Chapter 416

The Light Chaser film *My Old Classmate* must still be in post-production, but it suddenly became popular.

It was only because the male and female leads were followed by paparazzi, who captured photos of them kissing intimately late at night and feeding each other.

In addition, evidence of the man staying at the woman's apartment for two consecutive nights and lingering all night was also reported by reporters.

You have to know, Lin Gengxin's *Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon* is currently hitting the 500 million box office mark, and having just regained his freedom from Tang Ren, he is at the height of his popularity.

The other, Zhou Dongyu, also debuted as a "Zhang Yimou Girl" and is a representative student of the Beijing Film Academy.

The scandal between these two suddenly became the focus of attention and heated discussion in the industry and online.

"Director Jia, it's truly miserable."

Lin Nan isn't interested in these tawdry news stories. Although everyone online is joking that it's a scandal between two "brothers," with no "waves" at all, it certainly won't last long.

What he is more concerned about is Jia Zhangke's situation.

When that film *A Touch of Sin* was released again, Lin Nan even went to attend the screening, and the release date was set for November 1st.

But at this moment, the State Administration has gone back on its word for the second time, which is also the last time; the official document has already been publicized.

"After repeated negotiations and discussions, it has been finally decided to prohibit Jia Zhangke's film *A Touch of Sin* from entering national theaters for public screening.

And the public screening permit already approved and issued for this film is revoked. Please be informed, relevant production personnel and all theater chains..."

It has been many years since a major director's film was prohibited from public screening in the industry.

For the entire directing circle, this is undoubtedly very negative news.

Because Jia Zhangke's transformation work *A Touch of Sin* can be considered as "exploring the path" for everyone in terms of film subject matter and shooting techniques, but unfortunately, it still failed.

The news that the film was completely banned was simply a bolt from the blue for Jia Zhangke and the crew members who were running promotions for *A Touch of Sin*.

Even if Jia Zhangke isn't as much of a "thorn" as Lou Ye, it is absolutely impossible to ask him to be calm and composed under these circumstances.

Facing interviews from media reporters, he didn't hold back at all, his words laced with sarcasm:

"I know what it means to be disheartened now. I have a feeling of being 'toyed with' again and again. A public screening permit was clearly issued, yet they changed their minds twice. Is this their authority? It's truly authoritative..."

It was Zhao Tao who noticed that Jia Zhangke's emotions were a bit "agitated" and "out of control," so she hurriedly interrupted the latter's speech and changed the subject.

Facing the media's questions about what he was preparing to film next, Jia Zhangke sneered:

"I was originally planning to take out the script *Love After Love* that I had finished in '09 and try an erotic film under the realistic theme, asking Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing, and Li Bingbing to act in it together. Now, I don't have the heart for it, and I don't dare to..."

Because of Jia Zhangke's words, the circle instantly became extremely lively.

Everyone knows that *Love After Love* is an exceptionally excellent script; after all, Jia Zhangke is also a great screenwriter!

The rating system was thus brought up again in the circle.

Lin Nan thought about it and turned off his phone directly, deciding to keep it off for two days, because he knew he definitely wouldn't be "left out."

But a rating system in China is a fantasy; it's completely impossible under the current system.

……

*Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon* has taken 13 days to break the 500 million box office threshold, and now at 16 days, it has reached 544 million.

Although the daily box office has fallen below 10 million and is still sliding significantly, it is already the biggest winner of the National Day slot.

And *The Wolverine* and *Special ID* have also been released one after another.

I have to say, Donnie Yen really attracted a lot of viewers by relying on that "swearing and vowing" routine.

The first-day box office was 21.6 million, only about 2 million behind the first-day box office of *The Wolverine*.

However, what followed was a massive amount of complaints:

"This editing is truly too rotten. After a few sentences explaining the plot, the screen goes dark, and then it's the next scene, repeating constantly."

"I don't know what story it told; the plot is full of holes, and the lines are cringeworthy. The whole time it was just fighting, fighting constantly, without even explaining things clearly. They'd start fighting at the slightest disagreement."

"Facts prove that what Vincent Zhao said last year was all the truth! This movie was directed by Donnie Yen. He kept adding scenes for himself, adding fight scenes, adding fight scenes that ruined the plot. He wished everyone knew he was an action superstar!"

"To summarize: Donnie Yen was fighting the whole time, Jing Tian was beautiful the whole time, and the other actors were all extras the whole time... No plot, no novelty at all!"

……

Lin Nan saw the reviews online and knew the ending of this movie.

The box office expectation Donnie Yen mentioned was a floor of 600 million.

Now it seems that a floor of 600 million is impossible; a slap in the face is certain.

As for breaking even? Lu Zheng doesn't need to think about it; the box office of this *Special ID* will at most be around 100 million.

For a movie with an investment of just over 100 million, counting the parts that might have been embezzled, a loss of 60 or 70 million won't be enough to hurt Lu Zheng's bones.

"Lin Dao, the crew is about to wrap up here. Are you coming over?"

Jiang Xuerou's phone call came back.

From the start of filming in early June until now, lasting four and a half months, *Red Sorghum* is finally about to finish filming.

