Chapter 616: Conflicts Intensify at the Banquet
The entrance of the villa.

When Gu Wei saw Cheng Long's call, he answered it without hesitation. A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone instantly.

"Brother, is there something about the movie?" Gu Wei asked curiously as he walked into the villa.

Although "New Police Story 2013" has been scheduled, it is only in the early stages of promotion and there is still some time before the premiere. What could be the matter when Jackie Chan called at this time?
"Haha, Director Gu, everything is going well with the movie promotion." Cheng Lilong said with a smile on the phone.

"That's good, how are you doing?"

Since the other party didn't mention anything else, Gu Wei just continued chatting with Cheng Long. The phone bill wouldn't cost much anyway.

The two exchanged a few words. Gu Wei had already sat on the sofa in the living room. He then turned his head and glanced around. The young lady was not there. He didn't know whether she was sleeping in the bedroom or out playing.

Cheng Long on the other side finally couldn't help it and said directly: "Director Gu, I saw the Weibo you posted. I called you just to explain to you."

"Explain?" Gu Wei was a little confused. The Weibo post he posted had nothing to do with Cheng Long.

"Well, I'll just say it directly..."

After listening to Cheng Long's words, Gu Wei finally understood that the other party was just misunderstood and called him specifically to clarify things.

"Brother, this is none of your business. Don't worry. It won't affect our previous cooperation."

Gu Wei's words gave the other party some reassurance, and then the two chatted for a few more sentences before hanging up the phone.

...

Hong Kong Island.

Entertainment headquarters.

Mr. Yang slapped the desk hard, and his body was shaking slightly, not sure if it was because of pain or excitement, and even his face had a ferocious expression.

He finally got a ride with Gu Wei of Star Pictures, and the two sides have been in a sweet cooperative relationship in the past few years. The company has been developing rapidly in the mainland relying on the names of Star Pictures and China Film.

As a result, now Gu Wei has been angered by the mess of some Hong Kong media and a group of filmmakers. Judging from the content of their Weibo posts, Gu Wei is really angry this time.

"I repeatedly told them not to mess with Xingchen Films and Director Gu, but they turned a deaf ear to my words?" President Yang roared.

The secretary was also trembling with fear. Not only did these people completely ignore the company's warnings, but now they heard that they had gathered together and were ready to fight Xingchen Film and Television to the end.

"Then, Director Yang, what should we do now? The company's phone is almost blown up by the people below. Everyone is asking whether Director Gu's statement will affect the subsequent cooperation with the company..."

After hearing what the secretary said, President Yang couldn't help but get angry. He roared, "What should I do? What should I do? Did the company support you just to let you ask me what to do after something goes wrong?"

After hearing Mr. Yang's roar, the secretary's state could no longer be described as trembling, he simply felt suffocated.

Due to the historical environment in Hong Kong, the history of the rise of movie and entertainment tycoons is always mixed with some shady means, which makes the secretary unable to help but think too much.

Just then, Florence Hui came to the office exhausted, glanced at President Yang who was angry, and waved to the secretary.

The secretary glanced at Mr. Yang, whose face was livid, and did not stop him. He immediately walked out of the office quickly, feeling relieved.

"Director Yang, the most urgent thing now is to explain to Director Gu that this matter has nothing to do with the company. Then it would be best to send a statement and make a formal statement."

After hearing this, Mr. Yang thought about it for a while and felt that it was feasible. Anyway, what Florence Hui said was indeed the best way for the time being. He couldn't just keep silent and let Gu Wei misunderstand that the company was involved.

"That's it. You do it right away. But that's not enough. Go contact those people who have worked with Xingchen Film and Television Company and have a good relationship with them, and discuss the next response measures together." President Yang ordered in a serious tone.

After all, when the group of people led by Wenjun spoke out, they brought the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry into it, otherwise Mr. Yang would not be so angry.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Yang. I'll go now."

……

circle.

When Gu Wei updated his Weibo, it instantly attracted the attention and discussion of a large number of netizens in both the mainland and Hong Kong.

"Haha, an old man who refuses to die is a thief. Director Gu is awesome. There is nothing wrong with what he said."

"The aftermath of the last film festival incident has not yet subsided, and this time the other party is causing trouble again. Mainland filmmakers should unite and boycott people from the Hong Kong circle."

"I am convinced. That group of people is really disgusting. They are so arrogant. Why don't they look in the mirror and see what kind of people they are?"

Gu Wei's Weibo post made mainland netizens feel very happy, and many netizens felt that they had vented their anger.

