Chapter 89: The Hollywood Ambition of a Snake Swallowing an Elephant
Li Chen went to Hollywood.
This gave many people in the industry a feeling of 'daybreak'.
Finally, no one was hogging the headlines anymore.
Yu Dong of Bona Film Group, with his keen eye and quick hand, immediately began to promote Big Brother Long's The Myth.
Sina Entertainment:
"An earthshaking war, a timeless and extraordinary love story."
"Jackie Chan, in armor, will bring a heavyweight shock to moviegoers this autumn."
"Yesterday, reporters learned from Bona Film Group, the film's mainland distributor."
"On September 20th, Big Brother Long will, along with South Korea's most beautiful woman Kim Hee-sun,"
"India's stunning queen Mallika, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Sun Zhou, launch the global Premiere of The Myth at the People's Great Hall in Beijing."
"Starting September 23rd, the extraordinary power of The Myth will sweep the autumn film market."
Sohu Entertainment:
"On September 25th, the movie A Kid's Wish will hold its all-Asia Premiere at the Dongyuan Theater in Beijing."
"And a meet-and-greet with the audience will be held at the New Century Cinema that same evening."
"Director Chen Deshen, along with lead actors Andy Lau, Karen Mok, Huang Rihua, and Cherrie Ying, will be present to meet everyone."
Li Chen really couldn't understand why Andy Lau would compete with Jackie Chan in the same release window.
As both were fantasy films, they should have avoided blockbusters like The Myth.
Unless you don't care about the box office, no wonder they say Andy Lau is box office poison.
With the release window chosen by the production company, even if you gathered the Four Heavenly Kings, you couldn't compete with Big Brother Long.
Liu Yifei, who had just arrived in Chiang Mai, was not neglected by Xu Zheng.
In the evening, Xu Zheng specifically invited Liu Yifei and Liu's Mother for dinner, and Huang Bo and Wang Baoqiang were also present.
Xu Zheng also paid attention to the news from home.
Regardless of whether the relationship between Liu Yifei and Director Li was real, it was always good to maintain a good relationship.
"Director Xu, you've gone to a lot of trouble for us, I hope it's not delaying the crew's work?" Liu Xiaoli said politely.
Huang Bo and Xu Zheng were already very familiar, and he interjected with a smile: "Auntie, look at what you're saying, Old Xu is delighted that Yifei can come."
"If it weren't for Director Li's connections, if Old Xu wanted to invite Yifei for a cameo, he'd still be racking his brains over where Yifei's acting fee would come from... Haha."
Wang Baoqiang was also smiling but didn't interject.
Xu Zheng laughed: "Huang Bo is right."
Wang Baoqiang then appropriately asked: "Bo Ge, are you and Yifei really classmates?"
Liu Yifei covered her mouth and chuckled, offering no comment.
Huang Bo's face fell, but he insisted: "Nonsense, Yifei and I are both from the 02 class! Classmates!"
Xu Zheng laughed heartily, not giving him any face: "Your Bo Ge was in the vocational voice acting class, miles apart from Yifei. Saying you're schoolmates is more accurate!"
Actually, how could Wang Baoqiang not know? He was just trying to liven up the atmosphere.
Explosive news from the mainland kept popping up like mushrooms after rain.
It seemed to be a release of all the resentment from Li Chen's long-term dominance of the headlines.
First, Youth Times published a bombshell article titled "Huayi Brothers' Earthquake: Mainland Artists Stage the Biggest Job Hopping in History," stating that Wang Jinghua would be transferring to a Japanese talent agency.
As soon as this news was published, it immediately caused a sensation.
Various eye-catching headlines on the internet appeared one after another.
"The Wang brothers and Wang Jinghua have had long-standing grievances, and their relationship has been strained for a long time."
"Wang Jinghua single-handedly emptied Huayi Brothers."
"Even if big names like Liu Jialing and Tony Leung Ka-fai have to pay huge breach of contract fees to Huayi Brothers, they will still follow Wang Jinghua."
"Wang Jinghua single-handedly made Double Bing famous, but Double Bing chose to stay at Huayi Brothers."
On August 21st, Wang Jinghua was the first to issue a statement, admitting her resignation.
She also claimed: "My contract expired, and I wanted to change my way of life and work."
"I will remain good friends with Zhongjun and Zhonglei in the future, and will still cooperate with Huayi Brothers later on, and so on."
At this point, the news of Wang Jinghua's job change was confirmed.
Netizens discussed it with relish, and continued to rub salt in Huayi Brothers' wounds, enjoying every moment.
"Huayi Brothers has completely gone from a giant to a dwarf."
"From now on, it's Rongchen Film and Television's world."
"It already was, okay? Huayi Brothers now only has one Xiao Gang Pao and two cold Bingbings that won't warm up!"
Fan Bingbing didn't know what Li Bingbing was thinking.
Fan Bingbing truly felt like she had swallowed a bitter pill and couldn't speak of her suffering.
The company's young Mr. Wang had given a strict order not to respond to the media.
Even if she wanted to explain a few words, she was powerless.
Feeling depressed, she sought out Yang Siwei to vent her frustrations.
It was Yang Siwei who gave her a suggestion: to thank Wang Jinghua for her guidance on her blog.
She shouldn't say anything else, and Siwei would help her.
Sure enough, after Fan Bingbing posted a blog expressing gratitude to Wang Jinghua,
'Many netizens' and fans left comments one after another.
"There's nothing to say about this kind of thing. You still have a contract with Huayi Brothers, and you're a mainland artist, so you can't be as carefree as those from Hong Kong."
"Yes, the person upstairs is right. They are from Hong Kong, and they were never on the same page as the Beijing Circle."
"Keep going, dearest, you don't need to explain so much, those who understand, understand."
"Everyone is an adult, don't morally kidnap her. It's commendable that my Bingbing could even post an article thanking Wang Jinghua."
Fan Bingbing hadn't expected Yang Siwei's promise to help her to be so immediate and effective. How many of these netizens were...?
Indeed, without a capable agent to assist her, it would always be her shortcoming.
Although the Wang brothers of Huayi Brothers vehemently denied the claim that Huayi Brothers was severely weakened,
Even the usually steady Elder Wang uncharacteristically made harsh statements to the media.
"It would be more accurate if I left; Huayi Brothers can do without anyone!"
But the collective departure of dozens of artists was an undeniable fact.
Elder Wang didn't give Wang Jinghua a way out.
Wang Jinghua then returned the favor with a slap to Huayi Brothers.
Just two days later, Wang Jinghua announced that she would be joining Orange Sky Entertainment.
And establish Beijing Orange Sky Entertainment Shiba Culture Brokerage Company.
Wang Jinghua would serve as general manager, fully responsible for the company's management and operations.
Orange Sky Entertainment also expressed its welcome to Wang Jinghua's joining.
Orange Sky Entertainment would also fully support Shiba Culture to become the most powerful brokerage company in the industry.
This not only slapped Huayi Brothers in the face but also left a group of gossip-loving netizens wide-eyed.
"Didn't she join Rongchen Film and Television?"
"Why would Wang Jinghua choose Orange Sky Entertainment, which was established less than a year ago?"
"This Orange Sky Entertainment was completely opened for Wan Renmi."
"Please note, so far, Orange Sky Entertainment has only one artist, and that is Wan Renmi."
Wang Jinghua's actions left the onlookers completely bewildered.
But it must be said that Wang Jinghua's arrival was indeed a timely help for Orange Sky Entertainment.
The Orange Sky Group was not short of money; Orange Sky Entertainment was backed by Orange Sky, plus Wang Jinghua's artist resources.
In an instant, Orange Sky Entertainment immediately joined the first tier of domestic film and television companies.
The domestic film and television industry was bustling and lively.
Li Chen, abroad, had a rare moment of relaxation.
These past two days, at the invitation of New Line, he visited their production studio and special effects production process, which greatly benefited Li Chen.
Li Chen felt that the special effects work could begin its first step.
At the very least, he could emulate the domestic method of cultivating talent through Targeted training , gradually sending people to Hollywood to learn.
The first batch shouldn't be too many, twenty or thirty people would suffice.
Shaye of New Line also seemed anxious.
He thought Li Chen, as an outsider, didn't understand the situation, but Li Chen had actually inquired about everything clearly.
Perhaps it was as the old saying goes: things reverse when they reach an extreme, and the moon wanes after it is full.
After the lord of the rings, New Line began to have continuous troubles.
First, there were constant lawsuits.
Last year, Saul Zaentz, the producer of the animated version of the lord of the rings, sued New Line.
He claimed they defrauded him of $20 million in royalties, and a settlement was only reached out of court recently.
Before they could clean up that mess, this year, Peter Jackson, the director of the lord of the rings, also sued New Line over profit distribution.
New Line was plagued by lawsuits, losing countless money, and later, their films performed poorly at the box office, with no cash flow coming in.
It could be said they were troubled both internally and externally.
Now, it wasn't Li Chen who was anxious, but Shaye of New Line.
If he didn't want to be acquired by the parent company, he had to produce eye-catching, box office-successful films to win over the shareholders.
Li Chen was now sitting pretty, just waiting for New Line to take the bait.
The Hollywood Six were out of the question; New Line might still be a possibility.
As for funding, Li Chen never worried; there were plenty of people domestically who wanted a piece of the pie.
As long as he could pry open the gap at New Line, Li Chen could firmly establish himself in Hollywood.
Of course, it was still too early for all of this.
Shaye, in his sixties, would surely make a desperate struggle.
However, if he didn't make a desperate struggle, Li Chen wouldn't have a chance either.
Shaye, this man, was very astute and had a business mind even in college.
When other college students were still thinking about earning some pocket money, he had already started a film company in his apartment.
He made money by collecting movie tickets from college students, much like some brothers in our dorms back in college who charged money to show adult films.
Later, to expand the company, Shaye sold New Line to CNN.
But he still retained most of New Line's shares and enjoyed autonomous operating rights.
Then CNN was acquired by Warner, and Shaye became a Warner person again.
However, New Line was always firmly in his hands.
Until the golden compass in 2007 became the last straw that broke the camel's back!
Released at Christmas, starring Nicole Kidman, and having all the advantages of time and place, the golden compass ultimately failed to prevent New Line from being acquired.
This was the Hollywood rule, of course, these were all later events.
What Li Chen had to do now was to string Shaye along, step by step forcing Shaye to lean towards him.
In the evening, Li Chen returned to the hotel, and after a video call with Miss Liu, he began browsing online news.
While looking at the New York Times bestseller list, he saw a memorable book title: twilight.
After further checking, he confirmed it was correct.
Although it was only ranked ninth, the novel's popularity was the highest this year.
He just didn't know if the copyright was still available, so Li Chen checked again.
Surprisingly, there were no records of copyright sales.
But a quick online search revealed dozens of news items about this book, twilight.
Lionsgate, New Line, and Lakeshore seemed to have all been in contact with the author of twilight.
Li Chen called Tim.
He found out after asking.
Firstly, because this vampire theme was considered 'rehashing old ideas,' and the novel's ranking on the bestseller list fluctuated.
Secondly, because buyers were unwilling to pay a high price for the copyright.
Many producers had indeed been in contact with the author of twilight.
But this type of genre couldn't compare to IPs like Marvel superheroes.
At best, it would be a B-list production.
Big companies like the Hollywood Six simply didn't care for it.
And the production teams of companies like New Line, Lionsgate, and Lakeshore, after evaluation, deemed it not worth purchasing the copyright at a high price.
The author herself was a housewife with a family and three children.
She was unwilling to sell her work cheaply, so no deal had been reached.
Li Chen chuckled to himself, feeling like he had stumbled upon a bargain in Beijing's Panjiayuan market.
Anyway, he had nothing to do these two days; Tim was handling company matters.
Li Chen, accompanied by the legal director, one of Chiyou Films' iron trio, set off for Phoenix to meet this housewife.
And also to visit Gu Yongkeng, who was in New York accompanying his wife while she studied.
Soon it was the 25th, Hollywood time. Richard and Shaye hadn't given up these past two days, but Li Chen hadn't relented.
In a few hours, it would be the day he fired his first shot in Hollywood.
At this moment, on domestic portal websites, Li Chen had once again reclaimed the headlines of major entertainment sections.
"Chiyou Films' first horror-suspense film, lurking, will Premiere in North American cinemas at midnight on Friday, the 26th, local time."
"Can The Golden Palm director Li Chen fire his first shot in Hollywood?"
“lurking will be released simultaneously in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.”
Netizens' comments are always to the point.
“Alas, it's a pity I can't see it. Otherwise, I would definitely book out a cinema to support Director Li's establishment in Hollywood!”
“There's no other way. We strongly urge the implementation of a film rating system.”
“Otherwise, not only will you not be able to see lurking, but you won't even be able to see anything with color.”
“Our ancestors had a saying: The gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out!”
“Exactly! I'm just afraid he won't even know how he died. The Golden Palm director still has to rely on box office in Hollywood!”
“Screw you. Our ancestors also had a saying: The first person to eat a crab.”
“If you don't have Director Li's courage and boldness, don't be so sarcastic here.”
“Was this idiot's brain struck by lightning? It's said that the cost of this lurking is less than 2 million US dollars.”
“It's being released simultaneously in nearly ten countries and regions. If he earns 200,000 in one region, Director Li won't lose money.”
“It's just a matter of earning more or less. How can he not know how he died? I'm asking you, how will he die??”
Insiders who saw this news knew that Li Chen's lurking would definitely not lose money.
From the beginning, industry bigwigs, including Han Sanping, were aware of this issue.
What they were concerned about was how high the box office could reach.
If lurking only had a few million in box office, even if it made money,
For Li Chen, making his Hollywood debut, it would still be a failure.
After all, it was the Hollywood debut of the youngest The Golden Palm director; his reputation was at stake!
The Hollywood Six, who initially didn't pay much attention to Chiyou Films and lurking, also started to show some interest.
This was because major Hollywood media outlets and websites had been reporting extensively on lurking's simultaneous overseas release for the past week.
There was also news about Li Chen rejecting New Line's 3 million US dollar offer for the script.
Most importantly, Hollywood's box office prediction website, BOP,
predicted that lurking's opening box office would be between 17 million and 23 million US dollars.
The total box office would not be less than 60 million US dollars.
This caused quite a stir.
Regardless of whether BOP was exaggerating, its predictions have always been fairly accurate.
lurking posters have already covered major North American cinemas.
The original lead actor, Ty Simpkins, is only four years old now, so naturally, he couldn't star in it.
When Tim sent Li Chen hundreds of photos of boys who had applied from the casting website,
Li Chen immediately chose ten-year-old Nick Robinson.
The entire poster was enveloped in an eerie, green glow.
Nick Robinson's handsome, expressionless smiling face was lifeless.
The terrifying and oppressive atmosphere was fully present.
With Tim overseeing everything, Li Chen called Miss Liu and then went to sleep peacefully.
The next day, Li Chen woke up naturally.
After turning on his phone, missed calls and messages flooded his inbox.
Li Chen saw the message from Tim.
“Boss, call me back when you wake up! We succeeded! We succeeded!”
“Haha, I'm so excited, Boss! Call me back quickly.”
“Boss, aren't you awake yet? How come I'm not sleepy at all?”
Li Chen shook his head, smiled, and muttered, “This Tim.”
He called Tim back.
It was answered immediately: “Boss, you're finally awake! Come back quickly.”
“Aren't you even paying attention to our lurking?”
Tim's excited voice was a bit piercing.
“Lower your voice, Tim, I'm not deaf. Tell me, what's the box office?”
“Hahaha, as of now, after eight hours of release, the box office has already exceeded 2.7 million US dollars.”
“I understand. That's all for now.”
Hearing this number, Li Chen was also very excited.
Ignoring Tim, who was like Tang Sanzang, Li Chen hung up the phone and quickly opened his computer.
There were already critics' reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Most of the reviews were positive, similar to his previous life. Although Rotten Tomatoes' Freshness Score hadn't been released yet,
it shouldn't be too bad, at least it wouldn't be 'Rotten Tomatoes'!
The first and second lurking films had the best reputation in the lurking series.
Later, when the director was changed, the reputation completely collapsed.
Li Chen estimated that lurking's opening box office should be able to surpass the 18.25 million US dollars earned by saw last year.
Tim was like he had taken a stimulant. Even being hung up on by his boss didn't affect his mood at all.
After all, his salary and bonus were linked to the company's profits.
The higher the box office, the fatter his wallet would be.
Responding to media interviews, instructing the company to issue press releases, and a series of other actions were carried out in an orderly manner.
Shaye, the president of New Line, was frowning in his office early in the morning.
The sunlight streaming in through the French windows couldn't alleviate his complex mood at the moment.
Just by looking at lurking's box office for those eight hours, he knew.
As the distributor, New Line would definitely make a lot of money.
But at the same time, it would be even harder to buy the conjuring.
“Richard, that idiot, he even told me to wait for good news.”
“As a result, that damned guy kept delaying the good news, and then he stopped answering his calls.”
“Perhaps, this Richard guy is doing it on purpose!”
“New Line's current situation might be exactly what Warner wants to see.”
“No, I can't put all my hopes on that scoundrel Richard.”
In the early morning of the 27th, lurking's North American opening day box office was fresh out: 6.25 million US dollars!
Due to time differences, box office statistics for other simultaneously released countries and regions would not be available until the evening.
However, Tim was in contact with those distributors.
From the first-hand information obtained, although it couldn't compare to the North American box office,
the combined total box office was not far off from North America's.
When the news reached China, Sina Entertainment immediately reported it.
And it was pinned to the homepage of Sina Entertainment and Culture sections. The other two major portals also followed suit.
“Chinese The Golden Palm director Li Chen, Hollywood debut, impressive results.”
“lurking North American opening day box office 6.25 million US dollars!”
It was now around 6 PM on the 27th, China time.
Li Chen was still in New York. He had met Gu Yongkeng and his wife last night.
After having some drinks, he fell asleep shortly after returning.
Back in China, however, both inside and outside the industry, things had completely exploded.
Yang Siwei and Wu Bin, as the two executives of Rongchen Film and Television, began to receive a barrage of phone calls.
Although Yang Siwei was already used to it, it was Wu Bin's first time.
After finally hanging up the phone, Wu Bin exhaled and said, “In all these years, this is the first time my phone has run out of battery from so many calls!”
Yang Siwei laughed heartily and said, “General Manager Wu, you'll get used to it sooner or later.”
“As long as the boss makes a move, I have to prepare at least three spare batteries.”
As the two were talking, Yang Siwei's phone rang again.
Yang Siwei complained to Wu Bin, “See, I have to answer these calls.”
“The boss is confident; his phone is directly turned off!”
Wu Bin glanced at the caller ID on Yang Siwei's phone, which showed Wang Jinghua, and also laughed, “Answer it quickly, I'm leaving first.”
“Okay, I'm also ready to slip away, and continue answering calls at home!”
Only after Wu Bin left the office did Yang Siwei answer the phone.
“Sister Hua?”
“Siwei, congratulations to your Director Li on a successful start. Director Li's phone is off, so I can only call you.” Wang Jinghua said with a relaxed smile.
“Thank you, Sister Hua. Hearing your voice, I'm afraid there's good news, right?” Yang Siwei smiled.
“The Shiba Culture opening reception is on the 29th. Remember to come and support me, sister.” Wang Jinghua said with a smile.
This efficiency, it seems Sister Hua had already secretly colluded with Orange Sky Entertainment.
Yang Siwei smiled and said, “No problem, Sister Hua.”
“If you were one day later, I would be in Venice.”
“I calculated the date to call you. Come early then.” Wang Jinghua said with a smile.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Jinghua looked at Wu Kebao, who was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.
“General Manager Wu, I've used all my connections.”
“On the 29th, I can't say how many big figures will come, but a star-studded event is definitely not a problem.”
“As for the remaining few influential figures in the industry, I think it's more appropriate for you to personally send the invitations.”
Wu Kebao stood up, straightened his lapels, and said confidently, “Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.”
Invitations to the Orange Sky Entertainment Shiba Culture opening reception were sent to many film and television company executives and first and second-tier artists in the industry.
Even Huayi Brothers received one.
But on the 29th, apart from the big-name artists under Wang Jinghua and her good friends in the industry who came to support her,
most of the invited artists and industry bigwwigs did not come.
After all, attending this opening reception hosted by Orange Sky Entertainment would undoubtedly be a slap in the face to Huayi Brothers.
Artists are not like Yang Siwei.
Backed by Rongchen Film and Television, plus a mentor-apprentice bond with Wang Jinghua,
if they came, they came, and no one would say anything.
But if you still want to make a name for yourself in the Beijing Circle, even an idiot would know how to make a choice.
If they didn't go, Wang Jinghua wouldn't care.
If they went, they would be marked by Huayi Brothers.
Besides that, what disappointed Orange Sky Entertainment and Wang Jinghua even more on the 29th was not the cold reception of their opening reception.
But a piece of news reposted from Hollywood.
“lurking's opening weekend box office was 21.30 million US dollars, ranking first in North America this week.”
“And it surpassed the 18.25 million US dollar opening box office of saw, also directed by James Wan and produced by Lionsgate last year.”
“The total box office in eleven countries and regions worldwide exceeded 39 million US dollars.”
“Chiyou Films' Hollywood debut achieved remarkable results.”
“Chinese The Golden Palm director Li Chen's script received positive reviews from most film critics.”
“According to Tim Smith, President of Chiyou Films, lurking's production cost was only 2.1 million US dollars.”
“lurking will once again be a classic example of achieving great success with a small investment.”
As soon as this news came out, it had a feeling of 'when Yitian comes out, no one dares to challenge its sharpness.'
At this moment, who still cared whether your Orange Sky Entertainment Shiba Culture opening reception was cold or hot?
Everyone's eyes were only on Chiyou Films, only on Rongchen Film and Television!
The logos of Rongchen Film and Television and Chiyou Films were displayed on major portal websites.
One was a panda swinging on a swing, the other was kung fu panda.
This time, netizens were not polarized; they all sang praises.
“Director Li is magnificent! The Hollywood Six becoming the Seven is just around the corner.”
“It still has to be Director Li. These unpromising ones at home are still fighting among themselves to seize the 'throne' of domestic private enterprise leaders.”
“Director Li has already gone abroad and is dominating America!”
“I'm curious now, how much money can Director Li's lurking make?”
“This is just the opening box office!”
“Does anyone understand how the box office is divided in Hollywood and other parts of Europe and Asia? Can you explain it?”
Netizens were excited, as if they had won a great victory against the old US.
Among the industry insiders, some were happy, some were sad.
The two general managers of Huayi Brothers, the former leader of private enterprises, especially Xiao Wang, could be described with one word at this moment: physically and mentally exhausted!
As for the other 'Double Zhang' combination, Zhang Weiping was like he had red-eye disease, so envious and jealous that he wished Zhang Yimou would also make a horror film!
Of course, there were also happy ones, such as Han Sanping, who was just a little sour that he couldn't invest.
Around 10 PM, Han Sanping called Li Chen.
He had called a few times before, but Li Chen's phone was off.
This time, he finally got through.
