Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 449, "1939," Six Hundred Million
Early summer in Shanghai is always humid and hot. The red carpet of the Shanghai International Film Festival is glittering with stars, and the atmosphere inside and outside the venue is extravagant.

Ning Hao was in Shanghai these past few days attending events at the invitation of others. He was in a very good mood, enjoying the flashing cameras while participating as a guest in the "Golden Goblet Forum," where he raised his arms and shouted, "The golden age of Chinese cinema has arrived!"
He also remained humble and cautious in his words, believing that Chinese films are not yet good enough and their competitiveness is not strong enough. He stressed that everyone needs to learn diligently, including the entire industry chain, starting from all aspects to equip themselves with the necessary skills.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Te-sheng, Yu Dong, and the audience applauded. Many media outlets even drafted headlines in advance: "Ning Hao: Chinese-language films must move forward with confidence!"

Unexpectedly, at the end of the forum, when it was Wang Xiaoshuai's turn to speak, he launched a scathing attack that stunned the entire audience:

"As directors, they all had box office earnings exceeding 100 million, yet they all failed!"

“A filmmaker should have their own principles, but Wei Te-sheng and Ning Hao both pursued box office success and thought about how to please the audience from the very beginning of their creative process. As directors, this is a failure.”
A key characteristic of film lies in the culture it carries; any director who is aware of this cannot sit on stage and talk about the market.

He shook his head as he spoke, looking regretful: "What a pity, comrades!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Wei Te-sheng looked embarrassed, and Ning Hao almost swore on the spot, barely managing to maintain a smile, but his lips were already on the verge of bursting.

Back at the hotel that evening, Ning Hao immediately dialed Wu Chen's number, his voice filled with barely suppressed resentment: "Damn it, that's such an outrageous sentence, it completely stunned us on the spot."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen on the other end of the phone couldn't help but chuckle.

"I originally thought he was going to stick to his artistic principles, but then he turned around and said he was going to make commercial films too. I was speechless." Ning Hao felt completely dumbfounded.

"Your bottom line is quite flexible," Wu Chen joked with a smile.

"After attending the forum invited by Mr. Ren tomorrow, I'll come back and edit 'No Man's Land.' I need to show him what it means to achieve both art and commerce."

Ning Hao is very generous.

Wu Chen fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.
On the other hand, the August First Film Studio acted swiftly and decisively.

Wu Chen then began traveling to Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan and other places, visiting sites related to the War of Resistance against Japan, descendants of veterans, and county annals.
In just one week, a wealth of notes, oral histories, and historical materials accumulated, like deep, dark streams, quietly flowing into the still-unfinished script.

Back home, he pulled out a notebook filled with notes from his backpack. The simple lines of text on the pages resembled crisscrossing lines of time and space, weaving together a heavy historical picture.

As he gazed at the handwriting, a sudden surge of emotion welled up within him. He picked up a pen from the table and wrote on the script cover:
1939.

Simple, austere, and without any unnecessary embellishments.

He stared silently at the pile of documents on the table, his mind gradually becoming heavy.

1939 – the third year since the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan.

At the height of the Japanese offensive, large swathes of the country fell, international aid was meager, and domestic casualties were devastating.
This was an extremely difficult period in the War of Resistance against Japan, the "darkest valley," but also a symbolic year of "not giving up."

It wasn't a year of passionate struggle, but a year of gritted teeth and perseverance, without any heroic aura.

It is precisely because of the relentless perseverance of countless individuals without any "heroic aura" that we have achieved what we have today.

Wu Chen gently stroked the script cover.

Using the year as the title is like turning a page in a history book—calm, solemn, and epic.

A telephone ring pulled his thoughts from 1939 back to reality.

"Director Wu, is that all? No further arrangements needed?"

On the other end of the phone, Ming Zhenjiang's tone was as crisp and decisive as ever, with a touch of military resolve.

Wu Chen stood up, walked to the window, gazed at the dazzling lights of the capital city in the distance, and softly replied:
"Not for now. I'll polish the script a bit more, and if needed later, I'll contact Director Ming again."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything."

Ming Zhenjiang answered readily.

After hanging up the phone, Wu Chen sat back down at his desk.

Looking at the documents and script cover on the table, he gradually sketched out the background of that year in his mind.

While he was immersed in writing the script for "1939", the crew of Nolan's "Inception" had quietly moved to Paris.

International media gave this extensive coverage.

In the photos, Liu Yifei, wearing a light-colored T-shirt, stands smiling on the streets of Paris, looking quite eye-catching.

Many actresses in China secretly calculated Liu Yifei's filming time after seeing this.

"How much longer will Liu Yifei be filming? Wasn't she supposed to be the second female lead?"

"Who knows? Maybe it'll end after Paris."

"."

Many people felt a pang of sadness, and even Yang Mi, who was riding high on the popularity of "Chinese Paladin 3," still felt a sense of melancholy upon seeing these reports.

What's even more embarrassing is that some people online are still comparing her portrayal of Xuejian with Liu Yifei's portrayal of Ling'er:
"Xuejian is easy to find, but Ling'er is hard to come by."

This is infuriating, but I don't dare to argue back.

Meanwhile, Cai Yinong of Tangren Media breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the viewership ratings for "Chinese Paladin 3" soar.

