Chapter 652: Breaking Records; Half a Share

Although it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, for the film and television industry, there weren't many taboos.

Movies and TV dramas that were scheduled to start filming did so as usual, and actors joined their crews as planned; after all, the almanac marked this as an exceptionally auspicious day.

This was especially true for film and television works with special or major themes, which were particularly superstitious about such things; the entire crew would be wishing for a successful start and smooth sailing.

"Mainly produced by the Supreme People's Procuratorate Film and Television Center and Golden Shield Film and Television, with the participation of the Political Department and the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate;

Directed by Li Lu, written by Zhou Meisen, and starring dozens of veteran acting powerhouses and over a dozen National Class-A actors:

The annual anti-corruption blockbuster 'In the Name of the People' held a high-profile opening press conference in the capital this afternoon, the first day of the Lunar New Year, and officially commenced filming..."

Lin Nan was scrolling through the news online while taking a call from Wang Chang.

"Lin Dao, I'm at the scene, and the turnout is truly significant.

Not only have many leaders from the judicial system arrived in uniform, but the same goes for the radio and television system, and there are even more from the film and television industry. Hmm, Wang Zong and the others are here too.

I just heard that the reason the production funds for this drama were finally secured was because someone on the production team sold everything they had to make up tens of millions... Does Potato really want to buy this?"

"Is the Potato marketing department not optimistic about it?" Lin Nan asked with a smile.

Originally, Wang Chang didn't need to attend this invitation in person, but because Lin Nan had mentioned it earlier, he kept it in mind and went himself.

"A little bit."

"As you said, the turnout is truly significant; and you can go ask Wang Zong, he understands it even better. This drama, once made, will absolutely be a top-tier masterpiece.

Have the people in the departments below keep a close eye on it. Once it wraps up, go negotiate the online streaming rights... exclusively, if possible!"

Hearing Lin Nan's tone being so serious, Wang Chang didn't say anything more.

At the end of the day, it was just a TV drama; how much could it possibly be worth? Besides, the 4-plus billion injected by Penguin three months ago was currently struggling to be spent fast enough.

After hanging up, Lin Nan continued to scroll through the news content on his tablet.

"Lu Yi, Zhang Hanyu, Wu Gang, Xu Yajun, Zhang Zhijian, Ke Lan, Hu Jing... Hmm, this male lead selection is indeed a bit off."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei spent their time on one phone call and video call after another.

Shu Chang, Han Jia, Zhou Xun, Zhu Yawen, Luo Jin... Ning Hao, Huang Xiao... The sheer number of acquaintances alone kept them busy, but overall, their mood was pleasant.

However, the sporadic news reports online also conveyed a somewhat unfriendly message to Lin Dao and Producer Liu:

Under the joint exclusion of several "new films" like 'The Mermaid', 'Detective Chinatown', this "old face", was having a very difficult and unsatisfactory time.

Sure enough, the next morning, major portal websites and Weibo were early to be flooded with movie information from the Spring Festival.

That series of astonishing data shocked the entire film and television industry beyond measure; the film market seemed to have truly ushered in a new starting point and a new stage, with the entire market volume doubling!

"Jointly produced by Xinghui, China Film, Shanghai Film, and Lin Nan Film, directed by Zhou Xingchi, the sci-fi, comedy, and romance blockbuster 'The Mermaid' raked in 271 million at the box office on its first day.

This film forcefully broke and refreshed the first-day box office record and single-day box office record for domestic films previously held by Lin Dao Nan's 'Detective Chinatown'..."

"Jointly produced by Bona and China Star, directed by Wang Jing, and starring Zhou Runfa, Liu Dehua, Zhang Xueyou, Zhang Jiahui, Xiang Huaqiang, Xiang Zuo, Li Yuchun, and others, 'From Vegas to Macau 3' raked in 176 million on its opening day, ranking second in the Spring Festival slot!"

"Starring Guo Fucheng, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, Xiao Shenyang, and others, the fantasy blockbuster 'The Sun Wukong 2' raked in 166 million on its first day, ranking third in the Spring Festival slot..."

"Produced by Bad Monkey, the animated feature film 'Mr. Nian' raked in 9.1 million on its first day of release; the film is struggling to survive in the cracks, and the road ahead is difficult."

"On the first day of the second week of extended release, the daily box office of 'Detective Chinatown' plummeted to 10.5 million; as of yesterday, the film's total box office reached 2.9185 billion, and it is feared it will regretfully stop before the 3 billion box office mark."

"The imported blockbuster 'Kung Fu Panda 3'..."

"On the first day of the Spring Festival slot, the domestic film market volume approached 800 million, an increase of about 200% compared to the New Year slot... The film industry is in a state of prosperity, unstoppable..."

How could the film and television industry, especially the film circle, not be excited?

'The Mermaid' raking in such first-day box office results, and that too while surrounded by a pack of wolves, was simply abnormal to the extreme.

This was nakedly heading towards 2 billion+, heading towards 3 billion at the box office!

And faced with such terrifying opening results, the focus of public opinion across the entire internet was focused on three companies.

"This is truly a vivid lesson, truly telling us what it means to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Huayi offended Zhou Xingchi to death for 80 million, and now it's fine, 'The Mermaid' slapped them in the face forcefully, Huayi didn't get on this ride! Hahaha..."

"What's going on with Shanghai Film? Why is it only a 15% share? Is it because they don't have money to invest? Or were they not optimistic about Star Master's 'The Mermaid' at the beginning?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, the champion of this Spring Festival slot must be 'The Mermaid', but the bulk of the profits is destined to belong to Lin Nan Film, that's a 30% share!"

"The Chinese film market is really going to take off, who knows when it will surpass North America, hahaha..."

