Chapter 900: Joining the Circle; Wide Release…

……

As a slender island roughly 12 kilometers long, the core area of Venice's Lido is entirely a massive architectural complex themed around the film festival, along with the commercial activity zones that radiate and branch out from it.

As for the best choice for sightseeing, that naturally belongs to the outer area — the ring close to the sea; after all, for Lin Nan and his companions, the core area really isn't all that appealing.

Because over there is exactly the kind of work content they usually deal with: films, reporters, cameras, schedules, all sorts of banquets and social events.

Sun hat, black sunglasses, floral shirt… denim shorts, flip-flops… mm, plus the skin smeared with sunscreen and left bare, fair arms and legs… this is Miss Liu's look.

Of course, the toes painted with pink nail polish are also extremely eye-catching!

As for Lin Nan? He had no idea beforehand that Miss Liu had prepared this whole outfit in advance, and that the one she'd set aside for him was the matching couple's version.

Looking next at Zhou Xun and Shu Chang, the two of them were far more ladylike — fitted waist dresses, not as "spirited" as Liu Liu Yifei, nor as conspicuous.

"This spot's nice, Lin Nan come quick, let's take a photo here."

Liu Liu Qianqian had locked down a good photo spot and was calling for Lin Dao Da. Zhou Xun and Shu Chang, hearing her, immediately crowded over too and started striking poses — all three doing the simple, synchronized peace sign.

"When you sweet-talked me into coming out, you clearly said you'd keep me company for a stroll, that it was about having fun. But now what? You're using me as a photographer again! Am I working for you guys?"

Lin Nan's face was full of righteous indignation, his mouth brimming with grievances, but his hands never stopped. He raised the camera hanging from his chest with both hands, already searching for an angle.

The three women opposite just giggled and refused to pick up the thread. And the assistants tagging along had already covered their mouths, snickering at Lin Dao Da on the side.

"OMG, isn't this our Golden Lion director? Well, also my opponent in two weeks. What are you doing here as a photographer? How much are they paying you? I could hire you for a week…"

A string of clumsy Chinese banter drifted over from a distance; Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei's group, having just finished taking photos, looked over at the sound instantly.

"Ma Te? How come you…" Lin Nan's brain stalled for a beat, and he blurted out in astonishment.

To be honest, he almost didn't recognize Ma Te Damon. It had only been about four months since they'd last met, but the latter had visibly put on a whole layer of weight.

"Ma Te, you're here for the film festival too?" Liu Liu Yifei walked over briskly with Zhou Xun and Shu Chang, greeting him with a smile.

"I'm quite hurt by the two of you's reaction. My starring film got into the main competition — you guys aren't paying any attention at all?" Ma Te Damon pretended to be very displeased.

"Sorry, we really didn't deliberately follow the foreign-language films that got in this time. And I've been pretty busy lately, doing post-production on a film…"

Lin Nan laughed as he stepped forward and clapped Ma Te Damon on the shoulder — he'd really bulked up another layer.

"Surprised I've put on quite a bit? I didn't want to either, but the role in the new film required gaining weight…" Reading the odd looks in their eyes, Ma Te Damon simply went ahead and explained it himself.

Afterwards, the creative team of *Marriage Story*, who had been strolling along the beach, was joined by Ma Te and his assistant.

And the four of them, Lin Nan included, also paid attention for the first time to *Suburbicon* — another main-competition entry, a crime-suspense film with a realistic subject.

Honestly, an old friend suddenly turning into a competitor — that feeling is kind of thrilling.

But this is also good news: both the male and female leads of *Suburbicon* have already won individual awards at Venice.

And to "double up" on Best Actor and Best Actress at the same international A-list film festival is harder than reaching the sky — unless they can achieve a breakthrough-level qualitative leap.

In short, there's this rule in the unwritten laws of A-list film festivals: among a group of equally excellent works and performers, the jury will lean toward looking after the "youngsters" and the "late bloomers"!

……

As noon approached, the news that the chairman of China Film had personally led a delegation to Venice spread like wildfire, and quickly circulated across the island.

You have to understand that for all the foreign film companies during the festival, Beside La La Peikang is undoubtedly one of the biggest moneymen!

Because behind him is the Chinese market, and China Film holds the only import-film channel into the Chinese market as well as half of the quota-film slots, buying in large quantities of foreign-language films every year in the form of quota films.

On the other hand, for all Chinese-language filmmakers during the Venice International Film Festival, since La La Peikang has arrived, that means "the leadership" has arrived. This is no exaggeration.

"The main-competition films are the primary target for all the big distributors; everything else comes second. And the small distributors can't even get close to the rights for main-competition films.

