Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 404 is so difficult on the hour! You tricked me!
With its huge box office success in China, "Bad Genius" naturally garnered immense attention throughout Asia.

Generally speaking, copyrights are pre-sold to distributors in various countries so that funds can be recovered in advance. However, in return, copyright holders will correspondingly lower the price.

After all, if the film becomes a huge hit, the returns will be high; but if the reviews are mediocre, the pressure will be great, so it's a gamble.

However, if the production company is confident in the domestic box office and the film receives excellent reviews and box office performance in its opening week, then they can contact the copyright holders. In this case, the film's copyright price will have been tested and will be much higher.

Wu Chen certainly wouldn't be so short-sighted as to sell the rights before the film even airs.

Starting from the third day, we kept receiving calls from copyright holders in Asian countries.

Meanwhile, in Princeton, a special meeting was quietly held by the College Board.

"There's a Chinese movie related to the SAT exam, and the materials are right on the table. The core principle of this cross-timezone cheating actually appeared in Asia a couple of years ago, but we suppressed the specific details before."

"Was this taken by Wu Chen?"

"No, he's the screenwriter, the director is someone else. The movie is doing very well, and it will soon spread throughout Asia. I think we need to do some public relations work, otherwise it will affect the social trust in the SAT exam and the public pressure."

Does the film involve real exam details, question-setting process, timetable, or even feature our real-life logos?

"The news that came back was that there was no such thing. They take this very seriously. Wu has acted in Hollywood movies, so he was aware of this risk."

"."

Wu Chen, Ning Hao, and other key members of the production team were naturally unaware of the content of the College Board meeting, but soon the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television contacted Wu Chen, who was currently promoting the event.

Tong Gang's secretary called directly.

"Director Wu, the bureau has received news that the Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education specifically called Director Tong. The College Board in the United States has taken notice of your film."

"Oh, is that really true?" Wu Chen asked with a smile.

"Haha, I'm not too sure about that. What they mean is that they hope you won't deliberately promote the international test trust system negatively. They've been drafting a new test process and system for a while now, and they'll be releasing an explanation soon."

Director Tong's point is that we should just continue with the normal publicity as we are now, and if the media specifically asks about this, we should avoid it if possible.

"We understand that; it wasn't specifically targeting them."

Wu Chen chuckled, glancing at Ning Hao beside him, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way, could you help me ask Director Tong how the review process is for Director Ning's latest script, 'No Man's Land'?"

"Oh, that's what you're talking about. Let me ask around for you."

"."

Ning Hao kept his ears perked up, paying close attention to the script's review progress.

Is the script still under review?

"Judging from this, it's highly likely, but it should help speed things up."

"."

Wu Chen really put in a lot of effort for "Bad Genius" this time, traveling to multiple cities with Liu Yifei to promote it.

"Junior brother, you've worked hard this time."

That evening, the two returned to the hotel to rest. Liu Yifei looked at Wu Chen's tired face, leaned over, and gently kissed his right cheek.

Wu Chen pointed to his left cheek: "That's it?"

Liu Yifei smiled brightly and moved closer.

Is this alright?

"more or less."

Wu Chen collapsed onto the soft bed, lying on his side staring at the ceiling, his mind drifting to his graduation project.

Although Mu Deyuan said he could use his previous works, he didn't have any other plans besides Interstellar.

It could definitely be used as a graduation project.

"What are you thinking about?" Liu Yifei lay down as usual.

"Thinking about my graduation project."

“Didn’t Teacher Mu say there’s no rush? Besides, you still have a year and a half until graduation.” Liu Yifei propped her head up with her hand and leaned over with a grin.

"Or you could ask Director Ning; he graduated from there."

"Hahaha"

The next day, after everyone finished their promotional mission and were preparing to return to Beijing, Wu Chen asked Ning Hao about it.

"Of course, you should film what you like. Just film whatever you like. Or you could just use 'The Martian' or another movie as your graduation project."

Ning Hao yawned, looking listless.

