Chapter 391: Goal: Summer Box Office Champion

Production cost exceeded $170 million, starring as the female lead in a Hollywood top-tier sci-fi film!

The entire film industry was flooded with this news.

When was the last time?

"Pacific Rim" was turned down by Liu Liu Yifei, so it ultimately went to Jing Tian.

But audiences and fans didn't care who played the role—they all came for the mechs, monsters, and special effects.

"Iron Man 3" doesn't count; it wasn't even a cameo, just a walk-on role where the actor even dropped the soy sauce bottle.

"Resident Evil 5" doesn't qualify—it had only a $65 million budget, and Li Li Bingbing was just the second female lead with minimal screen time.

All other foreign films were utterly insignificant.

Many realized something: the last time was probably Liu Liu Yifei!

That was "Inception," with a $160 million budget—she played the female supporting role, almost a co-lead.

Compared to "Inception," "Interstellar" has even higher investment and a more prominent billing!

Everyone in the industry and online was talking about nothing else.

"Lin Dao is amazing—Liu Yifei didn't even leave the country and he got it all sorted!"

"For Nolan's film, this time's female lead might just go straight to the stars…"

"On the importance of having a major director as a boyfriend."

…

Below Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei's Weibo posts, the comments were also extremely lively.

While many insiders left congratulatory messages, they couldn't resist teasing and joking.

"Lin Dao did an excellent job keeping this secret—no leaks for two days after his return, until Warner Bros. announced it."

"Producer Liu, let's swap roles—I don't want to play in "Red Sorghum" anymore…"

"Congratulations, Liu Yifei—another Hollywood top-tier blockbuster!"

"Big Director Lin, when are you going to give your brother here a hand? I want to go to Hollywood too…"

"Old Zhu, stop dreaming—this kind of exhausting work? I'll take it for you!"

"Sister Liu Yifei, keep it up!"

…

Since the Hollywood news reached China, Liu Liu Yifei's phone hadn't stopped ringing for these past few hours.

In contrast, Lin Nan was surprisingly relaxed, taking a quick nap to recharge.

Actors in the industry, especially female actors, were most deeply affected.

$170 million, an international top-tier director, a Hollywood top-tier sci-fi film, guaranteed global release.

Each of these alone held deadly allure for female actors in the industry.

They would all rush toward it, throwing caution to the wind—even if it meant paying a price…

"Remember 'Inception' in 2008? Many female actors held out hope—but it turned out to be pure fantasy, because from the start, the outcome was already destined to be Liu Liu Yifei."

"Now, Director Lin is even more direct—he didn't even let her go through auditions; he handled everything himself…"

On the set of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," Yang Mi, dressed in ancient costume, sat in the makeup room and said bitterly—she had been one of those actresses back then, just there to fill out the cast.

Why could Lin Nan Pictures make so many actors in the industry scramble to befriend him, and why did countless newcomers want to sign with Shanhai Media?

The main reason was resources—enough resources. Most importantly, Lin Nan Pictures had access to Hollywood.

Yang Mi now earns more than she did at Shanhai Media, but she knows she's lost many opportunities and possibilities.

"Don't think too much—there's sacrifice and gain; we can only rely on ourselves. After the New Year, let's upgrade our studio into a company—I've already started looking for new talent…"

Ceng Jia promptly poured Yang Mi a cup of chicken soup for the soul.

"Mm, okay."

…

Almost all top female stars in mainland China sent Liu Liu Yifei congratulatory messages or left comments on her Weibo.

They were all shrewd—they knew exactly how to maintain their relationship with Lin Nan, and the key was Liu Liu Yifei.

But the new generation of Four Little Fairies and top rising female stars rarely interacted.

Aside from Watching Shu Chang, Miss Jing Tian, and others, most had no connection with Liu Liu Yifei—they were too far apart.

"Tiantian, Director Lin said the sequel to 'Pacific Rim' will still be yours."

"Mm, I know."

…

"Don't even think about Hollywood films—Director Gu Gu Changwei's new project, the female lead can go to Yang Ying."

Wang Wang Zhonglei instructed his secretary. This was also a face-saving gesture for Huang Huang Xiaoming—Huayi's access to Hollywood resources was extremely limited, and none were high-quality.

On the Tang Ren side, Cai Cai Yinong was still struggling with "The Ballad of the Desert," now rejected for the fifth time by the General Administration.

Since "The Non-Expert Detective," Liu Liu Shishi's film career was completely cut off—no major company would give her another chance.

Cai Cai Yinong's plan for Liu Liu Shishi's future was to focus entirely on TV dramas—no more dreams of films; the company had neither resources nor channels.

"Salary: five million U. S. dollars. Exact start date pending notification from overseas—maybe half a month from now, maybe a month, but the cornfield scenes must be shot within three months…"

Lin Nan told Liu Liu Yifei about Nolan's dedication to this film—the five hundred acres of corn were the best proof.

"I wonder how long it'll take to shoot?"

Miss Liu frowned—she didn't want to spend New Year's Eve alone overseas.

"Sci-fi films don't take long to shoot, especially Nolan's 'Interstellar'—there won't be many outdoor scenes; most will be shot on green screens because the special effects are so extensive."

"If you're still on set during New Year's Eve, come over and keep me company."

