Chapter 927: Creative Vision Mismatch: Product Placement…

……

Over five consecutive days, the four commercial films of the National Day window one after another wrapped up their runs.

"Sewing Machine Band" stopped on the 16th, with a regrettable total box office of 459 million; "The Foreigner" wrapped on the 18th, barely scraping together 570 million.

What the entire production industry did not anticipate was that "Chasing the Dragon" actually became the box office champion of this National Day window.

After a 20-day theatrical run, on the evening of the 19th it finished its window early with 580 million at the box office, putting a definitive period on the National Day slate; Hong Kong cinema could be said to have enjoyed a small last gasp.

As for Wang Jing the man, the industry was full of lamentation: as long as this guy doesn't phone it in, he can still make waves at the box office; but unfortunately, the times he doesn't phone it in are far too few.

"The anthology drama film 'Where Has Time Gone,' jointly produced by Huayi Media and Xihe Xihe Xinghui, directed by Jia Jia Zhangke together with four directors from the BRICS nations, had a poor first-day box office performance, taking in only 493,900 yuan."

"This morning, China Film, Xihe Xinghui, Huayi, Shanghai New Culture and several other film and television giants held a large-scale media meet-and-greet in the capital, concurrently serving as the project launch press conference for the film 'The Mermaid 2';

Director Zhou Zhou Xingchi appeared publicly with Wu Wu Yifan and Lin Yun, the two being the confirmed male and female leads of 'The Mermaid 2'; the remaining roles will be open to industry-wide casting starting today."

"According to Director Zhou Zhou Xingchi, while casting is underway the crew will also carry out a four-month pre-production preparation period; the film is expected to officially begin shooting after the Spring Festival holiday ends, that is, in early March of next year."

"Director Dong accepted a media interview and stated that the total investment scale of 'The Mermaid 2' reaches as high as 600 million yuan, and it will use MAX3D cameras throughout the shoot… the number and quality of VFX shots will far exceed the previous film.

Regarding Lin Nan Pictures and Shanghai Film's withdrawal from the 'The Mermaid 2' lineup of producers, Director Dong offered an explanation, attributing the cause to: the two sides' creative visions were incompatible, so the two former producers voluntarily withdrew from the sequel…"

……

A single phrase "creative vision mismatch" was arguably the line the entire film and television industry was mulling over on the morning of the 20th. Well, mulling over with gleeful schadenfreude over tea and after meals.

Because this line is all too familiar to everyone; in the circle you often hear this line: due to the two sides' creative visions being incompatible, therefore so-and-so.

But everyone actually understands in their hearts that this is merely a euphemism;

Put nicely it's called creative vision mismatch; put bluntly and unpleasantly, it means they've had a falling out; that is, the two giants Lin Nan Pictures and Shanghai Film have had a falling out with China Film, Xihe Xinghui and the rest!

Lin Nan spent the whole morning at home eating his own melon, and the feeling was admittedly a bit shitty. But regarding the media reports and the industry's clucking, he really had no good way to handle it and could only let it be.

"Quite a stir this morning, the entire internet is full of news about 'The Mermaid 2.' Just now there are already press releases out saying the day 'The Mermaid 2' hits theaters will be when the Chinese-language film all-time box office record prepares to be broken."

Wang Wang Changtian rode a bicycle over to Lin Nan's place, and the moment they met he clicked his tongue in lamentation. He had been staying at his villa in Shunyi these past few days; come next Monday he would move back to the city proper, to make it more convenient and quicker to get to the company.

To speak frankly, in terms of career drive, Lin Nan really was far behind Wang Wang Changtian, a distance of a hundred and eight thousand li.

"The internet should be in an uproar of celebration, right?" Lin Nan asked in an affirmative tone.

"Yeah, Zhou Zhou Xingchi and Wu Wu Yifan—these two both possess the very top-tier traffic!

And Zhou Zhou Xingchi now can be said to have figured out how to play the traffic game; his own movie fans and followers, plus Wu Wu Yifan's fans, this is almost sweeping up the entire internet's audience in one net.

I thought about it, when their 'The Mermaid 2' locks in its release date, I will definitely keep Enlight's upcoming films as far away as possible, the farther the better…"

Watching Wang Wang Changtian mutter away in earnest, Lin Nan was genuinely a bit speechless.

But it was understandable; probably quite a few production companies in the industry today would have the same thought; because 'The Mermaid 2' is completely putting on a 'devouring everything like a tiger' posture, seemingly truly unmatched.

"Who knows what year and month it'll be when their film actually hits theaters. You thinking about this now is purely worrying for nothing." Lin Nan couldn't help but roast him with a line.

"You're definitely not afraid, but we can't afford not to be." Wang Wang Changtian laughed and quipped, then looked around surveying the place, puzzled: "I've been here so long, why haven't I seen Liu Yifei? That's not treating a guest right, is it?"

"You came empty-handed, what kind of guest are you?" Lin Nan also laughed, and explained: "She's not home; this morning she flew to the Magic City with Shu Chang and my mother-in-law, there's a spring fashion show over there this afternoon."

"That explains it. Hmm? Then perfect, let's go, let's find a place to celebrate, my treat."

"What's the situation? What are you celebrating?" Lin Nan was completely baffled at this moment.

"The big talent show variety project from Penguin and Tudou was won by Enlight; we just need to negotiate the budget and sign the contract when the time comes."

