Chapter 889

After 11:00 AM, Huayi's *Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings* wrapped up in Luoyang with high profile; at the same time, a wrap ceremony and wrap banquet were held together.

Tsui Hark even made a sudden public statement at the scene, bluntly saying that this film would be the finale of his *Detective Dee* series, and also his last cooperation with Huayi, and he would not renew the cooperation agreement.

Facing the scrambling inquiries and gossip of many media, the old monster Tsui only said that he was old, and the work of the past few years made him exhausted, and he wanted to cultivate for a few years without restraint...

But obviously, this reason could not convince the media.

With that body and spirit of the great director Tsui, where can it be seen that he is tired? Who are you fooling? He even let his assistant give birth to a son in the past two years. At this moment, it is not certain that it is the second child, right?

The fire of gossip on the internet then burned fiercely, all kinds of guesses and reveries spread all over the circle, people talking about it...

"He is afraid, he is making a cut in advance.

If you want to talk about the common advantages of Hong Kong directors, it must be the vigilance against 'danger.' If something is a little wrong, they run faster than anyone else.

John Woo, Peter Chan, Wong Kar-wai, Benny Chan, Wong Jing... Tsui Hark, these people are ready-made examples. Whether it is fleeing back to Hong Kong from Hollywood, or hiding back from the mainland."

Swinging on the swing on the lawn, Lin Nan said very affirmatively. Tsui Hark must have been frightened by some "big moves" of Huayi!

Lin Nan turned to look at Liu Yifei. She was wearing sunglasses, and the whole person was curled up on the swing rocking chair next door, lazily basking in the afternoon sun, humming and echoing in her mouth.

I have to say, the lawn of the new home completely gives people a feeling of being outdoors, because it is really too big, just like an outing, which is refreshing.

"You two stop basking, lunch is delivered, get ready to eat."

Shu Chang rode a bicycle, that's right, she stopped on a small road not far away riding a bicycle;

She sat on the seat with her butt, stepped on the ground with her left foot, stepped on the pedal with her right foot, crossed her hands and hugged her chest, and greeted Lin Nan and the two with disdain.

The manor villa is very large, and different locations and facilities such as gardens, lawns, and sports venues are connected by winding small roads, and this environment is very suitable for cycling.

When Lin Nan came over at noon, he was also very surprised by the appearance of those bicycles. I heard from Liu Xiaoli that it was a gift from Shu Chang, probably costing tens of thousands, right?

In Shu Chang's words, cycling here gives people a feeling of dreaming back to the time of filming *The Story of a Noble Family*, because at that time she and Liu Yifei often played like this on the garden lawn of the crew.

"Coming, coming. You carry me back, let Lin Nan walk back by himself."

Liu Yifei was truly energetic in an instant, and while running toward Shu Chang, she did not forget to look back and give Lin Nan a provocative look.

"Well, there is really no perfect thing. The place is big, but there is this disadvantage." Lin Nan smiled quite speechlessly and chased after him with small steps.

…………

On the 2nd, that "wolf" cut another 300 million at the box office.

At this point, no one in the domestic film industry questioned the "sword edge" of *Wolf Warrior 2* — this movie is really going to leave no way for anyone else!

And in this situation, Alibaba Pictures' *Once Upon a Time* was under pressure and released as scheduled with a screening rate of 22.2%.

The screening sessions in the golden period naturally couldn't be grabbed, but this film still entrusted the hopes of more than half of the film circle, hoping that it would break the monopoly of *Wolf Warrior 2*.

Because another blockbuster — *The Founding of an Army* — has already cooled down. Yesterday was the 7th day of release, with a daily income of only 8.08 million, and the total box office accumulated only reached 287 million.

This kind of box office data is not cooled, what is it? The fan base has been defeated like a mountain, and it looks like it is about to cool down!

"1.8 billion in 7 days, it should reach 2.1 billion after today. I am looking forward to what gift Chairman Wang will send over at the relocation banquet. Last time he sent a car, this time it won't be a car again, right?"

After glancing at the box office data on the internet, Lin Nan couldn't help but tease.

During the dinner during the Shanghai International Film Festival, Wang Changtian promised that as long as the box office of *Wolf Warrior 2* reached 3 billion, he would send a big gift.

"Just let the heart arrive, do you really want Chairman Wang to send you a helicopter? Although I am not very resistant to learning a helicopter pilot's license, hehe."

Liu Yifei, who had changed into a refreshing casual outfit, walked out of the cloakroom, teasing Lin Nan with a smile.

"Just joking, can I really pick and choose their gifts? But send, still have to send!" Lin Nan got up, while joking and picking up Miss Liu's bag on the table, preparing to go out.

The two of them are going to Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis today, which is a private trip to visit the crew of *Crazy Alien*.

According to Xing Aina, this is also to save materials for the film promotion in advance.

At 10:00 AM, that is, shortly after Lin Nan and Liu Yifei and their entourage got on the high-speed rail, the film and television circle welcomed another news that everyone was watching — the Golden Rooster Award nomination list!

