Chapter 938: Dividing the Luggage, Returning to Gao Village! 616 Million

Five SUVs started up from Los Angeles International Airport and sped toward Hollywood. Tang Mu, Lin Nan, and Liu Yifei were sitting in the middle stretch limousine, chatting and laughing along the way.

The three of them didn't plan to go straight back to Beverly Hills; instead, they were looking for a high-end Chinese restaurant to have breakfast first.

"You mean you didn't sleep at all last night, and you came straight from the party to the airport to pick us up?" Liu Yifei was startled by Tang Mu's words. Did he really have to be that intense?

"It wasn't that exaggerated. I slept for three hours in the car. But when I left the *Dunkirk* PR party, Nolan asked me why I was leaving early."

"He already knows your itinerary and will be lobbying Lin for votes. Haha, poor Nolan still hasn't won an Oscar; Lin, he's even started to envy you."

"By the way, there's also that film from your country, *Wolf Warrior 2*. None of us are optimistic that it can be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film..."

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei lay lazily in the back seat, listening to Tang Mu in the front seat talk eloquently about the gossip and trends of the awards season.

In Lin Nan's view, Tang Mu was right. It wasn't just here in Hollywood; there were plenty of insiders back home who weren't optimistic about *Wolf Warrior 2* either.

Everyone believed that the Film Bureau sending *Wolf Warrior 2* to compete for an Oscar was just a perfunctory gesture; after all, the external environment was turbulent...

Under these circumstances, Chinese-language films absolutely had no chance—no chance at all—let alone a patriotic military action blockbuster like *Wolf Warrior 2*.

Perhaps only Wu Jing still held onto a glimmer of expectation, even if it was just for a nomination. One could only say that fame and fortune dazzle the eyes; after all, he was a player in the game, both the director and the lead actor!

At seven in the morning, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei had seafood congee at the Chinese restaurant. It seemed to be run by Cantonese people, who even came over to ask for a group photo.

Tang Mu, however, was more fond of crystal shrimp dumplings and ordered five baskets straight away, as if he wanted to eat back the twenty-plus pounds of weight he had lost.

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei had a tacit understanding and didn't directly ask Tang Mu why he had lost so much weight.

Because in all the years they had known each other, the reasons behind Tang Mu's sudden weight loss were never good things—the 2008 stock market crash, binge eating and chaotic schedules leading to health problems that forced him to lose weight, kidney deficiency...

And this time, Tang Mu's "weight loss intensity" compared to all those previous times could definitely contend for the top spot!

By nearly 10 o'clock, the motorcade drove into the villa in Beverly Hills. Lin Nan and Liu Yifei planned to rest for a day first and, incidentally, get in touch with Disney.

"You go back first. We'll go to the company to sit for a while tomorrow." Lin Nan waved at Tang Mu and instructed him.

"Alright, then I'll head off first. Call me if anything comes up."

After Tang Mu and everyone else left, only Lin Nan and Liu Yifei were left in the villa. At this moment, Liu Yifei pulled Lin Nan to sit on the sofa and couldn't help but speak up:

"He must be under a lot of pressure this year, right? We spent so much time together today, and he was much more serious than before the whole time. He didn't complain about work, didn't grumble about other things, and talked a lot less."

"I'm very sure that the more he's like this, the more things he's bottling up inside, and the more troubled he is... You can tell he's a bit tired, very exhausted!"

Hearing this, Lin Nan was a bit speechless. With a wife who had such sharp eyes and keen insight, his pressure was also quite high.

"Hmm, pretty much. In the second half of this year, three commercial films from Crystal Pictures were targeted. Fortunately, the horror film market is stable, and the cash flow is sufficient..."

As he spoke, Lin Nan stood up and walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window. Looking out into the distance, with the height of Beverly Hills, he could clearly see the beautiful scenery of the coastline in the distance...

"I was joking with Tang Mu on the phone earlier."

"Saying what?" Liu Yifei smiled, looking puzzled.

"If one day Crystal Pictures can't go on, or if I have to let go of Crystal Pictures..."

Liu Yifei knew very well what Lin Nan meant by "letting go of Crystal Pictures"—it meant selling it off completely, being forced to sell it.

"If that day really comes, then I'll only be able to divide his luggage and let him return to Gao Village."

"Hahaha, you're treating him like the Second Brother?" Liu Yifei burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Or let him follow Crystal Pictures to join a new boss. Of course, I'll give him a choice, and I'll also prepare an extra gift for him. Xixi, what do you think of this villa?"

Lin Nan turned to look at Liu Yifei. He hadn't said these words to Tang Mu. Seeing the smile on Miss Liu's face disappear, she nodded very seriously, "Of course I can. But is it really that serious?"

"It's just a hypothesis for now; it hasn't reached that point yet, haha." Lin Nan smiled, adding in his heart: "But it's getting close, isn't it?"

On the evening of the 26th, Los Angeles time—which was the morning of the 27th, domestic time—*Marriage Story* officially ended its theatrical run.

