Chapter 317: A Complete Victory Over

"You did that on purpose, just to make me cry."

Taking the tissue Lin Nan handed her, Liu Yifei wiped her tears and complained with a huff.

Her beautiful eyes were already slightly red.

Fortunately, her makeup was light, so it didn't ruin her beauty at all; instead, it made her look even more pitiful and endearing.

Many people around them were the same, with tears and snot running down their faces.

Most of the actresses with heavy makeup were a sight to behold by now, looking like ghosts.

Huayi really pulled off something big; if any reporter were to take a few group photos and upload them online right now, they'd probably be killed!

Looking around, by comparison, Miss Liu looked even more stunning, both in appearance and temperament.

"But it really is an excellent film, isn't it?"

Lin Nan wiped the corner of Liu Yifei's eye and said gently.

He had only brought Liu Yifei to see this decent film. As an audience member, being moved by the plot of a good movie was inevitable.

"Look around you, you're the most eye-catching one because you're the only great beauty left; everyone else is just a passerby."

Lin Nan leaned into Liu Yifei's ear and whispered.

The silly girl actually looked up to survey her surroundings, and the next moment, she rested her head against Lin Nan's arm, struggling to keep from laughing.

"Who talks about others like that? Besides, even if it weren't for now, I'm very confident in myself."

Liu Yifei said in a soft, haughty tone, stating a simple fact.

"Yes, Miss Liu is naturally beautiful, even if you rank last in your own family, hahaha."

"You really are a sycophant, my mother isn't even here..."

With just a few words, Lin Nan brought Liu Yifei out of the sorrowful mood of "Back to 1942."

The film screening ended.

By now, the guests at the scene were all sighing that this film by Feng Xiaogang was truly an epic masterpiece.

"No matter how good the acting is, you can't act out the feeling of 'hunger' to the most realistic degree; losing ten, twenty, or thirty jin of weight to look the part isn't enough."

"That's why several of our teachers maintained a state of being hungry after acting and acting while hungry for over half a year, often going hungry for two or three days before filming certain scenes to achieve the best performance and shots."

Feng Xiaogang pointed at some of the leads, including Zhang Guoli, Fan Wei, and Feng Yuanzheng, speaking with great passion.

It was as if he were showing everyone the outstanding work he was so proud of; he looked quite excited.

Wang Zhonglei and Wang Zhongjun sat in the producers' seats, also wearing smiles and looking full of confidence.

"What about the box office? What is Director Feng's box office expectation for 'Back to 1942'?"

Following the reporter's question, many people looked intentionally or unintentionally toward Lin Nan and Liu Yifei.

Lin Nan knew that tall trees catch the wind; this bunch was all staring at him.

"From the revenue-sharing agreement between 'Back to 1942' and the theater chains, everyone should be able to see my determination and confidence, as well as that of Chairman Wang and the others."

"As I said before, 1 billion at the box office is the floor, with no ceiling. We will also challenge Lin Dao's box office record..."

Immediately after, Feng Xiaogang looked toward Lin Nan again and added with a pointed remark:

"Congratulations to Lin Dao and Yifei for winning big awards at the Golden Horse; it's a pity 'Back to 1942' missed this opportunity."

There was a lot of meaning behind that sentence.

Lin Nan replied with great grace: "Then I wish Director Feng all his heart's desires. When you hold the celebration banquet, remember to invite me."

"Hahaha, good, many thanks for Lin Dao's kind words."

Before Feng Xiaogang could speak, Wang Zhonglei stood up first and thanked him loudly.

While they continued to talk eloquently on stage, Liu Yifei leaned against Lin Nan and asked softly:

"Do you think its box office can surpass our 'Bad Genius'?"

Lin Nan didn't answer directly, "Do you think this movie counts as a good movie?"

Miss Liu nodded subconsciously; she had cried watching it, and so many others had cried too.

"Then the day after tomorrow—no, the day after that, 'Lost in Thailand' is holding its premiere. Let's go to the theater to watch it again the day after that, shall we go?"

This time, Liu Yifei paused for two seconds, then shook her head decisively, "I don't want to watch it a second time; it's too painful."

As soon as the words left her lips, Liu Yifei knew the answer.

In the afternoon, the news about the Golden Horse Awards was still on the headlines.

But the news about the premieres of "The Last Supper" and "Back to 1942" also quickly squeezed into the top ranks.

Lu Chuan made a bold claim in front of the media:

"'The Last Supper' is a historical epic in the true sense. The audience can follow the film into that era of the Chu-Han Contention at the end of the Qin Dynasty and witness the magnificence of history."

"Our opponent is not 'White Vengeance' from a year ago, but 'Back to 1942.' The original goal of a 300 million box office floor is already outdated. We want to be the first domestic historical epic to break 1 billion at the box office!"

The media was extremely excited.

Ever since Lin Nan's "Bad Genius" broke the 1 billion mark and set a new record, almost all big-budget films had raised their box office targets to this number during promotion.

There was a feeling of, "If Lin Nan can do it, then I can too."

Lin Nan just treated Lu Chuan's bold words in the news as a joke.

He met with the three creators of "Lost in Thailand" at the company.

"I'll leave the premiere the day after tomorrow to you all. At most, I'll just sit in the audience as a guest; I won't go up on stage."

Xu Zheng had been very efficient these days, and the scandal had been completely turned over.

"Lin Dao, don't worry. 'Lost in Thailand' has the word-of-mouth backing of the first film; compared to other movies, our starting point is much higher."

"The decision to have Yifei make a cameo earlier was great. Now that the movie is being released, we've basically picked up a Best Actress for free! Haha..."

