Chapter 215

As Enlight Pictures' first independently produced commercial film, Wang Changtian attaches great importance to *Painted Skin: The Resurrection*.

The guests invited to this premiere ceremony almost wiped out all the big names in the industry!

The media reporters on both sides of the red carpet were busy non-stop.

"The brothers over at *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* sent news saying that the guests are all second and third-tier; there are very few first-tier stars, and I've only seen a few sporadically so far..."

"It's understandable; what is Enlight Pictures' status in the industry? It's not something that side can compare to, but President Wang is indeed ruthless. Oh, a few big shots are here, quick, take pictures..."

I saw Wang Changtian accompanying Han Sanping, the bosses of Xi'an Film Studio, and a few other state-owned enterprise bosses onto the red carpet, entering the venue laughing and talking.

Filmmakers, film and television companies, and first and second-tier stars in the circle came one after another.

Zhao Liying and Jiang Yiyan also walked onto the red carpet.

This was Zhao Liying's first time being invited to attend a film premiere, just because she was the female lead of Enlight Pictures' *The Four*.

"Our seats will be relatively far back." The venue was crowded, and Jiang Yiyan reminded her.

"Mm, I know." Zhao Liying nodded.

And Lin Nan, he was admitted by the performance department back then, so he was naturally not bad either.

Liu Yifei was wearing light makeup and large wine-red sunglasses. Her black, shiny hair was draped loosely. Her casual outfit made her look even more unrestrained and free.

At this moment, she was holding the steering wheel with both hands, her nose slightly wrinkled, waiting for the green light.

Lin Nan in the passenger seat was a bit helpless; his phone was vibrating, and it was already 11 o'clock.

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

Liu Yifei tilted her head to look at Lin Nan, a bit embarrassed.

Lin Nan answered the phone and heard the noisy sound on the other side, as well as Wang Changtian's shouting.

"You said see you in a bit; it's been three hours, where are you and Yifei?"

"President Wang, there was a traffic jam earlier; there are only two intersections left, and we can be there in ten minutes..."

"Alright then, hurry up."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei beside him laughed out loud.

"You still have the nerve to laugh?"

"Oh, didn't I act as the driver myself? Don't worry, we'll definitely be there within an hour."

The green light appeared, and Liu Yifei stepped on the gas pedal. The instantaneous push-back feeling caught Lin Nan off guard.

Miss Liu drives too wildly; in this respect, she doesn't look like a lady at all!

The premiere scene was very lively.

"Lin Nan and the two of them haven't arrived yet?"

Han Sanping and the others looked at Wang Changtian, who had returned, and asked.

"They said there's a traffic jam; they'll be here in a bit."

Rushing to 11:40-something, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei hurried onto the red carpet.

The reporters didn't expect that they could still wait for these two even when they were about to withdraw.

When they entered the venue, the two enjoyed the attention.

Wang Changtian greeted them, his stomach full of complaints wanting to be said but held back.

Finally, he spat out six words: "This is ten minutes?"

Liu Yifei's cheeks turned slightly red, and she tightened her hold on Lin Nan's arm embarrassedly.

The latter laughed: "It was too jammed; it was just one intersection, and I waited for half an hour..."

Wang Changtian looked at Lin Nan with an expression of "keep lying," and didn't ask further.

"Hurry up, it's about to start."

Lin Nan held Liu Yifei's hand and walked to the front row, seeing Zhao Liying on the way and greeting her.

On the left and right sides were acquaintances, Ning Ying and Wanda.

The cast and crew on stage were in position.

To be honest, the cast of *Painted Skin: The Resurrection* was really shabby, far from being comparable to *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* next door.

The hype selling point of this film might include the topic of Deng Chao and Sun Li's first collaboration after marriage.

It was clearly a film premiere, but at Enlight Pictures, it always gave people the feeling of a TV station holding a gala.

Liu Yan was dressed coolly, dancing belly dance;

Collin Chou played with a knife and did a striptease, with Yan Ni dancing on the side;

After the atmosphere came up, Collin Chou even held Liu Yan and did an aerial spin...

However, the atmosphere at the scene was indeed driven up.

The movie started.

The magnificent and unpredictable world of the painted wall instantly attracted everyone's attention; inside was a kingdom of women.

The original work was less than a thousand words, and it was really not easy to adapt it into a feature film.

"The only two shortcomings of this film are that the plot is a bit simple and the emotional foreshadowing is not enough. But with a production cost of 30 million, it's already very successful to film it like this!"

Lin Nan quickly gave his evaluation, and Liu Yifei nodded, "It's not as refined as *Painted Skin*."

After the movie ended, the applause was very enthusiastic.

"I still have to thank Lin Dao Nan's two *Painted Skin* films for paving the way; we have absolute confidence in the profitability of *Painted Skin: The Resurrection*."

Wilson Yip looked at Lin Nan on stage and said to everyone with a smile.

Talking about the special effects of this film, the host on stage issued an invitation to Lin Nan.

"Let me speak? Then I have to complain about President Wang."

The people below were all curious about what Lin Nan wanted to say.

"President Wang is too stingy; he actually asked me for a discount before filming started. I originally thought it was just this once, and Tianshang Color would earn some hard-earned money.

But in the end, I found out that I didn't even earn the hard-earned money; I worked for nothing!

Mm, in the future, when everyone looks for Tianshang Color to do special effects, don't mention the discount; it's too hurtful..."

As soon as Lin Nan's words fell, a burst of laughter erupted in the venue.

"Lin Dao, Yifei."

