Chapter 729: Male Thieves, Female Whores

"Uniquely produced by Huayi Brothers Pictures and crafted by a Hollywood team over six years at a cost of 60 million US dollars, the animated feature film 'Rock Dog' concluded its early screening at dawn today;

According to reports, by the time it ended its run last night, the film had been in theaters for a total of 12 days, accumulating a box office of 39.54 million, with daily earnings dropping to less than 1,000 yuan, resulting in a loss rate of nearly 100%, which is extremely regrettable..."

"At exactly 8 AM this morning, Huayi Group released an announcement regarding personnel changes:

Due to major errors in the national distribution of 'Rock Dog' and the significant losses caused to the Group, after unanimous deliberation by the Board of Directors, it has been decided:

Effective immediately, Zhang, the Deputy President in charge of the Distribution Department, and Sun, the General Manager, shall be demoted to Distribution Director and Deputy Director; Ye Ning, a Director of the Group, Deputy General Manager, President of Huayi Pictures, and head of the cinema chain, shall concurrently manage the Distribution Department and oversee distribution operations...

The subsequent focus of the Group's Distribution Department will be Feng Feng Xiaogang's New Year's blockbuster directed by him—'I Am Not Madame Bovary'!"

The 17th, 18th, and 19th passed in a row;

Early on the 20th, the entertainment hot searches related to Huayi were the first thing to catch the eye of the film industry.

Those within the industry watched with glee;

Obviously, 'Rock Dog' indeed caused Huayi to take a massive fall, losing money so badly it hurt, otherwise the Wang brothers would never have made two senior executives the scapegoats!

The set of 'My Amazing Bagger'.

Since the filming progress was already over halfway and could definitely wrap up before the end of the month, everyone relaxed a bit in the morning.

As it happened, Lin Nan was taking a moment to call Wang Wang Changtian; while Liu Liu Yifei and others, along with Shu Chang who had come to visit, were chattering away on the other side about 'Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace'.

That's right, Zhou Xun's 'Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace' had just started filming at Hengdian World Studios a little over an hour ago.

"Huayi has also handed over distribution operations to Ye Ning; this move is undeniably vicious.

You don't know how angry Wanda has become? I just heard from Liu Liu Xiaobin that because of this matter, Big Lao Wang has scheduled a senior management meeting for this afternoon.

What are distribution operations? Distribution operations mean dealing with cinema chains, and when Ye Ning was at Wanda, distribution was among the businesses he managed;

Relying on Wanda's resources, he dealt with major domestic cinema chains for over a decade and accumulated over a decade of connections, yet now these connection resources have been seized by Huayi through Ye Ning's hands!

Moreover, since Ye Ning must now contribute to Huayi's distribution operations, he will have to turn around and deal with his former employer again. Wanda Cinema Chain is unavoidable; it was his former 'stronghold' and also the place he betrayed.

Think about it, letting Ye Ning handle distribution operations—what does this mean for Wanda? It means this is Huayi's provocation once again! Old grievances remain unresolved, and new enmity arises... the intensity of the retaliation ahead is likely to multiply several times over!"

After listening to Wang Wang Changtian's speech, Lin Nan felt a bit emotional for a moment:

Betraying Wanda to join Huayi just half a year ago, and now half a year later turning back to fight for screen time for Huayi against his old employer... this indeed seems suspiciously like a deliberate attempt to disgust Wanda.

"We can't interfere anyway... just wait and watch the show."

"Watch whose show?"

"Look, you're asking that question knowing the answer again?"

Lin Nan joked with a smile; of course, it was to watch Huayi's show; ever since Ye Ning led people to jump ship at the beginning of the year, the two companies had been in a life-or-death struggle!

After chatting and laughing for a while, Lin Nan ended the call with Wang Wang Changtian because Ning Hao was waving, and the crew was preparing to start work.

During the morning, although the Huayi personnel changes were big news within the industry, they were not a hot topic online.

For the vast majority of netizens, the real entertainment hot search was the grand fan meeting "Yang Mi and the Bees' Tenth Anniversary" held high-profilely in Beijing by Lei Jiayin Media for Yang Mi;

Besides that, there was also the on-site video of Chen Xiao and Chen Chen Yanxi's grand wedding ceremony yesterday, which had just been exposed online...

In recent years, the trend within the industry has completely changed; previously, stars always hid their marriages, children, and relationships; now, however, it is fashionable to reveal everything, because this has become a matter that can generate enough traffic, topics, and attention.

Of course, Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei were purely outliers back then because they had unrestrained capital!