Meanwhile, Xing Aina, radiant with joy, was engrossed in a lively discussion with Liu Yifei and Shu Chang. "But if you really want to make a graduation project, I think you could try something a little more challenging, brother. If you succeed, you'll be remembered in film history!"

Ning Hao became quite excited as he spoke.

"Highly difficult?" Wu Chen frowned slightly. "Why didn't you make one after graduation?"

"If I had that ability back then, I would have done it too," Ning Hao said cheerfully. "But you definitely have it. You've won awards and you've done box office hits, so you have to make something different, right?"
Take Chen Kaige, for example; he gradually broke through in visual aesthetics. His post-graduation work, "Yellow Earth," had such a strong sense of visual impact and depth. And then there's director Zhang Yimou; I heard from my teacher that Zhang Yimou broke through in terms of cinematography. Both of them have their own unique styles.

"I'll think about it."

After a moment of contemplation, Wu Chen slowly responded.

He was quite tempted by Ning Hao's suggestion.

We always have to shoot something different.

Just as the group flew back to Beijing, a set of photos of them sunbathing suddenly surfaced on domestic forums and went viral.
The download speeds were astonishing, prompting netizens to express their amazement.

"Foreign paparazzi have such good equipment; they can take such high-definition photos even when they're being taken without consent."

Of course, the paparazzi in China were all green with envy, not because they were sad, but because they were extremely envious.

"The American paparazzi received enough money to buy a villa because of those photos."

"I'm so damn envious. I heard that a weekly magazine in Hong Kong spent 300 million to buy these photos, not to mention what other places did."

"Why choose such a faraway place for vacation? What's the point?"

"."

This money came like winning the lottery.

When Wu Chen and his group returned, they ran right into the reporters who were gathered at the Capital Airport.

The atmosphere became lively for a moment.

"Director Ning, isn't it a bit of a shame that the box office hasn't broken 100 million in four days?"

"Of course there is some, but I am very satisfied with breaking 100 million in 4.5 days."

"Yifei, congratulations on your film's box office surpassing 100 million again!"

"Director Wu, I heard that you know Zhang Ziyi's fiancé, Ivy Nevo. Is that true?"

As they continued asking questions, things started to get a little off, and for a moment Ning Hao and the others were confused.

Wu Chen immediately understood and didn't respond at all: "I only met you at the Oscars party, we're not close."

"What do you think of the photos of the two of them on the beach?"

"We just flew back and don't know the details. You should ask the person directly."

After being told that they knew nothing, Wu Chen and the others got into the car that Guangmang had prepared for them.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was initially somewhat bewildered.

"What's going on? You're all confused. What did Zhang Ziyi do?" Ning Hao asked, taking out his phone as he did so, only to be dumbfounded.

Although it's not as daring as last year, it's still vivid and sensual, and includes short videos.

Red bikini.
Sunbathing.

Ivy Nevo's hands were busy; she even brought her face close to hers.
Of course, his body wasn't idle either.

All of this was within the scope of the photos' close monitoring.
Liu Yifei glanced at Wu Chen's phone and immediately pinched his arm, her eyes full of warning.

Ning Hao, on the other hand, lingered there, reluctant to leave.

Seeing this, Wu Chen could not bear it.

He didn't even get to see it.
"Are the photos available on the portal websites? I've been searching for so long and haven't been able to find them," Wu Chen asked deliberately.

"On the forum, you're really bad at this. You can't even find anything. I'll send you the link!"

Ning Hao didn't even turn his head, completely unaware of Xing Aina's dangerous gaze next door. Shu Chang covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Director Ning is still the most familiar with things."

Wu Chen made a special remark, and as Ning Hao listened, he felt that something was off about Wu Chen's words, as if there was a hidden meaning in them. He looked up and saw Xing Aina looking at him with a dangerous expression.

"You seem to know this place quite well. Wu Chen couldn't find it, but you found it all in no time?"

Ning Hao immediately turned to look at Wu Chen, his face filled with grief and indignation: "You tricked me!"

(End of this chapter)