Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 594 More than 30 million! "Painted Skin" is a hit!
Cannes.

During the film festival each year, this small town seems to come alive again.

Of course, Cannes, which is already a tourist destination, needs the support of filmmakers from all over the world for its consumption and luxury stores.

Without these guys, Cannes' GDP would drop.

And now, two Chinese women are going on a shopping spree at a luxury goods store.

One of them had unusually large eyes, while the other seemed a little embarrassed.

But this big-eyed guy clearly has a doting face.

"Little sister, pick out a few more, it's okay. In the entertainment industry, you can't do without a few outfits."

"Sister, these are really too expensive."

"What's wrong with being expensive? We're dressed for the expensive! The more expensive, the more we buy! The more expensive, the more stylish we are."

"I, I just..."

“I understand you. You’ve always been raised with strict discipline, haven’t you? It’s okay, you have him now.”

"This... Sister~"

The "big-eyed guy" refers to... of course, Jia Yueting.

That's right, these two women are Big-Eyed Thief and Gan Wei.

And Jia Yueting was in this store... He kept as far away as possible.

Let the women handle the shopping.

Anyone who has accompanied their wife shopping knows that women who complain about walking only a few dozen meters on ordinary days can easily walk seven or eight kilometers in high heels when shopping.

Jia Yueting is very experienced; he's a divorced man.

Now that I've been pointed at, I'm laughing.

When that smiling face was shown to her, Gan Wei couldn't help but chuckle.

The big-eyed thief chuckled, "When he sees the bill later..."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh.

So, Gan Wei listened to the big-eyed thief's advice and decided to give Jia Yueting a surprise.

Wow, that thief with the big eyes is incredibly efficient!

That's right, she had already quickly won over Gan Wei and become good friends with this girl from a very powerful background.

As for Jia Yueting... that guy is a bit difficult to deal with.

But it's nothing, Big Eye Thief has his own 'bait'.

The publicly available information about the film "Painted Skin" is as follows.

Chen Jiashang clearly stated the total investment amount in a recent interview.

1500 million US dollars.

It can be understood as 100 million RMB.

An investment of 1 million sounds like a blockbuster.

The problem now is that less than 7000 million of that investment has been used.

Okay, there's another version that says it's over 5000 million.

Of course, there aren't many problems here, because the movie hasn't been released yet, and there are still many things to spend money on.

For example, publicity and promotion... Yes, this is the opportunity!

Leshi itself is a website, a publicity platform, and Jia Yueting also acquired Huayi, which is now defunct.

It's important to understand that although Huayi Brothers isn't as successful as it used to be, it's still an advertising company, meaning that in terms of film promotion and distribution, Huayi Brothers remains a top company in China.

So, Mr. Jia, would you like to get the publicity and distribution rights for the "Painted Skin" project?

The thief with the big eyes actually planned to discuss the money with Boss Jia.

This is no small sum of money.

It's at least 3000 million.

That's right, spending all the investment is the best approach. If you leave a lot of money for the investors after making a movie... then the investors will definitely be unhappy.

Was the filming not done properly?

Unless the film is made by the investors themselves, then they should try to spend all the money.

Even better value is better than not being able to spend it all.

Jia Yueting definitely knows these things.

So, when Gan Wei went to try on the clothes...

The big-eyed thief then came to Jia Yueting's side.

"Mr. Jia, what are your thoughts on this film, 'Painted Skin'?"

The question was ambiguous, but Jia Yueting certainly understood it.

Big-Eyed Thief already mentioned it before.

Speaking of this marketing campaign... 3000 million, that's really tempting.

Despite Jia Yueting's constant boasting, when faced with 3000 million yuan in real money, he claims he doesn't care at all. He'd have to call himself a show-off.

To put it simply, many companies are like this: when you look at their financial statements, you see figures of hundreds of millions.

So awesome.

But if you actually ask them to come up with the money, let alone 30 million, not many people can even come up with 5 million right away.

That's how business is done.

But is this woman reliable?
“Miss Zhao, I don’t deny your abilities, but the problem is, this is a big deal. If you want me to completely trust you, you’ll need to come up with something more reliable.”

Although this was a questioning of Big-Eyed Thief, Big-Eyed Thief laughed.

Because she was certain that Jia Yueting was definitely interested!
Yes, if we weren't tempted, this matter wouldn't have reached this point.

