After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 666 Where to Go From Here? Unpredictable Tides

Lost in Thailand is just 1.8 million short of breaking the 007 billion mark. The bandit leader Zuo Shandiao has finally met 007 and is going to take advantage of him.

Hollywood couldn't do anything about him either.

But Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf was cancelled and its release was postponed.

Hollywood can't do anything about him, but it's not like he can just take as much as he wants.

It finally made it out of theaters on New Year's Eve, with a total box office of 19.2 billion yuan, which did not break the box office record of Transformers 3, and was almost 10 million yuan less than Transformers 3's total box office.

That's really bad luck!
Being able to surpass Transformer 3 would be a major achievement, but he didn't get any of the credit.

Zuo Shandiao felt a tightness in his chest.

Despite its strong box office performance, "Lost in Thailand" is arguably the best film of the year.

The mainland Chinese film industry has historically surpassed 19 billion yuan.

However, compared to the 20 million visitors to the Seoul Spring Festival next door, the leaders did not seem to be very satisfied.

It's normal to be dissatisfied.

Both broke film history records, competing against each other remotely.

The Seoul Spring Festival attracted over 20 million visitors, a feat even more difficult than reaching 2 billion in China.

Transformers 3 has already reached the $19 billion mark.

This marks the first time in Korean film history that a movie has surpassed 20 million viewers, and it's even a film rated 19+.

It's like having a cheat code...

He originally thought that 1600 million visitors to the Seoul Spring Festival would be the limit.

Unexpectedly, Li Mingyang's brilliant move perfectly blended ethnic conflict and national self-confidence in animation, ultimately linking Korean comics with Seoul Spring and boosting the box office of Seoul Spring.

The issue of ethnicity is like playing with fire.

Double-edged sword.

For a student from Dongda University to break the record of 20 million visits in South Korea, it requires the recognition of the nation and the entire population.

The 16 million viewers have almost emptied the South Korean movie-watching population; to break 20 million viewers, they'll have to resort to bots.

Various methods of brushing...

Ghost shows, empty tickets, organized fan groups...

Unsurprisingly, Li Mingyang chose the most difficult path again: the whole nation watched the movie repeatedly, not just for the sake of watching the film, but to boost national confidence.

Fantasy! Utter nonsense!
But Li Mingyang succeeded.

2000 million visitors is not even the limit for Seoul Spring; it may exceed 2100 million visitors!
"Mr. Han, this is Wang Changtian's phone."

Zuo Shandiao snapped out of his daze and answered the phone.

"Hey."

"President Han, Li Mingyang is going to make another movie."

"Really? This kid's addicted to making movies! That's a good thing!" Zuo Shandiao exclaimed.

One after another, very good.

However, it's quite speechless that Zuo Shandiao keeps making movies that can't be shown in China.

The radical ending of "A New World" is unlikely to be shown in China.

It has a rating of 8.9 on Douban.

Seoul Spring was filmed so well that it's impossible for it to be released in the country.

Douban has even blocked this movie.

It's actually quite difficult for "Spring in Seoul" to get into Cannes, as the quality of the films competing for Cannes this year is extremely high.

The chances of it making it to the Berlin Film Festival are very high, partly due to its subject matter and partly due to less competition.

However, no matter what he's aiming for, as long as he wins an award, he can benefit from it.

"Director Li wants to film a prostitute," Wang Changtian said cautiously.

"Oh, so this movie can be filmed now?" Zuo Shandiao said with a smile, then suddenly realized that this was a project of China Film Group. "This kid is too outrageous, filming prostitutes without even telling me."

"Casting tomorrow, filming starts – everything done in one go..."

Bang!
Zuo Shandiao was furious. He slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "Have you lost your mind? Miss is a project that the higher-ups are paying attention to. It's not up to him to decide. Doesn't he understand? Don't you understand either?"

That's why I called you!

"..."

After hanging up the phone, Zuo Shandiao instructed his secretary to book the earliest flight to South Korea.

