Chapter 185 Zuo Shan Diao Gets Angry
Li Chen's words were to the point; he was not a verbose person.
Lu Zheng, however, was not convinced.
Finding a group of ugly men to star in anaconda horror would only highlight Tian Tian's beauty, wouldn't it?
Why did no one understand his painstaking efforts?
Li Chen bypassed the others and walked directly to the main creative team of china partner.
Han Sanping saw that Li Chen hadn't come over.
He just glanced at him and Yu Dong, and his mood worsened.
He secretly thought that this kid was increasingly disregarding him.
When the home where the leaves fall premiered, he had called him, but the brat dared not come.
Yu Dong, observing from the side, smiled and said, "Leader, Director Li is becoming more and more confident."
Han Sanping knew Yu Dong was trying to provoke him and said irritably, "If you weren't hanging around me, that kid would definitely have come over."
Yu Dong was quite embarrassed: "How did I offend him? Why does he dislike me so much?"
Jiang Shuying was wearing a dark green dress today, showcasing her slender figure to perfection.
"Director Li." Seeing Li Chen approach, Jiang Shuying curtsied slightly, her eyes sparkling.
Li Chen nodded to Wu Bin, Lu Yi, and the other lead actors.
Then he said to Jiang Shuying, "Several students from Shanghai Theatre Academy came; did you invite them all?"
Jiang Shuying's face flushed slightly, and she glanced left and right at the smiling Deng Chao and Tong Dawei.
She said somewhat awkwardly, "He, they asked me several times, I..."
Li Chen smiled: "I didn't mean anything else, just a casual question."
He had just seen many familiar faces.
He had also seen them at Shanghai Theatre Academy during the promotion of those years.
Like Little Cheetah, Wang Chuanjun, Chen He, and so on.
Jiang Shuying smiled brightly, immediately feeling relieved.
Wu Bin also laughed from the side: "Director Li, if the host asks about the box office later, you must back me up."
"With the home where the leaves fall as a precedent, I'm a bit scared."
Deng Chao chuckled and interjected, "Director Wu, even if you don't trust us actors, you should have confidence in Director Li's script."
Tong Dawei also laughed, "Exactly, with Director Li's reputation, a guaranteed one hundred million!"
Deng Chao nodded: "Although Director Zhang and I are both from Central Academy of Drama, if we're comparing box office appeal, I'd choose Director Li with my eyes closed."
The few of them spoke one after another, and Li Chen smiled and shook his head: "If it doesn't reach one hundred million, it will be supplemented from your salaries."
After speaking, Li Chen turned to socialize elsewhere.
Deng Chao laughed heartily, full of confidence, and said to Li Chen's retreating back: "No problem, Director Li."
Han Sanping finally smiled when he saw Li Chen coming over.
"Do you still have me in your eyes, you brat?"
Li Chen chuckled, "What are you saying!"
Han Sanping grunted twice: "Why didn't you come to the home where the leaves fall Premiere?"
Li Chen and Han Sanping were already very familiar, so he had no qualms.
He spoke truthfully: "If you're making skits, just focus on making skits; why cross over?"
"For a low-budget movie, over three hundred people from various fields attended; I, Li Chen, wasn't needed, right?"
"However, although I didn't go, I quite agree with Uncle Benshan's words."
Han Sanping raised an eyebrow: "What words?"
"This movie will at most make ten million."
Han Sanping's face darkened.
Zhang Yang was from his Beijing Film Academy, essentially his own person; if he didn't support him, who would?
Even Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and others gave him face to support Zhang Yang.
Only Li Chen, this kid, defied him.
Li Chen saw Han Sanping's expression and knew he was displeased.
Changing the subject, he said, "Han Dong, my not going was actually to save your face."
"What do you mean? Am I supposed to thank you?"
Li Chen laughed heartily: "Don't get angry yet, just listen to me."
"If I went, the media would inevitably ask me to comment or estimate the box office, and I couldn't possibly tell lies with my eyes open."
