Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 33 The Difference Between the Two Women

The interview ended with a chorus of praise, followed by the dinner.

This time, China Film Group gathered most of the famous people in the circle. It is an opportunity for everyone, either to build relationships, or to discuss cooperation, or to expand personal connections and exchange resources.

After Zhou Zhaolong toasted Shi Lei with a glass of wine, he was pulled away by Hong Jinbao. Now Zhou Zhaolong can be called a martial arts star, and a world-famous one at that.

Hong Jinbao brought Zhou Zhaolong along to discuss his new film.

Liu Tao discussed with Shi Lei for a while, and when she found that Shi Lei had no intention of going out for a walk, she tentatively said, "Director, can I go out for a walk?"

"Go!" Shi Lei waved his hand.

He is a big boss with assets worth hundreds of millions, so he can naturally sit back and relax. Just leave the job of building relationships with other people to Deng Hongxu.

The main reason is that he has a lot of movie and TV scripts that can make money, and his own company has enough funds, so he doesn't need to ask anyone for help.

"I'm going."

Liu Tao was wearing a relatively conservative white evening dress at this time. Although it was not revealing, her temperament was not inferior to anyone else. With the blessing of the film, she was more confident than Fan Binbin and Li Binbin, and her radiance was more dazzling.

Shi Lei turned to Dong Xuan who was still sitting next to him and said, "You should go too!"

Dong Xuan was stunned, then shook her head and said, "Brother Lei, I will stay with you."

Shi Lei was stunned and looked at her slightly exposed conscience.

Noticing Shi Lei's gaze, she subconsciously raised her hand to block it, but then she remembered that Shi Lei had seen everything, so she put her hand down again.

Shi Lei was quite speechless and asked, "Then what's the point of you wearing this suit?"

"This... my agent asked me to wear this, why is that not okay?" Dong Xuan looked at Shi Lei, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Of course you can, but if you don't plan on socializing, you'd better dress conservatively! Cover up what needs to be covered." He finally understood why Dong Xuan was not popular in his previous life.

The goddess dragon bit her hair, touching the hearts of countless men, but she did not seize the opportunity.

This is because your ambition and drive are not strong enough!

Unlike Liu Tao, who has taken on 26 dramas and appeared on 6 variety shows in five years, this is what a working person should be like.

Forget it, never mind, just keep it like this! He is not short of money anyway.

"Okay, okay, Brother Lei." After saying that, Dong Xuan's gaze stayed on Shi Lei, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"what happened?"

"Brother Lei, aren't you going out?"

Shi Lei shook his head and explained, "No, given my current position, I can communicate over the phone if I need anything. If it works, we can talk in person. If not, we won't meet. I don't need to get close to them at this banquet."

Winner of the Venice Silver Lion Award for Best Director, director with box office revenue of over 100 million US dollars in North America, a major director of both art films and commercial films, people in China beg him for favors!

Now that you have become a strong person, you should behave dignifiedly!

The main reason is that he has lived a new life and is too lazy to talk meaningless trash. In his previous life, he was badly cheated by the drinking culture and was very tired. In this life, he can make movies and have sex with actresses. What a beautiful life!
"Brother Lei, you are so awesome!" Dong Xuan showed admiring eyes.

"Of course!" Shi Lei was very happy to be praised by the beautiful woman.

"Why are you hiding here?" a voice sounded behind Shi Lei.

Shi Lei turned around and saw who it was. He immediately replied, "Boss Han, I'm worried here! I don't know if the movie will do well at the box office."

"Come on~~ If you don't know how to explain, don't explain. I didn't notice that you were worried. Instead, I noticed that you were having a great time chatting with the beautiful lady."

"Of course it's fun to chat with beautiful women." Shi Lei nodded sincerely.

"Then you're not going there?"

Shi Lei opened his mouth and was about to give a reason...

Han Sanpin raised his hand to stop him and said, "Forget it, I'm not talking to you about this. Do you have any ideas for your next film?"

"I got it. I plan to go to North America to shoot an inspirational drama film and compete for an Oscar. The cost is 1800 million US dollars. I own 40%, China Film Group owns 30%, and Warner Bros. owns 30%. Warner Bros. will be responsible for overseas distribution. Will you invest in it, Mr. Han?" "China Film Group will invest in your film, but you can also use domestic films to compete for an Oscar! Why go to North America?" Han Sanpin said with a smile.

"I'm not director Li An or Zhang Yimou. They can make it to the Oscars with Chinese-language films, but I can't." Shi Lei replied seriously.

In order to prevent Han Sanpin from saying anything morally blackmailing, he could only directly admit that his ability was inferior to Zhang Yimou and Li An.

In fact, he is indeed worse than these two people. One of them is good at big scenes, and the other is good at photographing complex human nature, which are much better than him.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with admitting that he was not as good as the other two.

As long as the price is right, it’s okay to admit that I’m not as good as Feng Dapao, but of course Feng Dapao can’t afford the price.

He is different from other directors. Other directors have various dreams, but he has only one idea, which is to make money!
Now that there is a movie like "Million Dollar Baby" that can make both money and fame, he certainly won't let it go.

"You! Why don't you have some youthful drive? How do you know it won't work if you don't try?"

Shi Lei explained helplessly: "Boss Han, there are not many opportunities for trial and error in Hollywood. If I fail once, my salary as a commercial film director will be reduced by millions of dollars."

"Don't worry, Mr. Han. The filming cycle of a North American film is not long. It will take only two months to complete the filming and editing. Then I will return to China to shoot a martial arts film."

He roughly guessed what Han Sanpin was thinking. Han Sanpin was now trying to increase the number of domestic blockbusters in an attempt to boost the domestic market.

But there is no point in being anxious because there are restrictions in the country.

03年国内电影荧幕总共2000块左右，到08年，电影院的荧幕有4000多块；21年电影荧幕数量突破8万块。

The number of movie screens affects the upper limit of the film.

Not every movie can break the ceiling like "Titanic", "Shaolin Temple" and "Hero".

If he remembered correctly, starting from January 04, 1, foreign investors were allowed to invest in the construction of cinemas. In 1, the movie "Avatar" allowed cinemas to add 09D screens, which enabled the domestic film market to enter a stage of rapid development.

So it will take time for the domestic market to take off.

If the country is willing to introduce policies to further speed up the construction of cinemas, it can speed up the process.

But matters like national policy are not something a new director like him can get involved in.

Han Sanpin didn't know what Shi Lei was thinking. When he heard that Shi Lei had plans to shoot a martial arts film, he smiled and asked, "How much investment do you plan to get for this martial arts film?"

Shi Lei said a little embarrassedly: "I haven't thought about this yet, and the script is not ready yet."

"Hurry up and get the script out so I can see it." Han Sanpin glared at Shi Lei, feeling a little disappointed. It was so hard to become a commercial film director, but he went to North America to make movies. Is it so good abroad?

"No problem, give me a month." Shi Lei made an OK gesture.

……

On the second day, the media vigorously promoted the grand premiere of "The Matrix: Guardians", and the stars' comments...

On Saturday, August 8, the first day box office was 2 million.

Seeing this result, Shi Lei felt relieved.

The media hype had some effect on Sunday, with the film grossing $1360 million.

On Monday, the box office grossed $720 million.

In the next few days, the box office on weekdays fluctuated between 600 million and 700 million.

On Saturday, August 8, the box office was 9 million.

On Sunday, the box office grossed 980 million.

On Monday, the box office grossed $580 million.

After ten days of release, the box office reached 8340 million. It is estimated that in another week, the box office will drop below 100 million because piracy has already occurred. In a few days, the box office will drop precipitously.

(End of this chapter)