After finishing his cigarette, he asked his secretary to cancel it.

If Li Mingyang only makes movies, or only runs a movie company.

He had already gone to the Koreans to support him.

But Li Mingyang's ambitions were too great; he wanted to create a streaming media platform and bring China Film Group into his streaming media strategy.

He has no right to make this decision, nor does he want to get involved.

He wanted a smooth landing.

……

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Stephen Chow's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons hit theaters and had a great opening.

However, the interests involved in this film are very complex.

It became so complicated that many problems arose when everyone was dividing the profits.

The producers of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons—Stephen Chow, Tung Ping, Wang Dajun, Jiang Zhiqiang, and Han Sanping—are all formidable figures.

The production companies involved include Huayi Brothers, China Film Group, Dongda Culture, Bigo Films, and Edko Films.

The overseas box office performance of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons was mediocre, very mediocre.

The total overseas box office revenue of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons did not exceed 20 million US dollars.

The mainland contributed the most to the box office.

Judging from the revenue-sharing structure, Bigo Group, as the main producer and investor of "Journey to the West", is relatively conservative in its box office predictions.

The total investment in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was 1.06 million yuan. Bigo Group originally owned 60% of the shares, but before the film's release, it sold 30% of its shares to Dongda Culture for 3800 million yuan at a 20% premium.

At the same time, the investors jointly obtained a guaranteed deposit of 8800 million yuan from Huayi Brothers.

In this way, regardless of the box office performance, Bigo Group has reduced its own risk to zero, but it has also lost the potential for greater revenue sharing.

Huayi Brothers' claim that it was the primary producer of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," the distributor in the East China region, and the biggest box office beneficiary in the East China region is also somewhat ambiguous.

This incident is essentially a case of three listed companies consciously protecting their stock prices by using wording favorable to themselves when announcing the news.

Since the release of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, the three parties have been secretly feuding, and all the announcements they have released are good news for themselves.

The benefit is that the stock prices of all three listed companies have increased.

After the box office surpassed 1 billion, the three companies started openly tearing each other apart. Huayi Brothers was the one being torn apart and was forced to suspend trading for a day to publicly announce the profit-sharing model and agreement details for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

Essentially, it means that Stephen Chow sold off most of the profits before the film's release.

I kept only a small portion for myself.

Huayi took on the biggest risk.

With box office revenue soaring, Huayi Brothers promised to give Stephen Chow a share of the profits, and the two parties eventually reached an agreement. However, Huayi Brothers, lacking any sense of ethics, kept delaying the signing of the excess box office revenue sharing agreement.

The agreement on excess box office revenue sharing ultimately remained just a verbal agreement.

The law is based on evidence; without a signature and seal, the so-called profit-sharing agreement has no legal effect.

Stephen Chow lost his lawsuit and could only complain that Huayi Brothers was unethical and cheated him, that the good words and beautiful visions they had made before were not valid, and that they lacked basic contractual spirit.

Huayi Brothers doesn't care about Stephen Chow's name; they're just happy to be fat themselves.

Then came the story of Stephen Chow taking the mermaid to Enlight Media, Huayi Brothers' arch-rival.

Then The Mermaid became a huge hit! It became the first domestic film to break 3 billion yuan in box office revenue.

Today was a great start; the investors were toasting each other, their faces flushed with alcohol, and they were overjoyed.

Stephen Chow was laughing like a fool after being flattered by Wang Dajun...

Wen Zhang, who usually liked to give the media the cold shoulder and was arrogant, was now blushing and smiling like a grandson, bowing and scraping as he toasted the group of bigwigs.

With the box office booming in the new year, Stephen Chow got drunk before the banquet was even over, and had to be helped out of the private room by his girlfriend and assistant.

The others continued to boast, claiming that everyone in the room was either related to Alibaba or was one of Alibaba's own people.

As they chatted, the topic quickly turned to Li Mingyang.

"Do you think Li Houzi could have broken the 2 billion mark last year if he hadn't left?"

