Chapter 386: Best Man

After nearly twenty days of earth-shattering uproar, "Tiny Times" has completely collapsed.

Its box office was as predictably high as expected, and it died young with no surprise whatsoever.

It neither hit the 1-billion target that Guo Guo Jingming and his fans had screamed themselves hoarse calling for when it first premiered, nor reached the fallback 800-million mark.

It didn't even cross the 500-million threshold that they had looked down on at the start, as if they could step right over it with ease.

"As of yesterday, the total box office of 'Tiny Times' came in at 480 million, with daily takings dropping below 50,000 — its potential is exhausted."

"Faced with box office figures so far below expectations, fans of 'Tiny Times' openly declared this was the result of being suppressed."

"Before the media cameras, Guo Guo Jingming called on the relevant authorities to clean up the market atmosphere, and tearfully complained once again that he had been 'marginalized' and 'bullied' by the film industry!"

"The production company stated that 'Tiny Times' will not be pulled from theaters early. Guo Guo Jingming and the main cast will meet fans again on the 8th of next month at 'Tiny Times 2: The Green Wood Era'."

……

Over eighty percent of a film's box office came from its fans. Ninety-nine percent of the audience were young people and high school students around twenty years old.

A ticket-buying call online could bring the film a brief rally, adding another eighty million to its box office.

"Tiny Times" was destined to go down in film history — though it entered the record books entirely under negative labels like "corrupting public morals" and "completely shattered values."

But the industry could not deny that Guo Guo Jingming and this film had indeed achieved tremendous success, making plenty of production companies green with envy.

"Guo Guo Jingming is still encouraging himself, saying he wants to learn from Lin Dao. He said that when your first film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' came out, it was also criticized by plenty of reviewers."

Hearing this, Lin Nan was displeased and immediately retorted:

"That's rich — the two have nothing in common at all, they're not even in the same category for comparison!"

Back then, the reason those people came after Lin Nan was entirely because he was too young and had rashly put his name as director.

A bunch of reviewers criticized for the sake of criticizing, and every point they attacked was Lin Nan himself rather than the film, such as:

"A kid this young trying to make romance films like everyone else?" "Does he even know what love is?" "A freshman from the acting department directing? All flash, no substance!" and so on.

"So he got scolded by a large number of netizens again, and plenty of industry insiders were also mocking him for not thinking before he spoke, for shifting the goalposts."

Speaking of this matter, Yue Jun couldn't help wanting to laugh.

Lin Nan opened his mouth, a little speechless.

Guo Guo Jingming's remarks were humble in tone, so there really was no way to deal with him — otherwise it would make Lin Nan look petty.

"Then let's wait and see whether next month's 'Tiny Times 2' can hold its own against 'The Time Traveler's Wife'."

Lin Nan said lightly, a hint of contempt in his tone.

He was very optimistic about Guo Fan's "The Time Traveler's Wife."

Taking down a notorious film like "Tiny Times 2," which was shot back-to-back, would absolutely be no problem.

…………

This summer slate, in just over sixty days, saw more than fifty films released.

Although the vast majority of films would end up as cannon fodder, it was enough to show how brutal the competition would be.

And "The Time Traveler's Wife" happened to be one of the most closely watched domestic films.

Its premiere had also been scheduled for the end of the month long ago.

At this point, Yue Jun had already arranged for people to start sending out invitations.

That film attracting so much industry attention, "The Criminal Lan Yishi," had finally finished casting.

The entertainment industry's first reaction was to look at the new "Zhang Zhang Yimou girl."

"Director Zhang Zhang Yimou's new film 'The Criminal Lan Yishi' completes casting, crew to enter training period."

"The new 'Zhang Zhang Yimou girl' is twenty-year-old Beijing Dance Academy student Zhang Zhang Huiwen, who has no acting experience."

……

A civilian actress, starting out as a "Zhang Zhang Yimou girl," playing the daughter of Chen Daoming and Gong Li in the film!

In the eyes of the vast majority of actors in the entertainment industry, wasn't this just ascending to heaven in a single step?

Plenty of industry figures posted congratulatory messages under Zhang Zhang Yimou Studio's Weibo, looking forward to the film meeting the public sooner.

Lin Nan also browsed through this newcomer's profile photos — she really was lucky, to be chosen by Zhang Zhang Yimou.

Quite by chance, in a corner of the entertainment news page, a brief item caught Lin Nan's attention.

"Chen Jinfei establishes new film and television company, continuing to expand into the film and TV business…"

Lin Nan clicked in to look — it was a company that had only just been registered not long ago.

Presumably it was only after he and Liu Liu Yifei had turned down the "Outcast" project that Chen Jinfei opened this company, and it had only been reported in the past two days.

"Keeping a pretty low profile."

Lin Nan remarked, not paying it much mind.

The entertainment industry was no longer the entertainment industry of the mid-2000s — having money alone wasn't enough.

……

Sometimes, you just can't "keep thinking about" someone.

Yesterday evening, Liu Liu Yifei had just told Xie Nan about Wu Jing refusing to let Yu Nan go help with the film's promotion. This morning, after a round of "ideological work," Wu Jing relented.

He had originally planned to shoot one more shot, then give Yu Nan two days off to help with the promotion of "Caught in the Web."

As it turned out, the final shot wasn't completed, but Yu Nan's two days off turned into a week off for Wu Jing himself!

Because of a mishap in the explosion scene, the guy ended up in the hospital — both eyes swollen and red, injured — needing at least six or seven days of rest.