"Directed by Lin Nan, produced by Liu Yifei, and starring Liu Yifei, Lin Nan, and Zhou Xun, the realistic romantic art film *Marriage Story* has successfully concluded its run today. The film was in theaters for 30 days, accumulating a total box office of 616 million, a remarkable achievement!"

"On the third day of the theatrical release of Director John Woo's film *Manhunt*, the daily box office plummeted by another 20 million, reporting 6.68 million. According to industry professionals, the film's total box office is feared to stop at around 80 million!"

"According to Hollywood media reports, right in the midst of the awards season feast, Oscar director Lin Nan and Venice Best Actress Liu Yifei arrived in Hollywood on the morning of the 26th local time and appeared in Beverly Hills..."

On a new day, the itinerary of Lin Nan and Liu Yifei was undoubtedly the most watched in the industry.

"Flew to Hollywood secretly during the awards season? What are they trying to do?" Ning Hao teased with a huff. He finally knew why he couldn't get through to Lin Nan and Liu Yifei's phones yesterday morning.

99% of the people in the industry had the same reaction as Director Ning at this moment. As for the very few who had sensed something was up earlier, they had a different mindset—namely, "As expected!"

Take La Peikang, whose mood was even worse than yesterday, for example! Ever since the Disney team arrived in the capital abruptly in October, he had vaguely associated it with something. And at this moment, his conjecture seemed to be largely confirmed.

Take, for example, Ren Zhonglun, who had just seen off the members of the Shanghai International Film Festival organizing committee; he was currently beaming with energy and was incomparably certain: "If nothing goes wrong, it should be that film, *Mulan*! But will it be one person who wins it, or will both of them win it?"

"If it's both of them, then given Lin Nan's character, he definitely won't produce something shoddy. But his company absolutely cannot support such a large-scale ancient costume war action blockbuster. The workload involved is just too much—costumes, props, local customs, architecture..."

Chairman Ren's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and a thought even flashed through his mind, becoming increasingly firm:

"If Lin Nan got the director role, then Shanghai Film Group can absolutely provide assistance; of course, the words 'Shanghai Film Group Co., Ltd.' must appear in the credits!"

In the capital, Han Jia had just left the airport and already swiped the news online. She handed it over to Old Han.

"Look, they've already been exposed by the media. But the vast majority of people in the domestic film and television industry will definitely only think they went for the awards season; they won't think of anything else."

Han Sanping nodded with a smile upon hearing this. Then he changed the subject and instructed:

"How are you planning the post-production for *The Unnamed*? I suggest you start as early as possible and finish as early as possible, so as not to affect other things next year."

Little Han naturally understood what her father meant; he was referring to the promotion and competition of *Dying to Survive* and the *Mulan* project that might start.

"Don't worry, before the He Sui's Eve on February 15th—no, before the end of January, I will finish the film's post-production. Starting from the 1st of next month, I'll get it done within two months." Han Jia guaranteed confidently.

"Good. Then wait for Lin Nan to come back and find time to mention it to him."

The end of *Marriage Story*'s run also meant the official blowing of the horn for the New Year's film season. And the film that kicked off the New Year's season this year was Huayi's *Ex-Files 3*, which would be released on the morning of the day after tomorrow.

If it weren't for *Youth* having problems and being forced to reschedule to the New Year's season, these two Huayi films would never have clashed in their release schedules. Although the interval between their release times was as long as 16 days, they had clashed after all.

Huayi.

"16 days is definitely enough. The main box office for most films is contributed almost entirely in the first half month. *Youth* can just catch up with the box office rhythm of *Ex-Files 3*..."

"Looking ahead, there are only two films that pose a threat to us: one is *Never Say Die* from Happy Mahua and Red Star Dock, and the other is Chen Kaige's *Legend of the Demon Cat*."

"As for films like Jackie Chan's *Bleeding Steel* or Yuen Woo-ping's *The Thousand Faces of Dunjia*, these can be ignored... And films like *Guilty of Mind*, these are purely cannon fodder..."

In the large conference room, Wang Zhonglei was "arranging his troops." For Huayi, the New Year's season this year had to be taken seriously.

Although Huayi's main profit channel had long since ceased to be the production business, Huayi was, after all, a listed company in the film and television industry on the Growth Enterprise Market, and its market value and stock price were ultimately constrained by the production business.

"The main one is still *Never Say Die*. It's a comedy, the genre that best fits the New Year's season and the Spring Festival season. And it's a comedy produced by Happy Mahua; its appeal is very strong, very strong!" Wang Zhongjun took over the conversation and reminded solemnly.

"*Ex-Files 3* also belongs to a series with accumulated word-of-mouth and fans, plus *Youth*. I don't believe we can't suppress a *Never Say Die*!"

"And you have to know that our two films are being released earlier than the latter. Although *Youth* is only one day earlier, it still occupies the market's first-mover advantage!"

Feng Xiaogang crossed his arms over his chest and said with great momentum. In the conference room, a chorus of agreement immediately rang out.

"That's right, that's the logic!"

"Defending the title and challenging the title—the difficulty is not the same."

"The former has all the advantages..." ===== CHAPTER 939 =====