Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 438 The Era of Five Hundred Million Has Arrived
The General Administration's document has finally been implemented.

In the afternoon, major cinema chains successively received official written notices: "Nanjing! Nanjing!" will be completely suspended from screening and removed from theaters immediately.

The cinema chains acted extremely quickly.

Several cinemas in various cities even removed the film from their scheduling systems several hours in advance, and some screenings without ticket sales records were also canceled on the same day.

Once the news was confirmed, it quickly made it to the front page of major websites.

"Nanjing! Nanjing!" has officially ended its theatrical run!

The State Administration of Radio and Television issued a document urging serious consideration of inappropriate interpretations of history.

The comments section was abuzz with excitement, with netizens expressing their fervor as if they had been waiting for justice to prevail for a long time.

"This movie has a lot of problems to begin with, and a bunch of people are trying to defend it, saying that it restores the true history. Now you can see the truth."

"In the end, it was Wu Chen who stepped up. If he hadn't reported it, he probably could have stayed for a few more weeks."

"It's finally over. This is really good news."

This time, Lu Xun was completely obedient. Looking at the people online who were viciously insulting him, his eyes were red and almost bursting with tears. Lu Tianming, on the other hand, did not hesitate at all.
"Go write a letter, apologize to the bureau, and I'll personally deliver it to the bureau tomorrow morning."

Lu Xun looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

If it weren't for the fact that it was written on the household registration book, he would have doubted whether this was really his father.

Now that his movie has been taken off the screens, he's being relentlessly attacked. Instead of offering apologies, he's being forced to write self-criticisms. Damn it, does he owe so many people apologies?

Lu Tianming seemed to know what Lu Xun was thinking, and said quietly:
"If you want to be like Lou Ye, banned for five years, or even never allowed to access any resources within the system again, think carefully before you write it."

These words immediately brought Lu Xun to his senses.

The news came in the early hours of today because the Cannes Film Festival opened.

Lou Ye, who was banned from directing for five years in 2006 for "Summer Palace," secretly returned to Cannes this year with the help of French funding to film "Spring Fever," a film with explicit homosexual content.
It would have been fine if he had gone, but during the opening ceremony interview, he expressed his hope that Chinese directors could have more freedom to make films and that the ban on him directing would be lifted.
If we hadn't mentioned it, the bureau would have banned "Spring Fever" as well.

"Are gay-themed films really that easy to win awards? Not only did Lou Ye make one, but Li An also made one, called 'Taking Woodstock,' and it went to Cannes again."

During the phone call, Jiang Wen discussed the removal of "Nanjing! Nanjing!" from theaters and also talked about Lou Ye, who is currently banned from directing.

It's no wonder Jiang Wen was a little puzzled. In recent years, there have been more and more films of this kind. This year, a total of 20 films were shortlisted for the main competition at Cannes, and two of them were gay films.

“It might be interesting once or twice, but it gets boring after a while. I don’t think these films have a good chance of winning major awards. The judges aren’t stupid.” Wu Chen smiled. “What, you’re thinking of making one like this?”

Upon hearing Wu Chen's words, Jiang Wen immediately got goosebumps all over his body. After thinking about the scene, he shook his head violently: "Damn it, forget it. This kind of film is not suitable for me."

Having said that, he continued:

"By the way, regarding my new film, I've discussed it with Ma Ke and Ying Huang, and there are no objections. However, Ying Huang said we should at least have a meal together to get to know each other."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen couldn't help but chuckle.

Ma Ke was definitely familiar with Ying Huang; after all, he knew him. But after thinking about it, he agreed: "Okay, let's pick a time to have a meal together."

"Got it."

"."

The Martian, which will be released three weeks ago, is about to reach the 500 million mark.

On May 14, the second day of the Cannes Film Festival, the morning in Beijing, at the cusp of spring and summer, was not yet hot. The gentle sunlight shone on the keyboards and mice of the editorial offices of various media outlets, but the heat of the articles was already boiling.

A barrage of eye-catching headlines flooded the portal's homepage:
[Historic Breakthrough! "The Martian" Rakes in 500 Million Yuan at the Mainland Box Office, Making Wu Chen the First Director to Achieve "500 Million Yuan Box Office Success"!]

[A New Era for Chinese Cinema! "The Martian" Surpasses 5 Million Yuan in 18 Days, Breaking the Box Office Ceiling Again!]