Huayi is undoubtedly the biggest winner in this year's Golden Rooster Award nomination list.

Feng Xiaogang's *I Am Not Madame Bovary* led the way with 6 core award nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay;

While Guan Hu's *Mr. Six* ranked second with 4 core nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay;

*Duckweed* ranked third with 4 core nominations.

Only then were more than a dozen films such as *Soul Mate*, *Xuanzang*, *The Dead End*, *Saving Mr. Wu*, etc.

Anyone in the industry can see that this year's Golden Rooster has a bit of a "Huayi Special Session" stance;

And in this situation, the fact that the Golden Rooster Award played Feng Xiaogang as a monkey for the Nth time seems to be a bit unlikely to happen again?

"It's just that Lin Nan's side is not right with the Golden Rooster, otherwise the judges of this year's Golden Rooster Award might have to be forced to give the core big award to *Operation Mekong* like the year before last!"

Huayi, Wang Zhongjun held a wine glass and talked and laughed with Feng Xiaogang and others. From the moment the Golden Rooster announced the nomination list, some awards were already in the bag, a nail-in-the-coffin thing.

"So this time, can I still 'strive' for the Best Film Award?" Feng Xiaogang asked with a spring breeze on his face, not enough to swallow an elephant.

"Director Feng, you don't look at it, how many directors' status, resume, and achievements in there can compare to you? The answer is none!" Wang Zhonglei responded with hidden meaning.

Feng Xiaogang is such a shrewd person, he heard the subtext instantly, "That's good, hehe..."

After talking about happy things, Wang Zhongjun changed the subject and talked about... happier things:

"The gambling agreement between the group and Zhang Guoli has entered the countdown to the last year. When settling last year, he owed the group tens of millions, and when settling the 16-17 annual profit a few days ago, he owed tens of millions again.

According to the gambling agreement, the profit he has to hand over to the group every year is increasing year by year according to the percentage. Settling again this time next year, do you think he can complete the 17-18 annual profit?

I think he has a 99% chance of not completing it! If TV series want to make money now, they must have high investment, especially in themes and actors, they must be close to traffic, and his company's set has long been outdated.

Owed for three consecutive years, he will have to pay us two or three hundred million next year, right? And he has to buy back the shares of his company from the group at the original price! You tell me, for the group, is this a good thing?"

Facing Wang Zhongjun's undisguised joyful mood, Wang Zhonglei and a group of people naturally clapped and echoed. Isn't this the "painstaking" strategy formulated by the brothers? Anyway, Huayi will never lose, eat the stock market, then eat...

Only Feng Xiaogang frowned first, then stretched out.

On the one hand, he felt that he had pitted Zhang Guoli, and then associated it with his own gambling contract, and on the other hand, he was full of confidence in winning the bet...

After all, by comparison, Zhang Guoli did not walk into Huayi's core circle, and his resources could not compare to him... In addition, he and Huayi were on the same boat, I think Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei would not dare to kill him all, right? In the case of his gambling... what if he loses?

"Oh by the way, how is the casting for Guan Hu's *The Eight Hundred*?"

"Within half a month, casting should be completed."

"Well, that's good. Although this film is not a 'patriotic' film, it is also a mainstream one. Lin Nan opened the track, let's also go and share the soup." Wang Zhongjun nodded and joked.

……

From 12:00 noon, film reviews about the film version of *Once Upon a Time* appeared one after another on the internet.

Except for the marketing accounts that fans and companies spent money on in advance, the film reviews of other audiences were all bad reviews.

In general, there is no problem with the movie, because only one core problem killed the movie — most of the audience can't understand it!

In short, the plot is too jumpy, a large number of story lines are disconnected, and the fragmentation is very serious... the guest-driving effect is full.

And the root cause of this situation is undoubtedly Alibaba Pictures' willful failed decision: insisting on using one movie to tell the content that should have been told clearly in dozens of episodes of TV series!

Therefore, the decision you make, you have to bear the consequences yourself.

"The first batch of fans are still supporting, but this situation... is very difficult, especially since *Wolf Warrior 2* is that kind of momentum like a wolf and a tiger...

I heard that during the Shanghai International Film Festival the year before last, at the investment meeting of *Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back*, Lin Dao clearly told President Zhang: If he directed, he would film *Once Upon a Time* into two to three parts, preferably three parts, corresponding to three lives and three worlds..."

Ceng Jia whispered to Yang Mi about the situation outside, her mood was very bad, and the latter was the same.

"If this movie fails, the fault is definitely not with us actors."

After a while, Yang Mi only spat out this sentence, her face was extremely ugly.

She knew very well that inside and outside, this movie seemed to have been destined for the ending, and it couldn't be saved, because *Wolf Warrior 2* wouldn't give any chance...

"At this moment, I should thank Alibaba Pictures for their arrogance. At the beginning, I just revealed a little bit of wanting to participate, and I was yin and yang by their people..."

