Chapter 226: Submission for Review, Casting

The dispute between the film production industry and the cinema chains, which had lasted for more than half a month, was declared over.

However, the public opinion within the industry did not cease; instead, it became even more turbulent, causing an uproar.

It was all because Zhang Weiping had betrayed the "alliance" he himself had initiated, backstabbing all the production companies just to serve his own interests.

Media coverage of this incident occupied a massive amount of space.

"The Film Bureau stepped in to mediate; New Pictures has reached a reconciliation agreement with the Eight Major Cinema Chains..."

"Zhang Weiping hijacked the production industry for personal gain, abandoning industry ethics with no moral bottom line!"

"Multiple production companies in the industry have issued announcements to jointly boycott Zhang Weiping and New Pictures..."

"It is reported that the full ticket price for *The Flowers of War* will ultimately be set between 70 and 90 yuan."

Before this, Zhang Weiping had called on people to sign a joint agreement and had publicized it with great fanfare. Lin Nan Film, Huayi, and Enlight Media—these three companies—had not gone.

Looking back now, the companies that had signed the agreement had become the industry's undisputed suckers and sacrificial lambs. Not only did they fail to achieve their goals, but they also offended the cinema chains...

"Should I call him ruthless or stupid? Did he not consider the consequences at all?

He initiated this whole thing from start to finish, tying the entire industry to New Pictures' war chariot.

After making such a huge scene, he saw a bit of profit and jumped ship to run away?!"

Yue Jun took the script from Lin Nan and said in disbelief.

"Zhang Weiping is a classic example of someone who 'forgets righteousness for small gains.'

I was worried he would pull some stunt when he wanted to organize that joint agreement, and it turns out he really did."

Lin Nan recalled the scene at the meeting and made a sarcastic remark.

There were no winners in this matter; if there was one, Lin Nan supposed he counted as one...

Zhang Weiping had not only offended the entire production industry, but he was also unwelcome among the cinema chains.

That portion of the cinema chains that had boycotted *The Flowers of War* had already issued their official notice, showing their cards completely: they would not screen *The Flowers of War*, and their stance was very firm!

This meant that although Zhang Weiping had succeeded in raising the box office split and the minimum ticket price, *The Flowers of War* had lost a portion of its cinema screens. What the outcome would be remained to be seen.

On the other side, the comment sections under the Weibo accounts of New Pictures and Zhang Weiping had exploded, filled with mocking and abusive comments from a large number of netizens and moviegoers.

Because all the extra profits from *The Flowers of War* were ultimately being passed on to the audience by the cinemas...

"You go and submit the script personally, and remember to greet Director Tong."

Seeing Lin Nan's solemn expression, Yue Jun was a bit confused.

"Lin Dao, our script shouldn't have any problems, right?"

"It's hard to say for sure. You go and submit it first."

Lin Nan shook his head; he didn't dare to be certain.

Even Tong Gang had only told him to try submitting it for review first, and if it didn't work, they would think of other ways...

"*Bad Genius*?"

Yue Jun glanced at the title of the script and understood a little.

"Yes. Don't worry, Lin Dao, I won't forget."

New Pictures.

The vase that had just been replaced not long ago was smashed by Zhang Weiping once again.

He truly hadn't expected that portion of the cinema chains to be so decisive and unyielding.

The official letters from the cinema chains refusing to screen *The Flowers of War* had already arrived at New Pictures, and they were joint letters at that.

"At this point, I'm riding a tiger and can't get off. I just hope *The Flowers of War* can be a massive hit, so that even without those cinema chains, it won't have too much of an impact... and then there's the overseas copyright..."

After a long while, Zhang Weiping called for his assistant. "What's their situation? Any reply?"

Ever since Zhang Yimou had clearly expressed that they were parting ways, he hadn't come to the company again; matters regarding the film were handled by his subordinates dealing with New Pictures.

"They replied that Director Zhang will attend the premiere, the Hollywood promotional activities, and the Oscar reception as per the contract."

"Heh, 'as per the contract'?"

Zhang Weiping sneered. "What about those few?"

"Zhou Dongyu, Dou Xiao, Ni Ni, and the others can't be reached, but people from Director Zhang's side said they will attend the premiere on time..."

Hearing this, Zhang Weiping completely exploded.

"Those are New Pictures' artists! What does he think he's doing? What right does his crappy studio have to sign artists..."

Veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes bloodshot, Zhang Weiping roared.

After cursing for a good while, he calmed down.

"Now is not the time; it would have too much of an impact on the film if it got out. Wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer...

Keep this matter strictly confidential, understand?" Zhang Weiping instructed.

"I understand, Mr. Zhang." The assistant replied.

"Also, help me arrange for a lawyer to come over, keep it low-key."

"Yes, I'll go right now."

November passed by quietly.

Xue Xiaolu's *Finding Mr. Right* had completed its entire script production.

When Lin Nan received the call, he was out strolling with Liu Yifei.

"How about this: Sister Xue, no need to come to the company. I'm not far from the school right now, let's meet in a bit."

"Is Teacher Xue's script finished?" Liu Yifei adjusted her sunglasses and asked softly.

"Yes. Come on, let's go take a look together."

Lin Nan drove, Liu Yifei sat in the passenger seat, and the car sped toward the Beijing Film Academy.

"Director Xue, are you sure there really won't be any problems?"