Also, look at the distributors clustered around those dozen-plus film booths right now — without exception, every one of them is here hoping to place a bet, but only if they can grab the rights before the closing ceremony."

Wandering through the exhibition area, La La Peikang's presence was intimidating, chatting with Li Chen and the others as if he were directing the course of the nation.

At the same time, film companies nearby kept stepping up on their own to greet him, pitch, and hand over business cards — they all knew La La Peikang's identity: the biggest buyer from the Chinese market at this year's Venice International Film Festival.

Ignoring the sycophancy from Li Chen and the others, La La Peikang gazed on his own at the exhibition area ahead, the size of several football fields;

Picking quota films here — isn't that a kind of gambling in itself? Every bet ranges from several hundred thousand to several million RMB; after taking them back, there's submission for review, scheduling, marketing and distribution…

Can you earn it back? How much? It's all a gamble. But you have to admit, he and Han Han Sanping are both the same — they really enjoy this process of "gambling on films," enjoy the whole thing!

Before long, the group had wandered over to China Film's latest reserved booth — the spot for *Sky Hunter*; right next to it was another film China Film had co-invested in — John Woo's *The Hunters*.

……

"Everyone says you should avoid political remarks as much as possible at film events, and on this point the A-list festivals have always done a good job. But who would've thought the Hollywood crews would go this crazy this time?"

After lunch outside, the four of them, Lin Nan included, hurried back to the hotel with their assistants. The moment they walked in, Lin Dao Da started complaining, exasperated.

Because at noon, several Hollywood crews had turned perfectly good film press conferences into rallies of political accusation — completely off-key, turned into incidents.

They caused quite a stir; fortunately, the Venice organizers also showed up in time, and even revoked the venue applications for these films' subsequent media-encounter events.

"This counts as breaking the film festival's unwritten rules. By the way, hasn't that old man of theirs really put out any oppressive policies targeting Hollywood? Could it be that policies like taxing the rich more got them riled up?"

Zhou Xun picked up the thread, also teasing with a laugh she couldn't hold back. It was her first time running into something like this at a film festival too — and oddly enough, it felt kind of thrilling.

"You're the classic case of watching the show and never thinking it's big enough — though I'm the same." Lin Nan dropped that line out of nowhere and immediately made all three of Liu Liu Yifei's group burst out laughing.

A few minutes later, everyone headed back to their own rooms.

At this point, Liu Liu Yifei's smile finally vanished; she looked at Lin Nan with a serious expression: "Over at Crystal Pictures, has the situation gotten even worse recently?"

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"Didn't Ma Te say it — the atmosphere in Hollywood is getting more and more unstable. The more chaotic it gets over there, the more foreign companies — especially independent film companies over here that are domestically controlled and have a fair amount of influence — will be jointly targeted, and the pressure to suppress them will only grow…"

Looking into Liu Liu Yifei's eyes, Lin Nan shook his head, quite helpless: "Sometimes you're just too smart — can you play dumb for once, act a little dumber?"

"Can't. If I keep pretending, I'll really turn dumb."

……

Late at night on the 27th, Venice time, when Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei had already fallen asleep, it was just past seven in the morning on the 28th back home.

"Wu Jing's directorial work, the patriotic blockbuster *Wolf Warrior 2*, saw its daily box office drop another six million yesterday, reporting 26.73 million."

"The urban fantasy romantic comedy *Hanson and the Beast*, starring Liu Liu Yifei and Lin Nan, with Shen Teng, Guo Guo Jingfei, Xu Jiao Xu Jiao Junyan, Mencius Yi, Kang Keren, Chen Yao and others in supporting roles, officially went into wide release this morning.

It is reported that *Hanson and the Beast* is jointly produced by Red Star Island, Lin Nan Pictures, and Bad Monkey Pictures, directed by Ning Hao, with Xing Aina producing;

According to theater chain data, on the film's opening day, the comprehensive screening rate reached as high as 33.4%, temporarily topping the screening chart among all the films showing today…"

The film market, new releases hitting theaters, a scene of bustling activity all around; but the information drawing the most attention across the entire web did not come from the entertainment industry, but from current affairs news:

Down south, the tense standoff that lasted 70 days was finally set to reach an agreement and come to a complete end this morning!

"Sometimes you really can't fight fate. Look at this — from start to finish, 70 days, and it really only got piggybacked by you and your film.

To put it bluntly, if the Naval Political Department's 'Operation Red Sea' had been released half a year earlier, the box office would probably have been no lower — after all, that one actually got a frigate involved…

Even that 'Sky Hunter' that Lin Nan complained about, if you put it in 'Wolf Warrior 2's' slot, the box office probably wouldn't be small either… Of course, in that case it might have been Li Chen who skyrocketed, not you."

