I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 299 The world's most expensive director fee!

The evening of June 3.

Inside the editing room of "The Last Supper".

At this very moment, Liang Xiaogang was staring intently at the scene of the Crown Prince's revenge on the screen, pondering deeply over and over again.

In the past few days, he has been repeatedly adjusting the color scheme, trying to perfectly blend the somber atmosphere of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period with the weight of Shakespearean tragedy, but he still feels that it is not quite "perfect" in terms of tone.

Beside him, the coffee his assistant had handed him had long since gone cold. He stubbed out his last cigarette and continued to have the assistant director go over the plot a bit more.

As the evening sun cast its last rays upon the ashtray, the pile of cigarette butts silently spoke of the deep anxiety within this fifth-generation academic director and a titan of the Chinese film industry.

With only three months left until the summer movie season, this $20 million Oscar contender must be absolutely flawless.

……

Half an hour later, the door to the editing room opened.

Liang Xiaogang walked out of the editing room, a strange sense of irritability and exhaustion welling up inside him...

The phone rang.

The call was from Li Zhengtao.

This summer, in addition to Liang Xiaogang's "The Last Supper," Li Zhengtao also has a period drama, "Chrysanthemum Terrace," set to be released.

With only two short months for the summer movie season, the two directors, who are highly representative of the Chinese film industry, naturally need to fully consult on all aspects, including publicity strategies, release dates, roadshow arrangements, and screen scheduling, in order to avoid scheduling clashes, resource waste, and ultimately a lose-lose situation.

Li Zhengtao's voice came from the other end of the phone, tinged with seriousness: "Old Liang, we lost too badly during last year's protection month. We need to be more careful with 'The Feast of Kings' and 'Chrysanthemum Terrace' this year. Here's what we'll do: your film is scheduled to premiere on July 15th, but I'll postpone it to early August, staggering the release by two weeks, and then concentrate our resources on it..."

Liang Xiaogang stubbed out his cigarette and said hoarsely, "Well, I'll ask the investors for another 1500 million for the publicity budget. I'll start with the CCTV movie channel. As for the internet..."

"Yes, that's what I meant too. As for the internet side, it's a bit of a headache. Since it's inconvenient for you to handle it, leave it to me. I'll go talk to Zhou Yang..."

"Looking for him?" Liang Xiaogang stubbed out his cigarette, his face changing drastically. "Li Zhengtao! You and I are both recognized as the leading figures of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. In the future, the history of Chinese cinema will have a separate chapter dedicated to us! Now you're lowering yourself to beg this nouveau riche who made his fortune by sensationalism?"

Suddenly, the call stopped abruptly. After a ten-second silence, Liang Xiaogang suddenly heard a knocking sound coming from the other end of the line.

Immediately afterward, a panicked voice came from the other end of the phone: "Director Li, something's happened! Zhou Yang has topped the list of all film directors in history!"

Before Liang Xiaogang could say anything after hearing this, Li Zhengtao hung up the phone.

He held the phone, which had suddenly been hung up, his brow furrowed, looking somewhat bewildered.

What makes someone the world's leading film director?
What the hell!

Just at this time……

Just then, I ran into the assistant rushing over.

"what happened?"

The assistant, panting heavily, opened his laptop and handed Liang Xiaogang the latest news.

Upon seeing this, Liang Xiaogang felt his pupils shrink sharply!
The screen prominently displayed a breaking news article from The Hollywood Reporter:

Chinese director Zhou Yang signed a record-breaking $5000 million contract for "Dark Knight," setting a new global record for a director's salary for a single film.

..........................................

Los Angeles.

Allen lay on the sofa, scrolling through Rotten Tomatoes' new movie recommendations.

Hollywood movies seem to be entering a slow season in March. Some well-known blockbusters are in preparation, while some low-budget films haven't made much of a splash in the film industry, and there hasn't been a blockbuster like "Saw" that suddenly appeared last year...

This film enthusiast, who frequents cult film forums, was munching on potato chips and grumbling: "Why hasn't Saw 2 been made yet... Damn it, what is that Chinese director doing?"

Ever since watching "Saw," he was amazed by the plot and started watching similar movies repeatedly.

Unfortunately, during this period, all I found in the new movie recommendations were lukewarm romantic comedies or cheap films that imitated "Saw"...

Frustrated, I scratched my messy hair and, like a drug addict searching for a substitute, clicked on trailers for B-movies. These movies had plenty of blood and gore, but lacked that chilling, meticulously calculated feel.

As he kept scrolling, he saw the name of that Chinese director...

Immediately afterwards, I searched for the name of that Chinese director...

Then, a breaking news item popped up, which was first released by [Various Marvel Studios].

He took a closer look.

Following friendly negotiations, Mr. Zhou Yang accepted an invitation from the Hollywood film "Dark Knight" to direct the film for $5000 million (approximately 4 million RMB), setting a new record for the highest salary ever paid to a director for a single film worldwide.

