Chapter 116: Brotherhood of Blades

Media coverage of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" suddenly surged.

No need to guess—Huayi was pulling strings behind the scenes.

In front of reporters, Deng Deng Wendi lavished endless praise on Li Li Bingbing.

Playing the part of two souls meeting too late, sisters bonded by deep affection—exactly the same attitude she'd had toward Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi before.

Plenty of people in the circle wanted to watch International Zhang's drama unfold; some media even ran off to interview Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi and Deng Deng Wendi.

The outcome was predictable—both sides cold as enemies, neither willing to comment……

Anyone with eyes could see that Huayi was now sitting on a pile of cash, gearing up once more to push films overseas.

……

The favorable policies for the film and television industry above really did have a stimulating effect.

All kinds of film and TV project announcements flooded out in a dizzying variety, all at once.

At Tiangong Color, Lin Nan buried his head in rushing the post-production of "Thieves."

Even so, he still heard something interesting.

That Star Girl–debuted Huang Huang Shengyi—looks like she'd long since secured her position.

Juli Pictures? Seems like that's that Yang guy's company, which just passed review and successfully greenlit a "Legend of the White Snake."

Right now there was only one cast member—Huang Huang Shengyi—nothing else.

But that didn't stop Mr. Yang from blowing his horn first: investment with no upper limit, special-effects budget with no upper limit……

"That's a new company, right?"

Guo Fan had seen the news too.

"New company, first time in the film production business. That take won't work, you cut too much……"

Lin Nan answered Guo Fan while speaking to the editing staffer.

He turned to glance at Guo Fan and laughed: "Feels like some rich kid showing off, right? No upper limit? Heh-heh……"

Guo Fan was taken aback. "Haha, Lin Dao's description is spot-on—that's exactly the vibe. But this doesn't look like promoting an actress, does it?"

"Don't even ask—it's exactly what you're guessing, just not public yet." Lin Nan said casually.

"Tsk tsk tsk, she debuted as a pure-and-virtuous girl, and now she's landed in the hands of a twice-married guy?" Guo Fan quipped, then went back to his own work.

…………

The "Brotherhood of Blades" crew.

A large group of people were filming the final fight scene.

In the valley, the duel between protagonist Shen Lian and Zhao Zhao Jingzhong, Ding Xiu's brawl with the Jurchens.

The former traded wounds for a kill; the latter took on ten single-handedly.

Director Lu Yang sat before the monitor, visibly excited—his first "big-budget film" was about to be finished.

As Shen Lian rode off alone into the distance, Lu Yang called out.

"Cut."

Instantly, everyone relaxed.

On a lounge chair nearby, Liu Liu Yifei—wearing sunglasses and soaking up the sun—sat up too.

She stretched and said happily, "It's finally over!"

"Liu Yifei, that eager to head back? Lin Dao won't run off, haha……"

"Director Lu, you're over three million over budget, you know……"

Liu Liu Yifei tossed off the line lightly, and Lu Yang was instantly embarrassed.

"Haha, just kidding, just kidding."

At that moment, all the actors gathered around.

Lu Yang stood up.

"I hereby announce that 'Brotherhood of Blades' has officially wrapped! Tonight, wrap party!"

……

Within two hours, entertainment news was flooded with reports about "Brotherhood of Blades."

"Liu Liu Yifei's first produced film, 'Brotherhood of Blades,' completed filming this morning."

"The martial-arts film 'Brotherhood of Blades' will hold its wrap party at Hengdian……"

……

During the banquet, Yang Mi walked up to Director Lu Yang, glass in hand.

"Thank you, Director Lu, for giving me this chance. Let me toast you."

Saying that, she downed it in one gulp.

Lu Yang was a bit stunned—was she really going that hard?

Then he let it go; wasn't that just the mainstream culture of the circle?

Only he was a rookie director, experiencing it for the first time. When he'd shot "Blind Cinema," he'd never gotten this kind of treatment.

"Director Lu, does our film have a sequel?"

Someone—no one knew who—asked, and the room instantly fell silent.

Right—this film could clearly get a sequel or prequel, just follow the timeline……

Lu Yang had thought about it while filming.

Now that someone asked, the other actors all looked at him with eager eyes—Zhang Zhen, Yang Mi……

"Haha, honestly I don't know either. But looking at it, the story really can be continued."

Liu Liu Yifei had left the banquet early; otherwise Lu Yang would have wanted to ask her about it.

"Wait till I get back and ask Lin Dao. If the box office is decent by then, and we make it into a series, I think it should be fine."

Hearing this, quite a few people's eyes lit up. Especially Yang Mi — her contract expires in March…

…………

The next morning, the "Brotherhood of Blades" crew flew back.

Right after, Director Lu Yang and the others were cornered at the airport.

Liu Liu Yifei had learned from Lin Nan's trick when he came back from Venice — she didn't leave with the crew, so she slipped away.

In her view, she was the producer; the cameras should be left to the director and the leads!

With her assistant, she got into the car sent to pick her up, called Lin Nan, and went straight home.

……

Director Lu Yang, on the other hand, headed straight for the company.

The post-production of "Brotherhood of Blades" would also be done at Tiangong Color.

Lin Nan roughly went through the footage of "Brotherhood of Blades" — the quality was good, and he figured the editing wouldn't take too short a time.

"Lin Dao, I'll cut this film as fast as I can. Could you arrange the release for the summer slot?"

Good lord — post-production hasn't even started, and he's already picked a release date?

