Chapter 79: Premiere Arrangements

The mess over in America has, in the end, affected the whole world.

The funniest thing in the circle is Liu Tao, who just married into a "wealthy family" and was preparing to be a devoted wife and mother, running back out to look for acting roles.

The grand declaration of retiring from the circle was made only eight months ago, and now she has slapped her own face.

It is said that Liu Tao has complained to many people that Wang Ke is already bankrupt, in debt, and suffering from a serious illness...

There are quite a few people in the industry watching the joke, and they also feel that her words are truly too fake and too exaggerated.

However, Qin Hailu is indeed loyal; she is truly helping Liu Tao introduce her to film crews.

The matter of Lin Nan refusing to attend the Hundred Flowers Awards has been brought up from time to time over these past two months.

On the day of the closing ceremony and awards presentation, many actors and stars at the scene were hesitant and evasive when asked about this topic by reporters.

Feng Xiaogang went against his usual behavior: "Director Lin Nan is still too young; perhaps he felt a bit wronged, but this is also a form of tempering, isn't it?"

Good heavens, that very night, "Assembly" almost swept the Hundred Flowers Awards.

Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor...

The Best Actress award was taken by Li Bingbing for "The Knot".

"No wonder Director Feng's tone has changed; has he been co-opted?"

"Director Feng is just like this for the moment; you wait until next time, he will definitely open fire again..."

"Is this year's Hundred Flowers Awards being held for Huayi?"

The comments online were one-sided in their mockery, but they were indeed very apt.

Lin Nan received the final round of quotes for the in-film advertisements, which was also the highest quote yet; these wealthy tycoons are truly rich.

Many stars are anxiously holding press conferences because they all endorsed a certain brand of milk powder; it really is a man-made disaster...

Several producers of "The Martian" met up at China Film Group.

"The premiere can be prepared now." Han Sanping is most concerned about this matter.

Everyone has a consensus that the scale of the premiere for "The Martian" cannot be small; after all, it took two full years to make.

"How about we choose to hold it at the Great Hall of the People?"

The people from the Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation suggested.

"The Great Hall of the People?"

Everyone's eyes lit up; this location is indeed the most suitable.

"What do you think, Lin Nan?"

"Let's choose the Great Hall of the People. This is the best venue I can think of; it has extraordinary significance."

Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and Jackie Chan's "The Myth" were both held there.

Lin Nan feels that the current "The Martian" can also be held there.

"Should we invite the leaders from the Space Administration?"

"Yes, of course we must invite them. When the project was first launched, the Space Administration also provided support."

After a morning of discussion, the matter of "The Martian" premiere was completely settled.

In the afternoon, China Film Group announced this to the media.

Spanning two years with an investment of 300 million yuan, the sci-fi blockbuster is finally going to meet the industry.

For the guest invitations this time, the various parties at China Film Group will still refer to the "Painted Skin" event; companies and artists in the circle who are not qualified will not be invited.

This news instantly occupied the headlines of all major portal websites.

The news that "City of Life and Death" had just won the Golden Shell Award at San Sebastián was ruthlessly suppressed.

Liu Yifei is already picking out clothes, planning what to wear that day to support Lin Nan.

Although she is usually very casual at home, she is never perfunctory on formal occasions, though sometimes her eye for choosing clothes might not be great.

"No need to be so troublesome; no matter what you wear, it won't affect your beauty."

"Hee hee, you are getting better and better at talking."

…………

"Can we go to attend the premiere of Director Lin's 'The Martian'?"

The "Chinese Paladin 3" crew, several leads are chatting, and they are all talking about Lin Nan's film.

"To go, you need an invitation letter." Tang Yan answered Yang Mi's question.

During the previous "Painted Skin" event, Orange Sky went, but Tang Yan couldn't get away from the crew.

If there are no accidents this time, she can still go with the company.

"What about Hu Ge?"

"He definitely has no problem; his relationship with Director Lin is quite good."

After talking back and forth, Yang Mi realized that only she and Liu Shishi had no chance, not to mention those from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

This kind of grand occasion is too tempting for actors—connections, resources...

The more Yang Mi thought about it, the more unwilling she was; she took advantage of the break time to go find Hu Ge.

"What do you want my phone for?"

"Nothing, just borrowing it to use; my phone is out of battery."

After Yang Mi tricked Hu Ge out of his phone, she started looking through the contacts; she remembered that Hu Ge had spoken to Lin Nan on the phone.

"Found it!"

Yang Mi's eyes were glowing, and she quickly noted down the mobile number marked with the two characters "Lin Nan".

"So fast?" Hu Ge asked with a look of confusion.

"Yeah, I'm going to rest now." Yang Mi said and ran off.

Lin Nan was helping Liu Yifei feed the cats; the latter was taking a nap.

These little guys are no less familiar with Lin Nan than they are with Liu Yifei.

The sound of the phone vibrating startled the cats; one by one their tails stood up, then instantly returned to normal.

"Still a strange number? Hello, who is this?"

"Director Lin, I am Yang Mi."

Lin Nan was a bit dazed, "Where did you get my number?"

"Haha, I found it from Hu Ge. Director Lin, can you give me an invitation letter for your film's premiere? I also want to go see your film..."