As the filming of 'My Amazing Bagger' entered the latter half and final stages, the entire crew seemed injected with energy, becoming even more efficient and intense; after all, the sooner it wraps, the sooner it ends.

Adhering to the principle of ignoring everything outside the window, the efficiency of the film production increased significantly again.

Just like that, from the 20th to the 25th, another six days passed in a flash.

During this period, Jackie Chan and Fan Li Bingbing's 'Skiptrace' officially entered the summer season, with 98.3 million on the first day, 90.01 million on the second, and 111 million on the third; until the morning of the 26th, it had earned 550 million in box office after 5 days of release, which was formidable;

At the same time, Huang Huang Xiaoming's "Ancient Domineering CEO Drama" 'The Legend of the Ancient Love' also wrapped up smoothly; while 'Ice Fantasy', which premiered on the 24th, was mocked by the entire internet for two days... Now, the pressure is on 'The Untamed', premiering on the 29th, after all, they are all major IPs!

On the 26th, the crew took a rare day off because the movie indeed had only a tiny bit of footage left.

Liu Liu Yifei, the female lead, had voluntarily "sold herself" for Lin Nan; when the crew starts filming again, it will be for the final wrap-up scenes.

While Lin Dao Da and Producer Liu were staying at home cuddling each other, outside, more than half of the film and entertainment industry was attending the premiere of China Star and Bona's 'The Legend of the Demon'.

The premiere of 'The Legend of the Demon' held in the capital, with its red carpet and guest scale, was in no way inferior to a film festival closing ceremony, even surpassing it, truly a grand scene of the entertainment industry.

And online, major portals and Weibo had already contributed headline positions, hot search spots, and even a feed-flooding rhythm for this movie.

This scene shows just how much capital the Xiang couple and Fatty Yu invested in promotion; they were truly willing to spend! However...

"Yu Dong and Xiang Xiang Huaqiang just said that this movie intentionally left room and loopholes at the end; the story is not finished, and they plan to start the second part after the movie achieves box office success.

I just want to say these two are truly shameless; before the movie is even released, they are already thinking about 'box office success' and the second part. Isn't this opening the champagne in advance? Aren't they afraid the wind will be too strong and twist their tongues!"

Ning Hao is a founding shareholder of Huanxi; he, Dong Ping, and Xu Zheng sold face to Yu Dong, so they went to the premiere of 'The Legend of the Demon' today.

However, the premiere hadn't even ended when this guy couldn't help but call Lin Nan, complaining to the extreme.

"It's a real pity you didn't come." Before Lin Dao Da could respond, Ning Hao added with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? This movie is simply 'awesome' to the extreme! Looking at the visuals and plot, I feel like I'm dreaming back to December 2005."

Lin Nan was truly a bit confused for a moment; he looked at Liu Liu Yifei beside him, who hadn't caught on either and shook her head at him.

"December 2005?"

"Heh, did you forget? December 2005, you were filming 'Time Cruise'. After receiving the premiere invitation, you temporarily returned to the capital to attend the premiere of 'The Promise'...

Just now, while watching 'The Legend of the Demon', the images of 'The Promise' flashed through my mind; these two movies are truly damn similar! It makes people want to vomit..."

"I understand what you mean now, I understand it completely, hahaha..."

Lin Nan immediately burst out laughing, and Liu Liu Yifei beside him even hugged her stomach, laughing as if she couldn't live.

"Director Ning, keep your voice down a bit. Be careful others nearby might hear." Liu Liu Yifei reminded with a smile, purely out of kindness.

"Don't worry, there's no one nearby... ah, it's a call from the company, they have something important to ask me, hmm, okay, let's have a couple of drinks later..."

There we go; Ning Hao's sudden "change of face" clearly meant someone had just arrived beside him.

"Alright, I won't chat with you two anymore; I almost got caught by Huang Huang Xiaoming."

"Mm, then I'll hang up."

Stretching his arms, Lin Nan checked the time; it was already 11 a. m. "Miss Liu Qianqian, let's go out."

"Okay, wait for me to change clothes, ha. I wanted to try that place's new dishes last time..."

Hearing this, Miss Liu instantly perked up; she had been waiting to go out with Lin Nan.

At this moment, Han Jiannv had lost all sense of time in her mind.

Looking at the messy materials, drafts, and the script that had been meticulously revised on the table, her emotions were obviously extremely agitated and excited.

"It still feels not perfect enough; just a tiny bit short? Just a tiny bit of feeling is missing! One last time, get it done in one go! Next month we can..."

A knocking sound interrupted Han Jiannv's train of thought, immediately followed by Han Han Sanping's scolding: "Are you going to eat lunch or not? Hurry up and come out!"

