Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 188 The Savage Attack
No secrets stay hidden forever. The news that the profit-sharing ratio for Wu Yuchen's new film had been raised to 40% quickly spread within the industry.

Jiang Wen, who had just finished filming "Devils on the Doorstep," saw producer Dong Ping looking so happy and couldn't help but ask, "Old Dong, what's making you so happy?"

"Great news! Wu Yuchen has raised the profit-sharing ratio by another 3 percentage points!" Dong Ping said with a hearty laugh.

No wonder he's happy; it's a triple celebration. First, filming for "Devils on the Doorstep" has wrapped; second, Jiang Wen only went over budget by 600 million yuan during the filming, much to the relief of the investors and Dong Ping, who remarked that Jiang Wen has truly matured!
Then Wu Yuchen increased the profit-sharing ratio. So, is it reasonable not to give 40% when "Devils on the Doorstep" is released next year?
Jiang Wen chuckled upon hearing this: "Tsk tsk, this internationally renowned director certainly has clout!"

He then said to Dong Ping, "Old Dong, you've made a lot of money, so the investment for the next movie will have to go up again."

Dong Ping was taken aback by this and coughed: "Director Jiang, we can talk about the next investment later. We should focus on the present. Why don't you finish editing 'Devils on the Doorstep' first?"

The China Film News also gave a special report on this matter, after all, the increase from 35% to 40% this year is a significant step for the ongoing reform of Chinese cinema.

They also interviewed many industry insiders about this matter, and almost all of them praised it. For example, Feng Xiaogang stood up to cheer for Wu Yuchen.

"If you ask me, I wouldn't mind giving Director Wu 40%, 50%, or even 60% of the revenue share! Making movies is very risky; a slight mistake can lead to huge losses, while cinemas make money effortlessly. Now that Director Wu can increase the revenue share by 5%, it may be a small step for him personally, but it's a giant leap for Chinese filmmakers!"

Zhang Yimou also praised him, saying, "Wu Yuchen has brought benefits to all Chinese filmmakers."

Chen Kaizi? Kaizi is at home recovering from his injuries!
He walked the Cannes red carpet in May full of hope with "The Emperor and the Assassin," only to return empty-handed, a technical award that went to art director Tu Juhua. This was a huge disappointment, especially compared to Wu Yuchen's Golden Bear and Best Actress win at Berlin in February.
In this situation, Kai naturally shut himself away from visitors and silently licked his wounds...

Although this incident had a significant impact within the industry, it only garnered some attention from a few readers. After all, most people outside the industry don't care about how the film company and theaters split the profits. In contrast, most of their attention was focused on Wu Yuchen's upcoming film, "My Sassy Girl."

"My Sassy Girl" not only boasts the acclaimed director Wu Yuchen, but also stars the superstar Wang Zuxian. Coupled with the joint promotional efforts of China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group, its promotion is far easier than previous films. Some newspapers haven't even needed public relations; they've already spontaneously started mentioning "My Sassy Girl." What can you do? It's the biggest hot topic in the film industry right now!
However, Wu Yuchen wasn't going to be foolish and do nothing; he allocated ample funds for publicity, creating a comprehensive buzz through newspapers, television, and cinemas. Furthermore, the production company even came up with a promotional slogan:
"Watching 'My Sassy Girl' heals the regret of watching 'The Classic'!"

Last year, Wu Yuchen's film "If Love Has a Destiny" brought moviegoers to tears, leaving them heartbroken and with a lingering sense of injustice.

It's important to understand that in China, only a minority of people actually buy tickets to the cinema; the vast majority watch pirated copies, making them the potential target audience. This time, the goal is to lure in as many people as possible who have already seen "The Classic."

June 25th, Friday, Shanghai.

When Wu Yuchen and Wang Zuxian appeared at the cinema, they were greeted with cheers from many movie fans. The premiere of "My Sassy Girl" was held in Shanghai, since the entire film was shot on location there. The citizens of Shanghai are certainly very enthusiastic about "My Sassy Girl"!

Today, cinemas in Shanghai were basically all filled with screenings of "My Sassy Girl," with all other movies making way for it. Tickets for this movie sold out instantly, which led to the emergence of scalpers who dared to sell a single ticket for 100 yuan!
After dealing with the media and fans, the two sat in the front row and chatted casually.

