Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 391 Liu Yifei's Trick: Reactions from All Sides After the Success of the Spring Festival Film Season
Early the next morning.

"Gu! Bei!"

As Gu Bei heard the sound about to crack from the phone's microphone, he silently moved the phone away from his ear.

Liu Yifei, who was half asleep, suddenly opened her eyes wide when she heard the woman's voice on the phone.

But soon her eyes narrowed again, as nonchalant as a cat's, only her slightly enlarged ears betraying where her attention was now.

"Yes, I'm here!"

Gu Bei sighed and responded.

Liu Yifei was a little puzzled, as she rarely saw Gu Bei be so well-behaved.

"Even I, your own mother, didn't know you were back in China. I had to see it in the media to find out my son was back. Men really are unreliable, sob sob!"

"Ms. Xu Shujun, please accept this!"

Gu Bei said with a headache, "Didn't I call you? Around midnight yesterday!"

He didn't believe his mother's tears. He had been very reluctant to go abroad back then, but he softened when faced with Xu Shujun's tears and ended up being left alone in New York.

So even though he hadn't read The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, he knew that beautiful women could lie, which was a lesson learned from experience.

“You didn’t say that either!” Xu Shujun retorted confidently.

"But you didn't ask!"

Gu Bei was even more self-righteous than her.

After a pause,

Gu Bei began to negotiate: "Once I'm done with things here, I'll definitely make a trip back to Hangzhou before heading back to North America."

"Okay, I'll prepare your favorite food!"

Xu Shujun nodded, then asked the question she was most concerned about, "Is your daughter-in-law coming along?"

"no!"

Gu Bei coldly denied it.

Xu Shujun replied just as coldly, "Fine, then you can eat whatever's in the fridge!"

After hanging up the phone,

Gu Bei turned his head.
He noticed that Liu Yifei was glaring at him angrily.

He asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

How could you treat your mother like this?

Liu Yifei looked at Gu Bei with some confusion.

Gu Bei contacts his parents twice a week. She had seen Gu Bei and Xu Shujun contact each other before, but at most she felt that Gu Bei and his parents were not that close, unlike today where they were at each other's throats.

“My mom was just pretending. Her goal was to get me to come home, but she didn’t want to say it outright. In the end, I let her achieve her goal.”

Gu Bei explained to her with a smile.

"Is that so?"

Liu Yifei still had some doubts, feeling that there was some truth to it but not much.

Gu Bei pinched her delicate nose and said with a smile, "If you keep acting like this, my mom might trick you into having my baby at such a young age!"

"I won't!"

Liu Yifei shrank further into the blankets and said stubbornly.

Gu Bei smiled and said, "Then how about this, come home with me to meet my parents this year?"

"Okay!"

Liu Yifei pondered for a moment and then nodded.

Actually, if it weren't for the fact that I was going to perform on the Spring Festival Gala last year, I would have met my parents last year. This year, we were both busy with other things.

But Liu Yifei thought of her conversation with Liu Xiaoli on New Year's Eve and realized that this matter could not be delayed indefinitely.

Moreover, she was also looking forward to getting closer to Gu Bei.

Why did you agree so readily?
Gu Bei was slightly surprised when he heard this.

But this is also a good thing, as meeting the parents represents taking the relationship a step further once it has reached a certain level.

So he said directly, "In that case, let's wait until the end of this year when everyone is free, then find a resort in Europe and arrange for both sets of parents to meet."

Ugh?
Liu Yifei was surprised to find that Gu Bei had arranged things so quickly.

A thought suddenly occurred to her: "Could I have been tricked?"

"What are you thinking about!"

Gu Bei had already brought over his laptop. "Let's see what those two paparazzi posted yesterday!"

Liu Yifei also joined in with interest.

Tencent News: [Yesterday, on Valentine's Day, director Gu Bei and Liu Yifei appeared at the cinema to watch La La Land together, and also revealed that they are the male and female leads in Spider-Man...!]

The news has already been reported on portal websites, and even included pictures.

Before Gu Bei clicked on it, he thought it was two paparazzi who had secretly hidden the photos.

Only after clicking on it did I realize...

The accompanying images were actually hand-drawn.

The illustrations depicted some intimate moments from their date yesterday, including Liu Yifei's favorite picture of Gu Bei adjusting her scarf.

"You know what... this paparazzi is actually quite talented!"

Gu Bei was already starting to laugh.

However, with his professional training, he was naturally able to hold it in.

Liu Yifei didn't hold back at all and burst out laughing: "Hehehehehehehe!"

Gu Bei went straight to the comments section. At that time, there was no need to control the comments section of portal websites, so comments were also allowed on the web version of the news.

"What the hell? You didn't even get a photo. This paparazzi might as well quit his job and go work in a factory!"