A few minutes later, when Han Jiannv walked out of the study with a nest of hair on her head and dazed eyes, Zuo Zuo Shandiao's face was simply enough to freeze a person to death.

"Those who know know you're writing your first script; those who don't would think you're writing a script for an A-class film festival or even an Oscar."

"Oh, it's good enough. Who knows, I might even bring back a big award." Little Han, now more sober-minded, returned to her usual "talking back" state, full of energy and vitality.

Han Han Sanping walked ahead, Han Jiannv followed behind, and the father and daughter headed toward the living room dining table.

While going downstairs, Han Han Sanping couldn't help but bring up the matter of adding to his daughter's resume again:

"'The Founding of an Army' will start filming in less than a week. Why don't you consider being an assistant director? Just a title; it's only beneficial, never harmful. I'll just give a call to China Film Group; it's not a big deal. Once you're on set, it'll be just like being at home..."

"What, go to the 'The Founding of an Army' set? No fun. After I finish my script, I'll be busy with that. Mm, being an assistant director is just simple." Han Jiannv said carelessly, cutting off her own father's words.

"What, your script is finished, and you don't plan to direct it yourself?" Han Han Sanping sat at the dining table, looked at his daughter, and teased with a smile.

"Hehe, I don't have that level or influence anyway."

"Mm, that's true. I could be your director; you write the script, and your old man here will direct. That fits well." Han Han Sanping rarely showed a smile and cracked a joke, but his heart was serious.

"You? Then forget it. You're not a big director anyway, nor do you have any fame or market appeal... There we go, pretend I didn't say it. Don't pull a long face. Eat, eat..."

More than half a month had passed since the last inquiry into Lin Nan's "schedule," and Song Ge really couldn't wait any longer;

Plus, having heard that "The Yin-Yang Master" was wrapping up, he urged Wu Wu Ershan to call again. This time, the result was much better than last time.

Lin Nan, who seemed to be having lunch on the other end, might have been a bit impatient, but he still gave a time: the 1st of next month, the day of the Founding of the Army Festival.

"Okay, Lin Dao. On the 1st, we'll have the banquet ready; you and Producer Liu can come anytime. Ah? That's truly a pity. We were originally thinking Producer Liu could come with Lin Dao; we've even prepared gifts, hehe..."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Wu Ershan finally let out a breath. Although he was now a "big director" himself, facing Lin Nan's impatience, he still instinctively felt a bit unsettled.

"The nature of a big director and big capital is indeed extraordinary," Song Ge teased with a smile, clearly speaking for Wu Wu Ershan to hear.

"Song Dong, it should be us who disturbed Lin Dao and Producer Liu. Moreover, we kept saying on the phone about keeping it secret and discussing it face-to-face... Not refusing us face-to-face is already out of respect for our past connection."

"Only face-to-face talks have impact, you know; it's 3 billion! We can give him huge concessions, including cutting the leeks together..."

Hearing this, Wu Wu Ershan fell silent. He admitted that no director would be willing to give up a chance to leap straight to the top; capital, wealth, ambition... "The Creation of the Gods Trilogy" could give him all that!

"That set over there should be wrapping up soon, right?"

"You're his agent; how do you not know when the set wraps? You still have to ask me?"

"Hehe, you're his wife too, yet right now you're in my arms?"

"When you say that, you really sound so self-righteous. Your wife just called you, asking if you're coming home for dinner." The woman laughed happily, not feeling anything was wrong at all.

"Isn't this overtime? Being with you counts as overtime too!

Alright, stop being awkward; let's talk about our real business. You hold shares in several of his companies, and some investments are even under your name... As for the studio, I've kept it under tight control..."

"So some assets, you transferred them without anyone knowing?"

"Without anyone knowing? Then how did you find out? It was still you..."

"If I hadn't cooperated, could you have succeeded?"

"So that's why we're a pair. When the time comes, we'll divorce; no need to hide anymore. Back then, to get him out of the way, I took the initiative to turn down 'Running Man 2' and took 'The True Man' instead, throwing him into the army camp..."

"If I hadn't covered for you that time, you would have been done for." The woman said with a smile, as if the person in the other's mouth had nothing to do with her at all.

"Didn't I already thank you properly? With force..."

"Get lost. Back then, when you were fired by Huayi, he shouldn't have taken you in; otherwise, you wouldn't have had the cuckoo driving out the magpie now, hehe..."

"Still the same saying: without you, I wouldn't have had the chance, right? How about I repay you properly right now..."

"Don't..."

The atmosphere in the private room instantly became wrong, permeating with the scent of an adulterous couple, a male thief and a female prostitute.