The situation in Hong Kong Island is completely different. Many Hong Kong people who are arrogant in their bones have accused Gu Wei, saying that he has destroyed the cultural exchange and peace between the two places.

After such a big hat was put on him, some public intellectuals in the mainland actually attacked Gu Wei as well.

"Look at these people, they say that the mainland entertainment industry should release resources, and they also say that Hong Kong filmmakers came to the north to help the poor..."

In the villa, Liu Yifei was stroking the cat with one hand and holding her phone with the other, speaking in an indignant tone. The younger sister became angrier and angrier as she watched, with a faint blush on her face.

"Well, netizens have sharp eyes. Didn't they see that the public intellectuals who said this were scolded so harshly?"

From the time he posted on Weibo yesterday to now, Gu Wei has received calls from Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Tony Leung, and Mr. Yang.

The purpose of the call was simple, that is, the remarks made by the group of filmmakers headed by Wenjun did not represent the attitude of the entire Hong Kong circle.

Especially Mr. Yang, who not only cursed that group of people on the phone, but also made an appointment with Gu Wei for a face-to-face talk.

Gu Wei's attitude was also very firm. This time he hoped to see the sincerity of the company and others. Mr. Yang also promised to give Gu Wei an explanation.

This is also the reason why Gu Wei remained calm despite such a big uproar online. Think about it, your Hong Kong media had a tough attitude and even forced Gu Wei to apologize in person, but the largest film and television company in Hong Kong Island now actually invested privately.

Thinking of this, Gu Wei felt like laughing.

"That's right, I was only focused on the title and didn't pay attention to the comments from netizens below." Hearing this, Liu Yifei instantly became happy.

Afterwards, the two of them browsed Weibo while listening to the speeches of directors and filmmakers in the circle.

Among them, Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen and others posted directly on Weibo, not only mocking people in the Hong Kong circle, but also liking the Weibo post posted by Gu Wei. The hot-tempered Jiang Wen even said bluntly that either you should be obedient or get out.

I wonder how Mr. Yang from the company feels when he sees this.

As for the celebrities in the circle, the likes they posted on Gu Wei’s Weibo proved their attitude.

Huang Xiaoming: "Haha, Director Gu is not only talented in filmmaking, but I didn't expect that he also has such profound attainments in literature."

Zhou Xun: "The Wandering Earth has surpassed 2.5 billion. When will we hold a celebration party?"

Tong Liya, Zhao Liying, and Han Dongjun: "Director, we support you."

Qin Hao, Chen Minghao, Hu Ge, Yuan Quan: "The director did a great job."

Ning Hao, Lu Yang, Wu Jing: "We have long wanted to teach them a lesson. What a bunch of arrogant people."

Of course, where there are supporters, there are also those who take advantage of the chaos to fan the flames.

Lu Chuan: "Some people are arrogant because they have achieved some success. The attitude of some individuals does not represent the attitude of the entire mainland entertainment industry. I look forward to working with Hong Kong filmmakers."

Huayi: "Our company has no portals, and we will increase exchanges with Hong Kong filmmakers and film and television companies in the future."

With the two of them taking the lead, some domestic filmmakers and companies that had bad relations with Xingchen Film and Television began to speak out in agreement.

Looking at the outrageous actions of Lu Chuan and Huayi, Gu Wei sneered secretly. Lu Chuan had been screwed by him twice, and jumping out now would probably just make things more troublesome for himself.

However, Huayi Company’s statement is probably their truest thought, that they will join forces with the Hong Kong entertainment industry to suppress the development of Star Films.

"Haha, I hope Huayi can hold on a little longer." Gu Wei said disdainfully.

Afterwards, Gu Wei threw down his phone. Some things were much more exciting than playing with a phone.

...

The mainland film market in November can be said to be a stage prepared for Hollywood movies.

Including the two that were added at short notice, there are a total of seven imported films, with one released every three or four days. As you can imagine, it will definitely be a chaotic scene.

In the original time and space, all domestic films became cannon fodder and victims of the infighting and fighting among Hollywood imported films.

But this situation is simply unavoidable. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the subsequent Lunar New Year and Spring Festival periods, we can only abandon the car to save the driver.

However, now due to the popularity of "The Wandering Earth", it is the turn of imported films to tremble.

Gu Wei accompanied Liu Yifei for a walk. After the walk, he felt more tired than after working overtime for several days in a row.

"Frozen 2 will be completed early next month."

On the way back, Liu Yifei sat in the passenger seat and talked about the animated film she dubbed, feeling very happy.

"I have good news for you. Although the specific release date of this movie in China has not yet been determined, people from Disney are already negotiating a release date with China Film Group. It will most likely be released around the Spring Festival."

