Chapter 392: The Divine Eagle

"Perhaps even the Huang Emperor didn't expect to be slapped in the face by his girlfriend like this? Haha..."

With August approaching, most domestic films were conducting their final promotional campaigns.

Huang Huang Xiaoming emerged from the "Taiping Lun" set once again, running separate promotions from Yang Ying.

The former went to "Mad 2", while the latter accompanied the "A Story of Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon" set alone.

Facing the reporters' constant "assaults", Huang Huang Xiaoming, unusually, spoke very seriously about his expectations for Yang Ying.

He stated outright that he had some male chauvinism, hoping that after marriage, the man would handle external affairs and the woman internal ones, letting Yang Ying become the producer and manage the company.

It was clear that the Huang Emperor's remarks were entirely thoughts from the heart.

But Yang Ying was not very happy about it; facing media inquiries, she was first vague, and finally directly expressed resistance.

She frankly stated she was unwilling and could not retreat to behind the scenes; she loved the spotlight and longed for it.

In an instant, the entire circle watched the spectacle.

As the mainland's "Liu Dehua", Huang Huang Xiaoming had industry-recognized good popularity.

This was the first time he had been publicly slapped in the face, losing face, and it came from his girlfriend's "backstab".

The key was that what the two said were clearly their own inner thoughts.

If they were to continue together in the future, someone would definitely have to take the initiative to yield and soften; otherwise, they would sooner or later part ways.

"No need to think about it; the Huang Emperor has been completely controlled."

Lin Nan, while pulling the editing footage for "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy", joked with a smile.

There are many shrewd people in the circle, but there is always something that conquers something else.

Huang Huang Xiaoming, with such high emotional intelligence, still ran into Yang Ying, and short-circuited in certain aspects.

Just like when Lin Nan first met Liu Liu Yifei back then. The whole forest seemed to instantly become blurry, leaving only that one tree, that one person in his eyes.

"Is that 'Special Identity' holding a trailer press conference right now?"

Yue Jun suddenly raised his voice, startling the people around him.

"So low-key?"

Lin Nan asked subconsciously, then instantly understood; of course it had to be low-key!

Early last year, it was because of this movie that Donnie Yen and Zhao Zhao Wenzhuo had a fight, and more than half the entertainment circle joined the battle.

The final result was that many Hong Kong and Taiwan stars were scolded into leaving Weibo, and Director Feng got his account banned.

"Haha, these reporters are vicious; all tricky questions."

Lin Nan curiously leaned over to the side; the computer screen showed Sina's live broadcast.

"'Ip Man 3' is currently filming. You were replaced for stubbornly demanding an unreasonably high salary. Do you regret it?"

"This is the press conference for 'Special Identity'; please try to ask questions related to this movie."

"In the past two years, you have filmed many bad movies; your value, reputation, and status have plummeted... Have you thought about the reason?"

"Similarly, as an action movie, 'The Final Master' achieved a box office of 534 million."

Mr. Yen is the lead actor, martial arts director, and film producer of 'Special Identity'. Are you confident you can surpass the box office performance of the former?"

In front of the camera, Donnie Yen forced a smile, but it was clear he was very unhappy; he was just enduring it without exploding, and his acting was somewhat clumsy.

Miss Jing Tian still interjected a sentence to help resolve the situation: "As for the box office, we will only know after the release; talking about this now is too unrealistic."

After watching for a few minutes, Lin Nan lost interest.

The media's curiosity about gossip far exceeded that for this movie; over half the questions were aimed at Donnie Yen, as if to punish his heart.

"When is its release date?"

"Mid-October."

"Still a major release window? Wish Lu Zheng good luck," Lin Nan said lightly.

Within just a few hours, the news of 'Special Identity' spread completely to the outside world.

Last year's "Zhao-Yen Conflict" was brought up again by netizens, with heat and topic popularity skyrocketing!

Tiangong Color assigned two teams to handle the special effects for "The Taking of Tiger Mountain."

According to their rough estimates, all the special effects shots would be completed no earlier than late October or mid-to-late November.

This presented a problem for Lin Nan: this movie might have a chance to aim for the Spring Festival slot?

Lin Nan had already prepared himself mentally; he would just see the specific completion time then.

If the special effects could be completed within the estimated time, there would indeed be ample promotional time in between; he would schedule it for the Spring Festival, giving the industry a surprise at the last moment!

The Hollywood paparazzi were indeed formidable; they actually reported the actor salaries for 'Interstellar'.

In the afternoon, this film information appeared on domestic portal websites.

Liu Liu Yifei's salary for starring in 'Interstellar' was thus laid out in the open: 5 million US dollars.

This figure made countless actors in the industry unable to help swallowing their saliva.

Converted at the current exchange rate of 1:6.1, this salary already exceeded 30 million RMB.

Besides Gong Li and others, this salary could be said to be the highest foreign film salary a domestic actress could get!

Under Miss Liu's Weibo, it once again became crowded with people, bustling and lively.

"Today I received an email from Warner Bros.; they asked me to join the set in early September."

Just as he got home, Lin Nan heard Liu Liu Yifei's voice; she was sitting on the living room sofa, petting a cat.

"Early September? Only a month or so left. But now you don't have to worry about spending New Year's Eve abroad."

