Chapter 550: Refusal

Leaving China Film Group, on the way to the company, Lin Nan's phone never stopped ringing.

Calls, texts, voice messages, chat notifications—all flooded in at once.

Only then did Lin Nan realize the industry was already buzzing with gossip about him.

Countless insiders had already firmly believed he would be the director of the China-U. S. co-production *The Great Wall*.

Lin Nan couldn't guarantee that Legendary Pictures or Universal Pictures would agree to his demands.

But since he had already promised La La Peikang, he would definitely finish reading the script and do what he needed to do.

As for how he'd decide afterward—whether to truly take on *The Great Wall*—it depended on China Film Group's reply.

Upon arriving at the company, Lin Nan headed straight to his office, instructed his assistant to prepare lunch for him, and began reading the script.

……

The industry was indeed buzzing, even several artists from Shanhai Media were discussing it in their small group chat.

"If Lin Dao really lands the director's chair for *The Great Wall*, won't we be right next to the water and get the moon first?"

"Zhang Yi, you definitely have a shot—you've been on *The Martian* and *Pacific Rim*. We're not so sure—we're a long shot."

Lei Lei Jiayin said with little confidence; his contract was less than half a year away, and after this shoot wrapped, he guessed Director Yue would call him in for a talk.

"Then I'm even less qualified—I've never worked on a big production… and I don't speak any foreign languages."

"Same here—my status isn't high enough to even dream of it. Even if there's a female lead, it'll surely be Sister Yi Fei's role!"

Especially Reba sat in the break area of the *Monster Hunt* set, holding her phone, a faint smile on her face.

"Especially Reba, just hold tight to that big leg. I've figured it out—you're the youngest, but your path is the widest! Hahaha…"

Zhang Yi, the old hand, teased Especially Reba with ease.

……

If anyone was most excited right now, it had to be Miss Jing Tian.

She truly couldn't believe her inner wish had come true.

In her eyes, Lin Nan was the only director suited to helm *The Great Wall*—no one else had the qualifications.

If everything went smoothly, this would be their second collaboration, following *The Martian*!

"I got reliable information—this morning, Lin Nan definitely met with Chairman La, staying in his office for nearly an hour. When he left, he was carrying a file folder. If I'm not mistaken, that was the *The Great Wall* script…"

Lu Zheng had originally not wanted to say anything, but seeing Miss Jing Tian's joyful expression, he couldn't help but speak up.

True enough, upon hearing this, Miss Jing Tian said nothing aloud, but her brows sparkled with renewed delight—clearly, she was thrilled.

"Uncle Lu, will my role still be safe?"

Suddenly, Miss Jing Tian turned to Lu Zheng, asking with concern.

He froze for a moment, unsure how to answer.

Because the truth was, despite their connections, La La Peikang had not yet given a definite reply.

"No chance of trouble—I'll talk to your family again and get China Film Group to send you a contract as soon as possible."

"Mm, thank you, Uncle Lu."

"Such a sweet girl, so easy to comfort—what will you do when you grow up…?"

Watching Miss Jing Tian's pure joy, Lu Zheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The path must eventually be walked alone!

…………

After ten days in theaters, Chen Chen Kexin's *Dear* reached 300 million RMB in box office, but daily earnings had dropped below one million.

This was entirely due to the overwhelming strength of *The Mermaid*.

Not just *Dear*—including *The Golden Era*, *Heroic Losers 2*, and *Kui Ba 3*, several domestic films were all crushed under its weight.

Their box office figures were worse and worse, each more dismal than the last.

In six days: 670 million RMB!

*The Mermaid* forcefully declared to the entire film industry that Ning Hao would soon be crowned a member of the 1-billion-RMB-box-office director club!

Director Ning would be the fourth domestic director to earn this honor, and the third in the 1-billion-RMB club, since Lin Nan had ascended to the 2-billion-RMB club.

"No need for dinner—I'm still busy right now…"

When Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi called, Lin Nan wasn't surprised at all.

After all, all the top actresses in the industry were moving now, vying for a piece of *The Great Wall*'s top-tier cake.

And Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi had been "on the ground" for so long—her "International Zhang" title was long outdated.

Now that an opportunity had appeared, how could she not spare any effort to seize it? She'd rack her brains!

And before resources, top actresses could shed all dignity—Lin Nan had already seen the invitations from Fan Li Bingbing and Li Li Bingbing.

"Lin Dao's busy? Is it about the movie? If you have a new project planned, please consider me—I don't care about the fee, hahaha…"

Lin Nan smiled, "If you're asking about *The Great Wall*, I really have no news. You might as well wait for China Film Group's announcement—they haven't even started auditions yet. For now, the industry will have to wait a while…"

Hearing Lin Nan's subtle hint, Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi paused slightly, then thanked him: "Thank you, Lin Dao—I feel much clearer now."

He didn't chat long with Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi; to every one who came to him, he gave the same reply—including Huang Huang Xiaoming and Huo Huo Wenxi.

Closing the wrinkled, heavily annotated *The Great Wall* script, Lin Nan stretched and decided to visit Ning Hao.

He had invested 25 million RMB in *The Mermaid*, and the profit returned would far exceed tenfold—after all, the rights had sold for $21.58 million!

