Chapter 532: Hundred Billion Box Office Plan

The Review Department, an extraordinary existence in Blue Star Entertainment.

No matter how much the masses dislike a celebrity, shouting "XXX get out of the entertainment industry" doesn't have much effect.

It is not as easy as it used to be for capital giants to blacklist someone now.

The Review Department won't tell you to get out; they will kick you away with one foot.

After Luo Mo heard Wang Rong's words, the moment he heard the three words "Review Department," he immediately perked up.

"Does it have anything to do with *Medicine*?" Luo Mo asked.

Logically speaking, if it were related, they should have approached him directly, rather than Wang Rong, the 【Producer】.

He was just asking casually.

Unexpectedly, Wang Rong's reply was: "It's somewhat related."

This made Luo Mo immediately turn serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Stop beating around the bush, tell me specifically."

Wang Rong said: "To speak specifically, that would require starting from the general environment of our country's current film market."

"Then try to be concise."

"Hah, you have quite a lot of requirements."

Hearing this tone from Wang Rong, Luo Mo could actually roughly guess that it wasn't a bad thing, so he relaxed as well.

Wang Rong continued: "In these past few years, the domestic film market has been developing better and better; you should be able to feel it too, movie theaters in every city are opening more and more!"

Luo Mo said: "The market is good, I suppose."

The current situation in Blue Star is similar to that on Earth a few years ago.

Many years ago, movie theaters were considered a golden project; in many cities with relatively good general environments, opening a movie theater was considered a business that was sure to make a profit without any loss.

It's just that the threshold for this industry is relatively high, the initial capital investment is relatively large, and the payback period is not short either.

Nowadays, major theater chains can be said to be expanding crazily, and new movie theaters opening across the country every year are like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

On the other hand, the box office of films released domestically is also climbing step by step.

Not only are the highest box office records constantly being broken, but the total box office of all films released throughout the year is also higher year by year, and it is much higher.

In the past, breaking a hundred million at the box office was enough to brag about to the heavens.

Now, breaking a billion doesn't make people feel very strange.

What directors pursue has already changed to a single-day box office breaking a hundred million, rather than a total box office breaking a hundred million.

Wang Rong continued: "How should I put it, looking at last year's total annual box office, this year, our Huaxia's total box office has the hope of challenging for second place in all regions globally, becoming the world's second-largest film box office market."

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo said: "I know about this."

Quite a few industry insiders are also shouting this slogan.

As for the world's largest box office market, that is naturally the Beautiful Country.

And how terrifying is the development of the Huaxia film industry?

Blue Star is similar to Earth; on Earth, in the year '02, the total annual box office was not even 1 billion.

Ten years later, it soared to 20 billion!

This is also why more and more foreign blockbusters value the Huaxia market extremely highly; many films even add some content deliberately meant to please Huaxia audiences in order to rake in money.

For example, speaking a few sentences of Huaxia language, filming on location in Huaxia, incorporating Huaxia elements, etc.

There are also some flashy operations, such as finding a few people who are not Huaxia people to play Huaxia people in the movie.

Or releasing a 【Huaxia Special Edition】, which has Huaxia celebrities making cameos, but these contents are not in the version released abroad.

Back to the main topic, a rapidly developing industry must have goals.

Actually, the slogan of challenging for the world's second-largest box office market started being shouted last year.

It's just that the content of the slogan shouted last year was: "Strive to rank second in the world within three years!"

Who would have thought that starting from the beginning of this year, the box office would explode!

As for Luo Mo, he also made a "negligible" contribution.

*Monkey King: Hero is Back*'s box office wasn't high either, just over a billion.

As of now, compared to the total box office of all films released nationwide at this time last year, it is already a big chunk higher.

Since the momentum is so good, then...

Why wait for three years?

I want it this year!

"The Review Department is preparing to unite multiple parties to launch a plan called the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】," Wang Rong said.

"Sounds very impressive!" Luo Mo said with a smile.

"It is!" Wang Rong said: "This plan is that the Review Department will take the lead, select a few directors to participate in the plan, and provide a certain degree of support for these ten directors' new films; CCTV will likely participate as well when the time comes."

"The content of the plan is that these directors must produce works this year that add up to a total box office of over a hundred billion."

"So, you are one of the chosen directors?" Luo Mo asked.

"Yes, although the films I, your Brother Rong, have directed haven't achieved much in terms of awards, several of them have had top-tier box office results!" Wang Rong said conceitedly.

He filmed a movie last year, but there were some problems with the post-production, and the time was dragged on and on; it still hasn't been officially scheduled for release even now.

If nothing unexpected happens, I'm afraid it will be released in the second half of the year.

It was mentioned earlier during *Director Show* that the directors on this program are all directors who have new films to be released this year.

They are not just here to earn variety show money, but also to gain fame and do promotion.