Ceng Jia recalled the things at that time, the tone was quite complicated, both rejoicing and regretting. Rejoicing that those people in Alibaba had nostrils facing the sky, regretting that it was not filmed into three parts... If Lin Dao directed it himself, then...

While Yang Mi and Ceng Jia were "caring" about the box office of the movie, Alibaba Pictures was also in a mess.

Because the verification work of the "Big Data + Big IP + Big Director" system seemed to have problems on the first day of release? This is a big problem!

After one or two hours of arguing, the team finally reached a very firm answer:

The "Big Data + Big IP + Big Director" system has no problem! The reason why the word-of-mouth of the movie has a problem lies in the fact that the company is too "eager for quick success and instant benefit"!

"Are you telling me that I should have listened to Lin Nan at the beginning and filmed it into two or three parts?" In the conference room, Zhang Qiang stared at everyone with anger.

It's not that he couldn't accept this mistake, but he couldn't accept the fact that under the Alibaba Big Entertainment plan, the first exclusively produced movie was slapped in the face by people in the traditional film and television circle. This would be mocked by people in the entire traditional film and television circle!

You have to know that at the forum of the Shanghai International Film Festival three years ago, he had said words to Lin Nan — "Undeniably, Lin Dao knows movies and scripts better than us. But we know the market better than you, and the film market is also a market!"

This sentence was still lingering in his ears, but at this moment it was very harsh, slapping himself in the face?

The conference room was silent, and no one dared to answer. Until two minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and the assistant walked in to save the scene: "President Zhang, the script for *Kung Fu Cult Master* has passed censorship, Chairman Ma called you to return to the group."

……

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei's plan was to visit the crew, play by the way, and return the next morning.

Originally everything was very smooth, and in the evening the whole crew even booked a large barbecue restaurant... eating and drinking... well, the original pulp beer is very good!

As a result, a phone call from Tang Mu broke Lin Nan and Liu Yifei's good mood.

But it's not Tang Mu's fault, he just came to make a "routine report": Crystal Pictures was picked on again, and it was more fierce than the previous two times.

"Lin, someone sent me a message, estimating that they still want me to transfer it to your side."

"Say it, I'm listening."

Standing in a quiet corner, Lin Nan couldn't help but look back at the crew in the distance, everyone was still eating and drinking lively.

And Liu Yifei was by his side, also frowning slightly, waiting for Tang Mu's answer.

"They said that Crystal Pictures has long been a medium-sized independent film company in Hollywood, and its reputation and influence are not small, so it is not suitable to be controlled by a Chinese person..."

Sure enough, how many shares Lin Nan has in Crystal Pictures is not known so specifically in China, everyone only knows that Lin Nan is the controlling shareholder... But over there, these 95% of the shares are fleas on a bald head, clear at a glance.

"Lin Nan?" Liu Yifei called softly.

Lin Nan shook his head at her, "Not yet to that step."

"Tang Mu."

"Lin, I'm here, you say it."

"Don't pay attention to these people, or just pretend to be a snake." Lin Nan made a joke, and Liu Yifei was amused by him.

"Look down on me? Definitely learned it." Tang Mu was serious. "But looking at this, there is always a time when you can't hold on, what should you do then?"

"Still that sentence, how long you can hold on is how long. At least... try to hold on for us for another two years, well, hold on for two and a half years..."

"Lin, you really look up to me, Tang Mu! But since it's two and a half years, why isn't it holding on until he steps down? Haha..." At this time, Tang Mu also couldn't help joking.

The moment the phone hung up, the smile on Lin Nan's face also disappeared. Liu Yifei then asked worriedly: "Can't hide, right?"

"Can't hide. You don't often watch other news, so you don't know, we are still considered good, the ones standing in front are the technology giants in China...

However, anyway, earning dollars, earning a little more is a little more, and bring it all back then..."

"But at that time, what about Tang Mu?" Liu Yifei understood the meaning of Lin Nan's words, she thought of Tang Mu, this old friend, after all, they have known each other for so many years.

"Him? He won't starve to death." Lin Nan thought for a few seconds, then shook his head with a smile. Then he took Liu Yifei's hand and walked toward the crew.

"Great Lin Dao, I just remembered, I'll exhort you in advance: when *The Wandering Earth* is scheduled, tell me, I'll see if *Crazy Alien* can stagger the schedule and support each other..."

"This is simple, one for the New Year's Eve slot, one for the Spring Festival slot!" Before Lin Nan could answer, Liu Yifei blurted out and gave a suggestion.

Don't say, this suggestion is really good! So much so that Ning Hao and Xing Aina were energetic all of a sudden: "Which one is in front and which one is behind?

Hey, look at this question I asked. How could your movie give up the best Spring Festival slot? Fine, let *Crazy Alien* go to the New Year's Eve slot, let's try to meet up then, and take over the baton!"

Well, *Crazy Alien* has only been filming for half a month, and Director Ning is already thinking about the extension key!

…………