"Little Fairy, I thought you were going to be stationed in Taiwan~"

Wang Zuxian waved her hand confidently and said, "It's okay for Taiwan. I've already been on variety shows, so I'll definitely be in movie theaters, and Boss Cai will be there to back me up!"

The "Boss Cai" that Wang Zuxian mentioned is Cai Songlin, a major film producer in Taiwan. He founded Scholar Films, controls two major cinema chains in Taiwan, and is a figure with connections to both the legitimate and criminal worlds. This time, the Taiwan rights to "My Sassy Girl" were sold to him for HK$2000 million, covering the entire Taiwan region.

Actually, the Taiwanese film market is now almost entirely dominated by Hollywood blockbusters, and the Hong Kong filmmakers are no longer competitive. However, last year, "The Classic" achieved great success in Taiwan, holding its own against Western films, which caught Cai Songlin's attention.

Therefore, I paid special attention to "My Sassy Girl," starring Wu Yu-chen and Wang Zu-xian, and bought the DVD after watching the finished product. With Wang Zu-xian's appeal in Taiwan and the quality of the film, the box office alone would be enough to recoup the cost, and the DVD sales would be pure profit.

Thanks to Wu Yuchen's reputation and the success of "The Classic" last year, many Asian film companies came forward to purchase the rights to "My Sassy Girl" after its release. Therefore, Wu Yuchen sold the rights to various regions in advance, finding the prices reasonable. The sales included $600 million to Japan, $300 million to South Korea, $150 million to Singapore, and since he has his own company in Hong Kong, he opted to release the film there directly and share the box office revenue.

The overseas Asian copyrights alone have earned more than ten million US dollars, which makes the Beijing Film Studio and Shanghai Film Studio, which invested in the project, very happy. Therefore, they support Wu Yuchen no matter what he does now.

Wu Yuchen did this because he wanted to have a simultaneous release across Asia. He and Wang Xianxian had the resources to support a simultaneous release across Asia.

"Little Fairy, I'll be troubling you to make a trip to South Korea and Taiwan from now on," Wu Yuchen said with a cupped-hands gesture and a smile.

Wang Zuxian rolled her eyes: "I can't compare to you, a busy person, a Hollywood director!"

"I didn't want to either, but Hollywood is pressuring me, and I'm flying to America tomorrow."

The US is also urging Wu Yuchen to go there, because "The Sixth Sense" is also scheduled for the summer season, to be released in July. Disney has already started promoting the film, but they also need to invite Wu Yuchen, the newly emerging A-list director, to appear on shows and such.

Therefore, this time, Wang Zuxian will have to shoulder the promotional burden in both South Korea and Japan. She already has considerable popularity in both places, and in South Korea, she is even considered the most popular actress, surpassing even the locals. However, Wang Zuxian doesn't want to do promotions in Hong Kong, clearly still harboring resentment towards the Hong Kong media and paparazzi from the past.

Wu Yuchen wasn't worried about that. While Wang Zuxian from Hong Kong wasn't willing to go, there was F4. He could get F4 to mobilize their female fans to go to the cinema, and Cai Yinong could also hire some online trolls to stir things up online. These days, young people with internet access are the main potential audience for "My Sassy Girl." Netizens are still quite innocent; they can't even see or imagine the existence of online trolls. A little encouragement is all it takes to get them to the cinema.

Xu Zheng, also seated in the front row, was both excited and nervous. After all, this was his first commercial blockbuster film and his first time attending a film premiere. Although he had previously won awards such as the Magnolia Award for Best Actor in a play, now that he had truly entered the film industry, he understood how important this film was to him, and it was inevitable that he would be nervous at the last minute.

Although the movie is unlikely to lose money, he is afraid of any unforeseen circumstances. Wu Yuchen and Wang Zuxian both have strong backing, so they are not afraid of failing once. But he, as a newcomer, will have a hard time making a comeback!
……

Shen Peng is a sophomore at Shanghai University. His final exams were already over, but he hadn't left yet because he wanted to see "My Sassy Girl" with his sweetheart, Lin Hui. Thank goodness Wu Yuchen didn't schedule it for July; otherwise, they would both be back in their hometowns and wouldn't be able to watch it together.