Huang Bo was good at cracking jokes, and this was indeed a selling point. Wang Baoqiang stood there with his signature smile.

Huang Bo was good at cracking jokes, and this was indeed a selling point. Wang Baoqiang stood there with his signature smile.

"That's settled then, see you the day after tomorrow."

Lin Nan said with a smile; he also had no intention of letting Liu Yifei go on stage, as it would easily steal the spotlight.

The film market was already prepared to welcome the New Year's slot.

Huayi and the domestic IMAX company had signed an exclusivity agreement in advance.

Once "Back to 1942" was released, IMAX theaters could only show Huayi's films.

The 3D versions of other films would have to retreat to regular 3D theaters.

Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" seized these few days to rapidly conquer territory, with its box office approaching 400 million.

This number made all the films in the New Year's slot envious, and it also made them look forward to the New Year's slot even more, because the cake behind it was even bigger.

Han Sanping, who had reorganized his internal affairs, finally remembered Lin Nan.

"Chairman Han is even eyeing these small potatoes?"

"You're going too far with that; what do you mean by small potatoes?"

"Xue Xiaolu's previous film, 'Love Is Not Blind,' broke 300 million. This 'Finding Mr. Right' is highly likely not to be bad. Zhongying certainly has ideas about the distribution business."

"So you have your eye on 'Finding Mr. Right,' but you don't have your eye on 'Lost in Thailand'?"

"'Lost in Thailand' will make at most a little over 100 million; the first one, 'Lost on Journey,' didn't even break 100 million, did it?"

Hearing Han Sanping say this, Lin Nan didn't know what to say; the big Chairman Han was still so dogmatic!

"Then you're late."

"Why? Did you give it away?"

"The revenue-sharing ratio matter just ended, and Chairman Wang came to find me. It's been given to Enlight."

"This Wang Changtian is really cunning! Is this distribution fee a percentage of the shareable box office or a fixed fee?"

"A fixed fee, 5 million."

Lin Nan reported this price, which made Han Sanping feel a pang of heartache, as if Zhongying had lost 5 million.

For distributors, there is basically no such thing as losing money, but the probability of a single film making a killing is really very small; most rely on volume.

Not every film is like "Bad Genius," "Passengers," or "Thieves," which can get Zhongying tens of millions or nearly ten million in distribution fees.

Han Sanping was also an old fox back then, insisting on 1% of the shareable box office instead of a fixed fee; facts proved he had bet correctly.

Therefore, Xue Xiaolu, a director in the 300 million box office club, was also a key focus for Han Sanping, but unfortunately, Wang Changtian had gotten there first.

"So your prediction for this film is 500 million?"

"Just about. Chairman Wang felt 5 million was more secure, so he didn't choose the 1% shareable box office."

Coming with high spirits and returning in disappointment was Han Sanping's mood at this moment; he ended the call without chatting for long.

Time reached the 29th.

The premiere of "Lost in Thailand" began.

Today, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei were just simple guests.

And all matters regarding the film were left to the creators like Xu Zheng to handle.

Just like in "Lost on Journey," the chemistry between Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang was very tacit, and with the addition of Huang Bo, it seemed to create an even better chemical reaction.

The shots, which had a laugh every few minutes, kept all the guests present unable to stop smiling, and they watched very intently.

"Box office?"

It was impossible for the media reporters not to ask this question, because this was the New Year's slot, and "Lost in Thailand" was a film produced by Lin Nan Film Industry.

"For the box office, we haven't made a prediction. Among the many New Year's films, the others have big directors and big investments, but I'm not, and 'Lost in Thailand' isn't. So the pressure on 'Lost in Thailand' is the smallest..."

Xu Zheng stopped suddenly here and glanced at Lin Nan.

Immediately after, he changed his tone, "But, 'Lost in Thailand' has the certainty and confidence to win a complete victory over 'The Last Supper' released today!"

Xu Zheng knew Lin Nan's intention; setting it in this slot was to use "Lost in Thailand" to target "The Last Supper."

Xu Zheng's words made everyone at the scene brighten up and get excited; was the good show starting?

The media reporters were even more excited.

When the release date was set, Lin Nan Film Industry had named "The Last Supper" on Weibo, saying: "Willing to go head-to-head with films like 'The Last Supper' to see if there are any bad movies," and the intention was very obvious.

Alright, no more pretending today; the cards were on the table!

Xu Zheng was actually so blunt, going straight for Lu Chuan! Certainty and confidence to win a complete victory over "The Last Supper"?!

This was really not leaving any face for the other side, right?

Lin Nan sat below and couldn't help but smile.

He hadn't known about these lines from Xu Zheng beforehand; Xu Zheng hadn't told him, so it was clearly improvised, but it was added quite well.

How to put it? This person's mind was truly suited for the entertainment industry.

These words were both a statement and a choice of sides, nakedly declaring a position.

Once spread through the media, it would add another topic and significant attention to "Lost in Thailand."

"Lin Dao, what do you think of Director Xu Zheng's words?"

The reporters' eyes were glowing green, all waiting for Lin Nan's answer.

Lin Nan looked at Liu Yifei beside him, and the two smiled at each other; they couldn't just be simple guests today.

"I agree with Director Xu Zheng's words."

"I have confidence in 'Lost in Thailand.' Not to mention winning a complete victory over 'The Last Supper,' it should have no problem rivaling all the films in the New Year's slot; it is the only series comedy in the New Year's slot..."

Lin Nan's words made everyone quiet; for a moment, they didn't know how to respond!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 318 =====