Chapter 499: Come again next year?
The popularity of "Lost in Thailand" has made the major film and television companies that did not participate in it regret it so much that they want to bang their heads against the wall.

Especially Han Sanping, even in front of Gu Wei, his tone was a bit sour.

At this time, the entire film industry remembered what Gu Wei said at the premiere of "Lost in Thailand". Even for low-budget movies, how many of them can achieve high returns?

There is no doubt that "Lost in Thailand" is a small-scale movie that wins big at this stage. Its box office in one day is more than 13 million more than that of "The Banquet" in three days. Isn't this a complete victory?
"Oh, I was wrong. I didn't expect that a low-budget comedy could create miracles."

"Haha, even I didn't expect that. Maybe the audience has been suppressed for a year and wants to watch a movie to cheer themselves up, which led to the big hit of this movie."

Gu Wei said with a smile.

At that time, Han Sanping thought that the box office of "Lost on Journey" had just broken 100 million yuan, and the second part would at most make 100 million yuan. Even if it became a hit, it would most likely not break 200 million yuan. Moreover, with only that little investment cost, they were too lazy to get involved.

But now the first week box office of "Lost in Thailand" has exceeded 400 million, which means that this movie will be a hit.

It is hard to say how high the total box office can go, after all, there are too many blockbusters during the Lunar New Year holiday, and the competition is fierce. But it is definitely no problem for the box office to exceed 700 million or 800 million!
Han Sanping, who was sitting opposite, muttered a few words and then stopped talking about it. After all, it was his own decision and there was no point regretting it now.

Gu Wei smiled and was too lazy to respond. If it were him, he would probably regret it to death.

The two chatted for a while, and Han Sanping brought up the issue of box office sharing.

"I'm sure you've heard that I will most likely retire by the end of next year at the earliest, or the year after at the latest."

Hearing Han Sanping mention this, Gu Wei nodded slightly. There was a rumor in the circle that many people thought it was a good thing for Han Sanping to retire. He had been in this position for so many years, and there were many people who liked him, but there were also many who hated him.

But to be honest, Han Sanping has made great contributions to the development of the mainland film market, and there is no doubt about that.

"Yeah, I heard about it." Gu Wei asked with some confusion, not understanding what the other party meant by suddenly bringing up this matter?
"Hey, actually retiring is a good thing. After being busy all my life, I can finally relax and enjoy myself." Han Sanping said that he didn't care, but the expression on his face betrayed him. "But after being busy for most of my life, I haven't been able to settle the profit-sharing ratio. It's a bit regrettable."

Well, Gu Wei knew that the other party invited him over not just to vent or complain.

Here comes the point!
"The opportunity was good this time, but unfortunately someone backed out halfway." Gu Wei avoided the question and continued talking nonsense.

As expected, Han Sanping was a little anxious. "I mean, I want to find an opportunity to confront the theater chain again, and it would be best if I could force them to compromise."

"Use those movies of Xingchen Film and Television Company as bargaining chips?" Gu Wei understood instantly and asked back.

"That's right. What I mean is to let Lost in Thailand get the extension key, and then have a huge box office success. After your company's other movies are released and sell well at the box office, you can use The Wandering Earth and other movies to confront the theaters again. You don't have to worry about the other party not giving in..."

Han Sanping spoke eloquently and what he said sounded quite like the truth.

"When the time comes, aren't you afraid that your subordinates will continue to hold you back?" Gu Wei did not respond directly, but instead teased the other party.

"Who dares to hinder us?" Han Sanping's face suddenly turned ugly when he mentioned this matter. He almost yelled, "I have dealt with this matter during this period of time. Look at those people who stood up to oppose it. Those who were not dealt with are completely obedient."

Upon hearing this, Gu Wei also expressed his approval. After all, Han Sanping's nickname was not given for nothing. Because his subordinates openly rebelled against him, the person in charge of the Shinkansen was directly transferred.

The reason given is: We are all working for the collective, so why does it make a difference where we work?

Changing positions, it’s still the same job, so keep on shining!

Poor guy, he was fooled by the theater chain and now he has no future.

"How is it? My plan is okay, right?"

Gu Wei thought about it for a moment and said nothing. This time China Film Group took the lead. Although some people backed down and caused the effort to fail, Han Sanping took the blame, so everyone had an excuse.

If it is Xingchen Film and Television Company that takes the lead next time, given Gu Wei's personality, if the other party remains tough, he will probably not allow several movies to be released as scheduled, even if they can be directly released overseas, even if it means losing money at the box office.

"Director Han, I can't promise you this for now. After all, it involves other directors in the company, and we need to discuss it behind closed doors before we can make a decision."

"Okay, there's still some time left. I'll wait for your reply."

Han Sanping was not in a hurry either. There was still time to react. He also needed to continue internal integration and then communicate with several companies including Bona.

After all, even if Xingchen Film and Television Company takes the lead, other participating companies will definitely have to use movies as bargaining chips. Otherwise, not to mention Gu Wei, no one would accept it.

