Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 568 A burst of laughter, 600 million has arrived.
In late August, the days in Songyuan are still long.

In the cornfield, the film crew was rushing to shoot the last scene of the day.

Some corn leaves have already started to show mottled yellow spots.
This scene depicts Cooper's son, Tom, years later, facing a cornfield ravaged by wilt disease, trying to persuade his family to stay.

Wu Chen sat behind the monitor, his expression focused.

What he wanted was a kind of stubbornness that breeds from despair, bordering on obsession.

“Casey,” Wu Chen said to Casey Affleck, who plays the adult Tom, through the walkie-talkie.

“I need you to feel even more powerless. You’re not arguing with your sister, you’re begging.”

You are not pleading for her, but for this land, for this dying world.

Your gaze should be fixed on this field of corn, but in your pupils, you should see the image of your father's departing figure. Do you understand? That feeling of helplessness after being abandoned, clinging desperately to everything before you.

At this point, Wu Chen even stood up and demonstrated to Casey Affleck what he imagined it to feel like.

He looked at the corn leaves that were already speckled with yellow, and said in a hoarse voice, "Murphy, we can't go anywhere else, this is our home."

"Okay, director, I understand!"

Seeing this, Wu Chen nodded before turning back to the monitor.

While the film crew was focused on this land, across the ocean in Hollywood, a box office storm sparked by "Inception" was sweeping the globe with overwhelming force.

The latest box office report has taken the entire industry by surprise.

Although this phenomenal film ultimately grossed only 5.6 million RMB in mainland China, it failed to create a new box office miracle.

But its power is only just beginning to be unleashed globally.
The headlines published by mainstream media were extremely eye-catching:

[Nolan + Wu Chen: A billion dollars is not a dream, Inception ushers in a new era of intelligent commercial blockbusters!]

[A new member of the billion-dollar club? Inception surpasses $7.2 million in global box office, heading towards the top of film history!]

The article states bluntly: "From the creative concept of dream construction to the enthusiasm that has erupted in the Asian market due to the addition of Wu Chen and Liu Yifei, the success of Inception has far exceeded Warner Bros.' initial expectations."

Domestic media also quickly followed suit, with headlines in large print on their homepages:

[Inception's global success raises hopes for Liu Yifei to join the "billion-dollar club" of creators!]

Wu Chen, as a screenwriter deeply involved in the project, is naturally mentioned frequently, but the spotlight is tacitly focused on Liu Yifei.

The report specifically emphasized:
Although Liu Yifei is listed as the "second female lead" in the film, her screen time and presence are even greater than those of the lead actress, Marion Cotillard, which makes her a solid member of the main cast.

If it were the previous "The Martian," Liu Yifei would only have made a cameo appearance, and the film's $8 million box office would at most be considered a minor detail.

But this time, in Inception, although she is nominally the second female lead, her importance throughout the film puts her at the core of the creative team.

A cinematic classic that is about to break the billion-dollar global box office mark, and an actress who has won the Cannes Best Actress award.

The chemical reaction produced by these two labels combined is enough to make any actress in China green with envy.

Because whenever "Inception" is mentioned, people will remember Liu Yifei's name.

"After working so hard for so long, it's not as good as someone else's occasional act of kindness."

"It's like trying your best to climb a wall, but when you're less than halfway up, you find that someone is already standing on top."

Many actresses in the industry have shared this feeling, a sense of powerlessness.
Yang Mi, on the set of "Palace" in Hengdian, was counting on her fingers, already deeply in despair. She was now wondering if her first movie after signing with Mei Ya could break 100 million yuan.
"Far Cry".

Just the thought of the movie's title filled her with despair, especially since her co-star was Jordan Chan, not a top-tier Hong Kong actor.
Meanwhile, Shu Chang and others were quite happy, leaving congratulatory comments on Liu Yifei's Weibo account well in advance.
This move inspired many others to follow suit, and many established actresses and people of the same age had no choice but to reluctantly write congratulatory messages below.

Warner Bros. Pictures, on the other hand, was preparing a grand celebration party for "Inception," and invitations were sent to Wu Chen and Liu Yifei immediately.

Jeff Robinoff called personally.

"I'm sorry, I probably won't be able to attend the celebration banquet." Wu Chen had no choice; he had filming commitments to fulfill, and he couldn't possibly leave for a celebration banquet.

"Oh, well, that's a real shame!"

Although he wasn't going, Liu Yifei was free for the time being, so she naturally had to participate.

After spending another day in Songyuan, Liu Yifei hurriedly returned to Beijing, preparing to fly from Beijing to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, in another part of the capital, the atmosphere in the Lu family's study was deathly silent.

After two days of reflection, Lu Tianming finally managed to get the final result through his old connections.

On the other end of the phone was an old friend of his, his voice tinged with a mixture of helplessness and reassurance:
"Old Lu, the bureau's decision is that, in order to protect Lu Xun and prevent him from being pushed into the limelight again, this matter is settled."

You don't need to force him.

Upon hearing this, Lu Tianming slowly closed his eyes.

The excuse of "protection" is just that;

However, he knew he couldn't fight city hall, and his arm wasn't even strong enough to fight back. So, after thanking his old friend on the other end of the phone, he hung up.

At this moment, he seemed to have all his strength drained away, slumped in the chair, and remained silent.

Just then, a new industry news item broke the brief calm.

Huayi Brothers officially announced that the key release for "Aftershock" will be extended by one month, citing "meeting the audience's viewing needs".

The delay was roughly in line with the predictions of most people in the industry.

Huayi was naturally thrilled and launched a new round of promotion.

However, many industry insiders believe that this undoubtedly means having to endure Huayi's "show-off" for another month, which is definitely not a pleasant piece of news.

"Why hasn't it reached 600 million yet?"

"Hurry up, damn it, this is the first time in my life I've been so eager for someone else's movie to break 600 million at the box office..."

"Don't rush, it'll be here soon. Get ready for some fun."

Many people in the industry were whispering among themselves and secretly laughing.

Finally, on the last day of August, that moment arrived.

The media got the news even faster than Huayi Brothers' official press release.

The cumulative box office revenue of "Aftershock" has officially surpassed 600 million yuan.

The news was met with laughter from the entire industry.

(End of this chapter)