Liu Liu Yifei looked at Lin Nan, speaking with no room for argument.

"Of course no problem. Even if you hadn't said anything, I would have come to find you."

…………

Time was drawing closer and closer to the end of the month.

The atmosphere in the film market was growing ever more grim.

Lin Nan met Guo Fan at the company, and along with him came the lead actors of "About Time."

"In a few more days, it'll be up to you all. Director Lu Yang's 'Kung Fu Jungle' has already surpassed 500 million."

"Director Lin, the way you put it, I'm really feeling the pressure."

Guo Fan said with a smile, and he meant it.

Among Lin Nan Pictures' circle, he was the only one who hadn't yet entered the hundred-million-yuan director club.

Although he had served as assistant director for Lin Nan many times, those films weren't his.

Lin Nan could read Guo Fan's thoughts — the latter really was feeling some pressure.

"What do you all think of *Love You Forever*?"

"It's definitely a good film." Luo Jin said with a chuckle.

"I gave a 'true-to-form' performance, haha…" Sun Sun Yizhou also quipped self-deprecatingly.

……

Wan Wan Qian, Dilireba, Tang Yan, Deng Deng Jiajia — one after another, they chimed in agreement.

"I also think it's very good." Guo Fan was the last to speak, nodding solemnly.

"So this time, why not set the bar a little higher.

Think about it — you can go back to the past, change the past, and even alter the original timeline. What a hook for a story! Not to mention the script and the plot are so delicate and beautiful."

Lin Nan spoke at length, setting a goal for Guo Fan and the others:

"Just aim at Lu Yang's 534 million. Isn't that Guo Guo Jingming making noise about being the August champion of domestic films?

Pin down "Tiny Times 2." Why can't the summer season's box-office champion be "About Time"?

Lin Nan's words lifted everyone's spirits at once.

Among the actors, Luo Jin had been in "The Thieves" and "Bad Genius," and Dilireba had been in "Passengers."

Three films — 901 million, 1.43 billion, 952 million — they had all tasted the glory that came with high box office.

Luo Jin had firmly entered the A-list, and Dilireba had leapt straight from newcomer to the front ranks of the C-list.

But the others were different — forget 500 million, they didn't even have films that hit 200 million.

"Director Lin, you've set quite a high target." Guo Fan laughed helplessly.

"For the premiere, Liu Liu Yifei and I will be there to show our support."

That single sentence from Lin Nan instantly gave the others confidence:

"With you saying that, I'm at ease. The highest-grossing domestic film in July didn't even pass 500 million. In August, let *Love You Forever* give it a try."

With Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei holding down the fort, Guo Fan felt that at the very least, attention would surely skyrocket.

Just as the group was leaving, Lin Nan saw a thought suddenly pop into Dilireba's head.

With her ethnic-minority looks, casting her in a foreign-language film as a pretty face actually seemed quite fitting!

"Mm, I can consider that in the future."

…………

Speaking of which, it was rather funny.

All of a sudden, the media was full of news about some "Qigong Grandmaster."

The key was that a bunch of big celebrities and business tycoons all went to pay him visits one after another — the internet was flooded with photos and reports.

The entertainment circle had gained yet another hot topic of discussion.

He couldn't tell whether these people were truly foolish or just pretending, or whether they had some unsavory dealings.

When Lin Nan arrived at Enlight Pictures, he even heard Wang Wang Changtian grumble a few words.

"People like that — stay as far away as possible. They're all into crooked tricks. The waters run deep."

"One look and you can tell he's a charlatan turned broker." Lin Nan added with a smile.

Enlight was handling the distribution for *Love You Forever*; Lin Nan had come today to discuss this very matter.

"Don't worry, this time the print copies won't be fewer than *Kung Fu Jungle*'s. Speaking of which, do you really have that much confidence in this film?"

"It's definitely stronger than either 'Tiny Times 2' or 'A Romantic Journey.' I don't think there's a competitor in the same window."

Lin Nan said, brimming with confidence.

*Tiny Times* was still being cursed at right now; the second part was bound to be affected, and the fan effect was never going to last.

Middle school and high school students were the main force, but how could they afford to spend that much? Were their families all rich? Did they have a lot of pocket money?

As for *A Romantic Journey*, there was even less to worry about.

Yang Ying playing the female lead — just thinking about it tells you what the result will be.

Lin Nan also admired Gao Gao Qunshu's nerve — daring to cast Yang Ying as the female lead.

He couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Even if you threw in two more Huang Huang Xiaoming into the film, you still couldn't pull up the box office.

"With you saying that, I'm at ease. This time I kept my wits about me — the distribution fee with Yue Jun is signed as one percent of the shared box office. From now on, for any film from your company, we'll sign it the same way."

When Wang Wang Changtian said this, a hint of cunning showed through his smile.

Lin Nan was amused — Big Lao Wang had started haggling over such things now.

"Fine, one percent it is. On a hundred million in box office, after what's paid to the state, the distribution fee comes out to just over nine hundred thousand."

"Only for your company's films can I do this. Switch to another production company, and if Enlight signed a revenue-share ratio, we'd lose our shirts."

"Then let's leave it at that." Lin Nan nodded.

Sometimes when the box-office numbers are too good, it makes you a target for the big shots, and then you lose the chance and the fun of snatching small bargains.

…………

(End of this chapter)