"Hollywood scripts are truly awkward! If you want to shoot it well, minor tweaks won't fix it—you need major revisions, total rewrites!"

…………

News that *Interstellar* had officially launched its promotional campaign in Europe had reached China.

Liu Liu Yifei, as the female lead, gave many interviews.

But some of the questions were about Lin Nan, concerning his film *Manchester by the Sea* and its awards campaign.

Miss Liu answered every one without hesitation, always speaking with calm confidence: Lin Nan will definitely take *Manchester by the Sea* onto the award stage.

"Come, let's see how your family's Producer Liu bragged about you in front of the foreign media. Tsk tsk tsk…"

"What, very envious? Then sis, don't you usually give Director Ning any confidence at home? Look at that envious, jealous expression on his face — how low-class."

The moment they met, Lin Nan and Ning Hao started trading barbs. That's just how friends are.

These past two days, although the industry's focus was on "The Great Wall," it didn't affect Ning Hao enjoying his due glory at all — quasi-1-billion box-office club, big-name director! Just a matter of time.

"Right, they all say you're going to direct 'The Great Wall' — is that already settled?"

Sitting on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, Ning Hao asked in a loud, careless manner.

A buzz cut, a floral shirt, a thick gold chain, paired with a swarthy, rough complexion and a face full of jowly flesh — at this moment, Ning Hao was every inch a gangster!

"Nonsense. Chairman La wants to drag me into this, but I haven't fully agreed yet."

"Holy crap, damn you, you're really going to play with a $150 million movie? I'm dying of envy!"

Lin Nan rolled his eyes speechlessly. "How about I recommend you over there?"

"Better not, I'm afraid I'd botch it. I'm not good at big productions, and I'd have to deal with foreigners too." Ning Hao refused without hesitation.

"Not touching it is the right call. I'm doing it for Chairman La's sake, and also for the name 'The Great Wall'… as for whether Legendary and Universal will play along, that's hard to say."

Lin Nan smacked his lips, plucked a grape from the fruit platter beside him, and started eating.

At that moment, both Ning Hao and Xing Aina picked up on something, but didn't press further.

Lin Nan had come here this trip just to relax. The "Great Wall" script had left him depressed, and revising it gave him a headache.

No, rather than revising the script, it was more like rewriting "The Great Wall"!

Eating fruit and chatting, Ning Hao and his wife were about to ascend into capital.

The happy acquisition change-of-registration process was about to be completed. Ning Hao would be the third-largest shareholder, not participating in Huanxi's operations, only serving as an independent director. In the future, he'd still hole up in his Bad Monkey studio, making films and shooting ads.

Actually, this was the best development model — if Huanxi did something scummy, his share of the bad reputation would be much less.

…………

Liu Liu Yifei's sources were well-informed. Even though she was in Paris, she'd already heard about "The Great Wall."

When she called Lin Nan, she even asked about it.

"Legendary Pictures' script counts as a big-female-lead. But in my eyes, this script is really terrible."

"How terrible?"

Liu Liu Yifei's clear, crisp voice came through, somewhat curious.

"Put broadly, foreigners come running to our turf to 'save the world,' and pick up girls along the way. It uses a real historical dynasty as backdrop, but fabricates monsters…

Wearing the skin of a co-production and flying the flag of Chinese elements, the substance is still that Hollywood formula, only this time they're playing an even bigger game!

The home turf is on our side — our actors have more, more screen time, more of the environment… but in the end, the core comes from Hollywood actors!"

Lin Nan gave a concise explanation, without telling Liu Liu Yifei about his agreement with Beside La La Peikang, to spare Miss Liu from taking it to heart.

If Legendary and Universal accepted Lin Nan's demands, then he would tell Liu Liu Yifei the news.

The female lead, the female general's part — he would write it well, tailor-made for Liu Liu Yifei. Otherwise, "The Great Wall" had nothing to do with Lin Nan, let alone Liu Liu Yifei…

…………

There were only 4 days left until "Running Man" premiered.

If Yue Jun hadn't reminded him, Lin Nan would have completely forgotten about it.

He spent a full two days crafting a new "Great Wall" — an outline!

But at this moment, in the office of the China Film Group chairman, there was dead silence!

La La Peikang's expression was very unpleasant, because Legendary and Universal had rejected his request — that is, rejected Lin Nan's request!

"Chairman La, what do we do now? Their attitude over there is very tough — they won't accept 'unreasonable demands.' They say that although Lin Dao is a Golden Lion director, this kind of demand for absolute power is dictatorial behavior, and they absolutely cannot accept it…

Especially changing the script — that's a huge taboo even in Hollywood… The people at Legendary said that the 'Great Wall' script was made by them based on the global market, and they absolutely refuse to alter it…"

La La Peikang's face was expressionless as he thought about something. Only after a long while did he speak. "Go contact Lin Nan, have him come over again. I'll communicate with him face to face."

"But… Lin Dao already said it so resolutely last time… Lin Dao can be very stubborn sometimes…"

The secretary reminded him carefully.

"I know his temperament. Go make the call. I'll do my best to convince him."

…………

(End of chapter)