It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 94 Lu Taro's Unlucky Day

October 1st, National Day.

"Hitch" and "Kekexili" were launched for public release simultaneously.

Despite its grand opening on the 24th, "New Police Story" has only just surpassed 6 million yuan in total box office revenue after six days of release.

"Chen Long's box office appeal isn't that great, is it?"

Waking up early in the morning, Lu Chuan didn't rush to get out of bed, but stayed in bed and started browsing the news.

He couldn't hide his excitement at the lukewarm box office performance of "New Police Story".

But after flipping to the article in "Everyone's Rival," his expression changed drastically:
Zhao Peng's directorial debut, "Hitch," has been released to great acclaim, consistently topping the box office charts.

Li Ming transforms into a 'love mentor,' helping Fan Wei pursue Yu Feihong, creating a remarkable and unexpected romance.

"Li Ming's 'Rich Woman' Fans Book Out Screenings in Support, Multiple Cinemas Sold Out..."

"Director Lu Chuan's new film, 'The Missing Gun,' is released, but the response has been lukewarm..."

The further Lu Chuan looked, the uglier her expression became.

Compared to the success and popularity of "Hitch," "Kekexili" received almost no discussion online.

This is not good news.

"No, I have to go to the cinema to check it out."

He rolled out of bed, got dressed, and rushed out to the nearest movie theater without even having breakfast.

Upon entering the hall, Lu Chuan immediately noticed a large crowd gathered in front of the ticket booth for "Hitch," with a long queue about to form.

Looking at the Kekexili area, there are only a few people scattered around.

"Give me a movie ticket." He walked to the ticket window, wanting to contribute to the box office of his film.

"The ticket booth for 'Hitch' is next door, and this is for 'Kekexili'." The ticket seller didn't even look up, busy playing Snake.

Lu Chuan's face darkened, and he suppressed his anger, saying, "I want to watch 'Kekexili'!"

"Oh?" The ticket seller looked up and handed him a movie ticket, reminding him, "Turn right and walk to the end. There's a small hall with 50 seats. That's the screening room for 'Kekexili.' Don't go to the wrong one."

Lu Chuan felt a surge of anger!

Do you think I deserve to use a small hall with seating for 50 people?

How exactly does this cinema schedule its screenings?!

He walked into the theater indignantly and waited for a while until the movie started, when only a dozen or so people showed up.

What's even more infuriating is that some people left before even watching half of it.

"Is this movie bad?" Lu Chuan couldn't help but ask the audience member next to her.

"It's great, the filming is quite impressive," the man replied readily, giving his approval.

Lu Chuan immediately perked up and eagerly asked, "How does it compare to 'Hitch'?"

“There’s no comparison.” The man shrugged. “The other film is interesting to watch and well-made, while this one, although the story is shocking, is too boring and not interesting at all.”

"Art films can't compare to commercial films..."

Lu Chuan awkwardly tried to make amends, then got up and walked towards the adjacent theater.

Looking around, the theater, which seats hundreds of people, was almost completely full.

Every now and then, bursts of laughter would erupt, echoing in his ears and sounding extremely grating!
"Hmph, what's so great about it? If I were to make a commercial film, I could definitely do better."

In fact, as early as when he was filming "Kekexili", he had already conceived a good subject for a commercial film.

Because he had attended a military academy in Nanjing for four years, the killings and resistance during the Nanjing Massacre always lingered in his mind.

He really wanted to make a movie about Chinese people resisting aggression.

But it's not like "Devils on the Doorstep," which only exposes the evil of the Japanese.

He felt that there were good and bad people among the Chinese, and good and bad Japanese among the Japanese.

If I can capture the realism of this aspect in a film, I'm sure I can become famous in the domestic film and television industry, and even surpass Jiang Wen!
"Clap clap-"

Suddenly, applause rang in my ears.

Lu Chuan looked up and saw that "Everybody's Rival" had reached its end, with the male and female leads finally getting together, which drew cheers from the audience.

"Ha, what a cheesy commercial film! It doesn't even explore human nature; how good can its reputation be?"

Lu Chuan pursed her lips and turned to walk out.

But just then, the phone in my pocket suddenly started buzzing.

He took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and casually pressed the answer button: "Hello?"

