Chapter 279: The Sun Also Rises

The closing credits of "The Sun Also Rises" slowly rolled across the screen, and the quiet auditorium began to hum with faint murmurs.

Uncle Han glanced at the few people beside him: "What do you think of this movie?"

"..."

To be honest, when Seeing Yan Li first read the script, he hadn't understood much; now that he'd seen the finished film, it was more intuitive than the script, yet still ambiguous—he wasn't quite sure, so he gave a cautious reply.

"The visuals are vivid, the camera work fluid, and the personal style is exceptionally strong and intense."

Without saying whether it was good or bad, or whether it was understood or not, just saying the personal style was strong—no matter how you looked at it, Seeing Yan Li hadn't said anything wrong.

Whether that strong personal style was good or bad for the film? That depends on your own interpretation.

Fatty added, grinning: "There's definitely a strong Jiang Wen flavor to it."

Seeing Yan Li shot him a glance—this fat bastard hadn't understood a thing and was just riding on his words to fool people.

Uncle Han nodded. Seeing Yan Li wanted to ask whether he'd understood, but after thinking it over, he decided not to be stupid.

Not long ago, Uncle Han officially became Chairman of China Film Group, a position equivalent to a Level-13 official.

This rank isn't particularly high—at least not in Jingcheng—but the position holds weight, especially in the film industry, where on certain matters, his word carries more influence than even the head of the Film Bureau.

If you watch more news, you'll know: unless it's the propaganda mouthpiece or a top film bureau official, nearly all official faces in film-related matters come from either the Film Bureau or China Film Group.

The former handles direction, the latter focuses on execution; the Film Bureau is more powerful, but China Film Group isn't to be trifled with.

Although the three of them barely understood this film, Jiang Wen had invited some professional filmmakers, screenwriters, and directors to the screening, and after it ended, they began voicing their thoughts one after another.

"A true Chinese epic: vanished ideals, and lives twisted and shattered beneath grand narratives, accompanied by visually stunning imagery and stirring, magnificent music—inviting awe while deepening a sense of profound absurdity."

"A highly magical, strange, subjective impressionist nostalgic tale."

"A serendipitous, naturally poetic masterpiece—characters who are mad, flamboyant, lost, or defiant, filmed with a mad style that captures madness in people and events—I love it."

"..."

Seeing Yan Li turned to look at Uncle Han and Fatty, who were listening intently but still looked slightly bewildered—he figured they still didn't get it.

To be honest, he himself found it hard to follow.

Explaining an incomprehensible movie with incomprehensible words only made things even more chaotic.

Why can't they just tell a good story? Why does it feel like we're doing a reading comprehension test?

Internally grumbling, Seeing Yan Li kept a thoughtful expression on his face, nodding occasionally in agreement.

After all, he was a professional, and a senior industry figure—even if he didn't understand, he had to pretend he did.

After listening for a while, the session turned into a kind of creator exchange, others began chatting among themselves, and the auditorium grew noisy.

Wang Zhonglei, who had also participated in "The Sun Also Rises," drifted over, hoping to join the conversation.

But Uncle Han kept talking to Seeing Yan Li, leaving Wang Zhonglei no chance to speak; he couldn't help shooting Seeing Yan Li a glance, his eyes complicated.

Fatty was from China Film Group, and BoNa's current success owed no small part to China Film Group's support, so his closeness to Uncle Han needed no explanation.

Huayi had also been close to Uncle Han and China Film Group in the past, especially with several early films backed by China Film Group funding.

In the past two years, Huayi has increased cooperation with Hong Kong and overseas capital, even establishing ties with Shanghai Film Group.

China Film Group still collaborates with Huayi, but mostly on distribution, and the frequency of cooperation has declined from before.

Though outwardly Huayi still appears close to China Film Group and Uncle Han, there's a noticeable sense of distance compared to before.

On one hand, this is due to various objective factors above; on the other, it's because of Seeing Yan Li's rapid rise.

Previously, there were only a few major private film companies on the mainland, and Huayi, BoNa, and China Film Group were closest; China Film Group needed both to cooperate, so naturally they exchanged resources.

Under normal circumstances, even if Huayi drifted slightly from China Film Group, its strength alone would ensure continued closeness.

But no one expected a sudden newcomer—Seeing Yan Li—to emerge, and within just two or three years, he'd built up both theater chains and films with remarkable momentum.

Even though Huayi currently holds stronger film capabilities, Yi'an is no weakling, and with its theater chain strategy and young leadership, its potential is enormous.

Thus, Seeing Yan Li and Yi'an replaced Huayi in filling the gap, becoming Uncle Han's "new favorites."

Now, at many events, one side of Uncle Han is Fatty, the other is Seeing Yan Li—in many people's eyes, the two are his right-hand and left-hand men, his "Heng and Ha."

So now, Huayi can't even come crawling back to China Film Group.

A big ship is hard to turn—Huayi's current development direction is already set, not something that can be changed overnight.

Besides, no one knows what Uncle Han is thinking now; though he was once in charge of China Film Group, he wasn't the top boss, but now that he's ascended, his position is legitimate and his authority more solid and powerful—his mindset and temperament must have changed.

More crucially, there's Seeing Yan Li here, "sowing discord" and "muddying the waters."

Yi'an's good relationship with China Film Group brings undeniable benefits; at this point, he certainly won't let Huayi return to disrupt his position.

