Chapter 611: Review Department: You're Provoking Us Again?

In the private room, Luo Mo asked Guan Fei while eating, "Is *Be Somebody* about to wrap up?"

Guan Fei nodded and said, "Give me a few more days, and it'll be pretty much all done."

He could roughly guess that Luo Mo was asking this to confirm the release schedule.

He Yuanguang was off to the side, eating sea cucumber in big mouthfuls, completely uninterested in what the two were chatting about.

He was just someone who made Animation, and he wasn't skilled at anything else.

Whatever Luo Mo said, he would just follow suit.

As for the field of live-action films, Guang Shu was even more clueless.

Luo Mo tapped his finger lightly on the table and said, "Let's aim for a New Year's Day release for *Be Somebody*."

"Huh? Doesn't that mean it'll be the first holiday release of next year?" Guan Fei was stunned for a moment.

"Yes," Luo Mo nodded.

Of the three films, *Be Somebody* had the lowest production cost, not even reaching one-third of *Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child*.

At the same time, considering various angles, *Be Somebody* was indeed the most suitable to lead the charge.

Guan Fei currently still had the popularity from *Forensic Qin Ming* and *White Night* behind him, so striking while the iron was hot was more practical.

"Isn't this just my old routine from before?" Guan Fei laughed, even throwing in a meme from *Reset*: "I've entered a Loop!"

Hearing this, Luo Mo laughed along with him.

In the past, our Director Guan was just like this: he would film a show, and it would be a hit. Once it was a hit, he would take his money and fame, throw himself into the film industry, and then get kicked right back out.

Following that, it was back to filming shows to pay off debts, then going to the film industry again, only to be kicked out once more, and each kick was harder than the last.

And don't even get me started, this guy's backside is strangely sturdy.

Luo Mo knew that Guan Fei's sharp edge had been blunted quite a bit, but his character had also been polished well.

He knew Guan Fei was feeling uneasy, so he comforted him: "Don't worry, I've seen the film, haven't I? It's shot very well, there's no problem."

You have to know, *Be Somebody* was a genuine Dark Horse on Earth.

In a release window that was cold to the extreme, and with very little promotional budget, it relied purely on word-of-mouth to rake in nearly 1 billion in box office!

And don't forget one thing: there was the pandemic at play, the cinema situation and the market were not very good, and the overall environment was poor.

Looking at the foundation of the film from all aspects, the Blue Star version of *Be Somebody* had a much better foundation than the one on Earth.

This film with Suspense attributes, with the dual popularity boost of 【Mist Theater】 and Luo Mo, currently had great heat across the entire web, and the 【Want to Watch】 index on major ticketing platforms was surging continuously.

Luo Mo personally felt that the box office wouldn't be low.

Honestly, in Luo Mo's mind, there were of course far, far too many films that could sell better than *Be Somebody*.

But as the saying goes, when choosing a work, suitability is most important, and being practical is most important.

Guan Fei had a knot in his heart; only by winning a large box office with a small budget could he untie it.

Moreover, his sharp edge was blunted now; he couldn't handle big productions, he would be tied up and restricted, unable to let go. If you invested money in him, the more you invested, the greater his pressure!

With a small budget, it would be fine; the psychological burden would be small, and he could let go and film freely.

Furthermore, *Be Somebody* was originally something Luo Mo brought out to let Guan Fei polish his own shortcomings.

This film was very particular about the rhythm of storytelling, like playing a Script Kill, and that was exactly what Guan Fei lacked.

At this moment, Guan Fei nodded and said, "New Year's Day it is, I have no objections."

After speaking, he put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "Luo Mo, it's just the three of us here, tell me, what is your specific box office expectation for *Be Somebody*?"

At this time, He Yuanguang, who had been focused on eating sea cucumber on the side, even raised his head.

"Over a billion," Luo Mo said directly.

Here on Blue Star, the advantages were far greater than on Earth.

If the box office couldn't be higher, it really wouldn't make sense.

But to say it would be too much higher, that wasn't realistic either.

Guan Fei nodded and didn't say much more.

Honestly, out of 8 billion, the task assigned to him was only a billion-plus, which looked very little, just half of the per capita value.

But in reality, how many films with such low costs could reach that level of box office?

What's more, all the films Guan Fei had directed so far, their combined box office hadn't even reached 1 billion...

At this moment, He Yuanguang on the side discovered something wrong.

"Eh? Then how many billions should *Nezha* be allocated?"

No matter how he calculated it, he felt something was wrong!

Good heavens, so the pressure was on my side!

He Yuanguang actually also believed that the upper limit for an animated film was *Monkey King: Hero is Back*.

If *Nezha* could continue that glory, that would be enough.

But wasn't it obvious that Luo Mo was betting on *Nezha*, not *Be Somebody*!

Luo Mo smiled and said, "Guang Shu, you should be asking me, how many billions will *Nezha* be allocated?"

He Yuanguang's mouth twitched, and he suddenly felt the nourishing sea cucumber wasn't tasty anymore.

Seeing him like this, Luo Mo couldn't bear to tell him: "Uncle, I'm counting on *Nezha* to take us to the skies!"

Our Nezha the Third Prince, after all, has Wind Fire Wheels.

If you don't ascend to the heavens, who will?

……….

……….

The meal was finished, and everyone had things to do, so they went their separate ways.

Honestly, for Luo Mo, he hoped that *Sheep Without a Shepherd* and *Be Somebody* could perform beyond expectations.