Gu Wei was driving, glanced at Liu Yifei beside him, and said softly.

"How do you know?"

"When I went to the China Film Academy that day, Mr. La mentioned this to me when I was leaving."

Hearing Gu Wei's words, the smile on Liu Yifei's face instantly became even brighter. She believed that Gu Wei's judgment would not be wrong.

"That means it will only be two months. When the time comes, I will book the entire theater and you will go with me."

"Okay, no problem." Gu Wei smiled and responded in a gentle voice.

After sending Liu Yifei back to the villa, Gu Wei rushed to the company alone. There was also Ali's celebration banquet in the evening, but he had to confirm some things in advance.

For Gu Wei, there are too many things to do from now until next year. If he doesn't arrange them in advance, he is afraid that he will forget them when the time comes.

There is already news about "The Revenant" in the movie information.

"The foreign language film The Revenant, directed by Gu Wei and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, will be released in the North American market in mid-next month."

"Director Gu Wei will strive for this year's Oscar with this film."

Looking at the film batch documents sent to the company, Song Ge smacked his lips.

"This boss is really efficient. It only took one day!"

Gu Wei didn't know what to say.

This was obviously something La Peikang had specifically reminded me of. Otherwise, even if China Film Group was more efficient than other state-owned enterprises in other industries, it wouldn't be possible to be so fast!

"When the movie is released next month, I will talk to Leonardo about buying the film in batches for China. Let's pick a good date next year."

While talking to Yue Jun, Gu Wei was browsing the online news.

Detective Dee: Rise of the Mystery Dragon is less than three weeks away from release, and is currently being promoted on a large scale. Thanks to Huayi's vocal support, the Hong Kong media seems to have forgotten that Huayi had previously blackmailed Zhou Xingchi about their revenue sharing, and they also reported on the blackmail on Huayi, and the two sides are now fighting fiercely.

Even Hong Kong filmmakers, led by Shu Qi, strongly promoted "Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame" on their personal Weibo accounts, calling on fans to go to the cinema to support the film when it is released.

Feng Xiaogang, as the chief director of this year's Spring Festival Gala, has successfully held a personal film exhibition in Hollywood. Coupled with the upcoming release of "Private Tailor" in the Lunar New Year Cup, he is in high spirits and very popular at the moment.

Countless celebrities in the industry wanted to perform on the Spring Festival Gala through Feng Xiaogang, and Huayi Company frequently exchanged interests among them and made a lot of money.

In response to this momentum, Huayi’s stock price reached its highest point after the ban period after its listing.

Song Ge was still looking at the approval documents for "The Revenant", while Gu Wei made a phone call after reading the news.

"Director Gu?"

“How many Huayi shares do I have now?”

"Please wait a moment. Let me take a look."

After a burst of keyboard sounds on the other end of the phone, the other party answered directly:
"Director Gu, since the listing in 09, after several additional distributions, you now have more than million shares. Do you want to trade?"

Hearing this number, Gu Wei took several seconds to come back to his senses. The speed of increase was really fast. "There is no need to trade for the time being. I just want to ask."

"Okay, I won't disturb Director Gu from his work. Feel free to call me if you need anything."

"Oh, by the way, there is one thing I want to ask in advance. When I need to sell Huayi shares, can I sell them all at once?" Gu Wei said lightly.

Song Ge, who was reading the documents nearby, paused unconsciously after hearing this and looked up at him.

"In principle, there is no problem. But Director Gu, you have a lot of shares in your hands. If you sell them all at once, you may not achieve the maximum profit." After a moment's silence, the other end of the phone gave an answer.

"Okay, it's okay. Get ready and wait for my news."

"Okay, Director Gu, I'll hang up first."

As the voice on the other end of the line disappeared, Gu Wei was thinking silently in his heart. Seeing that the year was coming to an end, he really wanted to know whether Huayi’s annual meeting dividend would be in cash or in additional shares.
"Director Gu, what are you doing?" Song Ge put down the documents and asked curiously.

"Haha, let's prepare for a rainy day. We plan to give Huayi a tough time." Gu Wei smiled, appearing very casual.

"I agree with a ruthless approach, but Huayi is currently in its heyday. Even if you sell the stocks, it will not have any impact on them." Song Ge asked in some confusion.

"The share prices of listed domestic entertainment companies are closely related to the box office of their released movies. If Huayi's movies fail again and we sell our shares again, do you think it will have any impact on them?"

"Box office failure, you mean the upcoming Detective Dee: Rise of the Mystery Dragon?"