"The claim of an exclusive global source is clearly just Gu Bei releasing the news that the male and female leads of La La Land are collaborating again as Spider-Man in order to boost the domestic box office of La La Land!"

"I was so naive to think that Gu Bei and Liu Yifei had finally been photographed, but what I found when I came in was a series of subpar hand-drawn pictures. No wonder this person has fallen to the level of a paparazzi!"

Gu Bei browsed Weibo for a while and found two paparazzi accounts.

The two paparazzi clearly felt ashamed of having their original photos 'robbed' by Gu Bei, so they claimed that their memory cards were broken and swore that all the hand-drawn pictures were ones they had personally witnessed.

Unfortunately, the profession of paparazzi is inherently disliked by the public and has no credibility whatsoever.

Furthermore, the information Gu Bei had infiltrated about the male and female leads of Spider-Man was like a poison pill.

If you don't eat it, you'll tempt people; if you do, you'll get scolded.

Even if the two paparazzi posted two separate Weibo posts about the two incidents,
However, it was still directly used as a promotional account for La La Land.

Gu Bei added fuel to the fire by liking the Weibo post that leaked information about the male and female leads of Spider-Man.

"Why did you even like their posts?" Liu Yifei asked, somewhat surprised.

"Let's help promote La La Land!"

Gu Bei said with a smile, "After all, La La Land is the only new movie in the Spring Festival film season. Whether it can succeed or not is related to whether the Spring Festival film season can continue in the future."

In the next few days,
Gu Bei and Liu Yifei continued their affectionate relationship for two more days.
It wasn't until Liu Yifei returned to the cast of "The Grandmaster" that Gu Bei went back to Hangzhou to visit his parents and, incidentally, check out Weibo to make sure he was still around.

This year, Weibo will definitely surpass 100 million registered users. As the first super application of China's mobile internet, it's time to start the process of financing and going public independently.

Gu Bei could also try to steal the money he left for Weibo all the way to Tencent's home base.

Just a few days after the Spring Festival holiday,

China Film Group dropped a bombshell:
"The box office revenue of the seven-day Spring Festival film season in 2010 exceeded 500 million yuan, with three films breaking 100 million yuan: La La Land (160 million yuan), Avatar (120 million yuan), and Lost in Thailand (100 million yuan). The economic effect of cinemas staying open during the Spring Festival was astonishing!"

Many entertainment companies have already gone on holiday after finishing the Lunar New Year film season and have not yet resumed work.

But this news,
But it was a bombshell for those on holiday.
Many of them will probably not be able to enjoy the Spring Festival holiday in the future.

……

Tianya (the ends of the earth).

"What do you all think of this year's Spring Festival box office exceeding 500 million yuan? This box office performance is even better than that of the National Day holiday, right?"

"Grab the second floor!"

"On the third floor, all we can say is 'Gu Bei is awesome.' He single-handedly created a new schedule. What happened to those people who used to mock Gu Bei as the father of China Film Group?"
That's right, Gu Bei is the father of China Film Group!

"This year's Spring Festival film season is definitely stronger than the National Day film season two years ago, but it can't compare to last year's National Day film season. Last year's National Day film season saw 'The Message,' 'Back to 1942,' and 'The Founding of a Republic' all break the 100 million yuan mark, meaning three films broke the 100 million yuan mark."

"No doubt about it, it's really awesome, but many people are focusing on La La Land and Avatar, which is a mistake!"

The most noteworthy film is "Lost in Thailand," a comedy starring television stars Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang. It only grossed 50 million yuan in the week before the Spring Festival release; in other release periods, breaking 100 million yuan would be considered a stroke of luck. Now, it's approaching 200 million yuan.

"The person upstairs has hit the nail on the head. I want to take my parents to see a movie. My wife and I already saw La La Land on Valentine's Day. My parents can't read much and can't watch Avatar either. In the end, the only option left is Lost in Thailand."

My parents seemed to enjoy it, but my heart was bleeding. Normally I'd definitely rent the DVD, but during the Chinese New Year, we somehow managed to contribute over a hundred yuan to Gu Bei's box office.

"Hey upstairs, what do you think of the movie 'Lost in Thailand'? I'd like to take my parents to see it for some fun."

"It's still quite worthwhile. Some parts might only be understandable to people who have internet access, such as the 'Gu Bei dizzy carbon meal'."

"Haha, I found this part quite interesting too. Li Chenggong went to great lengths to make Niu Geng faint from the charcoal, but in the end, he was the one who suffered. This movie even dares to make fun of the big boss of Linlang Entertainment!"

……

Huayi.

"Brother, why is it that Gu Bei succeeds at everything he does?"

Wang Zhonglei asked Wang Zhongjun with some pain, "I feel that the film market has become something I can't understand. How come the National Day holiday films can get so much box office revenue?"
And why is everyone spending the Spring Festival holiday at the cinema?

