Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 170: Recouping the investment in six days, a new sci-fi movie.
The first five days of the Lunar New Year are the craziest.

We had to go back to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, and the box office finally dropped below 300 million. The box office reached 1.6 billion in five days and more than 1.8 billion in six days, and the cost was recovered.

An animated film with an investment of 700 million yuan broke even in just six days.

This led to a full-day meeting for major film and television companies that had already started work.

Chen Shouzhe also received an invitation from above to hold a seminar.

He refused outright.

Who would attend such a boring seminar? Do you think my movies need your discussion?
Chen Shouzhe refused outright, infuriating a group of old men who were eagerly awaiting the meeting.

Even if others don't attend, the meeting still goes on as planned. I don't know where they get the audacity to hold such a meeting.

They don't even know how animated films are made, yet they have the nerve to hold seminars on this topic and discuss how movies become successful.
Chen Shouzhe wasn't being disrespectful; he still went to the bureau for a cup of tea.

"Happy New Year, Director Zhang," Chen Shou greeted as he entered, clasping his hands in a fist and palm salute.

"You didn't come to the meeting when I called you, what's going on now?" Zhang Hongsheng, who knew Chen Shouzhe's personality well, asked with a smile.

"As the first domestically produced animated film, shouldn't the bureau give it some reward?" Chen Shou said with a smile.

"What other reward do you want? We've done all the publicity we could for you. So many official media outlets have been saying good things about you these past few days, and we've given you the maximum amount of publicity. Aren't you satisfied?" Zhang Hongsheng didn't respond.

“That’s one thing, but there are many others who haven’t seen it,” Chen Shou said.

"The movie has only been out for seven days, and today is only the eighth day. You're already eyeing next month?" Zhang Hongsheng was also taken aback by Chen Shouzhe's appetite and pointed at him, not knowing what to say.

"Haha, I told you beforehand. It's easy for me to handle. The bureau wants to support domestic films, and I have a feeling they can break records, so I'll give them a hand," Chen Shou said with a laugh.

“It’s February now, are we going to postpone it to April? No, that’s too long,” Zhang Hongsheng said.

"It's only a month, not long. I invested 700 million yuan. Which movie in the country can compare? I'm under a lot of pressure to break even." Chen Shouzhe knew he had to fight for it. He didn't care about playing the victim; he just wanted to get tens of millions more in box office revenue.

“You’ve already made money in six days, earning tens of millions a day. Don’t think I don’t know. Don’t cry to me. We have other movies coming out next month. We can’t let you do this to us,” Zhang Hongsheng said, shaking his head.

“April is a terrible time to release movies, there aren’t many films. Besides, there are foreign films coming in. We can just have China Film Group release a few foreign films,” Chen Shou said.

"The Matrix? And that movie you made with Columbia Pictures?" Zhang Hongsheng joked.

"We can wait a bit, it can be released during the summer season," Chen Shou said with a smile.

“Since it’s going to be postponed, how about putting The Matrix in May?” Zhang Hongsheng said.

“Sure, if we can activate this release window, it won’t be a bad thing for the domestic film market,” Chen Shou nodded.

"You win. Then let's extend it for another month. The higher-ups support domestic animated films, just like your patriotic film. Many things require someone to step forward first. The higher-ups are very satisfied with your performance. Keep up the good work," Zhang Hongsheng said.

"Thank you, Director Zhang, thank you, leader. Forget about encouragement, just give me more extensions," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"You've completely devoured this year's Lunar New Year film season. Let the Bullets Fly in January, and now WALL-E during the Spring Festival. The money from movies isn't even enough for you to make. What more do you want? Go away!" Zhang Hongsheng said irritably.

After Chen Shouzhe got the extension he wanted, he left the film festival. He was bullied for trying to take all the credits from the previous film "A Chinese Ghost Story," but this time no one objected to him taking all the credits.

A 700 million investment is not something just anyone dares to bet on. When the project was first announced, no one called him, no one was willing to take a stake in it. It's simple: it's an animated film.

This indicates that no one is optimistic about the project and believes that animated films will not amount to anything.

Now that the movie is a hit, even if they're envious, they won't regret it. After all, the risk was too great, and they don't even have the interest to ask about it. There's nothing wrong with Chen Shou making money. He succeeded because of his strength and perseverance. Not everyone can come up with 700 million to make an animated movie.

Let's not even mention the other movies; they were basically cannon fodder, only making tens of millions in box office revenue per day. After fifteen days, it had only dropped to about 100 million. However, news of the postponement also came out, causing countless film companies to curse, but it was also reasonable. Even they would apply for a postponement, and there was a high probability that it would go up.

It was also at this time that Shou Zhe Pictures announced that A Chinese Ghost Story II would be released on April 1st, and at the same time announced that filming for the third installment would begin.

The news came as a shock.

"In previous years, we ate for half a year, but now we're eating from the beginning of the year to the end?"

Upon seeing the news, Wang Zonglei knew that this year's film market would be even more difficult. "Let the Bullets Fly" in January and "WALL-E" in February were postponed to April, followed by "A Chinese Ghost Story II" in April, and then other films. He didn't know what Chen Shouzhe would prepare for the second half of the year. If this continued, every month in the domestic film season would feature a film from Shouzhe Pictures.

