Chapter 251

In June, the crew of "Havoc in Heaven" returned to Jingcheng and continued filming at the China Film Digital Base.

During that period, Jiang Heng attended the completion ceremony of the Outstanding Rising Film Company building, with some industry leaders and close friends from the circle in attendance.

Executives from Jiang Heng's companies—Outstanding Rising Film Company, Beautiful Times Special Effects, Broad Sodium Film Industry, and Crimson Red Film Industry—all attended.

Looking at the modern, stylish design and exquisite decoration of the Outstanding Rising Film Company building, the executives felt their spirits surge.

First, the building's construction is indeed modern enough, and the property meets first-class standards.

Second, its traffic location is truly excellent, situated 300 meters due south of the east gate of Water-Wood University, placing it in the core area of Middle Gate Village office building business district.

Imagining moving here to work, then buying a house, and having their children attend school nearby, everyone felt delighted.

Meanwhile, some friends in the circle felt nothing but envy and admiration.

Feng Xiaogang initially thought he and Jiang Heng belonged to the same rank of famous directors, although he knew Jiang Heng was a big boss and had a lot of money.

But since that money wasn't right in front of him, the feeling wasn't that deep.

Now, a building over ten stories tall located in the core area of Middle Gate Village stands before him, and this visual impact is different.

"Director Jiang is impressive—he put up a whole building without a sound!"

Jiang Wen beside him said: "These years he's only made commercial blockbusters, each earning plenty; not to mention one building, even a few more, he could afford them!"

"With this strength, he could build several residential complexes!"

Zhang Guoli stared at the building, muttering to himself.

Back then, he divorced after being left with nothing, and drifted north together with Deng Jie.

For several years they had no fixed residence; to save money, they ate instant noodles until their faces turned pale.

Furthermore, they lowered their standards and took any job—extras, background actors, dubbing, crew work—available at a moment's notice.

When they worked on "The Premier Liu Luo Guo," they finally made ends meet, bought a house, and brought their son over.

Perhaps because those earlier years were too hard, Old Zhang has a fixation on property; in the past two years he has bought several homes and also two shops, feeling he's doing fairly well in the circle.

But compared to this, the difference is huge—there's simply no comparison!

Perhaps he shouldn't have the thought of comparing; Old Zhang secretly admonished himself.

At the banquet, Zhang Guoli still couldn't help but interject, asking Jiang Heng whether he had the idea of building housing; if he ever built commercial residential units for sale, he would definitely buy a couple.

Han Sanping smiled silently beside him, knowing that Jiang Heng's development company had acquired a plot of land at the start of the year, which he estimated was intended for a residential complex, or perhaps to provide employees with welfare housing.

In fact, he had also considered building welfare housing for China Film employees, but the costs were truly too large to push forward; after thinking about it, he let it go, though he really did envy Jiang Heng a bit.

The money he earns is his own—he can spend it however he wants!

"Well, we will indeed build housing, but it will be low-cost welfare units sold to employees; Professor Guoli, if you're willing to come over, I'll sell you a few at a low price!" Jiang Heng said with a laugh.

Zhang Guoli was quite surprised upon hearing this: "Employee welfare housing? Director Jiang really is magnanimous! Just hearing it makes my heart race!"

Of course, that was just idle talk.

He is now famous, has his own company and serves as its chairman—so why would he go work for Jiang Heng's Outstanding Rising Film Company?

Just as someone accustomed to being a boss usually wouldn't go work for someone else.

After the ceremony ended, Jiang Heng returned to the crew to continue filming, while his several companies would not move in until July.

The general manager of Outstanding Rising Film Company, Du Huan, even had someone pick an auspicious day, and on that day several companies moved in together.

As summer approached, the several big films slated for release began concentrated promotion.

What excited audiences greatly was that this summer saw three big films released: Wu Yusen's "Red Cliff" Part One, Jiang Heng's "Legend of the Demon God," and Zhou Xingxing's "CJ7."

Moreover, there is also "Kung Fu Panda," which is said to be a big film as well.

However, because it is an animated film, the media somewhat looked down on it, not counting it among the big films, yet many parents looked forward to it.

Even more shocking to the media was that, of the four most anticipated films this summer, three were produced by Outstanding Rising Film Company.

Among them, "Legend of the Demon God" is a joint production of Outstanding Rising Film Company, China Film, and Xinghan Canglan; "CJ7" is a joint production of Outstanding Rising Film Company and Xinghui; "Kung Fu Panda" is a joint production of Outstanding Rising Film Company and Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Moreover, the vast majority of the investment in these three films came from Outstanding Rising Film Company.

Especially "Kung Fu Panda," given its huge investment, Shanghai Animation Film Studio merely contributed a token amount, just to have its name listed as a producer.

Their main work was still to produce the animated film according to Jiang Heng's script and artistic style.

Because of these four films, the 2006 mainland summer box office was dubbed "the strongest ever," and the Film Bureau was very pleased, certainly not wanting them to clash by being scheduled together.

Regarding the schedule, "Red Cliff" Part One was finally set for July 7, "Legend of the Demon God" for July 14, "CJ7" for July 28, and "Kung Fu Panda" for August 11.

It can be said that, aside from the slight proximity of the release dates of "Red Cliff" Part One and "Legend of the Demon God," the latter three films each have a two-week gap, so their box office impact on each other is minimal.

As for "Red Cliff" Part One and "Legend of the Demon God," they are one week apart, which certainly has some mutual influence, but Wu Yusen and Zhang Jiazhen feel it's not a big problem.

The reason is simply the investors' approval.

After the film was cut, a small screening was held; the investors' representatives all gave it high praise, considering it the pinnacle of Chinese-language historical war films.

Moreover, given the high production cost and decent visual effects, they didn't think it would lose to "Legend of the Demon God."

Some even said, "Legend of the Demon God" is at least a full-length novel, unlike picking a single chapter from "Journey to the West"; Jiang Heng might end up following in the footsteps of "The Swords of Shu Mountain" and suffer a box-office flop.

Hearing this, Wu Yusen felt in a decent mood; despite the suspicion of disparaging his old friend Xu Ke, who made Jiang Heng put such great pressure on him!

At this moment, among the directors of Chinese entertainment, Jiang Heng steadily ranks first, while Wu Yusen feels he is ahead of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, and others.

But if "Legend of the Demon God" fails while "Red Cliff" Part One succeeds, he too could possibly earn the title of "Number One Director in Chinese-language cinema"!

He isn't after more money; rather, with greater fame, obtaining investment becomes easier, and making the films he wants to make becomes easier.

In the blink of an eye, it was late June, and the crew began holding premiere screenings in major box-office cities across the country.

For example, the Chengdu premiere was held at the Wuhou Shrine, adding a strong "Three Kingdoms" flavor to the film.

The Jingcheng premiere only showed one hour of the film's content, most of which were battle scenes.

Furthermore, to keep the film's content confidential, strict security checks were conducted on site; mobile phones, cameras, and photographic equipment were definitely not allowed inside.

Meanwhile, at the Shanghai test screening, because the film contained many modern lines, the audience frequently burst out laughing.

Facing media reporters' interviews, Wu Yusen said that those were deliberately crafted "laugh points."

(End of chapter)