Seeing Gu Bei succeed was even more painful for Wang Zhonglei than seeing him fail.

Most importantly, he had always wanted to see Gu Bei fail, and this idea was almost becoming an obsession of his.

"Because he truly has a good eye!"

Wang Zhongjun took a drag of his cigarette and said calmly, "This film also came to Huayi Brothers. The director only quoted a budget of seven million, but your production department rejected it."
They believe this movie will at most be like Xu Zheng's previous comedy films, earning a small amount at the box office.

But do you know how much budget Gu Bei approved for this film?

Wang Zhonglei shook his head.

He didn't even know that Huayi Brothers had approached him about making the film.
It's really a low-budget comedy film with a budget of only 700 million.
There's no need to mobilize him, the young CEO of Huayi.

"Fifteen million, plus another fifteen million for marketing and distribution, this movie was aiming for at least a hundred million from the moment Gu Bei approved it!"

Wang Zhongjun slammed the cigarette butt into the ashtray as if he were slamming it on the head of the production staff member who had rejected the script for "Lost in Thailand".

Wang Zhonglei opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

He could refute other points as well.
However, Linlang Entertainment's ability to select films...

No one in the entire Huayu Entertainment Group dared to question it.

Everyone who questioned them has been proven wrong by Linlang Entertainment.

"Perfect Match" surpassed 100 million, "The Message" surpassed 500 million, "Bodyguards and Assassins" surpassed 300 million, and "Lost in Thailand" is basically guaranteed to surpass 200 million. This year, there's also Chen Kaige's "Aftershock" in the summer season and Coco Chiang's "Let the Bullets Fly" in the Lunar New Year season.

This doesn't even include Gu Bei's sci-fi blockbuster, Gravity!

How are we supposed to compete this year?

The key is,

Rumors have already begun to circulate within the industry.

This year, Gu Bei aims to push for Enlight Media's IPO.
The battle for the first listed entertainment company
Even if Huayi doesn't want to play this year,
Linlang Entertainment is pulling in with Guangmang to fight them!
After hesitating for a long time, Wang Zhonglei promised, "I will find out who that person is and fire him. I will also strengthen the production department's capabilities. I plan to support a group of new directors and see if I can find a few useful ones."

"it is good!"

Wang Zhongjun nodded.

The pressure from Linlang Entertainment on Huayi was immense.
It's one thing to be inferior to Linlang Entertainment, but...
Linlang Entertainment is too young to even qualify for co-productions, and going public will take a very long time.
However, it absolutely cannot be inferior to even Enlight Media, a junior subsidiary of Linlang Entertainment. A large part of Huayi's current market value of tens of billions is due to its status as the first listed entertainment company.

……

Fragrant Capital.

Everyone's waiting for me!

After Jiang Zhiqiang walked in, he smiled and looked at everyone present, including Emperor Entertainment Group's boss Yang Shoucheng, Xiangdu Directors Association President Derek Yee, and Xiangdu Film Association President Wu Shiyuan, as well as other big names in Xiangdu's entertainment industry.

"We've been waiting for you!"

Er Dongsheng said to him with a smile.

Subsequently,

Wu Shiyuan stated his purpose this time: "Everyone has seen the performance of this year's Spring Festival film season in mainland China."

The mainland film market is thriving, and we could have benefited from it. However, Linlang Entertainment, which is currently the most successful in the mainland film market, is completely excluding people from Xiangdu from going north. What are your thoughts on this?

"It's a trap, I'm off!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhiqiang sensed something was wrong and promptly got up.

Just kidding, he's now working for Linlang Entertainment and eating incredibly well.

"Don't worry, don't worry. We don't want to have a conflict with Gu Bei either. It's just that everyone who went north is definitely trying to earn more money, but right now Gu Bei is completely leaving us no way to survive!"

Wu Shiyuan quickly stopped Jiang Zhiqiang. They had invited Jiang Zhiqiang because they wanted to find a breakthrough, since Jiang Zhiqiang had persuaded Gu Bei to make a film called "Bodyguards and Assassins".

"You want to pledge allegiance to Gu Bei!"

Seeing this, Jiang Zhiqiang understood their thoughts. "Then first of all, we must adjust our mindset and not regard Gu Sheng as one of those state-owned film studio owners from the mainland."

They've earned their place in Hollywood through legitimate means, so they understand the financial implications much better than you do.

Then I'll explain why Gu Sheng never used the product starring Xiangdu.
Very simple,
That means your Mandarin isn't standard!

"Is it really that simple?"

"It's that simple. He's a director who's been nominated for an Oscar three times. You all know how much Hollywood looks down on dubbing live-action films, right? So apart from films about Hong Kong, he's never considered casting Hong Kong actors as leads."

(End of this chapter)