I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 393, Wang Lei: I made a small decision, a small decision that Li Xuan absolutely cannot refuse.

At this time, Liu Meizhen was at Huayi Brothers, in Wang Lei's office.
We're also looking at the box office figures.

The box office performance of "Avatar" in China felt as expected.

A complete and overwhelming first-day box office performance.

"With this box office performance, even if Zhang Yimou and Ma Xiaogang came, it wouldn't make a difference." Wang Lei looked at this box office performance and thought that even if "If You Are the One 3" or "A Simple Noodle Story" came, it wouldn't make a difference.

I don't know if it's because "China's No. 1" knew about "Avatar" this year, but coincidentally they released their own "experimental" work. There was no news about it all year, and even after it flopped at the box office and with critical acclaim, they could still make up for it by saying it was a bold and innovative work.
A perfect 'escape'.

From a business perspective, avoiding this release window is perfectly reasonable. Who can match the box office siphoning power of "Avatar"?
Who can withstand the box office dominance of this "number one in the world"?

No one can do what they can't.
Everyone wants to escape, and everyone is trying to prove their own 'rightness'.
Only Li Xuan's "Source Code" went against the tide, and even achieved considerable success while going against the tide.

That's the scariest part of this work.
Liu Meizhen squinted and said.

"I always felt that Li Xuan and I had some kind of inexplicable connection. I clearly didn't come here for Li Xuan this time, but it just so happens that his work was released at the same time as 'Avatar'."

"Um"

Although Liu Meizhen didn't say it, Wang Lei knew why she had come—currently, a Chinese remake of a Korean film called "New World" was doing very well, dominating the Korean box office charts. A mysterious Chinese screenwriter named "Sheng Chang" also has another film called "Parasite" to be released next year.

Wang Lei actually wanted to find this person, but he never did, and eventually his interest waned.

After all, his reluctance to show his face might be due to something from some circle that doesn't want to reveal their identity, or it might be a disguise worn by some senior figure.

None of these are impossible.
Wang Lei felt that his control over the film and television industry was constantly slipping away, and he was getting older.

Let go of these thoughts.

As for now, the more pressing issue is...

Li Xuan, who is still in front of us
at this time.

Looking at the box office figures for the first day.

"Thirty-eight million..."

She read the number in an almost anatomical tone.

"In the shadow of Avatar's opening day gross of over 100 million, a 'sci-fi film' with no special effects to speak of achieved this result."

Wang Lei leaned back in his office chair, said nothing, and simply picked up his teacup and took a sip.

He was certainly aware of the significance behind that number.

Zheng Long and his associates painstakingly orchestrated a scheme to "praise someone to death," investing considerable personal resources and expending a great deal of effort in this endeavor.
It was like a high-stakes gamble. Everyone thought Li Xuan had a bad hand and could only wait to be crushed by Avatar's straight flush.

"President Wang, don't you find this strange?" Liu Meizhen finally put down the report, her calculating eyes revealing an incomprehensible confusion.

"What's weird?"

"It's strange how he won," Liu Meizhen said, emphasizing each word. "According to Hollywood's business model, this kind of mismatched marketing should lead to a disastrous backlash in public opinion, with box office revenue plummeting. Audiences would feel cheated, and anger would overwhelm everything. However, Li Xuan still managed to maintain such box office momentum; the box office revenue didn't even drop the next day."

She paused, then added, "Like Chen Kaizi's film 'The Promise'."

Hollywood people all know about the stream-of-consciousness masterpiece "The Promise" now; they still remember it even in this day and age.

Wang Lei chuckled softly, a smile tinged with an indescribable self-deprecation.

"Mr. Liu, you've forgotten, this isn't Hollywood."

He placed the teacup on the table with a soft "tap".

"This is China."

"Li Xuan isn't your Hollywood director or our audience here. There are still many who haven't been tamed."

Wang Lei extended a finger and tapped his heart.

"They recognize this."

Liu Meizhen fell silent.