The assistant quickly added, "President Cai, Liu Shisi's fan base is growing rapidly, and everyone is very satisfied with her portrayal of Long Kui."

"Hmm, what a pity, it's just Longkui."

Cai Yinong sighed, a hint of regret in his eyes.

What she truly wanted was to recreate Zhao Ling'er.

However, she quickly remembered something else: "By the way, how did it go with the matter I asked you to contact Shanda Literature to purchase the copyright a few days ago?"

"President Cai, she asked us to wait."

"Wait a minute?" Cai Yinong sensed something was wrong; this usually meant something bad was about to happen. He quickly asked, "Do you know why? Aren't their electronic copyrights and film/television copyrights separate? Why are we waiting?"

"It's not clear yet."

"."

On the other end, Chen Tianqiao called, looking at the list of novels in front of him, and couldn't help but ask, "Director Wu, are you sure you want these few books for the film and television rights this batch?"

"Okay, that's the initial selection. We'll add more later. As for the copyright fees, Xingchen has drafted a proposal and sent it to you."

Chen Tianqiao nodded slightly.

Wu Chen's copyright fees were very fair; in fact, he felt they were a bit high and could have been negotiated down. However, since Wu Chen said he wanted to respect content creators and avoid copyright disputes, there was some truth to it.

After all, Wu Chen himself is a content creator.

"The strategic cooperation has been initially finalized, and I'm thinking we should make a joint announcement to the public."

Chen Tianqiao's goal was clear: the adaptation of Shanda Literature's IPs into film and television must be a grand and ambitious undertaking.

Sometimes, business also requires a certain momentum.
“Okay!” Wu Chen had no objection.

“Alright, then Shanda Literature will handle it,” Chen Tianqiao said with a smile.

Wu Chen put down the phone and sat in the study in silence for a moment.

Business is a cruel thing, and it's full of traps.

He didn't intend to cheat Shanda Literature. Even though the agreement of one movie and one TV series every five years was indeed in his plan, will Shanda Literature be able to successfully go public this time?
He didn't know that the final decision wasn't in his hands either.

As night deepened, Wu Chen was engrossed in the script for "1939" when the phone rang suddenly. Liu Yifei's voice came through the phone, carrying a hint of coquettishness:

"Junior brother, we're in Paris."

Wu Chen twisted his neck, got up, and paced around to rest, a smile on his face: "Didn't we arrive yesterday? I saw the news; you even mentioned it yesterday."

"You didn't understand what I meant," Liu Yifei said coquettishly.

Wu Chen was slightly taken aback, but then he understood: "Your uncle was looking for you, right? What did he say?"

“You’re really smart, you get it right away. It’s not fun at all.” Liu Yifei pouted. “He asked about our future plans, but I already brushed him off.”

Why didn't you tell him about our five-year plan?

"Oh, let's talk about it when it's really close," Liu Yifei said, a blush creeping onto her face.

The film industry in June, as the start of the summer movie season, is bustling with activity in the film market.

The first Hollywood blockbuster to hit theaters in early October was "Terminator Salvation." Although "Terminator" was a phenomenal film back then, this movie was so bad that it was unwatchable.

Mainland audiences also didn't buy it, and it only grossed over 40 million yuan in two weeks.

At this time, industry insiders and the media were all focused on the box office performance of "The Martian".

Because the box office has slowly reached the 600 million mark.

Although everyone predicted that the film would eventually break the 600 million mark, when the day actually arrived, a strong sense of disbelief still arose.

"I never expected it, I really never expected it. Before The Martian was released, I thought it might break 400 million, and after it was released, I thought it might reach 500 million."

"I feel like this is a bit too much for the mainland box office. When will this 600 million yuan record be broken?"

"Don't think like that. The box office has grown very quickly in the past two years. Maybe it will break through one day. But I'm still a little confused!"

"."

Industry insiders were abuzz with discussion, their voices tinged with surprise, while the audience's reaction was much simpler.

"Awesome, awesome!"

"I'm not very cultured, so all I can say is 'Holy crap!'"

"I went to see it again this afternoon, hoping to boost the film's performance before it leaves theaters. With Sunday's box office, it should be quite high, and we should see news of a record-breaking release tomorrow."

"."

Monday, April 6th.

The sky in Beijing was already bright, and the sunlight shone crisply into the office of China Film Data Department. The cooling fans of the computer mainframes whirred, and several staff members sat in front of the screen staring at the statistical software, their eyes filled with a hint of tension.

Suddenly, a voice boomed from the left—

"It's broken, it's broken!"

A young box office statistician suddenly stood up, his voice trembling as he spoke: "Six hundred and two hundred thousand!"

The sound quickly reached Han Sanping's ears, and he slammed his hand on the table, his whole body energized. He immediately ordered, "Quickly, publish it."

The moment the media learned of the information, they had already quickly posted their prepared headlines online.

[The Martian surpasses 6 million yuan at the box office, marking another milestone for the film industry!]

[Chinese films enter the era of 600 million yuan in box office revenue, and the business logic of film is changing again]

[The Martian surpasses 600 million yuan at the box office, making Wu Chen the first director to join the 600 million yuan club.]

【.】

(End of this chapter)