"No, the success or failure of Xu Ke's film will not have a fatal impact on Huayi. I'm talking about Feng Xiaogang's "Personal Tailor"."

Hearing this, Song Ge said nothing more. He had great faith in Gu Wei's vision.

……

Alibaba chose to hold its acquisition celebration party in the evening in the capital, but Liu Yifei did not attend.

Seeing this, Gu Wei brought Song Ge with him. After all, this situation still needed an experienced person to accompany him.

Otherwise, with the experience of these old scoundrels in the business world, they might be able to trick Gu Wei into joining them just by talking.

Platinum Hotel.

In order to celebrate the successful acquisition, Alibaba directly booked the largest banquet hall in the hotel.

By the time Gu Wei and Song Ge arrived, most of the people had already arrived, and there were also quite a few media reporters, almost catching up with the scale of some blockbuster movie premieres and press conferences.

"Director Gu, President Song, welcome, welcome. Please come in." A manager from Alibaba Entertainment Company greeted them at the door.

"Mr. Li, you're welcome."

Gu Wei had never met him, so Song Ge had done the work in advance and blurted it out directly.

"Mr. Li, let's go in." After saying that, Gu Wei took the lead, his style was no less impressive than Tai Chi Ma.

Mr. Li on the opposite side was slightly stunned, then hurriedly caught up, while Song Ge just smiled and said nothing.

After entering the hall, the arrival of Gu Wei and Song Ge attracted everyone's attention.

"Ali is really strong. Even Director Gu came here." Someone whispered.

"Hehe, you usually look like you like to preach to people, but you still come here specially to show your support to the Internet tycoon." He said with some disdain.

No matter what the attitudes of some individuals present were, it did not affect the continuous number of people coming forward to greet Gu Wei and Song Ge.

Gu Wei also took advantage of the break to glance at everyone present.

The visitors were mainly divided into three groups: Internet, media and guests. There were not many people from the Internet side, most of them were representatives of companies under Alibaba or with good relations with Alibaba.

There are more media coming, but not everyone can be let in. For example, entertainment reporters represented by Zhuo Wei are not welcome.

The largest number of people who came to the entire cocktail party were the guests.

Suddenly, Gu Wei saw Han Sanping not far away. After noticing his gaze, the other party nodded and smiled.

Although Han Sanping of China Film Group has retired, he still holds a position in the group, but has retreated behind the scenes. He came here at the invitation of Alibaba to discuss cooperation.

In addition, Gu Wei actually saw representatives from the Naval Political Department Television Art Center and the Jinling Military Region Television Art Center. Gu Wei had met the representatives sent by the other side when he was preparing to shoot "Wolf Warrior".

In addition, the bigwigs in the entertainment industry, Yu Dong from Bona and Jin Qiaoqiao attended, and old acquaintance Wang Changtian also came. As for Wang Zhongjun from Huayi, the two looked at each other and then looked away, each with a sneer on the corner of their mouth.

In addition, many new faces attended the celebration party, such as Zhao Fang, another general manager of Wanda Pictures, and Chen Wu, CEO of Penguin Pictures.

"That's Zhang Qiang, who is currently in charge of Alibaba's entertainment business." Song Ge introduced him to Gu Wei individually.

Speaking of Zhang Qiang, he is also a prominent figure. He has served as chairman and general manager of Capital Forbidden City Films, deputy general manager of China Film Group Corporation, and was once rumored to be taking over from Han Sanping.

The works he has led and participated in include "So Young" and the first two parts of "Tiny Times".

With everyone gathered together at this moment, the relationships in the entertainment industry become even more complicated.

In addition, Gu Wei actually saw Zhao Yanzi and Jia Zhangke and his wife in the crowd.

It was only after others had finished their introductions that Gu Wei realized that Zhao Yanzi was attending as the second largest shareholder of Alibaba Entertainment.

"Director Gu came here by himself. Yifei didn't come?" Jia Zhangke came over with his wife to say hello. His attitude was very enthusiastic. It was obvious that he still remembered that Gu Wei had helped him recommend "A Touch of Sin" to his fans and moviegoers.

"She had something to do and didn't have time, so I came here by myself." Gu Wei said with a smile.

"This is my wife Zhao Tao. Director Gu, you must have met her before."

"Ah hello."

"Hello, Director Gu."

Talking about the directors in the Chinese entertainment industry, I don’t know if they are all crazy about doting on their wives or they are strictly controlled by their wives. They all like to bring their wives into the crew.

For example, Zhao Tao, the wife of Section Chief Jia, has appeared in the film thirteen times. Her portrayal is so much like Tao that even the Section Chief’s fans can’t stand it and have turned against her, taking pleasure in discrediting Zhao Tao.