She recalled the ending of the movie, when the soldier who had already sacrificed his life calmly said with his last breath, "Saving people is my mission," and the suppressed sobs that filled the theater.

She remembered the cheers and screams that erupted in the theater when the text message with the smiley face appeared from a parallel world.

That emotional resonance, that collective emotional catharsis, is something that no data model can quantify.

It's something deeply rooted in our cultural heritage.

But she couldn't understand it.

Living in America, Liu Meizhen couldn't understand the concept of "soldier." After watching the movie, she could sense that it was a good work, but she didn't feel much resonance. Aren't soldiers all about the American Dream, tattoos, drug use, prostitution, and promiscuity? At least that's how it is in her country under the Stars and Stripes.

If the awareness of 'sacrifice' were to exist, it would only exist in one person, and that person would be a noble soul, not like in this movie where just anyone is randomly pulled in and becomes incredibly noble.

“But even now, I still don’t understand.” Liu Meizhen shook her head. She was used to analyzing things from the perspective of logic and profit: “I understand that emotional resonance can be converted into box office revenue, but its power should be limited, especially in the face of a groundbreaking industrial product like Avatar. It should be very vulnerable.”

“So, let’s see on the third day,” Wang Lei continued, his expression turning serious. “If the box office for Source Code crashes tomorrow, it will prove that your model is correct; it’s just a bubble propped up by temporary emotions and negative traffic.”

"but if……"

Wang Lei didn't continue.

But Liu Meizhen understood.

If its box office doesn't drop tomorrow, or even... increases.

That proves
At least.

Wang Lei felt that he must have been 'wrong'.

A long silence fell over the office.

Both of them were waiting.

Waiting for the box office data the next day, for the final verdict.

On the third day, at the same time, in the same office.

The atmosphere was even more somber than yesterday.

Wang Lei's assistant stood in front of the desk, his hands trembling slightly, and he could barely speak.

"Mr. Wang...the box office statistics for the second day are out..."

Wang Lei didn't urge him, but simply raised his chin, signaling him to continue.

Liu Meizhen sat to the side with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Avatar...the box office on the second day was 150 million, and it continued to rise."

This number was expected, and even more outrageous than anticipated.

Cameron's box office machine has been fully activated.

Neither Wang Lei nor Liu Meizhen showed any emotion on their faces.

The real judgment is the next number.

The assistant took a deep breath, as if using all his strength.

"Source Code... second-day box office... forty-five million!"

There was deathly silence in the office.

Wang Lei's expression froze.

Liu Meizhen's arms, which she had been holding to her chest, suddenly dropped.

Has it increased?

Not only did it not fall, it actually went up?
It rose from 38 million to 45 million!
With Avatar taking the vast majority of the market share, how did it manage to buck the trend and rise in popularity?!
This is not logical.

This doesn't conform to any business principles!

"The screening rate only increased by less than three percent... the occupancy rate... the occupancy rate is close to ninety percent?!"

Looking at another set of data on the report, she felt like her brain was about to crash.

This means that as long as cinemas allocate screenings for "Source Code", those screenings will basically be sold out!

It's the audience that's forcing cinemas to add more screenings!

Wang Lei leaned back in his chair and suddenly let out a low laugh.

As he laughed, his laughter grew tinged with endless weariness and desolation.

Zheng Long and his group's tactic of "praising to death" was flawed.
They thought they were the chess players, treating Li Xuan as a chess piece and the audience as pawns they could manipulate at will.

They schemed against people's hearts, they schemed against the market, they schemed against everything.

There was just one thing I forgot to consider.

The power of a good story.

Li Xuan had no intention of fighting hand-to-hand on the battlefield of special effects; he changed course from the very beginning.

He used a compelling and touching story to communicate directly with the audience.

He handed the choice back to the audience.

The audience voted with their feet.

for this result.

Wang Lei thought he would be very shocked, but he didn't seem to be that shocked.

Li Xuan certainly can't beat Cameron, but the fact that he can survive Cameron's movies without changing their release dates is a testament to his strength.

