Chapter 661

Not long after parting ways with Leonardo, Ma Te, and the others at noon, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei learned that Liu Dehua and the others had come to visit in the morning but had been turned away.

At that time, he and Miss Liu were watching a movie, and their phones were naturally in airplane mode, so it was normal that they couldn't get through.

Sure enough, after learning about this, Liu Yifei urged Lin Nan to quickly return the call;

Immediately, everyone arranged a dinner for the evening to spend the Lantern Festival together abroad. After tonight, the Spring Festival would be completely over.

It's just that the things Zhang Yimou brought up at the dinner table made Lin Nan scoff.

He looked at Zhang Yimou with a smile, wanting to confirm from the other's eyes if he was joking?

Alright, in the end, Lin Nan gave up, because the National Master's eyes were a bit murky—a "murky" with a double meaning;

That's true, at this level, everyone is hiding their true selves. Unless you take the initiative to reveal something, how could you possibly let others see through you.

And over these years, the only ones present whose eyes could remain clear and bright were Liu Yifei and Jing Tian. Even in the entire film and television entertainment industry, they were rare exceptions!

Even Lin Nan would only reveal this state at home or in front of very close friends, completely letting down his guard; while outside, he would always disguise himself appropriately.

"If you ask me, Li Dao is truly obsessed, it leaves one speechless."

Hearing Lin Nan tease Li Ang like this, Zhang Ziyi and Liu Dehua, who were present, all kept their mouths shut, only accompanying him with a smile.

"When he told me about holding a large-scale director forum in the country, I didn't think much of it at first, after all, it's a good thing;

But when I heard he wanted to organize most directors to discuss 120-frame 4K technology together, I really didn't react in time.

In my view, a film director, and a big director at that, once obsessed with technology, is completely doing something that puts the cart before the horse."

Zhang Yimou didn't object, just stating his own views. The few people on the side heard this, and their first reaction was to think of Xu Ke.

"Did Li Dao say when this 'Master Forum' will be held?"

Lin Nan asked curiously. For that group of people in the domestic film circle, this was undoubtedly a "feast."

Because once invited, it meant being placed on an equal footing by Li Ang;

For those domestic film directors with vanity, this was capital they could brag about—a "Master" forum!

And in the country, there really weren't many film directors who could compare to Li Ang, and Lin Nan and Zhang Yimou were the only two among them.

"I guess it will be during the promotion period before 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' is released in the country, it's toward the end of the year, still early.

Come, let's eat, it's rare to spend the Lantern Festival together here..."

Zhang Yimou said with a smile, changing the subject, and took the initiative to pour himself another glass of red wine, and added some for Lin Nan on the side.

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei looked at each other. The two found that today's Zhang Yimou felt a bit exceptionally... how should I put it? Happy? Joyful? Excited?

Anyway, it was different, his whole body exuded a state of vitality and high spirits. Yes, that's the state!

Looking at Liu Dehua and Jing Tian again, it seemed that since they set off from the country together, they had already noticed Zhang Yimou's "abnormality."

"Director Zhang, do you have any happy events?"

Lin Nan asked tentatively, and Liu Yifei also nodded with a smile, looking at Zhang Yimou.

And Liu Dehua, Jing Tian, and Zhang Ziyi, upon hearing this, immediately put down their chopsticks. They had been curious for a long time.

Zhang Yimou's face immediately crinkled with smiles, in a state of just waiting for someone to ask so he could share his joy:

"Mm, there is a bit of a happy event.

Of course, it's not something that needs to be kept secret, everyone will know in a few days. It's that LeEco Pictures is going to be listed, haha..."

"LeEco Pictures is going to be listed?"

Zhang Ziyi exclaimed first, then congratulated her "mentor" with an envious face. Liu Dehua and Jing Tian followed closely, also offering their congratulations repeatedly;

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei looked at each other subtly, not ruining the atmosphere, and offered their congratulations as well.