"Director Lu, something terrible has happened! There's been an accident!"

"What happened?"

“There’s a guy named Liu Yujun who posted on Tianya Forum that our movie plagiarized his documentary ‘Snowstorm in Kekexili’ and posted a lot of evidence.”

In an instant, Lu Chuan's face turned deathly pale!

……

Because of the time difference, daytime in Los Angeles is nighttime in China.

Therefore, when Lü Rui received the first-day box office data for "Hitch," it was already the evening of the second day after the film's release.

"Brother Rui, 683 million! Hahaha, this movie will definitely break even! Dong Ping said the estimated box office is at least 6000 million!"

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Peng could not hide his excitement.

The 1500 million yuan investment weighed heavily on him, putting him under immense pressure.

With the opening day box office of 683 million yuan, coupled with the estimated box office of at least 6000 million yuan in mainland China, the pressure on him has been greatly reduced.

"Good, very good." Lü Rui encouraged him.

He then added, "Don't slack off. These next few days are crucial. Increase your promotional efforts, do more offline roadshows, and don't neglect online activities either."

"Yes, I understand. Enlight Media has arranged a lot of interviews, and President Hou has written many articles, which have been continuously released..."

"Okay, keep up the good work and try to get the box office to break 60 million, and even reach 70 million or 80 million."

Lü Rui felt that this film had great potential.

With its novel story, outstanding cast, and excellent marketing, it's sure to be a box office hit.

Especially Li Ming's group of wealthy female fans, they are the main consumers!
After hanging up the phone, Lü Rui logged onto Tianya Forum and Baidu Tieba, browsing through netizens' reviews of "Everybody's Rival":

"It's very interesting. It contains a lot of tips for picking up girls, and it seems quite useful."

"The screenwriter has a great imagination! The concept of a relationship expert is quite novel."

"A fat guy's incredible success in winning over a female celebrity, haha, I really enjoyed watching it!"

"Simple, humorous, and romantic, a great romantic comedy."

"My future mother-in-law is asking me for a dowry of 30,000 yuan! She also wants me to buy a house and a car. With that money, wouldn't it be better to go to a bar and pick up girls?"

As I was browsing, suddenly a new post with a particularly eye-catching title popped up:

"Kekexili: Mountain Patrol is plagiarized! Please help me, fellow netizens!"

When Lü Rui clicked in, he saw that the poster was writing with great emotion, accusing his documentary of being maliciously plagiarized, with many scenes being copied almost verbatim!
But before he could finish reading it, the screen flashed and the post suddenly disappeared.

"Why was it deleted?"

Frowning, Lü Rui had no choice but to leave the forum and send a message to Jiang Wen on his phone.

It was nighttime in China, and Jiang Wen was probably asleep, so he didn't reply immediately.

Lü Rui decided to put the matter aside for the time being and continue working on the post-production editing.

Despite his busy schedule, he didn't forget to communicate with Peter, keeping track of the filming progress of "Lurking" while also spending money to purchase the copyright to the folk tale "Magic Line".

It also has a more widely known name:

Remote Control.

The story is about a middle-aged man who unexpectedly obtains a remote control that can control his life.

He used it to skip over the trivialities of life, such as arguments, traffic jams on his way to work, and work frustrations, and his career went smoothly all the way.

To his utter surprise, the remote control automatically memorized his preferences and skipped over all the "unpleasant" moments: his father's funeral, his wife's lamentations, his child's growth—all were blurred into light and shadow in fast-forward...

Finally, when the man woke up in his hospital bed, he found himself old and frail, and the family affection and warmth he had missed could never be recovered.

On his deathbed, he did everything in his power to stop his son, who also wanted to take a shortcut...

This is a very interesting fantasy comedy film.

In Lü Rui's memory, in his previous life, after its release in Hollywood, it grossed $8000 million worldwide on a budget of $2.4 million, a remarkable achievement!

If adapted and made into a Chinese film, it could easily be made into a medium-budget movie in China.

He did a quick calculation.

The male lead can be a top-tier actor, with an estimated salary of 200-300 million.

Other supporting roles and extras can be acquired for around 100 million.

As for filming, including equipment rental, location, and crew, about 150 to 200 million should be enough. Post-production editing, music, and a small amount of special effects will require about 100 million to 150 million.