"Tell Director Zheng Xiaolong to wrap up normally; I won't go."

"Okay."

Lin Nan glanced at Liu Yifei, who was playing a small game on the side.

"Xixi, *Red Sorghum* is about to wrap up."

"Yeah, I heard it. Why are you suddenly repeating yourself?"

"Prepare the gift money."

Hearing this from Lin Nan, Liu Yifei looked up, appearing suddenly enlightened: "Xiao Zhu's wedding! You and Luo Jin are going to be groomsmen!"

"Yeah, he's coming back these two days, and he'll probably send out wedding invitations soon. Who knows, there might already be news in the group chat."

Before Lin Nan finished speaking, Liu Yifei had already opened the '02 class group.

"You guessed right, haha..."

Lin Nan picked up his phone and saw that the group was already very lively.

Zhu Yawen, that guy, has a thick skin and is publicly asking for gift money.

"... I'll be back the day after tomorrow, and none of you think you can run away. The gift money can't be too little, especially for those who are doing well, like Lin Nan, Yifei, Luo Jin... at least five figures to start, haha..."

"Two hundred is fine. Strictly speaking, I'm not from the '02 Chen Yanxi. My undergraduate and master's degrees are both from the Directing Department."

Lin Nan typed quickly and made a joke.

"Then I'll do two hundred too, same as Lin Nan." Liu Yifei followed closely behind.

"According to the rules of the circle, who dares to give more than the big boss? Are you not giving face? Do you still want to survive? If you say two hundred, it's two hundred!" Luo Jin added fuel to the fire.

"Two hundred."

"Two hundred, agreed."

"Seconded, two hundred."

"Two hundred."

"+1."

"+1."

……

"One by one, do you have a conscience? Do you have any respect for me? Stingy..."

Zhu Yawen began his long-winded speech in the group.

…………

The next day, the news that *Red Sorghum* had officially wrapped up was reported.

"Produced by Lin Nan Film, directed by Zheng Xiaolong, and starring Zhou Xun, Zhu Yawen, Huang Xuan, Qin Hailu, and others, the TV series *Red Sorghum* has officially wrapped up."

"At the wrap-up scene, actor Zhu Yawen revealed that the wedding preparations will begin next..."

"The guest list for the Bazaar Charity Gala has been announced. Compared to previous years, the number of guests has increased again, but the number of top-tier big names has clearly decreased, and the lineup is slightly thin."

……

Lin Nan stayed in his office alone, planning his subsequent schedule.

If nothing goes wrong, Zhu Yawen's wedding will be set for November. While Lin Nan is a groomsman, he also has to go to the Golden Horse Awards.

At the end of November, he will need to fly directly to Hollywood. With the release of *The Invisible Guest*, the Oscar PR campaign will also officially begin.

"I'll have to stay there for at least half a month to a month, with banquets and parties every day..."

"At the same time, I have to watch the progress of *The Taking of Tiger Mountain* to see if it can catch up to the Spring Festival. If it can, then I'm afraid I'll have to miss the promotion..."

"Nominations announced in January, awards in late February or early March..."

Lin Nan had a bit of a headache; he was quite busy.

The most critical thing is that he wants to prepare to film *Manchester by the Sea* after the Oscar ceremony.

"Or, while filming *Manchester by the Sea*, can I produce *Carol* at the same time?"

Lin Nan muttered to himself, feeling that this idea was also quite good, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea!

At this time, Yue Jun knocked on the door and came in.

"The IPO has been suspended by the CSRC. They want to conduct self-inspection, and the time for reopening hasn't been notified either. Xiaoma is acting like a madman right now, looking for a target for a backdoor listing..."

"That, it's truly miserable, just two and a half months left."

Lin Nan could imagine the situation over at Xiaoma's side now; they must be like ants on a hot pot—running around in circles.

"There's one more thing. Alibaba sent a banquet invitation."

After saying this, Yue Jun looked at Lin Nan, waiting for his reply.

Lin Nan shook his head subconsciously; these people inviting you definitely don't have anything good in mind. Even if there is a cake, who knows if there's a bomb hidden inside.

"Lin Dao isn't going?"

"There has to be a reason, right?"

"I heard they acquired a Hong Kong-listed company, ChinaVision Media, and are preparing to suspend trading to complete the settlement. It should have something to do with this."

Hearing this, Lin Nan was stunned for a moment. Ye Ning seemed to have mentioned this matter last time.

Is Alibaba's film and television business really coming in as a listed company?!

Before Lin Nan could say anything, Yue Jun smiled mysteriously and added: "I estimate they will use stocks to win over people in the circle."

"Hehe, this layer of sugar coating is too thick; I don't have the fortune to enjoy it."

Lin Nan still shook his head and said: "You go represent me. Just treat it as a meal, and tell me about the situation on the scene after you come back."

"Then, alright."

Yue Jun nodded, accepted the errand, and then left the office.

Lin Nan knew that time was running out.

Fortunately, the alliance between Lin Nan Film, Light Chaser, and Wanda is very solid, and their businesses complement each other perfectly, so they can definitely withstand the impact!

…………

In the book, there will be more business parts in the next six months, but it won't overshadow the main theme.

(End of chapter)