He's really quite strong.
One person who has kept Wang Lei, and himself, firmly believing all along that the path of capital integration will eventually come to an end...

This caused a very thorough upheaval.

And this wavering thought.

Wang Lei then made a decision.
"What are you thinking about?" Liu Meizhen asked Wang Lei.

Wang Lei shook his head.

"No, I just made a small decision."

“Indeed, Li Xuan’s talent is amazing. Although he is still an ant in the face of Avatar, it is still remarkable that he can survive and compete with him.” Liu Meizhen sighed softly, “It’s a pity that such a talent is hard to use for my purposes.” Wang Lei narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, it is indeed difficult. Both you and I have tried many times. But I always believe that as long as I offer a price high enough..."

These things are enough
"We've taken the box office success, the word-of-mouth, the box office success—we've taken it all."

At that moment, Han Ping was in his office at China Film Group, watching the soaring box office figures in a daze.

Avatar is certainly soaring, but Li Xuan's Source Code is soaring too—

On Douban, Avatar has a score of 8.7, which is quite high for a commercial film, while Li Xuan's Source Code has a score of 8.1 and is still climbing.
Although many people complained that they were "tricked" into going to the movie theater.

The publicity was bad, but the result was good.

"This is truly explosive! From a commercial film perspective, this box office performance is absolutely outstanding. I'm increasingly looking forward to seeing what ranking and status it will achieve in the upcoming major awards," Jiang Wen said with some emotion.

Li Xuan seems to be accumulating more and more bargaining chips. Meanwhile, the reaction from the Beijing entertainment circle will become increasingly anxious and they will escalate their efforts.

Next, for the Beijing entertainment circle, all that's left is the wave of incredibly prestigious awards.

Han Ping said softly at this moment.

"Unexpectedly, the Beijing elite circle, which rose to prominence back then based on individual talent, is now being utterly defeated by its former self during this period of resource integration. It's a kind of cycle, I suppose."

"Yes, a healthy cycle. When the old decay, there must always be young people to do what they did back then."

Jiang Wen paused for a moment and then said, "However, Li Xuan still needs to practice more because my film 'Let the Bullets Fly' is coming soon."

"He can still grow."

Han Ping squinted.

Li Xuan, he can still continue to grow.

Han Ping also decided to help Li Xuan grow.
They poured resources into supporting his next film, whether it's a commercial or art film.
if you can.

We must help him become the seventh-generation leader.

He deserves it.

The cast and crew of "The Last Supper".

It was already quite cold in the suburbs.

The ground was covered in mud, mixed with the smell of horse manure and rotten grass.

The actors, dressed in heavy costumes, were shivering from the cold, their faces showing signs of exhaustion.

Behind the monitor, Lu Chuan, wrapped in a military overcoat, stood there like a statue, staring intently at the screen.

He sat there for almost three hours, barely uttering a sound except for calling "cut" or uttering a few words to instruct the actors on the scene.

The atmosphere on set was so low it could suffocate you.

It was obvious to everyone that Director Lu wasn't in a good mood today.

No, it's more like he's been serious ever since the computer was turned on.
His demands on every shot and every detail reached the point of being nitpicky.

The extras were standing in the wrong position, so we had to reshoot.

The main character's delivery was off, so we had to reshoot.

The blood plasma in the prop is the wrong color, so we'll reshoot.

It's perfectly normal to work out a single shot a dozen or twenty times.

The actors were driven crazy by him, but no one dared to complain.

Everyone felt that Lu Chuan was more upset than they were.

He's making things difficult for himself by using this movie.

"Director, let's take a break."

The assistant ran over and handed over a cup of hot water.

Lu Chuan didn't answer; his eyes were still glued to the monitor.

The assistant hesitated for a moment, then handed over the phone, which displayed the latest box office news.

"Director Lu... the box office figures for 'Source Code' are out."

Lu Chuan paused for a moment.

He finally looked up from behind the monitor and took the phone.

