Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 195 Showing off Gets Struck by Lightning, Mermaid Project Launched

"Director Chen, Enlight Media doesn't have that kind of luck; the shareholders have all refused."

Wang Changtian kept looking at Chen Shouzhe's face, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

It's no wonder Chen Shouzhe had a bad attitude; he rejected his offer of investment, and from then on, all that remained between Guanglan and him was business dealings.

"Director Chen..."

Seeing that Chen Shouzhe's expression wasn't too good, Wang Changtian immediately spoke up.

"No need to say anything, Chairman Wang. I understand what Guangxian means. We will continue our cooperation as before," Chen Shou said, waving his hand.

"That's good."

Wang Changtian nodded.

After chatting about other things for a while, Chen Shou saw him out of the company.

"He only wants the benefits and doesn't want to give anything in return. Forget it, let's go our separate ways from now on. Besides Wanda, we can't count on Enlight Media either. There are other publishers besides Enlight Media these days." Chen Shou muttered to himself.

Wang Changtian left Shouzhe Film Industry. He knew that today's decision would definitely make Chen Shouzhe unhappy, but it was a decision he and the shareholders made. He himself did not want Chen Shouzhe to come in. As for future cooperation, he would take it one step at a time.

However, much of the company's profits this year came from Shouzhe Pictures. Once Chen Shouzhe leaves, Enlight Media's business will be much smaller. In an era where internet companies are entering the market, traditional media companies are already struggling to survive, and this will make things even more difficult.

What happened next left all film companies dumbfounded: The Ferryman, which had grossed 8264.5 million yuan a few days ago, plummeted to only 2558.2 million yuan on Monday, and the entire internet was flooded with criticism of the terrible film.

The celebrities who initially voiced their support suddenly fell silent, while a male actor who said "I don't like it" became popular for a while.

Not everyone gives Wong Kar-wai and Jack Ma face. There's plenty of celebration in the film industry. Finally, this show-off got a lesson. He's been showing off all this time, why isn't he continuing now? Screw your show-off act.

The movie "The Ferryman," invested in by Alibaba, is basically finished. Major cinema chains also realize that this movie is terrible and need to adjust their screening schedules in time.

On New Year's Day, January 1st, the box office of The Great Wall, which had been in theaters for 15 days, was already struggling. Online reviews were overwhelmingly polarized, with some people finding it good and others not understanding the plot.

In short, this might be acceptable in the United States, a country with only two or three hundred years of history, but in a country with five thousand years of history, such a plot can only be considered a joke.

In comparison, Mojin: The Lost Legend is quite strong. Although its box office declined in the second week of its release, it still managed to maintain a daily box office of over 100 million yuan, clearly aiming for a box office of 2 billion yuan.

For the production companies involved, this couldn't be better.

Chen Shouzhe didn't take a day off today; instead, he hosted Zhou Xingxing.

Besides Stephen Chow, there's also Liu Xiaobing from Wanda and Huo Wenxi from Emperor Entertainment.

“This time I’m taking a larger share. The total investment is 300 million, and I’m investing 120 million, which is 40% of the total,” Chen Shou said.

"10% of the 300 million investment." Stephen Chow's face was full of smiles. The director's salary from the 300 million investment had been secured first.

He didn't want a share of the box office revenue this time, since there were too many variables involved. He preferred to keep the money in his pocket and took the director's fee first.

Stephen Chow has a big appetite, and Chen Shouzhe knows his greedy nature, but he really needs to use him to complete this movie and exhaust his fame.

Although the outside world claims that Chen Shou's film salary is 50 million, in reality, in addition to the 50 million, there is also a share of the film's box office revenue.

The 300 million yuan budget for making a movie includes many things, such as actors' salaries, set design, production crew, special effects, etc. The biggest portion of the 300 million yuan actually goes to Stephen Chow.

He took away 80 million.

Chen Shouzhe paid him 80 million yuan as director's fee this time, but did not participate in the director's share of the profits. He invested 30 million yuan of his own money to take 10% of the profits, and the rest was split between the other two companies.

The other two companies had no objection to Stephen Chow's director's fee of 80 million, and even felt it was not enough, and that it would be best if Stephen Chow returned the remaining 10%.