Feng Xiaogang and Xu Fan have collaborated 12 times. Others, such as Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun, Gu Changwei and Jiang Wenli, Guan Hu and Liang Jing, and Chen Kaige and Chen Hong, have collaborated on almost every film since they got married.

As for the specific reasons, that depends on one's own opinion.

Speaking of Gu Wei and Liu Yifei, it's the same situation. Fortunately, the young lady has good acting skills and has won two of the three major European Film Actress awards. If her acting skills were not up to par, it would be a disaster for the Chinese-language film industry.

"Director Gu, welcome, welcome." While they were talking, the real host arrived.

Gu Wei turned his head and saw that it was indeed the Tai Chi Ma with "outstanding" appearance. He saw that the other party was walking in front, followed by a dozen people. People kept greeting him, and Tai Chi Ma also responded with a smile.

After seeing the Tai Chi horse, Gu Wei suddenly had an idea. You said that you make millions every minute, so why do you have to make such a big fuss just to acquire a film and television company?
Little did people know that the reason why the Tai Chi Horse Race was held so grandly was entirely for Gu Wei.

The domestic Internet sector has developed from the market winter in 03 to the present. After ten years of development, the entire market is almost saturated.

The Internet situation in the mainland is almost finalized and will hardly change much, so Tai Chi Ma's attention has naturally shifted direction.

In the original time and space, Alibaba has been losing money almost every year since it entered the entertainment industry, but Taiji Ma continued to invest money and wanted to acquire several film and television companies in the industry. It also proposed a large entertainment plan, naturally for the purpose of controlling the voice channel.

But later, whether it was because there was something wrong with Tai Chi Ma’s thinking or the country did not allow the birth of “aristocratic families”, all of Ali’s investments became a waste.

"Mr. Ma, you're too polite. Today is a great day for Alibaba. It's only right for me to come and show my support." Gu Wei also pretended to be enthusiastic.

Wow, Tai Chi Ma's smile got even wider when he heard this, and he gave Gu Wei a hug. This action caused everyone to think deeply, and those who didn't know would think that the two of them had some PY transaction in private!
Then, the banquet officially began.

After Zhang Qiang and others spoke one after another, Tai Chi Horse ended last.

On the stage, Tai Chi Ma was seen speaking passionately, and when he got excited he made big promises in front of everyone and the media.

Not to mention, when Tai Chi Ma announced in person that he would invest heavily in the development of film and television every year, many people around Gu Wei even started breathing heavily.

This is not 13 million or million, but more than billion. At this point in , it is enough for Alibaba to make several blockbuster movies a year.

The speeches ended and the banquet began.

As for Gu Wei, the person sitting at the same table with him is naturally a big shot of the same level.

Just like the Dongxing dinner where Pony Ma sat at the host seat, sitting next to him were the bosses or heads of Internet companies such as Jingdong, Didi, Mobai, Meituan, Zhihu, Sequoia Capital, Toutiao, Xiaomi, etc. People with ordinary wealth or level had no say at all.

After a while of greetings and small talk, Zhang Qiang from Alibaba Pictures spoke first, "Director Gu, The Wandering Earth has grossed over 2.5 billion yuan in China and 250 million US dollars overseas. I wonder when you plan to start your next domestic film and how much you plan to invest!"

Zhang Qiang was well aware of Gu Wei's film plans in Hollywood, but they had already been finalized. It was said that even Light Media and Wanda, which often cooperated with Star Films, did not get a share. In that case, it would be better to focus on the domestic market first.

Tonight is Tai Chi Ma's home game. At the moment, he is sitting in the main seat, with Gu Wei on his left. At the table are Han Sanping, Yu Dong, Wang Changtian, Wang Zhongjun and others.

It was obvious that Zhang Qiang had received instructions from Tai Chi Ma in advance, which was why he asked so directly.

"Haha, the next domestic film will definitely be The Wandering Earth 2, with an estimated investment of around 15 to 20 billion yuan."

Since the other party asked so directly, Gu Wei answered without any hesitation.

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, everyone gasped.

"15 to 20 billion, Director Gu, you are not kidding, right?" Zhang Qiang continued to ask with a bit of disbelief.

"Just kidding, what are you kidding? The third batch of equipment purchased by Xingchen Films has arrived. When we start "The Wandering Earth 2", the filming equipment will be more advanced and the investment will naturally be larger." Gu Wei said with a faint smile.

At this time, Tai Chi Ma finally couldn't help but speak.

.........

(End of this chapter)