"Breaking 2 billion is a bit doubtful. I feel he's better at youth films, but helping Lost in Thailand break 2 billion is a piece of cake."

"I've never seen such a box office flop as Goodbye! It plummeted from over 40 million a day to just a few hundred thousand. If Goodbye's box office hadn't dropped so drastically, Lost in Thailand could have really made 2 billion."

"Where did these 40 million come from? Goodbye's best single-day record was only 13.8 million," Wen Zhang asked in confusion.

"Haha, do you understand? Or do I?"

Wen Zhang, feeling slighted, forced a smile and said, "How could I know anything about these things? Of course you do. Mr. Dong trusts Mr. Dong!"

Dong Ping chuckled as he fiddled with the amber bracelet, saying, "Actually, when it comes to insight, it has to be President Wang who has the sharpest eye. He saw through Li Houzi's wolfish ambition at a glance and spared no effort to suppress him even before he made his debut. Unfortunately, no one took it seriously, and he made it through."

Dong Ping's words were roundabout, and Wang Dajun couldn't immediately tell whether they were flattery or sarcasm.

In any case, Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media are now locked in a fierce battle.

After a year of opening up film finance dividends in the mainland film market, Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media are the biggest beneficiaries, with their stock prices fluctuating wildly along with box office revenue!
The biggest obstacle to Huayi's growth and expansion is lighting!
The financial benefits of the film industry are only truly enjoyed by a single dominant player.

Dividing it between two families is too little.

If it weren't for the movie "Lost in Thailand," Enlight Media's market value would still be around 10 billion, making it impossible for them to compete with Huayi Brothers.

"Raising a tiger will only lead to your own downfall! I told you long ago, Li Mingyang can't be allowed to live. He'll eat the meat, and others won't even have a chance to drink the soup." Wang Dajun took a big gulp of wine, squinting as he smiled. "What he wants is the market, not just box office revenue. He wants a monopoly, a dictatorship. Just you wait and see, he'll try to sabotage our cooperation with Korean entertainment." "That's for sure. If I were him, and someone kicked me out, I'd definitely take a bite when I got the chance. You guys haven't been to Korea lately, have you?"

"How could I not have been there? Korean entertainment industry treats him like one of their own. He practically monopolized all the posters in the Shilla Duty Free Shop. I searched for a long time before I found a Girls' Generation poster."

"When Korean entertainment companies create rankings, they always compare him to local stars, and he's always number one."

"I heard he robbed a red-light district in Lotte in South Korea, making tens of millions a day..."

"They're basically no different from chaebols now."

"The Koreans are a bunch of idiots. They're raising a tiger that will turn on them, and they won't even know they're going to get eaten."

“The chaebols aren’t stupid; they’re shrewd. Li Mingyang is doing very well in the Korean entertainment industry because they’ve made him famous, and they’ll use him against us later,” Dong Ping said.

"No need to think about it, the higher-ups are definitely asking us to cede some profits, but I'm the first to disagree with bringing Li Mingyang back. He's invested in over a hundred movies in South Korea this year, the list is frighteningly long, mostly small investments, and just a few hits would make a fortune."

"I just can't understand how they dare to praise Li Houzi so much."

Wang Dajun said with a smile, "Old Huang, you're wrong to think that way. Li Mingyang's achievements weren't made by hype; he earned them himself. In the field of commercial films, from filmmaking to distribution, he's the number one in Asia. He's a film system in himself."

"Isn't that an exaggeration? I admit he's awesome... If we don't drive him away, he'll eat up all the box office revenue during prime time, and we'll be starving!"

"It's no exaggeration to say that his commercial skills are top-notch. Old Ma thinks it's a waste of his talent to make movies."

The group of bigwigs were having a heated discussion, and Wen Zhang couldn't get a word in edgewise. All he could do was walk around the table pouring drinks for them. He was so tired that he was already sober.

At this moment, he missed his godfather very much. If his godfather were here, he would feel sorry for him if he saw how tired he was.