His relationship with the girl was almost there, just waiting for him to confess his feelings. So he planned to use watching this romantic movie as an opportunity to deepen their connection and take it to the next level. These days, relationships between men and women are still relatively innocent; if a girl is willing to go to the movies with you, she's basically interested in you.

Dressed smartly and sporting the trendy center-part hairstyle reminiscent of Aaron Kwok, Shen Peng walked confidently into the movie theater with Lin Hui. Seeing the queue at the popcorn counter, Shen Peng, eager to impress, resolutely pulled Lin Hui over.

Lin Hui looked at the outrageous price of 15 yuan, tugged at Shen Peng's clothes and advised, "Why don't you not buy it? Last year I cried so much watching Wu Yuchen's 'If Love Has a Destiny' that I had no appetite."

Shen Peng waved his hand dismissively and said generously, "It's alright, I saw in the promotional materials that it's a comedy film, so it won't affect anything!"

Upon entering the theater, it was almost full, and everyone was chattering excitedly: "I've been looking forward to this movie for ages since last year, and I'm so glad it's finally here!"

"To be honest, the only watchable movies in China right now are those starring Wu Yuchen. What are the others? They're all so boring!"

"Of course! Wu Yuchen is a renowned director in Europe and America; he's on a completely different level!"

"I wonder how 'My Sassy Girl' compares to last year's 'The Classic'?"

"With Wang Zuxian joining, it's definitely top-notch!"

After sitting down, Shen Peng looked around and saw that he was the only one holding a bucket of popcorn, and a faint sense of superiority welled up inside him. Moreover, he had heard his roommate say that if you take a girl to the movies and eat popcorn, your hands will touch while you're eating, and then you'll be able to hold hands and never let go. Thinking of this, Shen Peng was filled with anticipation.

A moment later, the lights in the theater went out.

While watching Xu Zheng appear on the screen, Shen Peng would occasionally grab a handful of popcorn and stuff it into his mouth, hoping to grab Lin Hui's little hand.

However, he soon lost his appetite...

Because the plot starts with the male and female protagonists meeting, and that classic scene where the protagonist vomits.

A drunken Joey Wong physically persuades a young man to give up his seat, an angry old man is vomited on, and the male protagonist is mistaken for her boyfriend. This classic misunderstanding setup made everyone on set burst into laughter.

At the same time, everyone instantly understood the meaning of the movie title "My Sassy Girl," which is really simple and straightforward!

It was funny, but when Shen Peng looked at Guo Da on the screen with his head covered in vomit, and then at the popcorn in his hand, he could no longer swallow it.

Xu Zheng plays Qian Niu, a somewhat reserved but actually honest and simple man. After meeting Wang Zuxian, who is strong and somewhat domineering, he encounters a series of unfortunate, tragic, and hilarious events.

While we've seen domineering women in movies and TV shows before, unlike the unreasonable and annoying shrewishness of some shrewish or rebellious characters, Wang Zuxian's "wildness" didn't evoke negative reactions from the audience; instead, it was quite endearing. This endearing quality is naturally inseparable from her good looks, a perfect blend of elegance, intellect, playfulness, and a powerful queen.

Moreover, Wang Zuxian's tall stature, stemming from a basketball family, directly reinforced the impression of a strong woman and a weak man in this relationship.

Then, a series of events followed, including the male lead carrying the drunk female lead to a small hotel twice, the female lead pretending to be pregnant to help the male lead skip class, encountering a fugitive on his birthday, betting on each other's foreheads on the subway, and the male and female leads exchanging shoes.

The film has a light and brisk pace, making the audience laugh out loud while also finding it very interesting. The humor, which is very relatable to everyday life in a relationship, doesn't feel awkward at all, making it a film that's engaging from start to finish.

The characters of the male and female leads are becoming increasingly well-developed. The female lead is intelligent, clever, pure, and beautiful, but she also has a "wild" side that is different from her appearance, making her completely different from traditional Asian women and refreshing.