Zhang Yimou accepted them all, in a very good mood.

"LeEco's stock price is so high, once LeEco Pictures is listed... I remember Director Zhang has 12 million original shares, tsk tsk..."

Liu Dehua's emotional intelligence was truly high, praising Zhang Yimou until he laughed incessantly.

After nine o'clock in the evening, everyone dispersed.

When Lin Nan and Liu Yifei left the Hilton Hotel and walked back, Miss Liu held Lin Nan's arm and couldn't help but ask:

"Didn't Chairman Wang call you a few days ago, and didn't the gossip say that LeEco Pictures wasn't planning to go public? How come?"

Regarding this question, Lin Nan didn't know either. But thinking of that "supernatural power" of Boss Jia, he couldn't help but have a bad premonition:

"Who knows, maybe they have some crooked ways.

But thinking about it, it's 12 million original shares. How could Director Zhang, who has been poor for so many years following Zhang Weiping, not be excited and agitated?

This uncontrollable state of mind has already washed away the composure of a big director. Sigh, he really was scared by poverty. It's just..."

…………

When Hollywood entered the dead of night, it was past two in the afternoon in the country.

Online, the news of two TV series even overshadowed the limelight of a host of films, ranking first and second on the Weibo hot search, just because they were both big IPs.

"Adapted from Guo Jingming's best-selling novel of the same name, starring Feng Shaofeng, Song Qian, Ma Tianyu, Zhang Meng, Kim Hee-sun, Xu Jiao, and others, the large-scale fantasy costume TV series 'Ice Fantasy' successfully wrapped up filming this morning.

The producers and Mango TV released a joint announcement that the series will officially land on the Mango Diamond Exclusive Theater during the summer vacation on July 24th, taking over from Tang Ren Film's top IP, the third installment of the Chinese Paladin series—'Chinese Paladin 5', also known as 'Chinese Paladin: Cloud of the Song'."

"Controlled and produced by Huace Film, starring Huang Xiaoming, Song Qian, Sheng Yilun, Zhang Li, Zhai Tianlin, and others, the large-scale costume fantasy romance TV series 'A Life Time Love' officially started filming this morning..."

"Popular idol artist Song Qian seamlessly transferred at Hengdian World Studios, with a large number of fans watching..."

Lin Nan Film Industry, third-floor medium-sized conference room.

Yue Jun sat at the head of the seven-or-eight-meter-long rectangular conference table, browsing the information on his phone, and smiled faintly:

"Not a very big star, yet she can take the female lead of big IPs one after another, partnering with A-list or even top A-list male actors... There is indeed someone supporting her."

The conference room door opened, and people from the screenwriting department filed in; in less than two minutes, 14 screenwriters were seated.

Yue Jun took a look, waved at the logistics department staff on the side, and saw four good-looking female employees start to distribute the prepared items one by one.

A moment later, the conference room door was tightly closed, and the atmosphere inside became much more solemn instantly.

"Director Yue, everyone is here." The assistant reminded Yue Jun.

"Mm, I know."

Yue Jun looked at the 14 people drawn from the screenwriting department in front of him, ranging in age from 28 to 45, all male screenwriters, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Everyone, take a look at the things in front of you, a novel, a set of outlines, this is everyone's next task.

Other scripts and matters of the screenwriting department will be handled by other screenwriters, you are only responsible for finalizing the film script for this novel.

According to Lin Dao's original words: This is a script for a series of films, requiring the highest level of script completion, brilliance, and confidentiality during the project;

You can treat it as a long-term project. Our preparation work will be very, very long, and after it's made into a film, the post-production work will be even longer...

It's not like the time of 'The Martian' now, of course, there was no Tiangong Color back then... Now we can completely handle it ourselves, and we have enough confidence to surpass the past to a great extent..."

The 14 screenwriters listened to Yue Jun's speech while flipping through the novels and outlines in front of them, each one excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

"Lin Dao, is he going to restart sci-fi films?"