“Actually, I think Li Mingyang is nothing to be afraid of,” Dong Ping suddenly said.

Everyone else looked at Dong Ping, and even Wang Dajun cast a curious glance at him.

In his view, if Li Mingyang were to return to China, Huayi would be either dead or barely alive.

Dong Ping switched the amber bracelet to the other hand and said shrewdly, "I don't know who did it, but it wasn't me. They've been mobilizing online trolls every now and then to smear Li Mingyang. Actually, it's not really smearing him, since he has character issues and a questionable stance. Chairman Wang, don't you think so?"

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do it," Wang Dajun said angrily.

"Haha, I didn't say it was you... Even if someone who is disloyal, unfilial, and unjust is incredibly talented, the higher-ups won't support him. We shouldn't stop him; we should hope he comes back."

"I thought it was something else, you old fogey! Brother Wang and Lao Jia thought about bringing Li Mingyang back during the summer vacation, but he didn't want to!"

"If it were me, I'd be coming back for nothing!"

"They have connections in both the legal and illegal worlds, reaping both fame and fortune, and can do whatever they want. South Korea is much freer than China."

“His way of thinking is unconventional, and he makes exceptionally good banned films. I even doubt that he can adapt to the domestic censorship.”

The others were shouting loudly, but Wang Dajun remained silent, looking at Dong Ping with amusement.

He thought Dong Ping had some brilliant idea, but it turned out to be a trick he had used before.

Dong Ping smiled broadly, and when faced with the questions, he did not refute them. He drank alone until everyone quieted down and looked at him.

He slowly picked up his wine cup and gave everyone a sly look.

"You guys have all forgotten who Li Mingyang is."

"Does he always choose the most difficult path?"

"Where is the most difficult path? Europe? Scripts? Hollywood?"

"None of those are the hardest things. The hardest part is going back to China!"

The private room became even quieter.

So quiet you could hear a pin drop...

……

Police Story 2013 production team.

After finishing a scene, Jackie Chan warmly greeted the staff, smiled, bowed, and sat down on his chair to drink goji berry tea.

"Brother Long, your phone is here."

Jackie Chan took the phone, looked at the unfamiliar number, but did not reject the call, because no more than two people knew this private phone number.

He got up from the chair and walked to a corner of the studio.

After listening to the other end of the line for more than ten minutes, Jackie Chan didn't say anything and silently hung up the phone.

In a secluded corner, he let out a heavy sigh.

Jackie Chan has been in a very bad mood lately. The market in Hong Kong has been ruined, and in order to integrate into the Beijing circle, he has also put aside all his airs.

It's quite difficult to integrate into Beijing's elite circles, but he believed in his influence. After three or four years of effort, he made connections through Yinghuang and Huayi, and also became acquainted with Lao Zhang through the Twelve Zodiacs.

They all treated each other like brothers and got along very well.

Everything was fine until the release of CZ12, which made Jackie Chan feel like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind.

The movie "Chinese Zodiac" was originally scheduled to be released on December 12th.

He changed his file to accommodate 1942.

1942 performed poorly, so Lost in Thailand moved its release date up twice and premiered ahead of schedule! The box office exploded!
He originally didn't want to move up the release date, but the Double Twelve period was so tempting that he did.

High-definition pirated versions appeared shortly after its release.

Of all the movies released during the entire period, only his "Chinese Zodiac" had high-definition pirated copies available, which turned out to be from overseas theaters. There was no way to complain.

This is too obvious.

He experienced for the first time what it meant to be 'fireproof, theftproof, and lightproof'. In order to achieve his first billion-yuan box office in mainland China, Jackie Chan followed Li Mingyang's example and held a movie ticket lottery concert.

This tactic worked wonders. The twelve zodiac animals marched in high spirits, and the box office exploded, surpassing 500 million yuan even faster than Lost in Thailand.

Unexpectedly, just half a month after its release, the problem of piracy resurfaced, and the daily box office dropped below ten million.