How are we supposed to play this game from now on?
"We also need to make plans and produce our film as soon as possible." Wang Zongjun now realizes the importance of film. Real estate is no longer reliable, and a stock market crash is a foregone conclusion. He estimates that the stock market will not recover for several years.

Some experts even predict that it will be impossible to recover even a little bit in ten years, and the number will remain around 3,000.

Huayi has only two ways to return to its peak: one is through movies, regaining its position as the number one private enterprise and producing films that can influence the whole country or even the world; the other, as netizens have suggested, is a shortcut: acquiring Shouzhe Pictures. And believe it or not, the brothers are actually considering the second option: spending money to acquire Chen Shouzhe's company.

But when you think about it, Chen Shouzhe's company isn't like Feng Xiaogang's or Zhang Guoli's companies, which can be settled with a few hundred million, but can't even come up with billions.

As an independent film and television production company, Shouzhi Film Studio is not afraid to compete with other listed companies, it's just that we don't have as much business as them.

A production company that honestly makes movies.

Chen Shou is currently busy with two things. One is the third installment of A Chinese Ghost Story. He has already promised Yan Danchen that filming will begin in March, which is just around the corner. The crew has been preparing for this since the beginning of the month.

In addition, there is Guo Fan's movie, which also started filming in April. The movie preparation started at the end of last year. The movie script was submitted for review but has not yet been approved. However, the preliminary preparation work has been completed, but filming has not yet started.

Once the script is approved, filming can begin immediately.

[The Film Bureau announced that the script for the film "A Chinese Ghost Story 3," submitted by Shouzhe Pictures, has passed the script review and is permitted for filming.]

[The Film Bureau announced that the script for the film "The Wandering Earth," submitted by Little Dream Special Effects Factory, has passed the script review and is permitted for filming.]

[It is reported that the male lead in A Chinese Ghost Story 3 will be replaced, and Tong Dawei will no longer play the role. The specific male lead has not yet been determined. The male lead will no longer be Ning Caichen, but a monk.]

The film *The Wandering Earth* is a science fiction film, produced by Guo Fan (director of *WALL-E*), with Chen Shouzhe serving as executive producer and screenwriter.

According to entertainment industry rumors, Wu Jing has been confirmed as the director and lead actor in "The Wandering Earth." The film tells the story of humanity's journey through the universe, taking Earth with them, in an attempt to escape the solar system after the sun's death.

A series of films were released in March, keeping countless film and television companies in the industry busy.

As expected, Chen Shou's phone was bombarded with calls, and they even came to his door.

They couldn't possibly participate in A Chinese Ghost Story, but they knew they had a chance in The Wandering Earth.

Four or five state-owned enterprises came, including Emperor Entertainment, Enlight Media, Bona Film Group, and Wanda Media. They crowded around the film studio, having all arrived after the film script was approved.

"Chairman Wang, it's actually you. It seems Chairman La isn't paying much attention to the films in the film industry." Ren Zhonglun entered the movie theater and noticed that there was already someone in the elevator. Only then did he realize that it was Vice Chairman Wang from China Film Group.

"Mr. Ren, you're too kind. Our Chairman La is quite busy; he has a meeting with overseas film distributors," Vice Chairman Wang said with a smile.

Ren Zhonglun's mood immediately soured upon hearing this.

The reason why China Film Group is the eldest brother is because it holds the power of life and death over import and export. Shanghai Film Group has tried to take it over countless times, but it has failed every time. Therefore, Shanghai Film Group can only ever be number two, no matter how rich it is. Number two is number two.

Besides, everyone knows that getting Vice Chairman Wang to deal with Chen Shouzhe is more effective than Chairman La personally, since Vice Chairman Wang was Chen Shouzhe's mentor and the first outsider to invest in Chen Shouzhe back then.

Besides his godfather, the producer was Vice Chairman Wang.

It was because of this relationship that Chen Shouzhe tried his best to bring China Film Group along.

People from Xi'an Film Studio also came; one of them was a director who had dealt with Chen Shou for many years and was now the deputy general manager.

Mr. Liu from Wanda, the light was very close, Wang Changtian arrived, and then Huo Wenxi from Emperor Group.

These people are all shrewd; it's difficult to talk to them over the phone, and the probability of being rejected is very high, so they come directly to the company.

So it was easy for them to run into each other.

Chen Shouzhe was drinking tea with Wang Changtian when Liu Xiaobing arrived, followed by Yu Dong who eagerly ran over.

Unexpectedly, he also came. Since he was a guest, Chen Shou didn't say anything.

Chen tried his best to receive the people who came later, but the people from Ali's side were arrogant and started talking as soon as they met.

"Director Chen, Alibaba will cover all the investment needed for your film."

Chen Shou rolled his eyes inwardly and laughed, "When did I ever say my movie needed investment?"

The people from Alibaba were stunned for a moment before they realized that Chen Shouzhe was not like other directors; his films never lacked investment.

Seeing everyone else laughing and looking at him, the Alibaba representative realized he was being stupid and immediately changed his tune.

“Our Chairman Ma has always admired Director Chen and hoped to work with him. Before coming here, Chairman Ma instructed me to give you my regards.”

"Thank you, Mr. Ma, but my movie doesn't lack money. Like you, Mr. Ma, I have no interest in money."

(End of this chapter)