The netizens online guessed correctly; the mentality of the two brothers at Huayi was indeed a bit broken, but it was only a bit of regret;

Because the two brothers had psychological preparations from the beginning, and they still had 'Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back' as a psychological reliance later on:

That is, the higher the box office of 'The Mermaid', the more beneficial it would be for the later 'Demons Strike Back'!

Compared to Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei, Ren Zhonglun was the one who felt the most heartache in the entire industry, to the extreme; after all, Shanghai Film had boarded the giant ship of 'The Mermaid', but...

"I say, Ren Zong, when the shares were distributed, I was the last one to speak. You were the first to say that Shanghai Film had invested in too many movies at the time and couldn't spare much thought and energy, so you could only put up 15%. Then China Film asked for 25%, and finally, there was no one to take the remaining 30% share, so I kindly took it all. Hehe..."

Lin Nan imitated Liu Yifei's manner, sitting there with his legs crossed, stabbing at Ren Zhonglun's heart.

"I, I invested 300 million at the time, how would I know it could be this strong? I regret it to death! I won't have a good New Year; after seeing the box office this morning, a thorn was directly stuck in my heart..."

Across the phone, Lin Nan could imagine what expression Ren Zhonglun, far away in Shanghai, had; it was absolutely "bitter"!

Forget it, after saying a few words, Ren Zhonglun was in no mood; he euphemistically comforted Lin Nan about the 'Detective Chinatown' matter and then hung up the phone.

"Hey, this guy, it was clearly him who called!"

Pointing at his phone, Lin Nan complained speechlessly to Liu Yifei.

"Ren Zong might just want to find someone to vent his frustrations; he couldn't possibly go to China Film, wouldn't that be even more of a joke? Hehe..."

Liu Yifei guessed with a giggle, and it was likely very close to the truth.

The time of the Spring Festival holiday seemed to pass by in a flash.

During this period, Lin Nan took Liu Yifei to try "disguising themselves" to go out for a stroll a few times, but every time, sooner or later, they would be discovered, and in the end, there were even entertainment reporters tailing them.

Alright, better to just go home and continue being a homebody.

And at the same time, the film market was indeed as the phrase "unstoppable" said: the Chinese film market had truly entered a brand-new stage, suddenly achieving a qualitative change and leap.

271 million, 243 million, 249 million, 249 million, 245 million, 240 million!

In 6 days, 'The Mermaid' raked in 1.5 billion, a terrifying anomaly that left the entire production industry dumbfounded!

And 'From Vegas to Macau 3' and 'The Sun Wukong 2' also raked in 701 million and 668 million at the box office respectively, following closely behind, ranking second and third.

In the Spring Festival slot, the situation of 'The Mermaid' dominating alone had already fully formed.

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, which was the morning of the 14th, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei began packing their bags at home; their flight was tomorrow morning.

And tomorrow was also the last day of 'Detective Chinatown's' theatrical run; before 10 PM, the movie had to be pulled from theaters.

Because the decryption key for the movie screening was counted by the second, it would be interrupted immediately once the time was up; after 10 PM, it was impossible for a movie to be screened completely to the end.

"Lin Dao, Producer Liu."

As soon as Lin Nan and Liu Yifei came out of their room, they saw Lao Lin leading Director Zhang from Western Film and a group of people coming in; they still brought a lot of gifts.

"We are returning to the capital tomorrow. I thought Western Film was not prepared to give an answer and had given up."

Lin Nan joked, and Liu Yifei also had a smile on her face.

"Lin Dao is joking. Even if I give up, I couldn't give up on Lin Dao's co-production project."

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei helped pour a few glasses of water, and then everyone sat down together to talk about serious business.

"What's the plan at Western Film? How did you decide?"

Hearing the question, Director Zhang's expression paused significantly, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Lin Dao, Producer Liu, you two should also understand the current situation at Western Film; it's not even as good as Ning Film over there, we're almost unable to put food on the table.

For Western Film, we really can't come up with a 10% share for a co-production with an investment of at least 150 million USD... We are truly very grateful for the kindness of Lin Dao and Producer Liu."

Liu Yifei and Lin Nan looked at each other; sure enough, they had guessed right!

Lin Nan's expression didn't show the slightest abnormality, his tone remained gentle, and he asked, "It doesn't matter if you can't take a 10% share, then how much does Western Film want?"

Director Zhang looked at the two of them and very seriously spat out two words: "Half a share."

"5%?"

"Yes, while ensuring the normal operation of the group, the funds available on the account do not exceed 80 million;

Half a share is the largest and most stable share choice for us. Please forgive me, Lin Dao, Western Film now can't even compare to many private capitals."

Director Zhang smiled very awkwardly and helplessly.

"It would be too humble to say you can't compare to private capital; it's just that the funds might be a bit lacking. But when it comes to heritage, let alone private capital, even China Film and Shanghai Film are far behind Western Film; those are the true treasures of Western Film."

Lin Nan gave a compliment, saving face for Western Film.

"Then?"

"Hmm, half a share it is. I will reserve it for Western Film." Lin Nan nodded and gave his promise.

Hearing this, the group from Western Film immediately showed smiles and thanked him repeatedly.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Lin Nan and Liu Yifei saw them out the door; they still had to go back to report this matter and prepare the funds in advance.

Waving goodbye, the group got into a Volkswagen commercial vehicle, the car started, and slowly drove into the distance.

"Let's go back inside, Xixi."

"Mm-hmm, let's go, it's still a bit cold outside."

Liu Yifei responded sweetly, then giggled and reached her hand into the pocket of Lin Nan's down jacket.

However, just as the two were about to enter the door, a Mercedes S-Class pulled up at the entrance.

"Brother Lin, Sister Yifei, Happy New Year."

A familiar voice came from behind, crisp and clear, with a hint of softness.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 653 =====

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