Although the male protagonist is a silly and ordinary boy, he has a very soft and kind heart and is willing to forgive everything about the female protagonist.

At this moment, Shen Peng's attention was completely drawn into the movie. It was so interesting, and the funny, heartwarming, and sweet love scenes really lived up to the healing slogan in the promotion!

Of course, the female lead won't stay this "wild" forever, and the plot won't remain this simply funny forever.

As the relationship between the male and female protagonists develops, the film gradually shifts from the humor of the first half to touching and tragic moments.

To the strains of the classic piano canon, the male protagonist slowly descends the steps, removing his hat and mask one by one, and presents roses to the entire school in front of the teachers and students. Cheers erupt from the audience, while on stage, they have only eyes for each other.

The romantic atmosphere in this scene was absolutely off the charts. Many girls in the theater were screaming "Wow!" and laughing like doting aunts. Even Shen Peng, a grown man, was grinning from ear to ear.

Just then, he suddenly felt his arm being hugged. He saw Lin Hui leaning her head on his shoulder, saying with emotion, "How romantic!"

Shen Peng turned his head and looked into Lin Hui's big eyes and her beautiful face so close to his. Under the influence of the atmosphere, an impulse rose in his mind, and he lowered his head and kissed her.

Lin Hui didn't struggle, and their lips met. Then, mimicking scenes from movies and TV dramas, they opened their lips, wanting to make further contact. However, the next moment, Lin Hui felt that the other person's tongue was covered in popcorn crumbs, and all her feelings vanished instantly. She pushed Shen Peng away and hurriedly took out a tissue to wipe her mouth.

Shen Peng finally realized what had happened and wanted to slap himself twice. "What a fucking idiot I was! Taking a girl to the movies and eating popcorn! What kind of beast gave me this advice? I'm going to cut ties with her when I get back!"
Lin Hui ignored Shen Peng, who was on the verge of tears, and focused on watching the movie. She was a loyal fan of Wu Yuchen, and this movie was really to her liking.

Then, during the female lead's blind date, the male lead's "10 Rules for Love" were incredibly touching. Coupled with the background music of Li Jian's "I Believe," many viewers who had been laughing uproariously fell silent, and many women even started crying. Lin Hui, for example, had a sore nose and misty eyes.

Next, the two buried a breakup letter under a tree, making promises and offering blessings to each other. During this process, the female lead's monologue allowed the audience to experience the wounded and vulnerable heart hidden beneath her fierce exterior.

The moment the female lead hesitated before running onto the train, the male lead jumped off the train and could only lie on the ground watching the female lead disappear into the distance with the train. This scene of missing each other made Lin Hui feel uneasy.

Could this foreshadow their eventual fate?!

Seriously? Is Wu Yuchen going to orchestrate another tragic ending? It's not healing, it's depressing?!
At this moment, the audience's hearts were tightly gripped. Sure enough, on the day they had agreed upon two years later, only the male protagonist, Qian Niu, came to the tree. Especially when Lin Hui saw that the person sitting under the tree had become an old man wearing the same clothes and carrying the same bag as Qian Niu, her heart sank, fearing that the words "50 years later" would pop up on the screen. Only when she saw the young Wang Zuxian walk back to the tree did she breathe a sigh of relief.

When he saw Qian Niu appear at the end, his face being cupped by his aunt, played by Zhao Yazhi, he instantly recalled the beginning when the male protagonist received a call from his mother and didn't attend the blind date arranged by his aunt. This foreshadowing, echoing the earlier scene, was absolutely brilliant!
As the piano music of Canon played, seeing the unexpected reunion of the male and female protagonists, their eyes meeting only for each other, their hands tightly clasped together under the table, Lin Hui covered her mouth and tears of emotion flowed down her cheeks. Her heart was overflowing with sweetness, and she revealed a big, doting smile!
At this moment, at least half of the audience members were crying and laughing like her. When the movie ended and the theme song faded away, Lin Hui turned to look at her and saw that Shen Peng was crying even harder than her, with red eyes. She was startled and asked cautiously, "Are you... are you alright?"

Shen Peng shook his head sadly: "I'm so touched! Waaah..."

(End of this chapter)