"Are you sure you want the summer slot?"

"Sure. Lots of people then."

Director Lu Yang nodded and explained.

His pressure was far greater than Guo Fan's before "Source Code" was released.

"Brotherhood of Blades" had cost over twenty-eight million after all — for him, the box-office pressure was considerable.

"Then hurry up with post-production. I'll go talk to China Film for you."

…………

"The Myth" had become a bit too hot.

CCTV-8 had only aired it for ten days, and CCTV-1 had already started re-running it — and the ratings were still sky-high.

Emperor Entertainment Group was going to hold a celebration banquet in the capital.

Yang Yang Shoucheng personally came out to invite guests — Han Han Sanping, Jiang Wen, Lin Nan…

Maybe most viewers liked Hu Ge's character, and the love story between him, Lü Susu, and Princess Princess Yushu.

But quite a few industry insiders present unanimously agreed that the role of Zhao Gao in the script was the best-written, and the actor played it even better!

Lin Nan had just finished discussing "Ip Man 2" with Yang Yang Shoucheng when Jiang Wen came over.

"When are you planning to release that 'The Robbers'?"

"Why do you ask?" Lin Nan was a bit taken aback.

"What else? To avoid you, of course."

Jiang Wen sounded a bit helpless — looks like he'd been burned before and left with a shadow.

"Haven't decided yet.

No need to rush. The post-production on 'Let the Bullets Fly' hasn't gotten far either, has it?"

"Yeah, just started. But this time I need to pick a good slot. If I don't deliver results, it'll be hard to find investors in the future, haha…"

After chatting for a while, Jiang Wen kept urging Lin Nan — once "The Robbers" had a release date set, Lin Nan must let him know. Conversely, he'd proactively notify Lin Nan too.

Hu Ge was practically surrounded by reporters today; even squeezing out time to greet Lin Nan was a struggle.

That Bai Bing — her Princess Princess Yushu look was really something, but a shame she'd signed with Emperor Entertainment. If she wants to get famous, it'll be very hard — after all, that's a Hong Kong company, and this is the mainland.

…………

Lin Nan kept busy with the post-production of "The Robbers," and Director Lu Yang also started editing "Brotherhood of Blades."

Starlight Splendor's "The Legend of Sun Tzu" had begun airing.

Lin Nan didn't pay much attention — just a TV drama, after all.

But within a few days, he heard something had gone wrong with the show.

Yue Jun found it bizarre too. "What kind of sense does it make to take a show down after a few episodes?"

Lin Nan was indeed a little surprised.

These days, either they don't pass the censorship and drag it out forever — like "The Qin Empire," which had been stuck for three years and finally got its broadcast permit half a month ago and aired smoothly on TV —

But he'd really never heard of a show being pulled after several episodes had aired. That was a first!

"Did they say why?" Lin Nan asked curiously.

"Seems like someone reported it, saying the adaptation was too extreme, disrespectful to historical figures…"

That reason… was something else.

Lin Nan even felt Miss Jing Tian was rather pitiful.

This was probably the first TV drama where she'd played the female lead. Getting pulled like this meant a ban — as for when it might be lifted, there was no telling.

"Actually, it wasn't a loss. At that screening, Director Lu said just selling the rights to Japan had already recouped the cost."

Yue Jun added. It was only because it was a Spring and Autumn / Warring States subject — any other dynasty, and it would've been hard to say. Of course, except for the Three Kingdoms.

He figured the "Legend of Sun Tzu" incident would leave many film and TV companies baffled, but also serve as a cautionary tale.

…………

After resting a few days, Liu Liu Yifei was back in business.

With the added credential of producer on her resume, her price seemed to have risen again.

Every day, Liu Liu Xiaoli woke her on time — wash up, do makeup, change clothes — then it was magazine shoots, endorsements, and the like.

"I'm starting to miss the days on the 'Brotherhood of Blades' set as producer."

Liu Liu Yifei sat properly in front of the mirror, letting the makeup artist do her face, chatting with Lin Nan every now and then.

"Why?"

"Because no one dares to wake her up…"

"I've really been lazy lately — only managed to get up early for three days and already can't take it?"

Liu Liu Xiaoli wore a smile on her face, roasting her own biological daughter.

"Haha, Mom, I'll adjust back as soon as I can." Liu Liu Yifei said with a smile.

…………

At the previous meeting, Director Tong Gang said that Avatar's box office would very likely exceed one billion.

Now, those words had come true.

In the domestic film market, the first film with a box office of one billion yuan had been born.

It also meant that the mainland film market had officially entered the era of single-film one-billion-yuan box office.

The internet was full of reports on this matter.

Currently, on the domestic box office chart, the films ranked behind Avatar were The Martian and Founding of a Great Nation.

The latter two combined still fell two hundred million short of Avatar.

When netizens pulled out these figures for comparison, it looked painfully glaring.

"When will China produce its own one-billion-yuan box office film?"

"The gap between domestic films and Avatar is more than six hundred million — and the latter's box office is still climbing…"

……

Lin Nan felt this could be counted as a good thing.

At the very least, Avatar had shown everyone where the current ceiling of the mainland film market lay.

This film would also spur the major theater chains to keep pouring in more capital — rapidly building new cinemas, upgrading existing equipment, and expanding capacity.

Invisibly, it accelerated the infrastructure construction of the film market.

If nothing unexpected happened, domestic films were about to welcome an explosive box office phase…

"From this year on, a director with only a hundred-million-yuan box office won't be able to hold their head up…"