Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 737 The torrent of the times rolls ever forward; I have confidence.
January is almost here.

For the film industry, this means that another fierce battle is about to begin.

With New Year's Day and the Spring Festival combined, there's a holiday period of almost half a month, indicating huge box office potential.
But this year's Lunar New Year film season is a bit crowded.

In late November, a prehistoric behemoth like "Interstellar" turned the market upside down.

In December, "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" occupied most of the theaters.

This resulted in more than twenty new films being released in January.

The competition for the Lunar New Year film season will intensify in January.

Of course, the two films that have the most pervasive influence are "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," which seem determined to fight to the bitter end.

Yu Dong had just finished announcing that "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" had surpassed 300 million yuan at the box office and was holding a celebration banquet.
Zhang Weiping also announced that "The Flowers of War" had surpassed 300 million yuan in box office revenue and that he would celebrate the success.

Even the date was chosen to be the same day.

This move left everyone in the industry dumbfounded.

"No, what's there to celebrate? Three hundred million, even if you split it all, is it enough to cover your costs?"

"That's right. If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd already made a fortune. Look at Interstellar, they haven't even had a celebration party yet."

"Universal is preparing for 'Interstellar,' a big one, $1.5 billion! Who knows how far it will ultimately gross? That's what makes a celebration necessary!"

"."

At that moment, Wu Chen had just hung up the phone with David Lyndon.

"Okay, we'll go there in a few days."

Wu Chen nodded.

Meanwhile, a grand celebration banquet worth 1.5 billion US dollars has already been arranged.

This is one of David Lyndon's greatest achievements as co-chairman of the global company; it is the most glorious chapter in his career.

He now wishes he could have the words "Third in Film History" etched onto his forehead.

However, it gets dark early in Beijing in December.

That day, in the evening.

Dongzhimen, Guijie Street.

The red lanterns along the street were lit early in the morning, reflecting the unmelted snow on the ground and giving off a warm red glow.

The air was filled with the mixed aroma of spicy crayfish and grilled skewers, making one's stomach rumble.

Wu Chen got out of the car, tightened his coat, and walked into a seemingly inconspicuous restaurant, a private eatery whose entrance was filled with luxury cars.

It was the same private room.

It's the same table.

When Wu Chen pushed open the door, Li Feng had already arrived.

She looks much more haggard than before.

The sharp edge I had when I was in IT distribution has been worn away, replaced by a weariness from being repeatedly battered by reality.

"Director Wu."

"President Li," Wu Chen smiled, took off his coat, and casually draped it over the back of the chair, "Let's skip the formalities."

"Let's have a drink first, then we'll talk."

The two clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Wu Chen looked out the window at an office building in the distance.

In the darkness, nothing could be seen.

But he knew that it used to be the office of NetEase Culture.

"It's been cancelled."

Li Feng followed his gaze and looked over, his tone carrying an indescribable feeling.

"These office buildings are really selling like hotcakes right now. I just moved out, and the next thing I heard, someone else has already rented it. An IT company. Wow, the economy is booming."

He wanted to laugh, but his laugh sounded somewhat forlorn.

An era has come to an end.

His era has come to a complete end.

"Director Wu, thank you for all these years. Without you, Wangshang Culture wouldn't have developed so quickly. It's a pity I'm sorry." Li Feng poured another glass of wine and toasted him.

"Let's not talk about that." Wu Chen nudged him. "What are your plans for the future? I heard from Boss Xiong that you're planning to retire from the business world?"

"Ha ha!"

Li Feng smiled and said, "How can this be called retiring from the martial arts world? Only martial arts masters who no longer want to compete can be said to retire. I'm far from that. I simply don't want to do it anymore and plan to go home."

Wu Chen remained silent for a while.

"President Li, would you like to come to Xingchen?"

To be honest, he would be happy for Li Feng to come to Xingchen if he were willing, as Li Feng's experience in the film and television industry and other aspects could be of great help.

Li Feng was stunned.

He looked at Wu Chen for a long time.

Then, laughed.

That smile held gratitude and relief, but more than anything, it held a calm that came after the dust had settled.

"No, Director Wu." He shook his head. "I'm tired, really. I don't want to go through all that trouble anymore. Going back to my hometown and opening a small shop would be perfect."

Wu Chen didn't try to persuade him any further.

He knew that some people and some things couldn't be forced.

The two clinked glasses again and chatted about many things, including "The Woman in the Courtyard," "Hero," and "Crazy Stone" from back then.
When he left, Li Feng insisted that Wu Chen not see him off.

He stood alone under the bustling red lanterns of Guijie Street, waved to Wu Chen, then turned and disappeared into the vast crowd.

The figure looked somewhat forlorn, but there was no hunchback.

As Wu Chen watched him disappear into the night, he felt a pang of emotion.