The box office reached 45 million the following day.

It has a Douban rating of 8.1 and is still rising.

The online reviews are overwhelmingly positive; even the terrible special effects are receiving rave praise.
His assistant watched him anxiously from the side, fearing that he would lose his temper on the spot.

After all, the incident involving "Nanjing! Nanjing!" and Li Xuan's "Nanjing Photo Studio" was a thorn in Lu Chuan's side.

Everyone thought he would lose, but he won at the box office, though he lost all his reputation and public support.

After that, Lu Chuan was determined to make a film that could turn his career around.

It's this movie, "The Last Supper".

And now, that old rival, with a low-budget sci-fi film, has managed to snatch a piece of meat from the mouth of "King of the World" Cameron.

Perhaps Cameron doesn't care about this little thing, and it's even less of a big deal for Hollywood—after all, it's not like no foreign friends have seen "Source Code" and expressed difficulty understanding it.

But this is a big deal for the Chinese-speaking world.

But Lu Chuan saw it clearly.

The entire Chinese-speaking world is watching.

But Lu Chuan's face was expressionless, making it impossible to tell whether he was angry or jealous.

He just quietly scrolled through his phone, flipping through the viewers' comments page by page.

It took quite a while before I returned the phone to my assistant.

"understood."

Just those two words.

Then, he turned his head and looked back at the monitor.

The assistant was stunned; he had prepared a whole host of comforting words, but couldn't utter a single one.

The reaction was so quiet, it was frighteningly quiet.

Only Lu Chuan himself knew the truth.

His mind was filled with memories of what happened back then.

That time, "Nanjing Photo Studio".

Lost.

The box office success, critical acclaim, and audience appeal at the time were undeniable facts.

From that day on, the name Li Xuan became an obstacle in his heart that he had to overcome.
"Nanjing! Nanjing" didn't completely lose; it just had a different perspective.

But The Last Supper is the ultimate killer!

He spent several years preparing for "The Last Supper," aiming to make a film that would silence everyone.

Lu Chuan closed his eyes.

That suppressed energy surged up from its very core again.

That wasn't jealousy, it was the excitement of meeting a rival...

He suddenly realized that his previous frustration was somewhat ridiculous.

He wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone.

He just wanted to beat that person.

"All departments, prepare!"

Lu Chuan suddenly roared out, his voice hoarse, but full of energy.

Everyone was startled by his shout and quickly took their positions.

"Let's do this scene again!"

Liu Ye's face fell; he felt that his performance just now was already very good.

"Director, I..."

“What you just acted out was an emperor who knew he wouldn’t die, and he was just pretending to be scared.” Lu Chuan’s voice was devoid of any warmth. “That’s not what I want.”

He stood up and walked over to Liu Ye.

"I want you to forget the script, forget history. You are now a piece of meat on Xiang Yu's chopping board. You don't know if you will survive tonight. The lives of everyone around you are in your hands."

"What I want is not the cunning of an emperor, but the fear of a gambler."

"It's the kind of fear where you'd gamble your whole family, old and young, until you're so scared you'd wet your pants—it's the most fundamental fear!"

"Here's another one. Liu Ye from the class of '96, do you know that if you don't take this seriously, you'll lose your chance at the grand prize two years from now? Don't forget, that Li Xuan, he's not only my enemy as a director, but also a huge threat as an actor. If you want to beat him, you have to go all out."

"Let's work together to beat him, suppress him, and defeat him, shall we, my Liu Bang?"

After a moment of silence, Li Xuan understood and stopped complaining.

After Lu Chuan finished yelling, he turned around and walked back behind the monitor, and he was a completely different person.

That stifling, internalized energy is gone, replaced by a sharp, outward-rushing frenzy.

He knew in his heart that his battle was only just beginning.

Just you wait, Li Xuan.

Next time, I'll use my own methods and have a proper showdown with you.

You'll regret your last speech at the Beijing Film Academy; it really 'woke me up'.

(End of this chapter)