[Global Box Office Soars! "The Martian" grosses over $5 million in China and $1.8 million in North America, Wu Chen's sci-fi masterpiece sweeps the globe!]

[Mars' gravity is invincible! The film's daily decline has reversed again; if the key release is extended, it could potentially lock in a 6 million yuan box office run!]

Almost all entertainment, financial, and cultural programs mobilized, and "The Martian" single-handedly ignited the entire May box office.
"That's five hundred million already?"

"It feels a bit unreal."

"It seems the pirated version was released a few days late, but it still came out eventually. I didn't expect it wouldn't stop the box office success of 500 million."

"."

The industry is somewhat bewildered.

Once upon a time, 100 million was something to look up to; in a few years, it gradually reached 300 million; and now it has jumped directly to the 400 million mark, reaching 500 million in box office revenue.

The most regrettable situation at this moment is that of Huayi Brothers.

Wang Zhonglei couldn't help but sigh at Wang Zhongjun:

"If I had known, I wouldn't have let Xiao Gang film that 'Aftershock' movie first. I would have let him make a comedy for this year's Lunar New Year season."

This time, Wang Zhongjun did not refute, but simply nodded silently.

In his view, the box office revenue for this year's Lunar New Year film season is very likely to increase again.

If Feng Xiaogang's comedies were also on board, it would be even more powerful, but Huayi Brothers is currently only focusing on one tribute film, so it is essentially absent from the Lunar New Year releases.

China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group acted even faster, posting special congratulatory announcements on their official websites by noon, along with a repost of a commentary article from China Film News entitled "When We Look Up at the Stars".

In his office, Han Sanping paced back and forth, his smile barely concealed, but a hint of regret still lingered in his voice on the phone:
"It's a pity that we couldn't stop piracy in the end. It kept popping up little by little until we couldn't suppress it anymore. If we could have kept a tight grip on it for a couple more days, that would have been great."

Or even more screens would be great!

"Chairman Han, that's enough. China Film's anti-theft measures were quite effective this time, otherwise the film wouldn't have reached 500 million in 18 days," Wu Chen replied with a smile.

Having reached the 500 million mark, China Film Group has deployed all its resources for anti-theft measures, so there's nothing to criticize.

As for the number of screens, that's a limitation of the times.

"Do you think there's any hope for 600 million? The bureau will approve the extension of the key in a few days."

Wu Chen nodded slightly: "There should be a chance."

"By the way, the footage of the military parade at Xiyuan Airport on the 20th was taken."

"clear."

Wu Chen felt a little excited upon hearing this, knowing that he would soon be able to get his hands on the "old relic".

This time, Han Sanping went all out, borrowing out all the treasures from the museum's collection.

The news of the 500 million yuan box office hit caused a huge stir in China, like a hurricane.

The Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama each had their own ways of congratulating each other.

In the afternoon, a red banner with white lettering was hung high on the Beijing Film Academy campus: "Warm congratulations to Wu Chen, a postgraduate student in the Department of Cinematography, for his film 'The Martian' breaking the 500 million yuan mark at the mainland box office!"

At the same time, another announcement was posted on the academic affairs bulletin board: "The Martian" is a key social practice project of our school. Many teachers and students participated in the practice in the film. We hereby commend them.

Downstairs in the teaching building, many students gathered around, some looking on with envy: "I heard they're going to organize a special event for teachers and students to watch together later?"

"What's the big deal? I actually hope that Senior Brother Wu Chen can make another sci-fi film and organize another practical exercise. Last time, my grades weren't good enough, so I couldn't participate."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch; you have to be selective about who you meet."

The Central Academy of Drama seemed to share in the honor, congratulating Wu Chen while also mentioning that the film's lead actor was Jiang Wen, an alumnus of the Central Academy of Drama's acting department.
In the president's office at Beijing Film Academy, Zhang Huijun read through the short message from the Central Academy of Drama and couldn't help but laugh and complain:

"Heh, Old Xu just can't bring himself to do it."

Having said that, he looked at Mu Deyuan:
"However, this movie is, after all, hard science fiction, a cutting-edge genre in China. There aren't many people in schools who can explain it clearly. Perhaps we could invite Wu Chen back sometime to explain it to everyone, so the students can all learn from it."

(End of this chapter)