"At that time, wouldn't it be you who loses face?"
Han Sanping became even angrier: "Are you saying the home where the leaves fall is very bad?"
Li Chen scoffed: "Don't you know if it's bad or not?"
"It's one thing for China Film Group Corporation to save your face and exaggerate the box office on their own, but how can even you, the head of domestic cinema, deceive yourself?"
"This kind of unhealthy trend must not be allowed."
Han Sanping's face was unreadable, and he squinted as he scrutinized Li Chen.
Li Chen saw Xu Xiaoping arrive, so he found an excuse.
"Mr. Xu is here, I'll go socialize a bit, Han Dong."
"If you find my words unpleasant, I'll keep them to myself from now on."
Han Sanping watched Li Chen's retreating back, seething with anger.
The Premiere of the home where the leaves fall was like his coronation ceremony.
No one in the industry didn't know he was about to be officially appointed, so no one dared to refuse his invitations.
Even Feng Xiaogang, who was busy filming assembly, and Zhang Yimou, who was busy with the Olympics, had to come and sign in with him.
But only Li Chen, whom he considered his own, didn't come.
It truly made him angry, but Li Chen's words just now also made him reflect.
The cost of the home where the leaves fall was seemingly revealed by Zhao Benshan in a slip of the tongue.
The production company's slogan of raking in one hundred million at the box office sounded inspiring.
But even if their several cinema managers, who were also distributors, boasted that the first weekend box office exceeded ten million.
It was still just a self-directed farce.
The Hong Kong box office had been less than two hundred thousand in over half a month.
The mainland was even less than eight million.
He himself felt ashamed.
Li Chen didn't take Han Sanping's anger to heart.
By now, with his strength, status, and reputation in the industry, he didn't want to do things that made him uncomfortable against his will.
Even if it was Han Sanping, he couldn't.
For example, the Premiere of the home where the leaves fall, with such a grand scale, invited almost half of the big names in the literary and artistic circles.
It was nothing more than a show of deference to Han Sanping's impending promotion and Zhao Danye's slight influence.
A ten-million-dollar budget was inflated to thirty million, and a one or two-million-dollar first-weekend box office was inflated to fifteen million.
You can deceive yourself, but the market won't.
Among the major cinema chains nationwide, apart from China Film Group Corporation's own China Film Group Corporation.
Who would give Han Sanping face?
If it doesn't sell well, even the King of Heaven comes, and the cinema won't buy it.
Li Chen was most annoyed by this kind of fraudulent practice.
To attract audiences to cinemas, they inflated the first-week box office.
Even China Film Group Corporation did this, no wonder various film companies followed suit later.
Different paths, different goals.
Perhaps it was at this time that Zhang Yimou and Zhao Benshan conceived the idea for three guns.
The movie Premiere quickly began.
Miss Liu whispered to Li Chen, "What were you just talking about with Han Dong?"
"Han Dong's face looked really bad."
Li Chen smiled: "I pulled off his fig leaf; he couldn't back down."
Miss Liu was startled, and said with some worry, "Is everything alright?"
Li Chen shook his head, smiling without speaking.
The china partner screening was filled with continuous laughter.
Everyone was seeing this kind of entrepreneurial film for the first time, full of novelty, with continuous humorous moments.
After the movie, the guests present all stood up, applauding continuously.
The host invited the lead actors onto the stage and began the interaction.
During this, he did not forget to consult Xu Xiaoping and Li Chen.
When it came to the unavoidable question of the box office.
Wu Bin smiled frankly: "I also asked Director Li this question just now, but Director Li didn't give an answer."
"But the actors are all very confident, and even bet their own salaries with Director Li, guaranteeing one hundred million!"
The host asked casually, "So, Director Li thinks that the box office of china partner will not exceed 100 million?"
Li Chen chuckled: "Just be realistic, and don't resort to fraud."
Han Sanping, standing nearby, felt his face burning, wondering if Li Chen's words were alluding to him.