Chapter 458: New Drama, New Film

After announcing the film's box office success, it was time for the popular red envelope segment.

Black Myth: Wukong's global box office reached a staggering 2.2 billion USD, not counting later merchandising, disc and streaming revenue; just the box office share and copyright sales brought in six or seven hundred million USD, definitely a huge profit.

Giving some red envelopes to the main creators is also appropriate.

Of course, the amount given isn't large.

For lead actors, it's about 880,000; the others range from several tens of thousands to several hundred thousand.

And after receiving the money, everyone was especially happy and didn't feel it was too little.

After all, everyone knows that the film's astonishing box office success is chiefly due to Jiang Heng, who deserves the biggest red envelope.

However, when Tang Yan received the red envelope from Jiang Heng's hand, she beamed so widely she could hardly close her mouth.

Hearing someone from the audience shout "Give her a hug!", she blushed and opened her arms.

Jiang Heng naturally couldn't leave her hanging, so he gently hugged her.

This made Tang Yan's face redden even more, and she quickly stepped down from the stage.

After returning to her seat and sitting down, Yang Mi beside her nudged her arm and said, "Hey, could it be that you're feeling a flutter?"

Tang Yan turned her head, chuckled lightly, and asked, "Have you never felt that?"

Yang Mi froze for a moment, then sneered, "What's the use? Men are unreliable!"

To be honest, she does harbor some resentment.

Back then, she jumped ship from Rongxinda after breaching her contract, attracted by Outstanding Rising Film Company's abundant resources, yet after all these years she's still just acting in TV dramas.

Seeing one beautiful actress after another rise to become Jiang Heng's new film lead, while she never gets a turn, she's truly filled with resentment.

Especially seeing Tang Yan headline two major films, and this year's Black Myth: Wukong even grossing 2.2 billion USD worldwide, with a chance to become the year's top film, really made her feel sour.

But what good does her resentment do? She still doesn't get the big-film resources.

Even for the film New Heavenly Sword directed by Wang Jing and starring Jiang Heng, they refused to cast her as the female lead.

With Jing Tian playing Zhao Min and Tang Yan playing Zhou Zhiruo, she was practically driven mad by anger.

Seeing Tang Yan clutching the red envelope, her eyes still fixed on the stage, Yang Mi snorted coldly, "Stop dwelling on it—I reckon he's probably not going to get married!"

Upon hearing that, Tang Yan's face changed slightly.

She is an only child from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region and still leans toward wanting a family.

She said lightly, "I haven't even thought about anything!"

Yang Mi sneered, "Then why do you reject everyone who pursues you?"

Tang Yan stared, then said slowly, "I really just lack any fate with them."

Yang Mi was almost laughing from anger, wanting to say more, but Tang Yan got up to go to the restroom, so she could only continue stewing in silence.

Not long after, Jiang Heng stepped down from the stage, took a seat, and drank with everyone.

Although Yang Mi was dissatisfied inside, at this moment she still had to come forward to offer a toast.

Jiang Heng seemed to have just noticed her, and first complimented her on her recent good complexion.

Hearing that, Yang Mi wanted to roll her eyes, thinking to herself, "I'm about to die of anger, and you're saying my complexion looks good!"

Then Jiang Heng said, "By the way, there's a xianxia novel to be adapted into a TV drama—you should star in it!"

Yang Mi's eyes lit up upon hearing this, because everyone knows that at Outstanding Rising Film Company, any film or TV project that Jiang Heng personally oversees is bound to be a hit.

For example, Zhao Liying's earlier drama Shan Shan Comes was a low-budget modern urban CEO romance, yet it became wildly popular.

Not to mention the cases of Lost in Thailand and Let Your Heart Blossom on the Road. In short, at Outstanding Rising Film Company, as long as Jiang Heng lets you appear in a film or TV drama, regardless of the investment, you're likely to become a big hit.

Moreover, what Jiang Heng mentioned is a xianxia drama! Although it's not a film, Yang Mi no longer cared—whether it's a TV series or not, she's determined to be the queen of TV dramas.

"Um, Director Jiang, the investment isn't small, right? The special-effects scenes shouldn't be lacking, right?"

Jiang Heng laughed, "Of course! Our Outstanding Rising Film Company relies on those two words 'special effects' to stand in the industry; the visual effects definitely won't be lacking! The tentative investment is 300 million USD—give it a good performance!"

"Alright, don't worry, Director Jiang—I'll definitely give it my all!" Yang Mi said this with a smile as radiant as midsummer flowers.

Returning to her own table, she continued smiling so broadly she could hardly close her mouth.

"Are you happy?" Tang Yan beside her couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, a TV drama personally mentioned by Director Jiang, and it's xianxia—perhaps it could even surpass Great Feng Night Watchman!"

Upon hearing that, Tang Yan smiled and said, "Then I really do have some expectations!"

Speaking of the pinnacle of domestic xianxia dramas, it's not the previous generation's Chinese Paladin series, but rather Great Feng Night Watchman, which Jiang Heng strongly promoted.

This drama, whether in its cast, special-effects scenes, or costume, makeup, and props standards, can be considered the pinnacle work of its type.

Yang Mi's new drama, which she hopes to star in, aiming to surpass that, is virtually impossible.

Of course, becoming a hit is certain—Tang Yan has no doubt about that.

"Actually, speaking of which, Director Jiang hasn't treated you badly—among the several of us, to rank first in popularity, it still has to be you!"

Yang Mi quickly replied, "Director Jiang really is good to me—truly, very good, and I've always been grateful. However, in terms of popularity, I truly can't compare with you all; I only have some fame domestically, whereas you are all international superstars!"

……

However, after the celebration banquet, Jiang Heng rested for a day before going to work at the company.

Upon arriving, he first summoned Li Xiaoping and told her about the matter of Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms.

Li Xiaoping also attended the celebration banquet, but she wasn't particularly surprised.

After asking about the director, male lead, and other important roles, Jiang Heng naturally explained them one by one.

Finally he said, "Although this drama mainly focuses on emotion, special effects are our company's trademark; we must do them well and not disappoint the audience!"

"I understand!"

"Also, let Dilireba play Bai Fengjiu!"

"Okay!"

Li Xiaoping wasn't particularly surprised either, because Dilireba is currently a junior at Shanghai Theatre Academy, so it's quite normal for her to come out and film.

Estimated that by graduation she will be able to become the female lead of a major film/TV production; even she herself feels a bit envious!

The next day, Broad Sodium Film Industry held a new film press conference in the capital, announcing that Wang Jing would direct, Jiang Heng would star, and kung-fu superstars Cheng Long, Li Lianjie, Zhou Xingxing, et al. would participate in the martial-arts epic New The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, which is about to start shooting.

Not bad, Zhou Xingxing also did a cameo, and it was he who voluntarily requested it.

Because he thinks he is actually a quite good action actor; although he doesn't have many opportunities to demonstrate this specialty in his films, he still has given many splendid performances.

For example, the several exciting duels of Tang Bohu in Flirting Scholar; in The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao's big fight against Feng Xifan and others are also instant classics.

So Zhou Xingxing feels that this kind of movie featuring a collective participation of action stars cannot miss him! Not only does he want to participate, he also showed up at the press conference site.

The reporters below, watching Jiang Heng, Cheng Long, Li Lianjie, Zhou Xingxing, Hong Jinbao, Wu Jing, Zhen Zidan, Yuan De, Yuan Biao, Yu Rongguang and a host of other action superstars on stage, could hardly contain their excitement.

This cast is just too strong! (End of chapter)