The big-eyed thief smirked and then said, "The film 'Painted Skin' mainly has three sources of funding: Dunhuang, Shanghai Film Group, and Hong Kong."

The Dunhuang authorities want to protect a cultural tourism IP.

As for Shanghai Film Studio... I had a very good relationship with them when I was filming "Old House Has Joy" and "Romance in the Rain".

I also have a very good relationship with Mrs. Lan, the owner of Taiji in Hong Kong.

"Lan Tai?"

“Mr. Jia, as you know, I used to film several movies in Hong Kong, especially Shaolin Soccer.”

"Of course I know about this movie. It's a pity that it wasn't released in mainland China."

"Although this movie couldn't be shown in mainland China, Mrs. Lan put in a lot of effort in terms of copyright. I even... well, let's not go into that. Mrs. Lan saw that I was just a young girl who had been bullied like that, so she took good care of me..."

Oh, that's what happened.

But the thing that the big-eyed thief mentioned... Jia Yueting inexplicably had a feeling that she smelled something.

Ahem, this can't be shown in public.

Jia Yueting nodded. "I didn't expect you to have such a strong network of connections."

"Mr. Jia." Seeing that the opportunity was almost there, the big-eyed thief simply stated her terms, "Both Shanghai Film Group and Dunhuang have made huge investments, and as for this publicity and distribution fee... Mr. Jia, you only need to set aside ten million, and the rest is yours."

Ten million... that's the money for Miss Zhao and her network of connections, right?
No wonder she cares so much.

Don't underestimate this money. Big-Eyed Thief got his paycheck and will get a free portion, which is equivalent to earning double the salary.

Who wouldn't be happy?

Jia Yueting nodded, indicating that the offer was good, but it still needed to be negotiated. "Ten million isn't a huge sum, but it's not a small amount either..."

He didn't finish his sentence; after all, this was just a prelude.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, Gan Wei's voice came.

"Oh, Sister Zhou?"

"Little sister, this dress of yours is really beautiful."

Zhou Xun appeared, and she immediately started a relationship with Gan Weila.

How could the big-eyed thief be happy?

Naturally, he would give Jia Yueting a meaningful look, but unfortunately, Jia Yueting couldn't do anything to Zhou Xun.

Hello, Ms. Zhou.

They were all there to attend Cannes, and for Jia Yueting and Gan Wei, it was more of a tourist trip.

But at this moment, the relationship between them is quite delicate.

Upon seeing Jia Yueting and the big-eyed thief, Zhou Xun couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks about someone.

"I don't know what you guys were talking about just now, but you seemed really engrossed in it."

That makes sense, since Zhou Xun appeared and they were still talking.

The most amazing thing is that... Gan Wei heard those words!
Jia Yueting naturally distanced herself from the big-eyed thief and then approached Gan Wei.

"They really look good, why don't we take them both?" Sure enough, this guy really understands women's minds.

However, something still began to stir in Gan Wei's heart.

……

Azure sea and blue sky.

Ma Xun recently attended the opening ceremony of "Inception" in Barcelona.

He ran away after filming started, of course, because director Satoshi Kon was in charge.

Although Satoshi Kon has not yet directed a live-action film, he is currently focusing on dramatic scenes and planning that particular shot.

Scenes of various things exploding in the street.

When Ma Xun suggested that this time we would be filming on location...

Satoshi Kon was dumbfounded.

After all, how are we supposed to handle explosion scenes like that?

To achieve the explosion in the dream, that is, to make the explosives fly out, but the speed at which they fly is very slow.

This is simply...

Ma Xun's answer was to fill it with nitrogen and then find a demolition expert—someone from China would do, of course.

As for the slow firing speed... well, a high-speed camera.

Anyway, Nolan filmed this scene using real footage.

We have to admit, Nolan is indeed a talented individual.

It was plagiarism, but the director's skills are also there, that's all there is to it.

Now, Ma Xun can use it directly, but this shot will require some preparation.

So, Ma Xun simply came to Cannes, and of course he wanted to get his hands on "Painted Skin"!
The investment by Blue Ocean has not yet been disclosed.

This is good; it will allow Ma Xun to catch them off guard.

The real solution... Zhou Xun is back.

That's right, the luxury store she just went to was the one Ma Xun asked her to go to.