Its performance declined steadily, eventually failing to reach the 1 billion mark, with a total box office of 970 million yuan.

Without piracy, it's guaranteed to surpass one billion in box office revenue, and might even beat Lost in Thailand.

Right now, he also faces a big problem: the concert.

Nobody wants to invest...

Li Mingyang's concerts were funded by Meituan, Youku, and Alibaba.

He'll have to pay for it himself, and although he can afford it, it's still very difficult for him.

However, the fans felt that one show was not enough and wanted to add three more, following Li Mingyang's example.

Li Mingyang is young and has played four games in a row.

He's already at his limit with one game.

He originally wanted to gloss over it, but public opinion wouldn't allow it, and neither would the lighting.

Enlight Media spent a lot of money hiring online trolls; they're going to expose him...

The reason is still the land for Yinghuang Film and Television Cultural Village two years ago. He bypassed everyone else and negotiated with the top leaders in Hangzhou in the office, helping Yinghuang acquire that land.

This led to the Three-Body Problem Film City, which Enlight Media and LeEco jointly developed, being located in Shanghai.

Trying to draw water with a bamboo basket is futile.

In the end, Yinghuang Film City was shut down. Not only did he not gain any benefits, he also offended people in Hangzhou...

The Three-Body Film City is the number one live-action entertainment destination in China, and it receives high attention from the government.

People in the entertainment industry are petty. Outsiders think that a big boss like Wang Changtian wouldn't be so stingy.

Actually... Jackie Chan was a little scared.

Wang Changtian did this kind of thing many times: "take advantage of your illness to ruin you."

Just then, a commotion broke out outside. Jackie Chan turned around and saw Li Lianjie and Wu Jing leading a large group of people to visit the film set. As soon as they entered the studio, the two of them enthusiastically handed out gifts to everyone.

Jackie Chan was puzzled. Who was Li Lianjie visiting on set? It couldn't possibly be him!

The two had no real relationship.

There are rumors that he and Li Zhi were making a movie together, and Li Lianjie was unhappy about it. They had a falling out, but is that a big deal?

If there was any real conflict, it was with Chow Yun-fat.

Chow Yun-fat really went all out! He beat him to death...

"Ah Long, you've worked hard. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please keep warm." Li Lianjie warmly shook hands with Jackie Chan, presented the gift, and took photos, all in one smooth motion.

Before Jackie Chan could say a few polite words, Li Lianjie rushed in front of the camera.

When Li Lianjie and Wu Jing came in, the crew was still filming, filming Jing Tian's scenes.

Filming was forced to stop because of the intrusion of a group of people.

The tough-guy director Ding Chen was initially very unhappy and was almost cursing, but he laughed when he saw that it was Li Lianjie and Wu Jing.

"Director Ding, it's been a long time. Here, this is just a small token of my appreciation." Li Lianjie smiled and handed over the gift bag.

Although they were described as a small token of appreciation, they were actually gifts worth thousands of yuan. The woman received cosmetics, and the man received fine tea.

Director Ding accepted the gift, but before he could say a few words, Li Lianjie had already swept past like the wind.

They went to visit the actors who were filming. They were perfunctory with everyone else, but when it came to Jing Tian, ​​they stayed and chatted with her with a big smile.

Their attitude was incredibly good.

After slowly handing out the gifts, Wu Jing waited for his senior brother to give him a signal and wave. He immediately ran over, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then suggested going out for hot pot.

"It's so late..."

"It's only a few o'clock, not even past midnight yet. It's not far away. It's an old man who's been around for decades. Not just anyone can find it. Director Li and I used to go there to eat all the time."

Jing Tian hesitated.

She wanted to wrap up filming as soon as possible so she could get back to her movie and finish shooting her scenes for today.

Li Lianjie tilted his head repeatedly, and although he didn't say anything, his meaning was clear: he wanted to have a meal together.

Faced with the invitation from the international superstar, Jing Tian finally nodded and agreed.

(End of this chapter)