To ensure Stephen Chow could make a good film, he kept 10% of his earnings, and his 80 million yuan box office was guaranteed. If the film lost money, he would have to give back a significant amount.

The remaining 50% will be left to Wanda and Emperor.

The two companies split the profits equally, each receiving 25%.

The division of responsibilities is complete, and the script has already been given to Stephen Chow. The film will primarily be produced in Hong Kong, meaning Hong Kong films will receive preferential treatment, especially since it's a co-production. Stephen Chow has gone back to prepare, aiming to film after the Lunar New Year and release it at the end of the year. The special effects will be handled by Xiao Xiaomeng.

After the contract was signed, a press conference for the film was held in the capital. Chen Shouzhe did not appear in person, but instead had Zhong Lifan attend the press conference in his place.

The film *The Mermaid* has been officially greenlit. Director Stephen Chow revealed at the premiere of *Mojin: The Lost Legend* that he would be collaborating with director Chen Shouzhe for the second time. *The Mermaid* has a total investment of 300 million yuan and is a joint production of Shouzhe Pictures, Wanda Pictures, Emperor Motion Pictures, and Star Overseas. The film tells the story of…

Soon, major entertainment media outlets rushed to report on the press conference.

The film and television industry is now watching closely. The project has been approved, but what about the actors? Who will play the male and female leads?

Many people immediately took notice of the role and inquired about its details.

At the press conference, Zhou Xingxing said he would not be acting and that actors would be selected from mainland China.

For a time, many top male and female celebrities were trying to use their connections, especially Chen Shouzhe, who knew that he was the one in charge and could influence casting decisions.

Unfortunately, Chen Shouzhe's phone was completely unreachable, so they had to go to the horse farm to find him, but Chen Shouzhe wasn't there either.

Chen Shou was in the villa in the Rose Garden when Yan Danchen gave birth.

I got pregnant in April, and the baby was born in January.

She gave birth to a boy for him.

A baby weighing 7.2 pounds is very healthy.

"Everyone outside is looking for you, but you're here." Inside the Rose Garden villa, Yan Danchen, who had already given birth, returned. She was still a little weak, but her health had always been good, and with the help of professional medical staff, she was recovering well.

"Not as important as you," Chen Shou said.

"Hmph, that's more like it," Yan Danchen said.

"Get some rest, there's no rush," Chen Shou said.

“If other top-tier female stars didn’t have work for that long, they would be finished. Fortunately, I still have projects. The box office of Mojin: The Lost Legend has exceeded 1.6 billion in ten days, and it should be able to break 2 billion,” Yan Danchen said.

"About right, two billion should be enough," Chen Shou said.

"That's good. I heard Chairman Wang has been looking for you."

"Let him look for it."

Chen Shouzhe didn't say much.

Enlight Media was not among the producers of The Mermaid project, and Wanda Pictures and China Film Group took over the distribution business.

As a result, at today's board meeting of Enlight Media, many people criticized Chen Shouzhe for turning his back on them too quickly.

They rejected them one minute and then abandoned them the next. It was Guangming who helped him in the first place, but now they've turned their backs on him.

However, Wang Changtian didn't say anything. After all, Enlight Media was able to stabilize during the bear market not only because of its steady business development, but also because it had many collaborations with film studios, including Mojin: The Lost Legend.

"I'll try contacting him again. I knew it would be like this, but I didn't expect him to be so direct. Sigh." Wang Changtian had no choice; he had considered this possibility when he rejected him.

They themselves don't want to be too closely tied to Shou Zhe Pictures, and the shareholders don't want their share of the profits to be taken away. If Mojin: The Lost Legend is the last collaboration between Enlight Media and Chen Shou Zhe, Enlight Media's situation will become even more difficult in the future.

There are no secrets that stay hidden forever. The next day, word got out from somewhere, and the stock of Guangxian, which was originally priced at over ten yuan, plummeted to its daily limit, losing more than two billion yuan in value.

"Let me make this clear first, it has nothing to do with me. You should investigate your shareholders."

Chen Shouzhe received a call from Wang Changtian the next day. He wouldn't go that far. It's normal for him to manipulate his own company's stock. He would sell it first, and then buy it back when it drops. He guessed that many shareholders would do this.

“I know, then look at the mermaid…”

"We'll talk about it another time."

(End of this chapter)