He can change many people.
But he can't change everyone. Nor can he change the irreversible tide of history that keeps rolling forward.
The Christmas season has flown by.

As predicted by Wu Chen and Universal, Interstellar's box office has seen another mini-boom.

The total North American box office has officially surpassed the $500 million mark, exceeding Star Wars' $4.87 million and ranking fourth on the North American domestic box office chart.

Only three mountains remained ahead of it.

Nolan's The Dark Knight, and Cameron's two masterpieces, Titanic and Avatar.

The global box office has also surpassed $1.6 billion, bringing the cumulative total to $16.78 billion.

The world's attention is focused on this movie.

Everyone was waiting to see if it could pull that sinking giant ship down with it.

But no one knows whether that moment will truly arrive.

Because the further we go, the more uncertain the growth of box office revenue becomes.

In this atmosphere of great anticipation, 2012 arrived unexpectedly.

Wu Chen and Liu Yifei were also invited to fly to Hollywood.

Universal Pictures' celebration party was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Almost every prominent figure in Hollywood came.

As soon as Wu Chen entered the venue, Matthew McConaughey gave him a big bear hug.

"Wu! Haha, you haven't been to Hollywood lately, it feels like ages since I last saw you. You're the one who turned me into the coolest man in the world."

"Congratulations to you and Crystal! I heard about your engagement! That's wonderful! Too bad I'm stuck on set."

"Thank you!"

Liu Yifei smiled and then turned to chat with Jessica Chastain.

There are quite a few scandals in North America these days.
"It's okay, remember to adjust the schedule in advance when we get married," Wu Chen patted Matthew on the shoulder.

Matthew Crawford has now earned the title of the coolest man in the world because of Interstellar, as his father role is indeed loved by audiences worldwide.

The celebration banquet was star-studded.

Wu Chen also saw several key members of the "Fast & Furious" crew.

Director Justin Lin, and that bald guy, Vin Diesel.

The movie "Fast & Furious 5" released at the beginning of the year also achieved a box office of over 600 million US dollars worldwide.

A few days ago, Universal Pictures struck while the iron was hot and put both Fast & Furious 6 and Fast & Furious 7 on the agenda.

Justin Lin and Vin Diesel also came over to shake hands with Wu Chen.

"Director Wu, I've long admired your name."

"Your film is amazing."

Wu Chen smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with them.

He knew in his heart that Justin Lin was a talented director who had made great contributions to the Fast & Furious series.

I'm just a bit unlucky.

They ended up with Vin Diesel, a producer with an extremely controlling personality. As both the lead actor and producer, he had a whole host of flaws.

As a result, the later installments of Fast & Furious became more and more of his own "family" show.

Pity.

This is also one of the downsides of Hollywood.

Because some lead actors have too much influence on the film, they can easily become producers and interfere too much in the production.
The highlight of the celebration banquet was when David Lyndon, Wu Chen, and other key members of the production team took a group photo in front of a giant ice sculpture of the number "16".

The flashbulbs were as bright as day.

During the Q&A session, a reporter from The Hollywood Reporter pointed the microphone at Wu Chen.

"Wu, Interstellar's box office is now just one step away from Titanic's. Are you confident that it will surpass it and become the second highest-grossing film in history?"

All eyes were focused on Wu Chen.

Wu Chen smiled and took the microphone.

"Box office revenue is just a number. It represents the audience's love, for which I am deeply grateful."

"But for me, the true value of a film lies not in its final ranking, but in whether it leaves a lasting impression on the audience."

Time will tell!

I thought Wu Chen would stop here, but unexpectedly he added another sentence.

"But I have confidence!"

Immediately, a burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the audience.

Lin Yibin looked at Wu Chen, who was full of confidence on the stage, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Although he rose to fame in Hollywood because of the "Fast & Furious" series, the gap between him and his opponent is still too large.

Moreover, this is a series of works, while Interstellar is an original work.

If he were to create an original film, he might not be confident that he could achieve the box office success of "Fast & Furious".
David Lyndon was also surprised. He had thought Wu Chen would just be modest and that would be the end of it, but he didn't expect him to make such a confident statement later.

However, he was happy to see it happen.

After all, it's the second-best film in history; as long as there's hope, who wouldn't want to reach that level?

Moreover, he believes that with effort, Interstellar has a chance to reach that level.
"So, Wu, what genre will your next film be? Will it be another sci-fi blockbuster?"

Another reporter followed up with the question.

All eyes turned to him.

Cameron is currently working on Avatar 2, and global audiences are no longer very excited about it, since it's a sequel and Cameron tends to work on it for several more years.

In comparison, global audiences have higher expectations for this newly crowned box office king.

A mysterious smile appeared on Wu Chen's face.

"Keep it a secret for now."

(End of this chapter)