Past four in the afternoon, Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei hurried over to Xie Nan's place to visit the "patient."

"Lin Dao, Liu Yifei. Why bring fruit too — sit down, please." Xie Nan smiled and took the fruit basket from Lin Nan's hands.

"Oh, the investor's here."

Wu Jing, his eyes wrapped in layer upon layer of gauze, sat on the sofa. Though he couldn't see, he could hear, and he cracked a joke.

"Nothing serious, right?" Lin Nan asked.

"The eyelid was cut and burned, and now it's inflamed and swollen. It needs a dressing change once a day," Xie Nan answered.

"About a week should do it, then I'll go back and keep filming. Back when we were shooting action films in Hong Kong, what kind of injury hadn't I taken? There was one time when Donnie Yen didn't hold back…"

Wu Jing said breezily.

"You should just take your time recovering. No need to rush to wrap in two months; three months is fine too."

Liu Liu Yifei said kindly, as the producer.

"This time I don't need Liu Yifei to remind me. The rest really does have to be filmed slowly, hahaha…"

Dinner was eaten at Xie Nan's place. By the time Liu Liu Yifei and Lin Nan left, the news about "Wolf Warrior" had already shot to the headlines.

"'Wolf Warrior' crew, explosion scene mishap, director and lead actor Wu Jing injured, production to shut down for one week…"

"Yu Nan participates in 'The Witness' promotion, confirms Wu Jing's injury."

…………

"Lin Dao, Bona has sent an invitation to the start-of-production press conference for 'From Vegas to Macau.'"

"You go. If you don't want to go, just send someone to represent the company."

Only these industry giants would, when sending invitations, single out Lin Nan personally.

But he really couldn't possibly accept every single one; if he did, he'd wear himself out.

In the study, Lin Nan looked at the email Tang Mu had sent: "Fifty Shades of Grey" had finished post-production.

After Tang Mu negotiated with Lionsgate, they decided to set the film's release date for January 1st, North American time.

Seeing this news, Lin Nan couldn't help worrying again. Once this film was released and the news made its way back home…

In his head, he had unconsciously slipped into the perspective of those domestic media: "Lin Dao Nan's company in Hollywood has produced an R-rated film involving SM…"

"Ugh… I don't even dare think about it, gives me a headache." Lin Nan shook his head, looking helpless.

The next day.

In the morning, the media's focus was entirely on "From Vegas to Macau." There were even live streams online—very high-profile.

"Co-produced by Bona Pictures and China Star, directed by Wang Jing, the co-production 'From Vegas to Macau' held its start-of-production press conference in Beijing today…"

"After many years, Chow Yun-fat returns to the spotlight following the 'God of Gamblers' series…"

"Mainland rising star Miss Jing Tian teams up with Chow Yun-fat for the first time, taking the female lead."

Lin Nan gave Miss Jing Tian a like and then left it alone, because a CCTV news item drew his attention more.

This year, the head of the Publicity Department had spoken up: not only would the Spring Festival Gala publicly select its chief director and programs, but the efficiency was terrifyingly fast!

"Feng Feng Xiaogang officially signs with CCTV, will become chief director of the Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala!"

"Huayi's stock price jumps in response…"

…

Seeing this news, anyone in the industry could figure it out: on New Year's Eve this year, there would absolutely be no shortage of Huayi-affiliated actors, stars, and artists on the Spring Festival Gala!

When they finally got a chance for the Spring Festival Gala chief director to be selected through public recruitment, wouldn't they stuff in as many connected people as possible?

Even the industry's social niceties might show up on this edition of the Spring Festival Gala—all kinds of people being pushed in!

At Tiangong Color, Lin Nan was overseeing the post-production editing when Zhu Zhu Yawen's call came in.

"That's rare—calling me from the set? This is a first."

Lin Nan teased Zhu Zhu Yawen while pointing at the computer screen, telling the editor to rewind two seconds.

From the other end of the line came Zhu Zhu Yawen's playful voice: "So as not to delay the filming of 'Red Sorghum,' I've even postponed my wedding banquet, brother."

"Postponed is fine, then—"

What the fuck! What the hell did you just say?

For an instant, Lin Nan's mind went blank. After a long while, he came back to himself.

"Wedding banquet! You bastard, you're not joking, are you?" Lin Nan asked again to confirm.

Zhu Zhu Yawen laughed: "Not joking. A while back, on impulse, I registered the marriage. I'm planning to hold the wedding after 'Red Sorghum' wraps. What do you think, best man?"

"Are you fucking kidding me, you hid it deep enough! Why tell me only today?"

"Haha, I originally wanted to surprise everyone, but I just couldn't hold it in. Best man—I've decided, that's you."

Is that asking for an opinion? Isn't that just telling Lin Nan?

"What about the others?"

"Everyone I'm close to, I'll notify them all in the next day or two. Everyone keep it quiet for now. Once 'Red Sorghum' is almost wrapped, we'll set a specific date."

…

The call lasted half an hour. Even after hanging up, Lin Nan was still a bit dazed.

"That bastard, jumped the gun."

Best man—Lin Nan had never been one before. He never expected his first time being a best man would be for Zhu Zhu Yawen.

Just as Lin Nan was spacing out, his phone buzzed again.

He grabbed the phone directly, assuming it was still Zhu Zhu Yawen, and complained:

"Hello, didn't I already agree? Why are you still calling?"

"Lin, it's me, Tang Mu. Crystal, is the boss lady next to you?"

…………

(End of chapter)