Lin Nan nodded; the thing Liu Liu Yifei worried about most no longer existed.

"Although you don't have to spend New Year's Eve abroad, please remember to visit the set when you have time, Lin Dao; I'll reimburse your airfare."

Liu Liu Yifei took the kitten's two front paws, set it standing on her leg, then cheerfully said to Lin Nan.

"Don't worry, if you miss me just call, I'm on standby twenty-four hours a day."

"So vain, who'd miss you? Isn't that right, little kitty?"

Miss Liu gave Lin Nan a challenging sidelong glance, then scrunched up her delicate nose and started playing with the cat.

……

The first domestic film released in August was the 1st's "About Time."

But the first to hold its premiere was the 2nd's "Young Style."

Its premiere date had been moved up by ten days.

Although this film was a low-budget youth piece with an investment of less than five million, its red carpet guest lineup rivaled that of a blockbuster.

Chen Daoming, Hu Jun, Liu Liu Jialing, Li Li Bingbing, Fan Li Bingbing, Huang Huang Xiaoming, Yuan Quan, Xia Yu……

Even Zhu Zhu Yawen, who was with the "Red Sorghum" crew, had asked Zheng Zheng Xiaolong to rearrange the shooting schedule so he could rush back.

With dozens of A-list actors and stars, even the media were dazzled.

The media promptly crowned Wang Wang Jinghua's son Dong Dong Zijian the "Crown Prince of the Entertainment Circle." Though a bit exaggerated, it did say something.

Lin Nan Pictures had received the invitation half a month ago.

But Lin Nan himself had no reason to go cheer on a newcomer, so he sent Yue Jun to represent the company for socializing.

……

"It happens to be Qixi Festival, and it's a sci-fi romance, so the cost of the three pre-roll ads was a bit higher, totaling 42.6 million."

Yue Jun reported the pre-roll ad revenue for "About Time" to Lin Nan.

"Higher than 'Finding Mr. Right,' but not as much as 'Kung Fu Jungle.' You can only say liquor companies really have money."

Lin Nan quipped; this price was indeed already quite good.

After all, up to now, the only film Guo Fan had independently completed was "Source Code."

The fact that pre-roll ads could fetch this price owed a great deal to the two factors of being a Lin Nan Pictures production and being written by Lin Nan.

"42.6 million, we've already broken even."

……

Several films' premieres were all clustered at the end of July.

Online, media reports kept coming one after another.

But at this moment, China Film brought everyone some unwelcome news.

Another imported film had dropped into August — Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Great Gatsby."

Lin Nan felt this film wouldn't cause much of a stir domestically.

But the industry didn't see it that way; each and every one of them seemed to be sitting on pins and needles, as if facing a formidable enemy.

……

On Liu Liu Yifei's side, a guest had arrived.

When he saw Xie Nan, Lin Dao Da almost didn't react in time.

"A rare guest! This seems to be the first time you've come here, doesn't it?"

"That's right, Lin Dao. It's my first time dropping by. I'm not here to chase the producer for more investment, haha……"

That guy Wu Jing really has the luck written in his fate — he found himself a very capable helpmate.

Xie Nan coming over today was clearly just to pay a visit and touch base.

"He rested at home for six days, then ran back to the crew and started putting in extra hours. The shooting progress is already past 80%, so we should wrap in early next month."

Xie Nan spoke with great authority, and hearing this progress, Lin Nan couldn't help but nod.

Wrapping a military action film in just over two months — for a new director, that was very impressive.

"Shall we grab a meal together later?"

"Liu Yifei has already invited me. I'm waiting to pick up my chopsticks." Xie Nan said with a smile.

At that moment, Liu Liu Yifei was seen leading her honor guard over from Lin Nan's villa, holding a bottle of red wine in her hand.

Lin Nan watched, the corner of his mouth twitching involuntarily.

He clearly remembered that this bottle in Miss Liu's hand was the one Leonardo had sent after the wrap of "The Invisible Guest" earlier in the year.

Little Leo had said at the time that he'd bought it in '07, spending over thirty thousand bucks on it!

"Really knows how to pick, only picking the expensive ones! Perfectly avoiding all the ones Huang Huang Xiaoming sent, huh?!"

Lin Nan muttered to himself, feeling a stab of pain.

"For dinner, open it."

Miss Liu walked over grinning, handing the red wine to Lin Nan.

"Alright, Producer Liu."

Since it was Liu Liu Hanhan who brought it out, Lin Nan had nothing more to say — open it.

…………

The next day, sure enough, there was plenty of news about "Young Style."

All of it was praising Wang Wang Jinghua's son, that post-90s new-generation Best Actor.

At the Shanghai International Film Festival, in the Movie Channel Media Award section, Best Actor — that's still a Best Actor, right!

But compared to the news of several films' premieres or upcoming premieres, the entertainment industry was almost entirely drawn to another piece of information.

Yu Zheng Studio officially announced to the outside world that casting had begun for the new version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes"!

…………

Let me explain today: I said in the group yesterday — acute gastroenteritis, was on an IV drip all morning, wasn't sure if I could write, but last night I forced myself to write it out. Today I really haven't fully recovered, I'm very weak, have no energy, can only manage one update. Later on, I'll make up a little each day.

(Chapter End)