Wang Wang Changtian chatted and joked with Wu Jing with a smile. The extension key for 'Wolf Warrior 2' had already been activated, and no one knew how much box office the second month of release could rake in. But 6 billion — that was truly impossible now.

"It is pretty surreal."

Wu Jing smiled and nodded, then said with considerable emotion: "The Association has already reached out to me, asking me to join."

"These past few days?"

"Yeah, it was officially discussed yesterday. They even gave some hints and promises."

"So what are you thinking? Let me guess…"

"Of course I agreed. I can't compare myself to Lin Dao. After finally finding a path that suits me, I'm definitely going to hold on tight. Following the official line, you know."

Wu Jing cut off Wang Wang Changtian with a self-deprecating joke. He chose to join the Association, to enter the inner circle. Later, he'd work his way into an official institutional identity and could formally become a force in his own right.

"So you came over today mainly just to tell me this?" Wang Wang Changtian finally caught on, belatedly.

"Hahaha… just giving you a heads-up."

…………

"Oh my god, I swear, this is really my first time seeing Liu Liu Yifei like this on the big screen! Her movements picking up trash and stepping on plastic bottles are so textbook… I really want to slap Lin Dao to death on her behalf…"

"Good lord, Lin Dao really wasn't lying! I sincerely suggest all the movie fans and followers out there — when you go to the theater, remember to bring a bottle of mineral water, definitely don't bring any drinks… because this movie is sickeningly sweet!"

"It's a comedy, no doubt about it. Liu Yifei's big-screen goofball debut, absolutely hilarious! It's just poor Guo Jingfei — he got slapped silly by Producer Liu, and even threw up all over his head… no wait, he also got ravaged by a mother crocodile, hahaha…"

"Leg press! It's a leg press… she even acts cute…"

"Amazing! Even the legendary exam-prep guru Teacher Wang Wang Shuangbao can't come off as 'fierce' in this movie, hahaha…"

"Sure enough, it's a sugar-drenched romantic comedy, not a single deviation from the theme! I want a girlfriend too ahhhh…"

……

Venice time, the 28th. From the moment she got up in the morning, Liu Liu Yifei was in a cheerful mood for the entire day.

Not only that, despite the time difference, she was also replying to comments from fans and moviegoers on Weibo.

It had to be said — a fantasy romantic comedy originally made just to lighten the mood had achieved its initial success.

On the morning of the 29th, Lin Nan, who had originally planned to sleep until he woke naturally, was forcibly dragged out of bed by Liu Liu Yifei.

On the phone screen, the opening-day box office figure of 84.79 million was shoved right into the great director Lin's face.

Well, after she finished sharing and showing off, Liu Liu Qianqian finally left contentedly with her assistant to shoot an advertising spread for the brand.

Such behavior — this female tyrant kept it up for three days straight. And the box office of 'Huan Ren: Monster' likewise climbed steadily for three consecutive days.

The 29th closed at 89.85 million, the 30th at 94.45 million…

Until the afternoon of the 31st, when everyone had finished hair and makeup and was about to leave the hotel for the opening ceremony red carpet, Liu Liu Yifei was still muttering about her character "Bai Bai Xianchu."

What was originally meant as a playful side project tacked onto 'Marriage Story' had reaped a decent result — the kind of thing that always lifts one's spirits!

"Lin Nan, I hope 'Marriage Story' can bring back an even better… gift."

At four in the afternoon, in the red carpet waiting area, Liu Liu Yifei grabbed Lin Nan's hand, leaned close to his ear, and muttered in a "sneaky" manner.

"Reaching for more after already grabbing plenty?" Lin Nan teased with a smile.

"Go ask Xun-ge and Chang-chang if they want it too." Liu Liu Yifei glanced at the two equally dolled-up women beside her.

"Obviously." Zhou Xun shot her a look and tossed out just two words.

"Of course I want it, even though there's no way I'd win an award." Shu Chang, in an all-white dress, answered decisively.

"Then you'd better hope that around the midpoint of the film festival, I get the call. Mhm, around the 5th." Lin Nan smacked his lips, his smile not exactly brimming with confidence, and feeling a bit uneasy inside.

"Lin Dao, you have to have more confidence than the three of us! Have you forgotten what date the closing ceremony awards gala falls on?" Liu Liu Yifei said with a grin, putting on an official tone.

Lin Nan didn't catch on for a moment, too busy staring at her face. "What date?"

"Dummy, your birthday."

Good lord, Shu Chang is about to rebel!

…………