Deng Chao took Sun Li and took the initiative to come over and greet them.

To be honest, this couple is also a typical shrewd person in the circle.

Last time Lin Nan didn't arrive, but the gift money did.

Wilson Yip, Collin Chou, Yan Ni—Lin Nan had a good impression of these three.

The latter two were also rare good actors, and their acting skills were very good.

Liu Yifei went to the other side, chatting with Xie Nan and Liu Yan. Mm, eating something by the way.

In addition, this Bao Bei'er, who is known as "Enlight's First Brother," was a bit... his deliberate fawning and flattering appearance really made Lin Nan feel very uncomfortable.

But in other words, in the entertainment industry, such people can often stand firm because there are always big shots who like this set.

The next day, reports on the premieres of the two films appeared online.

What surprised Lin Nan a bit was that the media's reports on the premieres of *Painted Skin: The Resurrection* and *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* were surprisingly good.

On Enlight Pictures' side, everyone could understand, after all, Wang Changtian's relationship was there.

But was *The Sorcerer* also that good?

It wasn't until Yue Jun explained it with a smile that Lin Nan suddenly realized.

"Look, the media reported that the premiere of *Painted Skin: The Resurrection* was crowded with big names, while *The Sorcerer* was described as having many guests. What does this mean?"

"Many guests, in other words, means: the quality is not enough, so they make up for it with quantity. They are all second and third-tier actors, with less than ten first-tier ones.

Also, when the media reporters who arrived left, everyone received a 1,000-yuan red envelope; how could they not say good things?"

Yue Jun remembered the situation at the scene yesterday and couldn't stop laughing for a while.

"Lin Dao, look further down. That guy Yang Zai really dares to say anything; I was too embarrassed to expose him at the time."

Lin Nan scanned down, and the media did indeed highlight Yang Zai's words at the premiere.

"Our *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* initially had a budget of 180 million, and then added investment twice to 200 million, and then to 240 million!

As for the special effects, it cost 100 million, and the production cycle was as long as half a year. This film is definitely a rare large-scale fantasy romance film in China..."

Lin Nan was stunned. Is this how you brag? Is this how you lie? That's too much!

"I remember it was 30 million?"

"Yes, he chose the lowest level at the time, and the special effects production cost was 30 million. In addition, the production cycle was three months, not half a year."

"Amazing, no wonder he asked us to keep it secret at the time; it turns out he was waiting for us here."

Lin Nan muttered; this guy doesn't have much great wisdom, but he has quite a few little tricks.

The film market seemed to be ignited all of a sudden.

The audience was waiting for the release of *Painted Skin: The Resurrection* and *The Sorcerer*, while *1911* was not paid attention to by many people.

Many netizens were joking that to a certain extent, the competition between *Painted Skin: The Resurrection* and *The Sorcerer* was also a left-hand-versus-right-hand fight for Tianshang Color's special effects.

Less than ten days after *Passengers* wrapped up, Zhou Xun got another Hollywood role.

This made many actresses in the circle sour again.

Unlike Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing, who were so high-profile, Zhou Xun was much more low-key.

"I'm honored to have gotten a 'soy sauce' role; anyway, since I'm idle, I'm planning to go and look around..."

Regardless of whether it was a soy sauce role, it couldn't be denied that *Cloud Atlas* was a sci-fi suspense blockbuster with an investment of up to 100 million USD, higher than the investments of *Resident Evil 5* and *Dangerous Liaisons*.

Zhou Xun's attitude was better received by netizens than those two, and the comments were all congratulations and expectations.

The two films from the beginning of the month had been forced to be pulled from theaters.

Huayi's *Love in Space*, with an investment of 20 million, reported over 50 million, which could only be said to barely break even!

Gao Xiaosong's *My Kingdom* was miserable. The film invested 70 million; the box office was not good to begin with, and he took the initiative to provoke Han Sanping.

As a result, the screenings were cut so much that it could only be pulled from theaters with a score of 40 million, losing money to grandma's house!

In the future, it is highly likely that no one will invest in Gao Xiaosong again; even if they do, they will be very cautious.

Several imported films were harvesting the box office unscrupulously, and *Norwegian Wood* and *Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds* were also released.

Regarding this Japanese art film, many people in the circle were actively recommending it; after all, the original work was really famous.

Liu Yifei also went to watch it, but was a bit disappointed after coming back; it was better to read the original work.

"It's not bad that it could get in; the Film Bureau couldn't not use the knife, but it's indeed a bit too much to cut it like this."

Lin Nan said with a smile; a work that was shortlisted for the Golden Lion Award was cut to pieces. For ordinary audiences, it increased the difficulty of viewing quite a bit.

"Mm?"

Lin Nan was a bit curious; why was Wang Changtian calling again?

"Lin Nan, there's a movie that wants to talk to you..."

Wang Changtian said straight to the point about the script, the producer, and the production team.

After half an hour, Lin Nan refused.

"Why? Salary issue?"

"It's not about the salary.

Let's put it this way, in my opinion, this script is quite blind; it's about Cao Cao's emotional entanglements in his later years.

I've never even heard of that director, and he's using Zhang Yimou's team directly; can he handle it?

Changchun Film Group is determined to promote their own director, right?

I won't agree to let her act in it; although this role is the female lead, it's just a foil...

............ "

Wang Changtian on the other end of the phone was stunned, but every word Lin Nan said seemed to make a lot of sense.

For a moment, Old Wang also had nothing to say.

"Alright then, I'll reply to them; they are in control of this project..."