Wang Rong originally wanted to continue being conceited for a few more sentences, but as soon as he thought that the person he was talking to was a god-like person who could create heaven-defying box office results even with an animation film, he immediately stopped his self-aggrandizement.

Luo Mo said: "You've been talking for a long time, and it doesn't have much to do with me or *Medicine*."

Upon hearing this, Wang Rong said in a deep voice: "When the people from the Review Department called your Brother Rong, I, your Brother Rong, strongly recommended a certain newcomer director who has not yet officially filmed a live-action movie."

"For our *Medicine* to enter this plan, it couldn't be better," Wang Rong said.

In truth, he felt a bit uneasy about this film.

It wasn't that he was uneasy about the film's quality, but rather that some of the issues the film touched upon were quite sensitive, and he feared it might be required to cut or change some content when the time came.

Sometimes, such changes can affect the entire film.

But if he could join this 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】, then perhaps things would be easier; places where green lights could be given should all be given green lights.

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo felt there was some truth to it.

Some things are hard to say for sure, so it is better to play it safe.

Logically speaking, even as an Animation director, with the heaven-defying box office of 【Monkey King: Hero is Back】, he was qualified to participate in this plan and would be on the list of candidates considered by the 【Review Department】.

But the problem was, 【Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child】 definitely wouldn't make it this year; the earliest it could possibly be released would be during the Spring Festival slot.

The Spring Festival slot would mean next year, after all, the total annual box office is not calculated according to the lunar calendar.

The 【Review Department】 was clear on this point, because 【Nezha】 was currently a key project of concern.

Setting aside these two Animation projects, Luo Mo was truly a novice in the film industry.

"What did they say over there?" Luo Mo asked.

"Of course they said they would consider it; there are procedures to follow, it has to be reported first, then meetings held, it's very cumbersome," Wang Rong said.

To be honest, Wang Rong didn't think he had that much 【Face】 with the 【Review Department】, or that his opinions carried that much weight.

If he had received this call before the 【White Rose】 ceremony, he certainly wouldn't have mentioned Luo Mo, because in his heart, he would have naturally assumed it was impossible.

But for the 【White Rose】 ceremony, the 【Review Department】 was one of the organizers, and he could see the importance and support the three major organizers placed on Luo Mo.

In that case, taking the initiative to mention him seemed very necessary.

Otherwise, they wouldn't know the progress of 【Medicine God】, nor would they know if this film could make it this year, right?

In the film circle, there are some directors who take several years to shoot a single film.

There are also those whose films are aborted halfway through.

Luo Mo was a novice, and he was quite "willful" in how he did things, so who could say for sure?

"Then let's wait and see," Luo Mo said.

"Yeah, we can only wait," Wang Rong said.

"By the way, how many directors are tentatively scheduled to participate in this plan?" Luo Mo asked.

"Ten," Wang Rong said.

He added: "Averaging one point, each person needs 1 billion; the difficulty is actually very high. Who can guarantee their film's box office will definitely break 1 billion?"

Luo Mo stopped mid-sentence.

Wang Rong continued: "In this situation, it actually requires a few phenomenal works to carry it, the kind of 2 billion blockbusters... but who can say for sure?"

Luo Mo stopped mid-sentence again.

Wang Rong actually felt this was both an honor and a pressure, and not knowing if he was comforting himself, he said: "But since it is the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】, it is a 【Plan】, so it's reasonable; if they set it at 5 billion, it wouldn't be very interesting."

Luo Mo smiled and said: "Alright, I roughly understand the situation."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and since Wang Rong would return to the set to continue filming tomorrow afternoon, the two hung up the phone.

Time slipped by, pushing forward by two days.

During these two days, the 【Medicine God】 crew proceeded in an orderly manner according to the original filming schedule.

Don't look at Wang Rong as being flabbily fat; his stamina was actually quite good, and he could keep up with the high-intensity filming.

As for the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】, the two of them didn't continue to discuss it in detail over these two days; it would have been pointless to talk about it anyway.

The final result was that Luo Mo was contacted by the 【Review Department】.

——He was invited to join the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】!

After learning of this, Wang Rong's fat face was full of excitement, and he said: "Good thing!"

Then, he looked at Luo Mo and said in surprise: "Why does your expression look strange?"

"Are you under pressure? It's fine, although our 【Medicine God】 is a bit profound, the box office won't be bad; it's the kind of profound that can sell tickets!" Wang Rong encouraged him.

Luo Mo shook his head and said: "I'm not worried about that."

"Then why that expression?" Wang Rong was puzzled.

Luo Mo looked at him and said: "You told me earlier, how many directors were invited to participate?"

"Ten," Wang Rong answered instantly.

Luo Mo pointed at himself with his finger and said: "They told me on the phone that, counting me, a total of 11 were invited."

"As for who is the one extra from the original plan, I don't need to say more, right?" Luo Mo continued pointing at himself and said.

(ps: Second update, seeking monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter)