Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 659 Not Afraid of Vixens?

After surpassing 100 million, Ex Machina's box office performance remains stable, and reaching 200 million is a certainty.
Wanda and Xingchen are already preparing for the celebration banquet.

Meanwhile, all the major production companies are working hard for their own films, and their promotional methods are varied and diverse.

"Every agent should manage their artists with love. If I had known Huang Shengyi before marriage, I would definitely have married her."

Yang Zi of Juli Films once again made a surprising statement during an interview while promoting "The Legend of the White Snake".

While he acted intimately with Huang Shengyi on various occasions, he also subtly hinted and concealed his relationship with her in his words, while also reminding netizens that he was married.

This tactic took ambiguity, hype, and self-marketing to the extreme.

Those two are absolutely amazing.

"Tsk tsk, they really know how to promote themselves."

In the computer room of StarChen Visual Effects, visual effects supervisor Ding Yanlai looked at the news that popped up on the computer and muttered with a light laugh next to Wu Chen, "I just wonder how well the special effects of their movie are done."

"For that little bit of money they gave me."

The Legend of the White Snake was initially priced by StarChip Visual Effects.

Unfortunately, what the other party wanted was the kind of cost-effectiveness that "achieves the effect of five dollars with five cents," which Xingchen simply couldn't deliver.

"Then go to the cinema and see for yourself after it's released, and you'll know." Wu Chen looked at him with amusement.

"hey-hey."

Lu Yang, who was sitting to the side, couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic." Wu Chen turned his gaze back to the monitor in front of Lu Yang, which displayed special effects shots of the nine-tailed fox demon from "Painted Skin 2".

"I feel that the nine-tailed fox's tail shouldn't be too solid. It needs to have a fluid, energy-like feel, like smoke, both real and illusory."

“Understood, Mr. Wu, that’s easy,” Ding Yanlai replied immediately.

"Painted Skin 2" is a film with heavy special effects, featuring a large number of special effects shots.

Wu Chen would occasionally come over and help Lu Yang by giving him his opinion.

After emerging from the Starry Sky Visual Effects booth, Wu Chen glanced at the time and then dialed Liu Yifei's number.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the party with me?"

"I'm not going, I'm too tired," came Liu Yifei's lazy voice on the other end of the phone, typical of a summer afternoon.

"Where are you tired? You haven't had anything going on lately." Wu Chen couldn't help but chuckle as he listened.

Then, he changed the subject and deliberately teased, "Aren't you afraid that some vixens will come crawling to you at the party?"

"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei on the other end of the phone frowned slightly, then a coquettish voice with a nasal tone came through, "Then wait for me! Get ready to come back and pick me up!"

Enlight Media's celebration of its IPO was a grand affair, and naturally, a considerable number of people were invited.

The heads of major film production companies and cinema chains in Beijing, as well as popular celebrities, all came.

That evening, Liu Yifei accompanied Wu Chen to the meeting.

She wore a light purple dress and entered the venue arm in arm with Wu Chen.

Their appearance naturally attracted the attention of most of the audience.

Jiang Yiyan was chatting with Deng Chao and others when she saw this scene, and a hint of envy flashed in her eyes.

Because Wang Changtian, the CEO of Enlight Media, had personally led his celebrity shareholders Xie Nan, Liu Yan, and Zuo Dajian to quickly greet them.

"Welcome Director Wu! Welcome Yifei!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Wang! Congratulations, Guangxian!"

Wu Chen smiled, shook hands with Wang Changtian, and offered his congratulations. His gaze casually swept across the entire room.

Yes, they're mostly old acquaintances.

Even some leaders from the General Administration came.

"Come on, Director Wu, this way please, this way please."

Wang Changtian enthusiastically gestured, then glanced at Xie Nan and Liu Yan beside him, and said seemingly casually:

"By the way, Director Wu, I'm planning to let Xie Nan and Liu Yan try to break into acting. If there are any suitable small roles in the future, you must give them a chance."

"Oh? Getting ready to cross over?" Wu Chen chuckled.

He understands that with Enlight Media about to go public, it's normal for them to need to cultivate some top-notch artists.

It has to be said that Liu Yan is quite lucky. Although she offended Chen Kaige with her inappropriate remarks back then, fortunately, she was with Enlight Media and was not only not blacklisted, but has now even managed to get shares in the company.

Although it's not a large amount, it's still worth several million based on the current issue price. "Haha, the host will still do as instructed; he just wants to have more options," Wang Changtian laughed.

"If there's a suitable one, no problem."

Wu Chen nodded and readily agreed.

"Then hurry up and thank Director Wu!" Wang Changtian immediately gestured to Xie Nan, Liu Yan, and the others.

The latter nodded repeatedly, expressing his gratitude to Wu Chen and Liu Yifei.

Jiang Yiyan is good at choosing her time and is also very clever.

She didn't rush over at the beginning, but waited until everyone had finished exchanging pleasantries with Wu Chen and the other person before she gracefully walked over with her wine glass in hand, her face full of just the right amount of smiles.

The first person she greeted was Liu Yifei.

"Iphie, what a coincidence!"

Liu Yifei was very respectful to her classmates.

The two stood together and exchanged pleasantries for a long time.

During this time, many subtle glances were cast in his direction.

"I'm tired. I didn't eat much, but I talked a lot."

As Liu Yifei left the hotel, her lips pouted as if she were carrying a small oil bottle.

"Alright, shall we go get something else to eat? How about some barbecue?" Wu Chen knew her personality all too well and immediately suggested with a smile.

"Huh? That's not good, you'll get fat." Liu Yifei hesitated for a moment, as if she really meant it.

But before Wu Chen could speak, she started talking to herself again, "Hey, you said it yourself! If I get fat, it'll all be your fault!"

"Okay, okay, it's my fault, it's all my fault!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen was both amused and exasperated.

Time flies, and it's already early August.

Transformers 3 finally landed in the Chinese mainland market at the end of July.

This blockbuster, which has already grossed over $7 million overseas, is naturally sweeping across the Chinese market as well.

Major cinema chains have allocated ample screening slots.

Ex Machina was undoubtedly hit hard, with its screenings severely squeezed. But by then, its total box office had already approached 200 million.

For a low-budget film, its potential has basically been exhausted. In addition, pirated versions have already been released online, so the final box office will probably be within this range.

However, the martial arts films were really bad.

Under the impact of "Transformers 3", its screenings were almost squeezed to single digits. The final cumulative box office barely stopped at 170 million yuan, which seemed quite far from the goal of 200 million yuan.

Chen Kexin has definitely lost face this time.

At this time, media outlets also reported that a seemingly ordinary straw hat in the "Wu Xia" film crew had a prop price of up to 6000 US dollars.

This caused an uproar among netizens.

"Holy crap! What kind of hat is this? It's so expensive!"

"Is the straw hat trimmed with gold or studded with diamonds?"

"Tsk tsk, are they going to make a movie or to make money?"

Reporters went straight to interview Chen Kexin, who became somewhat annoyed and embarrassed after being asked so many questions.

"I'm only in charge of filming; I don't know anything about the accounts!"

"That's an antique straw hat! There's only one in the whole world! Also, money is earned, not saved!"

This blatant attempt to cover up the truth only drew more ridicule.

"One movie, one villa!" Wu Chen shook his head speechlessly after seeing the report.

Just a few years ago, mainland directors hadn't fully developed yet; otherwise, how could these Hong Kong directors have come to the mainland so brazenly to make money?

However, just as he was feeling sentimental, a phone call came in from Italy.

On the other end of the phone came a voice speaking English with a heavy accent.

"Wu! I am Marco Müller."

(End of this chapter)