Based on this calculation, the main production cost is approximately 600-800 million.

Then, with the addition of copyright fees, marketing and distribution costs, and the costs of directing and screenwriting, it would take about 1200 million to make this movie.

We can then make the budget the same as "Hitch," totaling 1500 million shares.

With its ingenious script, novel ideas, hilarious plot, and amusing characters, this film is sure to be another masterpiece that rivals "Hitch."

Thinking about this, Lü Rui felt even more that the step of 'Sinicizing Hollywood' was absolutely brilliant.

This huge treasure trove is so much for him to use, it's absolutely amazing!
……

683 million, 799 million, 916 million...

The seven-day National Day holiday brought ample exposure to "Hitch," which also boosted its reputation.

After a week, the film's total box office revenue has reached 6162 million!
During this period, the highest single-day box office even exceeded ten million!

The projected target was achieved ahead of schedule, and the initial investment had already been recouped when the total box office exceeded 4500 million. Even though the daily box office continued to decline, the profits were still considerable.

Media reports were full of praise:
"Rising star director Zhao Peng is making a strong debut! His first film has grossed over 6000 million yuan!"

"The screenwriter for 'Everybody's Rival' is Lü Rui, and the largest production company is Rui Vision..."

"The film does not exhibit Jiang's style and is completely different from 'The Missing Gun'."

"Director Lü Rui and actress Liu Yifei, who played Xiaolongnu, both made cameo appearances."

With the box office success of "Hitch," the other two films released at the same time have long been left far behind.

After half a month in theaters, "New Police Story" has just grossed over 3000 million yuan, with daily box office revenue dropping to 300 million yuan, showing slow growth.

Looking at "Kekexili", its box office revenue was only 245 million yuan in a week, which is simply appalling!
However, its reputation is quite good, with rave reviews both online and offline.

Some stories and themes deserve respect.

Of course, the premise is that the story is original!

"I carefully compared the movie and the documentary, and I can say with absolute certainty that this kid plagiarized, and plagiarized a lot of it!"

Jiang Wen called, her voice full of annoyance.

Although he had already guessed that there were many shady dealings in Lu Chuan's new film.

But to everyone's surprise, this guy actually made a movie in the style of a "mockumentary".

If it were truly his own work, that would be one thing, but damn it, he actually copied someone else's documentary and incorporated real-life events into it.

It's like using someone else's story background and only adding a small part of your own thoughts.

This part of the "thinking" seems to have been extracted from online forums, and various plagiarisms and fusions were used to create this movie.

To put it nicely, it's about "integrating the strengths of many schools of thought"; to put it bluntly, it's about "copying bits and pieces from here and there, piecing together plagiarism!"
Thinking about this, Jiang Wen became furious.

Lu Chuan was at least half his apprentice, but unexpectedly she went astray.

He now wished he could clean house for Lu Tianming on the spot!

"I see that there are more posts online, but they are being posted and deleted at the same time. I guess they're being watched?"

Lu Rui has been paying close attention to this matter for the past few days.

The fact that the plagiarism allegations against "Kekexili" have never really taken off suggests that someone is manipulating things behind the scenes.

Jiang Wen sighed helplessly: "Where does a small-time documentary director get the confidence and strength to go against the Lu family?"

Lu Rui's heart skipped a beat, and he asked casually, "Who was the one whose property was confiscated? He's really unlucky."

"A native of the capital, a graduate of the photography department of the Broadcasting Institute, named Liu Yujun, he is somewhat well-known in the documentary circle, but still far from the mainstream."

"That's really unlucky..."

After chatting for a while, and learning that Jiang Wen was currently discussing cooperation with Yinghuang, Lü Rui hung up the phone.

But then he dialed Shen Ao's number again: "Go and contact a documentary director named Liu Yujun. Don't meet him directly. Find someone you trust and tell him that someone is willing to pay for his lawsuit..."

Lu Rui gave a brief explanation of the situation.

After hearing this, Shen Ao immediately replied, "Brother Rui, I'll take care of it right away."

"Okay, go ahead, but be careful not to give yourself away."

Lu Rui had no other intentions than to annoy Lu Taro.

He'd be happy to spend some money on it.

If we could brand this guy a "plagiarist" and even have his movie pulled from theaters, that would be perfect.

After giving the instructions, Lü Rui continued working on the post-production of "The Prestige" and the Chinese localization of "Click".

Before we knew it, it was April 10th.

After a 25-day filming period, under the direction of James Wan, "Lurking" has officially wrapped up filming.

The air conditioning on set seemed to freeze solid due to the eerie atmosphere of the final scene.

Andy Serkis, facing away from the camera, told psychic Elise that he hoped to forget the visions of the spirit world, just like he did when he was a child.

Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, Elise suddenly raised her camera and took a picture of him.

The camera zoomed in quickly, and Andy's neck veins began to throb at an eerie frequency.

When he turned around abruptly, the whites of his eyes were completely swallowed by ink, and the corners of his mouth stretched into an unusually wide grin as he silently sneered at the camera: "You know, I hate having my picture taken!"

Before Elise could react, two large hands gripped her neck tightly, her body arched backward like a puppet, and as she faced the camera, the last glimmer of light in her eyes went out completely…

It turns out the exorcism ritual failed, and what returned was not Andy at all, but the evil spirit that had been lurking in his body for many years!
Downstairs, the body of the exorcist, killed by the evil spirit, is still hidden in the wardrobe.

The real Andy remains trapped in the cold, desolate spirit world, desperately pounding on the invisible wall leading to the real world, but his voice cannot travel out...

"Card!"

James Wan's voice broke the silence.

He stood up from behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie, a satisfied smile on his face: "This take is approved!"

The quiet film set instantly erupted in cheers.

Andy Serkis helped Lynn Shaye, who played a psychic, to her feet and asked her about her health. She said she was fine.

James Wan invited Lu Rui to watch the final scene.

"Lv, based on this ending, shouldn't 'Lurking' be a movie series?"

“That’s right.” Lu Rui nodded with a smile. “After the first movie is released, we’ll see how it’s received. If it does well enough, we’ll release a sequel.”

As he spoke, he had already finished watching the last scene and praised it, saying, "Very good."

Lu Rui highly regards James Wan's ability to direct horror films.

"I hereby announce that filming for 'Lurking' has officially wrapped!"

Cheers erupted on set once again.

The crew was very happy when filming wrapped up, because it not only meant the end of intense work, but also meant they would receive a generous salary.

Standing next to Wen Ziren, Lü Rui waited for the cheers to subside before adding, "Everyone, I've prepared a wrap party. You're all welcome to come."

In an instant, the cheers from the crowd grew even louder!
That evening, at a hotel near Ruixing Film Studio, the wrap party for "Lurking" officially began.

James Wan excitedly invited, "Lv, my first movie, Saw, will be released at the end of the month. There will be a screening, and I hope you can come."

"Of course, I will definitely be there."

The investors in "Saw" are Lionsgate, a company with unique experience in the distribution of horror films.

Lu Rui planned to talk to them, and if the conditions were right, the distribution of "Lurking" could also be handled by Lionsgate.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the final cut of the video must be done first.

Ruixing Pictures doesn't have editing equipment, but Warner Bros. does!

With post-production on "The Prestige" nearing completion, I thought it would be a good opportunity to borrow their equipment, and I'm sure Warner Bros. wouldn't refuse.

He's an expert at taking advantage of loopholes.

"Lv, I hope to have the opportunity to work with you again next time."

Before parting, Andy Serkis and Amy Adams went up to hug and greet Lu Rui, expressing their willingness to continue working together.

Their careers in Hollywood are so-so, so naturally they'd like to find a stable partner if possible.

Lü Rui smiled and agreed, "If there's a suitable role, I'll contact you."

After the party ended, the film entered post-production the following morning.

Meanwhile, domestically, under pressure, Lu Chuan had no choice but to arrange for "Kekexili" to be released off the big screen first.

This film, with a production cost of 1000 million, has only grossed 515 million at the box office so far!
They lost a fortune!
"Bang bang—"

Inside the company, Lu Chuan threw the lawyer's letter and summons to the ground and stomped on them several times.

"What's wrong with that guy? Didn't he agree to settle with money? Why is he filing a lawsuit now?"

(End of this chapter)