Now...

What methods do you have?

"Don't worry, you'll do very well this time."

"what?"

"It's part of my methods."

"I do not understand."

Yes, Zhou Xun really couldn't understand what this man in front of her was planning to do.

Ma Xun, however, was full of confidence.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. When the leaders from Shanghai Film Studio and the people from Dunhuang arrive, that will be the decisive moment."

"What?" Zhou Xun was even more confused. At that time... "What exactly could we do?"

"Please beg me."

Ma Xun's words were quite malicious.

“You…” Zhou Xun was angry, but she couldn’t resist her curiosity. “Fine! I beg you, let me…”

Before she could finish speaking, Ma Xun tossed her two photos.

This photo... Zhou Xun couldn't stop smiling when she saw it.

What exactly is in the photo?

……

a few days later.

The leaders of Shanghai Film Group arrived. Although it wasn't Ren Zhonglun, they were still quite high-ranking figures.

Xiao Kai, who came from Dunhuang, owns his own company, but he actually represents Dunhuang.

Then, of course, they met up with Chen Jia and his group.

Real Bullet, Chen Kun, Zhou Xun, Big Eye Thief, and others were all very enthusiastic about these two.

The reason "Painted Skin" came to Cannes this time is to take advantage of the film festival to promote the movie.

Of course, it was not shortlisted for the main competition.

Let's see if there's a chance for an opening video. If not, that's okay too, we can just show it.

These are all normal procedures.

And now, there's one more thing.

"Publicity and marketing?"

"Yes, why don't we take this opportunity to finalize the publicity and distribution plan?"

Chen Jia brought up the matter herself.

It seems he might have some kind of deal with the big-eyed thief behind the scenes.

The ten million that the big-eyed thief demanded might also be given to Chen Jia.

Of course, there is no evidence for any of this.

But when Xiao Kai and the leaders of Shanghai Film Studio thought about it, they agreed that it wasn't a bad idea.

Moreover, I heard that Jia Yueting and several other influential figures in the domestic entertainment industry have also come.

Let's talk about it then.

So, just before the opening of the Cannes Film Festival.

A small bidding meeting will be held to discuss the publicity and distribution of "Painted Skin".

Of course, these are all just intentions now, but these intentions are very important.

Because Chen Jia and others have already mentioned that they have met with Jia Yueting.

Jia Yueting is the owner of Leshi, and he uses this website to promote his movies.

No problem at all!

But after the meeting started...

Where is Boss Jia?

"Yes, why hasn't Boss Jia arrived yet?"

Is there a traffic jam?

what's the situation? !

Where is Jia Yueting?
At first, the big-eyed thief managed to stay calm, but later, she completely panicked.

what happened?
But just then, someone arrived!
"Dear leaders and friends, I'm late."

It was Ma Xun!
What... exactly happened?
If Jia Yueting doesn't come, then this meeting... isn't it basically just for Ma Xun?!
But at this moment, Ma Xun said something else.

"Before I came to Cannes, I met with Lan Tai, and we discussed the film in detail... Lan Tai has already given it to me."

what? !

The Shanghai Film Group leaders and Xiao Kai immediately changed their expressions; they were already smiling, but now their smiles became even more enthusiastic.

The big-eyed thief was completely dumbfounded!
And then... she saw Zhou Xun looking at her and smiling.

Could it be her doing?
This is really not the case.

Once the publicity and distribution negotiations were mostly finalized, Ma Xun essentially secured the rights to "Painted Skin".

Zhou Xun then came over to chat with him.

"Exactly, how did you do it? Those photos..."

"I photoshopped it."

"what?"

What do you mean?
It turns out that those photos Ma Xun had shown Zhou Xun before were...

Actually, it's a photo of Jia Yueting with the big-eyed thief...

Ma Xun went a bit too far, directly photoshopping... But!
"Have you ever considered one possibility, which is..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Xun covered her mouth.

Could it be that Jia Yueting and the big-eyed thief had a relationship?
Regardless of whether that's the case or not, Jia Yueting definitely can't attend this meeting now.

A whole bunch of people, especially that big-eyed thief, spent half the day setting up a stage for me, Ma Xun...

In fact, Ma Xun didn't know how Gan Wei used those photos either.

That's right, he gave it to Gan Wei.

(End of this chapter)