Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 137's opening day
The once joyous Shanghai International Film Festival is now filled with lamentations.

Since Huang Xiaoming, Li Baibing, and others completed their capital transformation by using Huayi's stock, the entire entertainment industry has begun to gravitate towards capital.

Countless celebrities have become the top choice for listed companies, after all, the status of celebrities is now somewhat extraordinary, making many investors willing to pay for their investments.
By leveraging the fame of these individuals, it became easier for those companies to go public, which also stimulated the existing shareholding structure.

However, it was only after these days that they realized it was all just a bubble.

When an avalanche comes, no one can escape it.

Even many foreigners know about it; Roland and his group even came to ask Chen Shouzhe if he had invested in the stock market.

"No, no, my company isn't even listed, so it won't affect me at all," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"That's really lucky. It looks like it'll continue to fall," Roland said with a smile.

"Almost halved." Chen Shou shrugged.

Anyway, some stocks have fallen, but it doesn't affect him much.

Huayi's assets are now worth over 60 billion yuan, and many shareholders want to sell, but no one is willing to take them on.

Many companies approached Chen Shouzhe with the simple reason: to invest in Chen Shouzhe, stimulate the stock market, and prevent their own stock prices from falling.

Chen Shou was confused; why were they all suddenly coming to find him?

He later learned that the problem lay with Wang Changtian.

In an effort to curb the stock price decline, Wang Changtian announced several plans for the year and the second half of the year, many of which involved the distribution and promotion of Shouzhe Film Studio, as well as investments.

Among all the companies that hit their daily limit down, Enlight Media remained stable, falling by only about 3%, which caught the attention of countless other companies, who began to launch their business initiatives in an attempt to recover their stock prices.

Unfortunately, Huayi's financial statements are laughable. They only produced a few movies. Where did all the money go? They went to develop hotel projects. The real estate sector was already in a bad state, a disaster area, and prices plummeted all the way down.

Amidst laughter and cheers, this year's Shanghai International Film Festival came to a close, and Chen Shou returned from the festival with a beaming smile.

Huang Bo arrived at his company immediately.

"Director Chen."

Huang Bo sat down in front of him with a smile.

"Take a look at the script first. It'll cost around 20 million. You can use my company's equipment. I can recommend a few people for the cast. You can decide for yourself," Chen Shou said.

Huang Bo picked up the script and started reading. Not only was there a script, but there were also some storyboards, which were very valuable to him.

After watching for a while, Huang Bo looked up and asked, "When do I take the picture?"

“The Dragon Seeking Technique needs some time to prepare, but you can start preparing now. You can do it anytime you're available,” Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go find the actors right away. We'll start filming as soon as I finish Mojin: The Lost Legend," Huang Bo said excitedly. He didn't want to wait a moment longer. After years of working in the film and television industry, he had accumulated enough connections. Seeing the list that Chen Shouzhe provided, he felt there was no problem and immediately started contacting people after leaving the company.

The shooting scene was relatively simple, mainly revolving around a rock.

On July 1st, A Chinese Ghost Story was released in major cinemas, and Painted Skin also ended successfully. The box office on the last day was more than 7 million, bringing the total to 7.54 million, a perfect ending.

As a film adapted from a novel, Chen Shouzhe, the director of A Chinese Ghost Story, drew many people to the cinema because of him.

"When humans and ghosts fall in love, sometimes humans are not as good as ghosts."

"What a beautiful female ghost! No wonder Ning Caichen fell in love with Nie Xiaoqian."

"I certainly can't handle it. Give me a dozen more of these female ghosts."

"To die beneath the peony blossoms is to be romantic even as a ghost; how despicable!"

"I think Grandma is nice too."

"Is it that extreme? Tree spirit, it reminds me of some Japanese anime."

"Demonic forces emerge in chaotic times. It's been a long time since I've seen a romance film like this. It's full of regrets. Like Painted Skin, Xiao Wei is a fox demon who also falls in love with a human."

"Chen Shouzhe seems to really like this kind of love with regret, or no love at all. I remember when Charlotte's Troubles, someone even criticized him for being a kid who didn't understand love."

The film received good reviews, though not exceptionally high. However, major cinemas were very accommodating, allocating 35% of their screening slots to it, much to the dismay of many other production companies.

Some directors even criticized theaters on Weibo, saying they were being treated unfairly. Why were their numbers in the single digits, while Chen Shou's films accounted for 35%?

However, the theaters retorted, asking what kind of movies they made, how much box office revenue they had received, and whether they could compare to Chen Shouzhe.
No director in the country can compare with Chen Shou in terms of commercial films. How much box office revenue can they bring to theaters?
Those directors were speechless after being confronted. They were full of resentment but couldn't change the reality. How could they possibly beat Chen Shouzhe in the commercial film market?

As expected, the box office results on the first day plunged people in the film industry into despair.

1.3 million.

A romance film with an investment of 40 million yuan grossed over 100 million yuan on its opening day, and it was produced independently by Chen Shou's own company—he's profiting all by himself.

Many production companies are envious, but they don't dare to do anything about it.

Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, but the problem is they don't have the ability to do so.

Moreover, judging from the word-of-mouth, exceeding one billion is no problem.

This is the influence that celebrity directors bring.

And since it's about love, many people buy two tickets.

The theaters have made it clear that they will increase the number of screenings, which puts a lot of pressure on the Great Poet. The distribution company keeps contacting the theaters, asking them to stabilize the number of screenings.

The theaters said there was no problem; they could schedule screenings for the great poet as agreed, but if the great poet didn't perform well, they would still cut the screenings.

No one turns down money; capital is profit-driven. Even the greatest poet's status in the film industry is useless in the face of profit. If he can't bring them profit, why keep him around?

The second film's box office dropped slightly to 1.13 million.

On the 3rd, the great poet's movie was released, and the box office dropped to over 80 million.

However, on the 3rd and 4th, online public opinion fermented.

"What the hell did I watch? Now that I'm watching a film about a great poet, I'm even more certain of one thing: the Palme d'Or was definitely not his achievement; it must have been made by someone else."

"The first half was alright, but did it start with cultivation in the second half?"

"As expected of a great director, even the Dragon Prince appeared. How did it pass the censorship?"

"You're treating the State Administration's documents like farts, aren't you? It's time to bring out 'Dead Water'."

"Dead Water's writing is still too conservative. No wonder he's a great poet. How did this pass the review? Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. Is this how it passed the review?"

"That's the difference between the Palme d'Or and the Jury Prize. Director Jiang Wen had to reshoot the film because of the actors' issues, while the one that won the Palme d'Or passed censorship. The award is still a step behind."

"Stop talking, go write a poem on the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's official website."

The overwhelming barrage of insults was unexpected by everyone. Many celebrities dared not promote the story, and even the great poet began to feign death.

The Dragon Prince appeared in the movie and occupied a significant portion of the screen time.

Compared to Jiang Wen's remake, why was his version approved?

Moreover, this actor was specifically named by the authorities as someone they wanted to blacklist; whose face is being slapped here?

However, the comments on these posts disappeared the next day. There was nothing we could do. Since we couldn't shut you up, we decided to take action against the platform and deprive you of any channel to voice your opinions.

Although major websites are still talking about this, the volume has noticeably decreased.

On the contrary, Chen Shou's side has a higher number of screenings, while the Great Poet's side has already stopped making a splash and doesn't dare to promote it.

However, it still generates 20 to 30 million in box office revenue every day, so it looks like it will easily reach 100 to 200 million.

Thanks to the focus of criticism against the great poet, the box office of A Chinese Ghost Story has returned to breaking 100 million yuan in a single day.

One week later, it reached 8.34 million.

Chen Shouzhe traveled to several cities to promote the film, with the final battle taking place in Xiangnan.

"Director Chen, you're going to the US to film 'Gravity' next. Do you have any other film plans after that?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, I estimate I'll be abroad for two or three months. When I come back, I'll try to film another movie before the Lunar New Year," Chen Shou said.

"Could you tell me what movie it is?" a reporter in the audience asked excitedly.

Chen Shouzhe glanced at the main creators on stage and smiled, "It's the second part of A Chinese Ghost Story. Like Painted Skin, A Chinese Ghost Story also has a series, and there are three parts to it."

This statement quickly appeared on the homepage of a news portal.

Many production companies were cursing when they saw this news.

The film "A Chinese Ghost Story" had a budget of 40 million yuan and grossed over 1 billion yuan at the box office, something they never dared to dream of.

Chen Shouzhe said that there are three parts to A Chinese Ghost Story, and one more will be filmed in the second half of the year, which means that we can still see A Chinese Ghost Story next year, or even two parts.

A movie that makes so much money can be monopolized by one company; who wouldn't be envious?

The actors are even more envious; it's a series, and the first one grossed over a billion, making it an even more successful film than Painted Skin.

It's already certain that you'll make a profit; that's the power of an IP.

While other companies were still weeping over the stock market crash, Chen was beaming with joy as box office revenue soared.

Meanwhile, the great poet continues to be criticized, and even Taoism has come out to reprimand him; it will probably all fizzle out.

Although Chen Shouzhe did not take advantage of Jiang Wen's misfortune, it did not mean that Jiang Wen had no objections.

When he returned to the capital, Jiang Wen came straight at him.

"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have reshot it. If he can do it, why can't I?" Jiang Wen said.

"Hehe, look at how people outside are criticizing the great poet. Do you want to experience it for yourself?" Chen Shou sneered.

"Then forget it. But I didn't expect him to be so bold as to directly slap the higher-ups in the face," Jiang Wen said.

"You don't even look at their background or what awards they've won. It makes me want to try and win an award too."

"Sure, if you're so capable, go and win an Oscar. There isn't an Oscar in China yet."

"That's a good idea. We can discuss it with Warner Bros. and see if we can bring 'Gravity' to them."

"A sci-fi film vying for awards? You're not kidding, are you?"

"What's wrong? You look down on science fiction movies?"

"If you can make it down, I'll open my bottle of Maotai from the 1980s for you."

"Okay, it's a deal."

"Stop talking nonsense, let's drink."

(End of this chapter)