His eyes widened when he saw the news!
"puff!"

"WTF?!" Chip crumbs sprayed all over the screen. He frantically wiped the computer, repeatedly checking if he had misread the message in front of him.

However, after reading it several times, his eyes widened when he saw that the message was posted on the official website of [Warcraft Pictures]!

$5000 million!

[Directing a film!] [Setting a new global record for director's salary per film!]

[Chinese Director]

【…】

Damn!

Oh, God!
Individually, everyone can understand these adjectives, but when they are put together, he finds that he can't understand them at all!

Just as he was completely dumbfounded!
The entire computer forum was in an uproar, with headlines filled with roars in all capital letters: "That price is enough to hire three Kieran!" "Are the executives at Marvel on drugs?" "Did the Chinese people add three extra zeros?" "Chinese director, are you kidding me? 5000 million? Are you crazy?!"

After seeing the comments, Allen's mind went completely blank!
How did this director from China suddenly take off after making "Saw"?
This……

Just who is he?!
Allen clicked on Wikipedia with trembling hands.

however……

Zhou Yang's biography only contains a few film credits and no detailed information!

He was stunned!
Just then, he saw that Warner Music's official website on the internet had also released a major announcement...

Investment announcement for the new movie "The Demon Knight".

The announcement states: Warner Bros. will co-invest with Marvel Studios in this superhero film with a budget of $1.2 million. Zhou Yang's directorial fee is $5000 million, setting a new global record for a director's salary for a single film.

Even more shocking is the fact that the announcement specifically states at the end that "director Zhou Yang has the final cut rights," a privilege extremely rare even in top Hollywood productions.

After seeing this news, Allen was even more bewildered!

Immediately afterwards, he frantically refreshed various movie databases, only to find that the entry for "Zhou Yang" only had a few lines: [Chinese director/producer, representative works: "Saw" and "Black Robe Alliance"].

He hadn't seen "The Black Robe Alliance," but he'd heard of it. It was quite popular last year and did well at the box office...

But just because someone has heard of this movie doesn't mean they know the director, right?

He then searched for some related movies, and somehow, he came across a movie called "Twilight".

He clicked on the credits of the movie and finally found the mysterious name in the producer section—but there wasn't even a photo of him on IMDb.

Then, he clicked on the newly released 30-second teaser trailer for Twilight...

……

The blood-red sunset dyed the Gobi Desert dark red, and the wind carried the sound of horseshoes striking the gravel.

A gaunt black horse broke through the sandstorm, and the young man on its back was dressed in rags. His dark red robe was torn to shreds by the gale, revealing bandages wrapped with talismans.

The bronze compass at his waist trembled violently, and the chains dragged out a grating metallic sound.

He suddenly pulled on the reins and looked up, the scabs on his chin still wet, a golden light gleaming in his left eye. The revolver in his right hand was still smoking, the last silver bullet engraved with Sanskrit yet to be fired.

The sand dunes collapsed beneath my feet, and countless pale arms stretched out from the ground.

He mumbled a spell in a hoarse voice, pressed the gun to his temple, and pulled the trigger.

The moment the bullet pierced the skull, what exploded was not blood, but a sky full of burning talismans, and the sea of ​​fire instantly engulfed the entire desert.

……

When Allen saw the ragged knight pull the trigger amidst the swirling yellow sand in the trailer, his breath caught in his throat!

In particular, the breathtaking scene on the screen, where burning talismans engulfed the entire desert in an instant, excited him!
Despite having seen many fantasy and vampire movies, this was the first time he had ever seen an exorcist so full of Eastern mystery.

this moment!
He suddenly became somewhat interested in the movie.

Immediately afterwards...

He searched for more information about Twilight, but unfortunately...

There are quite a few trailers for Twilight, but this trailer for the Eastern exorcist is just this simple one.

He continued searching, and then he found the date of the world premiere of the movie "Twilight"...

4 Month 1 Day!
..........................................

On April 1, the red carpet at the global premiere of "Twilight" was glittering with stars.

Amidst much anticipation, the stars of "Twilight" walked the red carpet one by one. When Leon Kraus, the Hollywood actor who plays the vampire "Eric," appeared in a dark red cape, the crowd erupted in deafening screams. Following closely behind was Emma Gwen, the female lead, in a silver-grey gown, her cross necklace gleaming under the flashing lights…

The appearance of the second male lead, Wu Zuliang, the "Oriental Werewolf," brought the atmosphere to a climax. Countless people excitedly watched this handsome Chinese man from Hong Kong Island, and cheers erupted from the audience...

Just as the atmosphere reached its peak...

not far away……

Suddenly, the roar of motorcycles filled the air...

Everyone instinctively looked over, and then they saw a young Chinese man wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses, speeding towards them on a dark red Suzuki Tomahawk motorcycle...

(End of this chapter)