills, I believe he would give a fine performance.

"Your films can earn dollars, yen, pounds, marks, francs, rubles...!"

Especially after he withdrew from the Spring Festival Gala, did he realize how eagerly anticipated a Spring Festival Gala with Uncle Benzhan would be.

What's even more astonishing is that it actually achieved such a high global box office; if it could surpass nine hundred million US dollars, that would convert to over eight billion RMB—just think of the earnings!

For a moment, even Zhao Benzhan felt dizzy, and his resolve to enter the film industry grew firmer.

In Shenyang, inside a luxurious hotel private room, people clinked glasses, drinking to their heart's content; the atmosphere was extremely lively.

As for what kind of films these people shoot well, Jiang Heng doesn't know, because they haven't made any particularly successful movies.

Jiang Heng laughed; leading his disciples, they both hosted a banquet and offered flattery, making it really hard to pour cold water on them.

As the two played off each other, they again provoked uproarious laughter from the crowd.

Those in the private room gasped in amazement—over one hundred twenty countries, truly astonishing.

Jiang Heng said: "Just over one hundred twenty; aside from those everyone knows, the rest are basically small countries."

"Whether it's valuable or not, that's still amazing—it shows that Director Jiang's films are well made. Even in impoverished places like Xinbawei where people can't afford food, they watch *Inception*, showing that our spiritual nourishment is fragrant!"

Unable to resist, he asked: "You say, if we were to make a film, what would be best to do?"

"The ruble is worthless!"

Many who do business are formidable domestically, but abroad they amount to nothing!

Zhao Benzhan said: "We could sell them discs, right? Your film is released in how many countries—couldn't we sell the discs for those that don't get theatrical release?"

The one making the toast was Tang Jianjun, who later played Xie Guangkun in *Country Love*; the one interjecting was Tang Xiaohu, who played Li Daguo.

Jiang Heng couldn't help but laugh, waving his hand: "Not that exaggerated; in Xinbawei, they really haven't shown it!"

*The Great Jianghu Laughter* grossed 156 million, but its reputation was truly terrible, so it actually didn't earn that much.

Fortunately, Zhao Benzhan is exceptionally shrewd; seeing Jiang Heng's hesitation, he realized it would be somewhat difficult for people.

He self-deprecatingly laughed: "Ah, actually we folks should make low‑cost films—there's no point. Try to make big productions, but genres and subjects are hard to find; we might as well honestly just make comedies."

Jiang Heng quickly followed his lead: "Actually, making comedy films is a fine choice; this track still has great potential. If one day a domestic film could chase my blockbusters at the box office, it would be a comedy."

After thinking, he added: "Military action!"

Zhao Benzhan and the others automatically ignored those four words 'military action', and instead looked delighted, asking: "Really that promising?"

Jiang Heng laughed: "Feng Xiaogang's Beijing‑flavor comedy is quite successful. Although the box office is only a few tens of millions, the low cost means each one still makes a decent profit!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces involuntarily twitched—'only a few tens of millions' is something only Jiang Heng could say, given that *Inception*'s single‑day box office was over sixty million.

Zhao Benzhan nodded slightly: "Put that way, it indeed sounds promising."

Jiang Heng smiled at the words and didn't respond further.

Actually, Uncle Benzhan and his disciples have decent comedic talent, but in the realm of comedy films they seem to lack an excellent director, so no truly outstanding films have ever emerged.

In this regard, they fall far short of Chen Peisi.

After the meal, Jiang Heng returned to the hotel accompanied by his assistant, driver, and bodyguard.

In the following days, he first wandered around Shenyang, then made a trip to Harbin.

Harbin in 2004 was still somewhat cosmopolitan, though its economic vitality was lacking; after strolling around and seeing no promising investment projects, he bought a villa on Youyi Road as a future summer retreat.

Since his rebirth, Jiang Heng has earned a fortune from his effects‑laden blockbusters.

His overseas funds are mainly used to purchase real estate and stocks—such as mansions in the US, UK, and Australia, and shares of Apple, Coca‑Cola, American Express, McDonald's, as well as stocks of technology companies poised to develop.

His domestic funds, meanwhile, are basically invested in commercial real estate, skyscrapers, mansions, and land.

He also buys stocks, but his investments are in Hong Kong stocks; the A‑share market still has to wait for a bull market!

By the time Jiang Heng returned to the capital, it was already late August, and *Inception* had left theaters.

The mainland box office settled at 7.81 billion RMB, surprisingly failing to cross the eight‑billion mark.

One supposes it's because the media kept saying the film was somewhat 'brain‑burning' and hard to understand, which still influenced part of the audience's viewing choices.

Yet in Xianggang, it earned an outstanding 72.10 million HKD (9.21 million USD), a delightful surprise.

In the Beimei market, *Inception* grossed 320 million USD, temporarily ranking fourth for the year.

According to Jiang Heng's memory of the data, it should undoubtedly be fourth for the year.

Adding the box office from Baodao, *Inception* together garnered 430 million USD from the Chinese and American film markets.

Compared to Jiang Heng's other works, its advantage is not particularly obvious.

Fortunately, this film was very popular in Europe and Oceania, performed decently in Japan and Korea, and with the box office from Southeast Asian countries, its global gross surpassed the nine‑hundred‑million‑dollar mark, reaching 912 million USD.

What's even more exhilarating is that media from many countries gave the film positive reviews, unanimously deeming *Inception* an exceptional gem worthy of awards.

Especially over in Haolaiwu, an intermediary has already called, claiming that *Inception* is highly likely to win an Oscar, merely requiring some PR expenses to guarantee it.

Having experienced the 'information bombardment' of later generations, the so-called award selection is not at all mysterious to Jiang Heng; naturally, he won't be reluctant to spend money.

He immediately took a flight to Haolaiwu, rushing about to secure the award.

(End of chapter)