Lin Nan really wanted to refuse, but that would be a bit too hurtful to the other party's face.

"Alright then, just one. You can come to the school to pick it up later."

"Okay, thank you, Senior. Then I won't disturb you anymore, bye..."

Before Yang Mi could finish speaking, Lin Nan hung up.

On the other side, Yang Mi looked at the hung-up phone, not feeling a shred of dissatisfaction, but instead saved the number.

"The crew will be on break those two days at the end of the month."

When Yang Mi came back, she heard this news.

"Are we going to the capital?"

"That's right, Lao Hu and I are going to the premiere of 'The Martian', so the crew has to stop work for two days." Tang Yan explained.

Only Liu Shishi looked blank; Tang Ren did not receive an invitation from China Film Group, and only Cai Yinong and Hu Ge had personal invitation letters, so they couldn't bring her.

"Then let's go together; I'm going too." Yang Mi smiled.

"Did Rong Xinda receive an invitation this time?" Tang Yan asked tentatively.

"No, I asked Director Lin for it."

Yang Mi said with a smile; what others think is their own business.

…………

The actors of "The Martian" have all received notification and must keep their schedules open to attend the premiere.

Only Zeng Li, Liu Ye, and Chen Minghao will be in a bit of a rush.

Because the day before the premiere, they have to attend Hu Jing's wedding. The three of them have been in Malaysia these past few days.

Jackie Chan's "Shinjuku Incident" is confirmed not to be released.

Previously, it was rumored outside that this film would be released at the end of September and land in the National Day slot.

But the latest news is that this film was never submitted for review to the General Administration when it started filming. Therefore, a ban in the mainland is inevitable.

In Derek Yee's words, because it was determined from the beginning that it was impossible to pass the review, there was no need to submit it.

Lin Nan feels that what Derek Yee said is also correct; in this film, the Chinese in Japan are either gangsters, laborers, or mamasans working in hotels.

Even if you say it is based on reality, if you really send it to the General Administration, it will most likely be rejected with the phrase "damages the image of overseas Chinese."

Originally, Lin Nan planned to take the leads to run some promotions, but China Film Group gave him a piece of advice.

Don't promote it like before this time.

The topic level of "The Martian" is already very high; why not keep it mysterious until the premiere?

Lin Nan thinks this idea is also quite good.

Since filming began, this movie has been highly anticipated, so let the audience go to the cinema with expectations.

It's just that many media outlets and television stations waited in vain for so long, thinking they could have an interview episode for "The Martian".

Chen Kaige's "Forever Enthralled" did not catch the train to the Oscars, but the influence of a big director is still very stable.

"Masterpiece by a Master."

This is the evaluation given by the Mei family to Chen Kaige's film.

They even promised that they would no longer authorize anyone else to film the story of Mei Lanfang, at least for 50 years.

This made the film industry recall that movie from back then; could this be another *Farewell My Concubine*?

A call from James Wan came in.

"James, you rarely call me internationally, haha."

"Lin, I'm on vacation recently. I heard your movie is about to premiere?"

"Yes. Why, are you coming over?" Lin Nan laughed.

"I'd love to, it'll be just like a vacation."

Lin Nan felt that James Wan had something to say.

Sure enough, not long after they started chatting, James Wan spoke up.

"*Insidious 2* didn't reach its expected revenue goals, but the company isn't ready to give up on the idea of big-budget horror films.

I want to take advantage of this time to make *Happy Death Day 2*. What do you think?"

It had been nearly two years since *Happy Death Day 1*; it was time to put it on the schedule, as it's not good for a series to have too long a gap.

"Sure. Then we'll discuss the investment split once you get here."

"Mm, see you at your premiere."

James Wan was a straightforward person; he hung up as soon as the business was finished, not being subtle at all.

On the bulletin board at the Beijing Film Academy hung the poster for *The Martian*.

Jing Tian, a sophomore student, appeared in it, which was very eye-catching.

There wasn't a student in any grade of the Acting Department who wasn't green with envy.

Looking at the Acting Department over these past few years, besides that one from the class of '02, there was only Jing Tian.

As for the other students, let alone movies, even decent TV dramas were rare for them; their resources were too scarce.

"We can't envy this kind of big-budget movie."

In the eyes of many students, Jing Tian was also the type of student who rarely came to class, yet she never seemed to lack film and television resources.

This inexplicably made everyone think of Liu Yifei.

*The Equation of Love and Death* finished its run after some stumbling, successfully leaving theaters with a final box office of 14 million.

The media had already published the latest film news.

"*The Equation of Love and Death* has a strong artistic atmosphere, but it is no match for commercial blockbusters."

"After *Blind Mountain*, Director Lin Nan is once again losing money just to earn acclaim..."

On the 25th, the Shenzhou 7 successfully launched into space.

The Chinese people successfully performed a spacewalk for the first time.

The boost this gave to *The Martian* was unparalleled.

The statement made when the film was first approved for production was dug up by the media once again.

"...Just because we can't go to Mars now doesn't mean we won't be able to in five, ten, or twenty years. We will land on the moon, we will have our own space station, spacecraft, and Mars probes..."

The internet was in a heated discussion.

"Does this movie count as a prophecy?"

"I must go to the cinema to see it..."