"It's just a supporting role; Lin Nan won't mind."

Xue Xiaolu and Hai Qing walked on campus, sounding quite confident.

"Then I'll have to rely on you, Sister Xue, haha..." Hai Qing followed along, chatting and laughing.

A coffee shop outside the school.

When Lin Nan and Liu Yifei arrived, they spotted the two of them at the innermost window seat at a glance.

"Sister Xue, you're fast. Last time you said you were only halfway through."

"Lin Nan, Yifei, sit down quickly."

"Teacher Xue." Liu Yifei greeted.

"Hello, Lin Dao, Yifei. I'm Hai Qing."

Seeing this new face, Lin Nan vaguely guessed something.

A long time ago, Huang Lei had recommended his students to him right in front of his face.

The four of them sat at a table, and before long, the coffee was served.

"You two chat first, I'll flip through the rest of the script."

While Lin Nan was reading the script, Xue Xiaolu set her sights on Liu Yifei.

"This script has a challenging female lead role. Is Yifei interested in trying it out?"

Hai Qing listened from the side, feeling quite envious.

"Thank you, Teacher Xue, but I might not be able to spare the time." Liu Yifei declined softly.

"Oh? No schedule available?"

"Yes, Lin Nan's new script has already been submitted for review, and I'm waiting for that one."

Liu Yifei smiled, her tone filled with excitement.

Hearing this, Xue Xiaolu was stunned, and Hai Qing felt even more emotional—sure enough, people are different.

"His efficiency is actually this high this time?"

Glancing at Lin Nan, who was reading the script seriously, Xue Xiaolu sighed. She remembered that *Passengers* had only wrapped up two months ago.

Ten minutes later, Lin Nan closed the script; he had been skimming through it quickly.

"The script is fine, Sister Xue."

Lin Nan praised, even though he still sympathized with the "honest person" who ended up taking the fall.

"I brought Hai Qing along today, I assume you guessed it—I intend to give her the second female lead role."

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei both looked at Hai Qing, who smiled in response.

Unlike other directors from the Beijing Film Academy, Xue Xiaolu, as a professor at the school, was very supportive of actors from the academy.

"No problem. What about the lead?"

"Since you said you wanted to oversee casting, I have three candidates for the male lead and a few for the female lead. See if you want to pre-select anyone."

Speaking so bluntly, no one at the table felt surprised; this was the norm.

Lin Nan paused. "Let's talk about the male lead first."

"Wu Xiubo from the Central Academy of Drama, Zhang Jiayi from the Beijing Film Academy, Yu Hewei from the Shanghai Theatre Academy..."

Sure enough, they were all "uncle-type" actors, Lin Nan muttered to himself.

Hai Qing's eyes lit up; she had worked with the first two.

"Let's pick Liu Bei."

"Huh?"

"I'm talking about Yu Hewei; didn't he play Liu Bei?"

Hearing this, Xue Xiaolu and Hai Qing finally realized what he meant.

Liu Yifei was a bit of a ditz; she knew relatively few actors in the industry. For her, having Lin Nan was enough...

"As for the other female roles, let's leave them blank for now; I'll talk about them in a couple of days."

"Then can I start casting the other actors?"

"Go ahead, Sister Xue. What's the budget? I assume it won't be much?"

"Around 25 to 30 million; I had someone do a budget estimate."

Lin Nan nodded; the figure was about what he had estimated in his mind—a mid-range budget.

"Then let's make it 30 million. I'll instruct Yue Jun later."

That afternoon, photos of the four of them at the coffee shop appeared in the media.

Especially the photo of Lin Nan reading the script, which was very clear.

"Lin Dao Nan reading a script, suspected of collaborating with Director Xue Xiaolu again..."

"Strolling and discussing a collaboration, only an hour apart!"

"Boldly guessing: this new film collaboration will be directed by Xue Xiaolu, with Lin Nan as the producer, and the cast might include Liu Yifei and Hai Qing..."

People in the industry were all very sharp; many immediately recalled the previous *Love is Not Blind*.

"Lin Nan, is it for real? Is the investment scale large?"

Han Sanping's call was very direct, and Lin Nan couldn't be bothered to bluff.

"30 million budget, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Han Sanping understood Lin Nan's intention—he was going to do it alone.

"Of the times you've gone solo, only *Blind Mountain* lost money, right? Are you very optimistic about this script?"

Lin Nan smiled and didn't respond.

"Fine, fine. I'm too embarrassed to ask for a piece of such a small investment, so that's that."

Han Sanping hung up the phone, feigning indifference. He knew very well that whenever Lin Nan ate alone, the results were usually not bad. But for such a small investment, he really couldn't bring himself to ask.

*The Last Tycoon* (Da Wu Dang) crew.

"Jiajia, did the company invest in a new film?"

"Yes. Not only that, I heard them mention it unintentionally—it seems Lin Dao's new script has also been submitted for review, and Director Yue delivered it personally."

"My current film will wrap up in less than a month."

Yang Mi glanced at Zeng Jia and suddenly said something else.

As a long-time partner, Zeng Jia naturally understood what Yang Mi meant.

"Well, don't worry, I'll help you ask Director Yue."

"Then you'd better be quick; I'm not the only female artist signed to the company."

Yang Mi reminded her; there shouldn't be any scheduling conflicts this time.