Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 534 How annoying~~
After "Mojin: The Lost Legend" broke records, some netizens started to hold Li Qiutang accountable.

"With 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' grossing 25 billion yuan, how much of the profits will Li Qiutang receive?"

After deducting special funds and value-added tax, deducting the cinema's share, deducting China Film Digital's agency fee, deducting the production share and distribution share, after all the deductions, they finally said: "With 25 billion yuan in box office revenue, Li Qiutang will personally receive about 3000 million yuan."

Of course, netizens didn't know that Li Qiutang had signed a 10 billion yuan box office revenue sharing agreement with the production company.

But isn't 3000 million a bit too much of an underestimation of a top director's earning power?
Li Qiutang's profit-sharing agreement is as follows: If the box office of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" is less than 300 billion yuan, Li Qiutang will only receive the 1000 million yuan deposit he previously received as his full salary. If the box office is between 100 billion and 15 billion yuan, Li Qiutang will receive 1000 million yuan for every additional 10 million yuan. If the box office is between 15 billion and 200 billion yuan, Li Qiutang will receive 20 million yuan for every additional 10 million yuan. If the box office is above 1000 billion yuan, Li Qiutang will receive 400 million yuan for every additional 2000 million yuan, plus a fixed cash bonus of 20 million yuan.

Based on this calculation, of the current box office of 25 billion yuan, Li Qiutang (in the name of Li Qiutang Film Studio) will take 3.7 million yuan.

Are there many?
There are many. In the highest level of Chinese-language cinema, perhaps only Ann Lee surpasses Michelle Lee.

However, Li Qiutang's returns are proportional to his risks. He has a guaranteed minimum of 10 billion yuan. If the box office does not exceed 10 billion yuan, Li Qiutang is essentially working for Wanda for free. Even if the box office is less than 15 billion yuan, the income Li Qiutang receives is not commensurate with his status in the film industry.

Who in the Chinese film industry would dare to sign this agreement? Not even Feng Xiaogang.

However, compared to what Wanda Company earns, Li Qiutang's share doesn't seem like much.

All the revenue from the copyright of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" belongs to Wanda Pictures, not to mention the intangible benefits that a box office champion brought to Wanda Pictures.

I dare not say more, but Wan Da earned at least 2-3 times more than Li Qiutang.

Therefore, a successful film brings a win-win situation for all parties—the audience enjoys a high-quality film, the production company and theaters gain considerable profits, the actors' status rises, and the director receives a substantial share of the profits. Of course, unless Li Qiutang can win one of the three major awards or an Oscar, his status can no longer rise.

What good are winning the Big Three and the Oscar? His directorial fees have already reached their limit; the market can't accommodate any more.

But now is not the time to calculate the money. "Mojin: The Lost Legend" is still showing in theaters, and Li Qiutang should be praised for his efficiency if he can receive his salary in October this year.

Li Qiutang is currently on the set of Pacific Rim 2 in Toronto.

“Crystal, look there.” The staff member gestured for Liu Yifei to look behind her.

Liu Yifei turned around and saw her husband holding a bouquet of flowers, looking at her from a few steps away.

"Ah—" Liu Yifei was overjoyed.

“Surprise.” Li Qiutang opened her arms.

"Why did you come? You didn't even tell me." Liu Yifei walked over happily.

"I already told you, why call it a surprise?" Li Qiutang handed the flowers to his wife and laughed, "What, were you afraid I'd see what you were doing on set?"

"You're so annoying." Liu Yifei punched her husband.

The crew of "Pacific Rim 2" did not know Li Qiutang; they only knew that he was the husband of the female lead Crystal and that he was also a director.

So what if he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director? Many foreigners don't watch foreign films at all, and Asians all look pretty much the same to them, so it's normal that they don't recognize Li Qiutang.

When Li Qiutang came to visit the set, she didn't disturb him too much. After greeting Director Toro, whom she knew, she sat down quietly and watched the crew work.

Li Qiutang was very interested in the equipment and technology used in a production of the scale of "Pacific Rim 2". She patiently consulted and exchanged ideas with Toro and benefited a lot from it.

After all, Li Qiutang was also preparing a large-scale science fiction film.

Toro filmed for five hours, and Li Qiutang watched the filming for five hours.

After work, the crew had dinner, and Li Qiutang joined them.

Li Qiutang discovered that the catering management of Hollywood film crews is generally more scientific and orderly than that in China.

Hollywood film crews don't call their production managers "food and beverage supervisors." Li Qiutang immediately consulted with the film crew's food and beverage supervisor about how he managed to organize meals for so many people in a reasonable and orderly manner.

To say that Hollywood production crews are better than their domestic counterparts in terms of format is not necessarily true. Hollywood production crews also have core creators eating customized meals, while extras and staff eat boxed lunches. It's basically the same system, but their procedural management is more meticulous than that of domestic crews.

Perhaps due to the fixed working hours of Hollywood film crews—8 hours of filming per day, with any overtime counted as overtime—they are able to manage their catering more meticulously. Domestic film crews don't have this concept; if filming is fast, they eat at 7 pm, but if filming is slow, they don't even eat until midnight.

"Why do I feel like you didn't come to see me?" Liu Yifei said with a smile, in Chinese.

"Married women should be aware of what it means to have seen it and then move on," Li Qiutang said deliberately.

"Don't call me a married woman!" Liu Yifei protested.

Li Qiutang rolled her eyes and ignored her.

After finishing their work, the couple returned to their hotel to rest.

Toronto in January is so cold it makes you question your existence.

The two had no interest in going out and stayed in their room.

"Aren't you busy back home? You still have time to come here." The room was very warm. Liu Yifei took off her coat, revealing a tight-fitting sweater underneath. It was bulging and perky, and Li Qiutang couldn't take her eyes off her.

"Still looking? I'll gouge your eyes out if you keep looking," Liu Yifei laughed. She had always known that her husband liked her figure.

"It's legal, but you won't let me see it." Li Qiutang crossed her legs.

Liu Yifei twirled around in front of Li Qiutang and said, "Don't I have a great figure? I have a great chest and a great butt. If I were a man, I would like someone like me."

"That's enough, you're so narcissistic." Sometimes Li Qiutang really couldn't do anything about her.

"I can tell you're not being sincere. What's wrong with praising your wife's figure?" Liu Yifei said.

"Your good figure is partly thanks to me."

"What?" Liu Yifei's face flushed slightly.

After saying that, he quickly took two steps and sat on the armrest of the sofa, using his massage hammer as a microphone: "I'd like to interview Director Li. The company's listing and the film breaking records are both joyous occasions. Which makes you happier?"

Li Qiutang put his arm around his wife's waist and said, "Marrying you makes me even happier."

"Seriously. The wedding was over two months ago, this trick won't work on me anymore."

Li Qiutang then said, "You said it's double happiness, so you must be happy."

"Choose one."

"Let's stick with movies. My main job is directing; running the company is just a side job." He even had to put on an act in front of his wife.

"Wow, what are you saying?" Even Liu Yifei thought he was being heartless for saying that.

"Are you finished?"

"Ah."

Li Qiutang picked Liu Yifei up in a princess carry: "After you've finished talking, come take a bath with me."

"It's only a little past 10 o'clock."

Li Qiutang doesn't care if it's 10 or 11 o'clock: "You little vixen, you're wearing a tight sweater and you're stirring up my fire, so you have to do what you want."

"That's because you lack willpower."

"I don't need any willpower to be with you; I'd rather die on top of you."

"Oh, be gentle, you're so naughty," Liu Yifei said coquettishly. "I can do it myself."

(End of this chapter)