Wang Wang Changtian's face was full of satisfaction, because according to the limited information available, "Produce 101" is indeed a large-scale variety project, with very high production costs and even higher promotional costs!

"No wonder Director Wang has the leisure to come stay in Shunyi, turns out you landed a big order." Lin Nan instantly understood, "Alright, let's go then."

"Didn't take much effort either. After all, Tudou and Penguin Entertainment are basically our own people, haha…"

"Didn't take much effort. After all, Potato and Penguin Entertainment are all on our side, haha..."

In the afternoon, "The Rise of Phoenixes," starring Chen Kun and Ni Ni, which had taken 5 months to film with an investment cost as high as 500 million, officially announced wrap.

Not only that, it also issued a special announcement officially changing its name, from "The Rise of Phoenixes" to "The Rise of Phoenixes" (changed to "Ever Night").

The internet immediately burst into heated discussion, extraordinarily lively; but honestly, with this name change, it did instantly become a lot more high-end.

"Notify Director Yue, the 'Hello, Mrs. Li Cha' crew is preparing to depart for Malaysia." At Happy Happy Mahua, Yan Fei instructed Song Yang.

"Understood. But it's really a bit of a pity, Ai Lun and I just missed out on the sequel 'Hello Mr. Billionaire'; we were the eye-of-the-phoenix supporting roles in 'Goodbye Mr. Loser,' you know."

"You two can't just keep playing supporting roles; over here in 'Hello, Mrs. Li Cha' you're the leads. Besides, 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' will have new eye-of-the-phoenix roles, hmm, Wolong and Fengchu."

Yan Fei had just finished teasing with a laugh when he saw the company's little assistant hurrying over.

As soon as Yan Fei finished joking with a smile, he saw the company's junior assistant rush over in a hurry.

"Yan Dao, President Zhang asks you to come over for a moment. Seems like people from Penguin Entertainment and Tudou are here, seems they have some collaboration to discuss."

Hearing this, Yan Fei immediately nodded, "You go on ahead, I'll be right there."

Hearing this, Yan Fei immediately nodded. "You go ahead first; I'll be there shortly."

After the little assistant left, Yan Fei once again urged Song Yang, "I'm leaving 'Hello, Mrs. Li Cha' to you, keep a close eye on it."

"Don't worry, absolutely no problem." Song Yang patted his chest and assured.

Meanwhile, in Zhang Chen's office.

The Penguin Entertainment people were speaking flattering words, and Tudou's person in charge was chiming in on the side, but both were also genuinely sincere in their recognition.

"To be frank with President Zhang, and not afraid of offending you, actually the first thing we considered wasn't 'Hello Mr. Billionaire,' but Lin Dao's two unreleased films.

But President Zhang, you also know that Lin Dao would absolutely never agree to this kind of thing, and besides those two films of his aren't easy to do product placement in, and more importantly their release dates are unconfirmed…"

"If you were putting someone else's films ahead of our company's films, I'd definitely be angry—what kind of attitude is that to still collaborate on? But you pulling out Lin Dao's two films, isn't that just pure bullying?"

Zhang Chen complained helplessly. Regarding "Druggist" and "The Wandering Earth" being placed ahead of "Hello Mr. Billionaire," he simply couldn't argue back.

Because in terms of the main creators' stature and historical significance alone, "Hello Mr. Billionaire" is several major tiers behind the first two, let alone Lin Dao's terrifying box office draw!

"President Zhang?" Just then, Yan Fei knocked and came in.

"You came at just the right time, there's a collaboration here to discuss with you, the director of 'Hello Mr. Billionaire,' and we need your nod…"

"You've arrived just in time; there's a collaboration here to discuss with you, the director of 'The Richest Man in Xihong City,' and it requires your approval..."

After the usual round of greetings and introductions, Yan Fei got down to business with the people from Penguin Entertainment.

More than half an hour later, he frowned and began to think it over.

"In other words, the debut group from your big idol-selection variety show will have a debut song, and you want to use the theatrical release of 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' to officially push it out to the public and the whole internet?"

"Exactly. The schedule for the 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' film project happens to line up perfectly with our plan for recording and airing this variety show; and Happy Happy Mahua's comedies are already a one-of-a-kind household name in the Chinese-language film market. The sequel to 'Goodbye Mr. Loser,' 'Hello Mr. Billionaire,' has been eagerly anticipated by countless audiences…

We also hope the post-production and scheduling for 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' can accommodate our 'Produce 101,' so that we can coordinate on timing at any moment… As a show of good faith for the cooperation, the product-placement fees and advertising fees we can pay will absolutely not disappoint Happy Happy Mahua. Of course, we'll also coordinate with Lin Nan Pictures on this, or have Happy Happy Mahua handle the coordination…"

The discussion in the office went on and on, and it wasn't until a little past four in the afternoon that everything was finally hammered out. Yan Fei nodded, because what the other side was offering was simply too good to refuse!

"Fine, these are minor issues. We can tweak the script a bit and add in some plot, and we can guarantee a perfect product placement.

But you'll need to give us your rough schedule for this variety show in advance too, because the start date for 'Hello Mr. Billionaire' is already set — mid-December."

"By the end of next month. We can send over the detailed schedule for 'Produce 101' by the end of next month.

Because barring any surprises, we should be holding a press conference in early-to-mid December, announcing this large-scale idol-selection variety show to the entire film, television, and entertainment industry — in other words, a girl-group competition survival show!"

…………