Several screenwriters couldn't help but look at Yue Jun, and the latter just smiled and said nothing.

Sci-fi is the dream of men in the film circle; and hard sci-fi is even more the dream of male screenwriters!

"Everyone, since the company started working on 'The Martian' in 2006, it has been a full 10 years since we touched hard sci-fi again. In these 10 years, is there a second hard sci-fi film in domestic cinema?"

Yue Jun's tone was already a bit arrogant, and the screenwriters present were even more excited upon hearing this.

"Director Yue, how much time does our project team have for the script at most?"

A screenwriter cut to the chase, already impatient. The other 13 screenwriters also cast inquiring glances.

"There is a plan in the outline. This is a series of films, so be prepared for a long-term project. You have at least 1 year to focus on polishing the script;

But I hope that by this time next year, I don't ask you to produce the script for the second film in the series, but at least you must be able to produce the final draft of the first one, and it must be a perfect, impeccable script draft!"

Yue Jun's tone was much more serious; this was his death order!

"No problem, Director Yue. Although adaptation is more difficult than original work because you have to stick to the original, supplement the original, and surpass the original, we still have this confidence with so many of us, and besides, don't we have Lin Dao's outline?"

Yue Jun nodded with a smile: "Mm, as long as you have confidence.

In addition, I have already communicated with the original author. During the script creation period, he will join in from time to time to correct, refer to, and make suggestions to jointly improve the film script.

Speaking of which, Lin Dao's 'The Martian' played a decisive role in successfully obtaining the copyright to these novels at the time; because at that time, Lin Dao was the only big director in the country who had tackled hard sci-fi. And the facts have also proven that in the ten years since, there has been no second person in the country!"

…………

Not long after waking up in the morning, Lin Nan saw the domestic news in the Hollywood Daily, and it was the headline, which really caught him off guard.

And the content of the news was that the richest man in the country had changed again, with Big Lao Wang replacing Jack Ma and reaching the top again.

Don't even mention it, if it weren't for the foreign media reports, Lin Nan really wouldn't have known what Big Lao Wang was busy with abroad before rushing back to the country.

It turns out he was buying land in several major cities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other places, and it seems he succeeded. He is worthy of being the booming, buy-buy-buy Wanda!

"Lin, the time has been set, on the morning of the 29th."

Tom walked in with "heavy" steps, still chewing on a fried dough stick, truly unkempt.

"Mm, the day after the awards ceremony, not bad. After handling this matter, Xixi and I won't stay in Hollywood for long, the rest of the matters will be left to you, Tom?"

"No problem, Lin. I will personally serve as the producer this time, although I am one of the producers.

By the way, where is Crystal, why don't I see her... Oops, pretend I didn't ask, didn't ask." Tom patted his forehead and quickly shut his mouth.

"Ha, have a better memory next time. Fortunately, Xixi hasn't come downstairs yet, otherwise she would definitely roast you."

Lin Nan crossed his legs and teased with a smile.

Although there were still 6 days until the Oscar awards ceremony, Lin Nan, the winner of last year's Best Director award, was not idle.

Because from time to time, people would contact him, inviting him to attend this cocktail party or that party;

Lin Nan wanted to refuse, but he certainly couldn't refuse all of them, so he could only pick and choose—picking the ones that were close by and the ones with better reputations.

For someone like Weinstein, he had to stay as far away as possible. That's right, The Weinstein Company really invited Lin Nan.

"Oh right, Tom, just handle this in a while."

Lin Nan pointed to the invitation on the coffee table, which was sent by The Weinstein Company.

"Lin, you have to stay away from this guy."

Tom picked up the invitation, opened it, and took a look, his expression becoming much more serious instantly.

"Mm? Haven't I always avoided dealing with such people? It's not like you don't know, I even warned you."

Lin Nan didn't think much of it and immediately retorted. He was also amused by Tom—he was actually warning him?

"No, no, Lin, what I mean is more serious than what you think!"