Even Fatty might be thinking the same.

BoNa and Huayi both rose in the early 2000s, had cooperation, but also conflicts—their relationship wasn't bad, but neither was it good.

Seeing Yan Li, however, has always had a good personal relationship with Fatty, who would naturally favor Yan over Huayi.

Seeing Yan Li had no idea what Wang's second brother was thinking; if he did, he'd sneer.

Like he's some kind of henchman under Uncle Han!

Seeing Yan Li is on good terms with Uncle Han, often takes his cues, but it's a matter of power dynamics—and Uncle Han has genuinely helped Yi'an.

As for Uncle Han himself, Seeing Yan Li shows respect, but he's not obediently subservient.

Put simply, Seeing Yan Li truly respects and follows not Uncle Han, but China Film Group behind him—or the behemoth behind China Film Group.

Without Uncle Han, if another chairman took over, as long as he treated him fairly, Seeing Yan Li would still remain extremely close and coordinated with China Film Group.

This has nothing to do with personal ties, only attitude—the Wang brothers have misunderstood him completely.

Even if Uncle Han is powerful, he's only powerful in the film industry; Seeing Yan Li's business extends far beyond film—making him a henchman? Uncle Han's rank isn't high enough.

Even if he were, Seeing Yan Li wouldn't accept it.

Listening to a collective versus listening to an individual are two different things with two different natures—attitude isn't performed for show.

"Uncle Han, both of you—how much box office do you think this movie will make?"

Wang Zhonglei suppressed his thoughts and finally asked his most pressing question during a pause in the conversation.

What the movie was about didn't matter; how much money it could make mattered.

"I think it should at least hit a hundred million."

Han Sanye greatly admired Jiang Wen, and the high praise from so many people present made him more optimistic about the film *The Sun Also Rises*.

"Jiang Wen still has name recognition, and there's little competition around the Release Period. If the word-of-mouth and quality hold up, 150 to 160 million is possible."

Damn, bold estimate!

Seeing Yan Li nearly lost his composure, wondering what kind of spell Jiang Wen had cast on Han Sanye.

When *The Sun Also Rises* lost its funding, he had rushed around helping secure investment—now he was this confident about its box office.

150 to 160 million?!

Does the current movie market really have that many audiences who love doing close readings?

Yu Pangzi added: "The film is still a bit obscure. I think hitting a hundred million is about right—100 to 120 million."

Wang Zhonglei seemed to exhale, voicing his own opinion: "My brother saw an early cut—he estimated sixty million. I think it could reach eighty million. This kind of film should attract many seasoned cinephiles."

After hearing the three men's opinions, Seeing Yan Li shook his head internally, barely keeping it from showing on his face.

He worked in film—and across all channels—and understood the industry market well.

Cinephiles were indeed the core consumers of films, but with market liberalization, ordinary viewers and trend-followers were the biggest box office reservoirs.

Moreover, cinephiles came in many varieties: some only favored Hollywood films, others preferred specific genres like action, horror, thriller, or comedy.

Those who liked art films and enjoyed doing close readings weren't a large group even among cinephiles.

Yet because "high art attracts few listeners," they wrote endless interpretive essays, making themselves seem numerous and loud, while other audiences and cinephiles simply weren't interested—or didn't understand but pretended to—and thus ignored or didn't refute them.

And one point must be clarified: many cinephiles, especially so-called seasoned ones, never went to movie theaters.

They preferred watching DVDs, savoring films quietly and repeatedly, often favoring older films.

No matter how numerous such cinephiles were, they couldn't generate box office revenue.

So in the film industry, critical acclaim and box office success were two different things; audience praise differed from the praise of critics and professionals; cinephile audiences were divided into those who spent money and those who didn't.

Han Sanye and the others weren't unaware of this—but their judgment had been swayed, to some degree, by Jiang Wen's reputation, personal ties, and financial interests.

Seeing Yan Li was clearer-headed than them—not because his judgment was stronger, but because he had never believed in this film from the start.

Without hope, he naturally had fewer侥幸 thoughts and was less affected by external influences, allowing him to view the film with greater calmness and objectivity.

According to Seeing Yan Li's judgment, if the film could reach thirty million at the box office, it would be a victory.

Considering Jiang Wen's halo effect and the likelihood of winning some cinephile support, the copyright could still sell for some amount, allowing at least partial cost recovery.

As Seeing Yan Li was pondering this, Yu Pangzi suddenly said: "I plan to sign a guaranteed distribution deal with Jiang Wen."

Wang Zhonglei's eyes lit up: "What's the guarantee?"

"One hundred million!"

Guaranteed distribution, as previously mentioned, was simple: the distributor bet against the producer to secure the project.

Both parties agreed on a fixed number; if the box office fell short, the distributor covered the producer's losses; if it exceeded it, the distributor took a larger share.

If *The Sun Also Rises* had a guaranteed distribution of one hundred million, the producer would earn at least thirty million plus.

Seeing Yan Li, Huayi, and Bona had each invested five million, holding 10% stakes; Yinghuang had invested ten million and held a larger share.

If the guaranteed deal went through, they'd recover most of their costs immediately; selling remaining copyrights could add more—even if they didn't fully break even, losses would be minimal.

Wang Zhonglei had estimated the film's box office at eighty million and found Yu Pangzi's guaranteed distribution proposal highly appealing.