The former was a remake of a film on Earth; the other versions were already very popular and highly rated, and many viewers already knew the general plot, so they wouldn't spend money to go to the cinema to watch it.

Even if they wanted to watch it, wouldn't it be enough to just watch it on a computer or mobile phone when the time comes?

In fact, many of the memes from the original version have already been popular in the country for several years.

These points do not need to be worried about on Blue Star.

Judging from the initial heat, with Luo Mo's own popularity and the support of 【Mist Theater】, it is definitely higher than on Earth.

At the same time, for the film "Sheep Without a Shepherd", Luo Mo actually still has a few trump cards left!

Moreover, this film also continues part of the original cast from "Dying to Survive", and this Box Office Appeal is terrifying.

Luo Mo is very confident that "Sheep Without a Shepherd" will have a higher box office than on Earth.

"On the contrary, I don't have much confidence in 'Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child'."

"I don't ask for it to perform beyond expectations, I just hope it won't be worse than on Earth," Luo Mo said in his heart.

Some viewpoints have been mentioned before.

The box office explosion of "Nezha" was because after "Monkey King: Hero is Back" became a big hit, many excellent Animation works appeared in the country one after another, making more and more people willing to go to the cinema to watch animated films.

The comprehensive explosion of "Nezha" is inseparable from these foundations.

Otherwise, the box office would definitely be greatly discounted.

"As of now on Blue Star, the most popular animated film recently is 'Painting Dragons', which I have been paying attention to for a long time."

"Its reputation and box office are both good, and the ink-wash painting style is also very comfortable."

"Apart from it, there is 'Yu Gong', which was released a few months ago; the box office was not bad, but the reputation was very average."

"This year can be said to be an explosion period for animated films. After 'Monkey King: Hero is Back' became a hit, there were a lot of animated films released one after another, but there were also many shoddy ones just trying to ride the coattails of the hype."

"Just the subjects related to monkeys alone, there are 4 of them, and each one flops worse than the last."

For Luo Mo, if it weren't for the double harvest of reputation and box office for "Painting Dragons", he would feel even less confident.

"Before the New Year, there are still several animated films that will be released one after another," Luo Mo said in his heart.

Among them, there is one he is focusing on.

Speaking of which, Tongguang Studio even invested in this film, but didn't participate much in the production, just helped out a little.

The film is called "Riding the Clouds and Mists", and it is about... a dragon!

Luo Mo personally thinks this film is quite good, not worse than "Painting Dragons".

The most interesting thing is that he is actually quite looking forward to this kind of animated film with 【Dragon】 as the subject becoming popular.

You must know, our Nezha the Third Prince's most famous major event is—Nezha Stirs Up the Sea!

Good fellow, pulling out the tendons and peeling the skin of a dragon.

This is conducive to creating memes on the internet, and also conducive to the initial topicality.

It will also make many people more curious about what story "Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child" tells.

And in fact, "Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child" has a major advantage, and that is—subversion!

The character settings inside are often vastly different from the character images in everyone's inherent thinking, which will bring a huge sense of freshness.

"I hope this 'Riding the Clouds and Mists' won't let me down," Luo Mo thought to himself.

As one of the major shareholders of Tongguang Studio, he is equivalent to having invested money in this film as well.

After returning home, Luo Mo began to prepare for the submission for review of "Sheep Without a Shepherd" and "The Bad Kids".

These two works actually have a certain commonality.

And because of this commonality, the difficulty of passing the review has increased a lot.

"Section Chief Zhong, I really didn't intentionally wait until after the meeting to submit them for review."

"Really, I didn't," Luo Mo said to himself with a grin.

………

………

The next day, Section Chief Zhong, who is already 35 years old but has very well-maintained skin, came to work with a beaming smile.

She hadn't been sitting in her office for long, and her butt hadn't even warmed the chair yet, when a team member knocked on the door and came in.

"Section Chief Zhong, Luo Mo's 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' and 'The Bad Kids' have been submitted for review together," that person said.

"Hmm?" Zhong Lin felt that something was wrong.

These two works were filmed at different times, how could they be submitted for review together?

She imagined it and guessed: "Maybe 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' encountered some trouble in post-production and delayed the time."

What a thoughtful Section Chief Zhong, she even thought of the reasons for Luo Mo.

Besides that, Section Chief Zhong's mood at this moment even became more beautiful.

"I can watch two of Luo Mo's new works in one go!"

——Excited mature woman. jpg!

After thinking about it, she even specifically checked if there were tissues in the office.

It's ridiculous; they are clearly serious works, yet every time they have to be watched with tissues!

Some viewers even stay up late to watch them, looking at the trash can full of paper, while their faces are haggard, their eye sockets are sunken, and their dark circles are severe.

"Which one should I watch first?" Zhong Lin thought to herself.

In the end, she chose to watch "Sheep Without a Shepherd" first, and then slowly watch the 12-episode "The Bad Kids".

After all, the meeting about the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 was just held yesterday, and after listening to Luo Mo's bold words, today is just the right time to carefully watch his new films!

"Let me see where your confidence comes from," Zhong Lin thought to herself.

In less than two hours, she finished watching the film in one go, and then entered a mode of doubting life, leaning on her chair with a look of bewilderment.

Bold Luo Mo! Coming to provoke our Review Department again!

"What is it that gives you the courage to take a film like this and submit it for review just like that?"

"You don't actually think this film can pass the review, do you?"

(PS: Second update, requesting monthly votes.)

(End of chapter)