Tom looked at Lin Nan, very seriously.

Good heavens, this was the first time Lin Dao had seen Tom be so solemn.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard this guy has been in trouble recently. The Weinstein Company is helping this founder and CEO clean up his mess, and I don't know if they can completely suppress it and thoroughly wipe clean those things from the past..."

Listening to Tom's "gossip," Lin Nan also belatedly restrained the playful smile on his face.

The world's most famous "red sofa" person in the film industry was starting to be bitten back...

"You're here early, Tom?"

At this moment, Liu Yifei finally stepped out of her boudoir with lazy steps, standing on the second floor looking toward the hall at the two of them.

"Hi, Crystal, don't you want to sleep a little longer? Sleeping more is good for a lady's skin."

Damn, Lin Nan was disgusted by this sycophant!

"Mm-hmm, that's the truth, hehe..."

Liu Yifei immediately nodded with a giggle, very satisfied with Tom's flattery.

"Get ready, we can go out for a stroll."

Lin Nan urged Liu Yifei, and then she wrinkled her nose and "hummed" at him, her cute, fierce look returning.

……

Hollywood time, the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th.

For four consecutive days, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei really just played around;

They watched quite a few entertainment-oriented films, such as 'Mad Max: Fury Road', 'Shaun the Sheep', and so on.

Compared to them, Zhang Yimou, Liu Dehua, Zhang Ziyi, and others were much more formal, frequently appearing at parties of various major companies;

In addition, Universal Pictures also held a special cocktail party for 'The Great Wall'; Ma Te Damon and a host of Hollywood creators were all present without exception.

I heard the scale of the scene was quite grand, and Zhang Zhao of LeEco Pictures even bragged for a long time!

Domestic time finally arrived on the morning of the 27th.

When the box office information for the Spring Festival films was reported online, the entire film industry looked over, marveling and unable to calm down for a long time.

Because starting today, the new highest box office record for domestic films had stepped onto a new level!

After 11 days, 'The Mermaid' broke the 2.988 billion domestic film box office record set by 'Detective Chinatown', and started a brand new 3-billion box office era.

"Jointly produced by StarMe, China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, and Lin Nan Film Industry, directed by Zhou Xingchi, the Spring Festival sci-fi, romance, and comedy blockbuster 'The Mermaid' took 19 days to break the 3 billion mark in total box office, closing at 3.026 billion! The daily box office is still over 50 million..."

"'The Mermaid' officially broke and refreshed the highest domestic film box office record held by Lin Dao Nan's 'Detective Chinatown'."

"After many years, the holder of the highest domestic film box office record has finally changed hands. Most professionals in the industry believe that this means the Chinese-language film market has completely ushered in an explosive period..."

"Director Zhou Xingchi has officially been promoted to the first 3-billion box office film director in the Chinese-language film industry, the first member of the 3-billion box office director club..."

"The film 'From Vegas to Macau 3' has been released for 19 days, with a total box office of 970 million, and the daily box office has fallen to over 8 million, with 1 billion still in sight."

"The film 'The Monkey King 2' has been released for 19 days, with a total box office reaching 980 million, and a daily income of over 12 million..."

Zhou Xingchi replaced Lin Nan as the new owner of the highest domestic film box office record; in the eyes of the film circle, there was always a dreamlike feeling.

After all, everyone had "suffered" under Lin Nan for a long time, and suddenly changing the person at the top made them feel a bit unaccustomed for a while.

"On the domestic film box office list, he dominated the list alone for many years, and now it has finally changed hands. Given his personality, he should be much more relaxed, he must have been very tired before."

Wang Changtian sighed with emotion. In terms of closeness, he stood on Lin Nan's side.

"You say that, but Lin Dao has awards if he wants awards, and a career if he wants a career. If he continued to dominate the box office list for a long time, he really wouldn't be leaving a way for others to survive. And among the top three on the box office list, didn't Lin Dao occupy two? The lion's share of 'The Mermaid's' revenue belongs to Lin Dao's side."

Wu said with a smile, the envy in his tone couldn't be hidden at all.

He could also be considered someone who switched to directing, of course, he certainly wouldn't give up his profession as an actor;

After all, the reason he switched to directing was because no one was looking for him to act, and his resources were getting fewer and fewer.

Now that he was a director, he certainly had to have the pursuits of a director.

And a director's pursuits were nothing more than awards or box office. In either of these two items, Lin Nan was the kind of existence that was out of reach, so he was naturally envious to the extreme.

There might still be a chance for box office, because if you are lucky, you might just hit a high box office with the right time, place, and people;

But for director-level awards, he didn't dare to dream at all! Looking at Lin Dao's body full of major awards again, he was even more envious, drooling!

"That's also true. But I'm afraid that after he loses the box office record, he will completely lose the pressure to maintain the top spot as a spur, and then directly slack off.

After all, he has the most major awards in the mainland, and given his personality, the possibility of slacking off is quite high. If that really happens, it won't be a good thing."

Wang Changtian smiled, indeed a bit worried.

Because generally speaking, Lin Nan is a lazy person; after all, how many capital giants sleep in late every day like him?

Wu smiled and said nothing. Whether to slack off or not, only Lin Dao had the qualifications.

"Alright, let's not talk about this. You came today because the script for 'Wolf Warrior 2' was finished ahead of schedule?" Wang Changtian got to the point.

Wu heard this and immediately straightened his back, "Yes, it was just finished last night, I worked overtime!"

"Then let's wait for Lin Nan and Yifei to come back. Your third film can be submitted for script review, project establishment, and casting. Oh right, how much is it on the Red Star Dock side?"

"40%."

"That's indeed quite a lot. Then you should work a little more overtime on your side, hurry up and make the budget, and after they come back, we'll sit down and discuss it..."

…………

Huayi.

Ye Ning still didn't appear openly in the Huayi Group; he was still avoiding the media.

Because according to the plan, his first public appearance would be at the Huayi Group press conference on March 1st, together with those 34 theater managers. And at this moment, all 35 people were lying low.

"The board of directors has passed it, has the announcement been drafted?"

Wang Zhongjun asked Wang Zhonglei without raising his head while flipping through the news.

On the news page, it was exactly the relevant information about Wanda; there was a large-scale personnel change over there, and the announcement had already been issued.

It was mainly the appointment of the new managers for those 34 theaters, as well as the appointment of the executive successor for Ye Ning's previous position. It seems Wanda had also started self-inspection internally.

"The appointment announcement has already been drafted, it's just the release time... should we set it for tomorrow or the day after?"

Wang Zhonglei asked, his voice faintly excited, which he was suppressing.

Because once this announcement was issued, Huayi and Wanda would be in a situation of life-and-death, and there would be many head-on confrontations in the future; the two brothers were not afraid of this situation, and were even looking forward to it.

After all, in the film and television industry, real estate industry, internet and financial industries, and many other industries, Huayi and Wanda were already competitors.

"Time? It seems this year is a leap year, once every four years... Then set it for after noon on the 29th."

Wang Zhongjun smiled and made the final decision.

Everyone says Wanda is booming, but Huayi is not weak either. The richest man is indeed the richest man, but so what, he owes more money to the bank.

In comparison, Huayi is asset-light, with much more abundant cash flow than Wanda, almost no burden or debt, let's do it!

"Noon on the 29th? Okay, then the 29th. At that time, it seems the Oscar awards banquet in Hollywood will have just ended." Wang Zhonglei nodded and said with a smile.

"Zhou Xingchi, oh Zhou Xingchi, we didn't expect him to come up with 'The Mermaid' back then!"

Wang Zhongjun looked at the news, his tone turning cold again;

The box office of 'The Mermaid' had already reached 3 billion. If they hadn't cheated him out of those 80 million back then, Huayi's market value should have risen a lot, even by several billion!

…………