.........

"Lost in Thailand" is still in theaters and is raking in box office revenue. All major film and television companies in the industry are envious and some are already secretly calculating the profits of this movie.

Damn, it’s an exclusive investment, and he made hundreds of millions in pure profit right away.

Online, as the second batch of domestic blockbusters are about to be released, several movies released in late November have come to an end.

"Directed by Li An, Life of Pi grossed 5.7 million yuan in the mainland and has now been successfully released." "The movie The Banquet failed both in terms of reputation and box office, with a total box office of 6420 million yuan today, it regrettably withdrew from the Lunar New Year box office."

"The film "The Great Shanghai", produced by Bona Film Group and starring Chow Yun-fat, Huang Xiaoming, Wu Zhenyu and Yuan Quan, held its world premiere at the Singapore Film Festival today. The atmosphere was very exciting."

The popularity of "Lost in Thailand" has led to more film projects seeking investment from Star Films.

Everyone knows that there is money here, and that it can help with the reputation and fame of films, but there are really few good projects.

Over the years, Song Ge has been the one dealing with people seeking investment.

"I really don't know what these people are thinking. Some people just come here with a script or a movie concept to look for investment. What the hell is this!"

Song Ge met a lot of filmmakers in the past two days. He was somewhat expectant at first, thinking that he might be able to find two good projects. However, he became more and more disappointed, and finally asked his assistant to send this group of people away.

"Didn't I hear that someone has the copyright to Mo Yan's novel and is looking for investment?"

Gu Wei asked with some curiosity.

Mo Yan's novels are a rich mine of film and television themes, with strong storylines. Compared with the works of other writers, his novels are difficult to adapt into blockbuster movies.

Even Mo Yan said in an interview with reporters that if directors could bring works such as "Big Breasts and Wide Hips", "Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out", and "The Sandalwood Death" to the screen one day, he would be willing to serve as the screenwriter.

Netizens like to join in the fun and called out major production companies, especially Xingchen Films and Gu Wei, who were among the most tagged. Zhang Yimou was also among them. After all, "Red Sorghum" was originally written by Mo Yan.

"Hey, don't mention it. The other party relies on the copyright and wants us to provide most of the funds, be responsible for script adaptation, and then split the box office revenue. Isn't this just taking advantage of us?" Song Ge was furious when he mentioned this.

"Haha, he really dares to ask for that. Even if the company really invests the full amount, it will not be easy to get it approved. After all, these works of this person are full of the times." Gu Wei said with emotion.

At the same time, "Beijing Meets Seattle" has also completed the casting, with Tong Liya playing the heroine and Hai Qing as the second female lead.

At Xue Xiaolu's insistence, the male lead was finally decided to be Wu Xiubo.

Originally, Wang Jinghua insisted on using the company's actors, but due to Xue Xiaolu's stubbornness, the matter was brought to Song Ge's attention.

"Forget it. After all, this movie was directed by a teacher from Beijing Film Academy. We should give him some face."

It was not until the filming of the movie was about to start that Gu Wei saw the list of actors handed over by Song Ge. He did not say much about Wu Xiubo playing the male lead.

After all, even if something happens to the other party in the future, the worst that can happen is that the movie will be banned, and the director is not from the company, so the impact will not be big.

Immediately afterwards, "Beijing Meets Seattle" held a start-up ceremony at the Beijing Film Academy.

Afterwards, Xue Xiaolu did not delay and directly entered the filming stage in the capital. Only a small part of the film was shot domestically.

After that, more than 90% of the scenes were filmed in Vancouver, Canada, New York, USA and other places.

……

On the other hand, "The Chinese Zodiac", which was mainly invested by Huayi Company, held its premiere in advance.

As one of the investors, Gu Wei will naturally not be absent. As for Liu Yifei, there is no need to mention it. The main publicity gimmick of this movie is now on her and Cheng Long.

On the other hand, the premiere of Bona's "Great Shanghai" was one day later than that of "The Chinese Zodiac".

The premiere celebration of "Chinese Zodiac" in the capital was grand, after all, Jackie Chan has deep connections in the industry.

And the main focus is the charity premiere.

The "JC International Thief Group", composed of male actors from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, led by Cheng Long and Liu Yifei, welcomed the guests.

When Gu Wei arrived, the most eye-catching thing was the "Final Hit" posters of "The Chinese Zodiac" erected on both sides of the red carpet.

The background of the poster is an active volcano spewing flames and thick smoke. Cheng Long, wearing the standard garb of a thief in black shorts, leaps down from the volcano, showing no fear despite the danger.

The most eye-catching thing is the Guinness World Records logo on the poster.

The densely written Chinese characters on it certify Cheng Long as "the filmmaker who holds the most positions in one film" and "the actor who performs the most stunts."

This was the first time that the Guinness World Records logo appeared on the poster of a Chinese-language film. Gu Wei was a little curious for a moment and couldn't help but take a few more glances.

.........

(End of this chapter)