Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 366 A Visit: Some Cry, Some Laugh

"brother!!"

Jiang Wen happily waved to Chen Shouzhe from the car, and Chen Shouzhe gestured for him to park the car first.

Chen Shouzhe didn't go to the company today. He took a day off for New Year's Day. The project wasn't urgent, and he wasn't filming a movie. He could stay home and spend time with his children.

He already knew about Jiang Wen's arrival and had called him in advance, only bringing his people after knowing he was at home.

Jiang Wen and her family arrived, and she was in a good mood, even though she had been heavily criticized online.

Although Zhang Qiang didn't get away with it, it's said that Jiang Wen's name was mentioned frequently in internal Alibaba meetings, often accompanied by profanity.

It's widely known that Alibaba guaranteed Jiang Wen's film with a minimum investment of 14 billion yuan, and now that it's in theaters, it's already grossed over 3 million yuan in its first week.

That seems like a lot, right? But the current daily box office is only around ten million.

Keep in mind that the production cost was as high as 400 million, and it needed 1 billion to break even and a minimum guarantee of 14 billion. It only received a little over 500 million in box office revenue. Just imagine how much Alibaba lost.
The detailed figures were likely already calculated by Alibaba's team using their much-vaunted big data.

It was definitely a number that would leave them feeling hopeless. Chen Shouzhe was still unclear about it, but Jiang Wenyan was in a good mood.

Actually, he wasn't in a good mood at first due to the box office results, but he quickly adjusted.

After all, he didn't lose money himself, so it's normal for the movie to lose money. It just means Alibaba got ripped off, and it will damage his reputation, which may cause audiences to stop buying his movies in the future.

While it may seem like there was no loss, in reality both Jiang Wen and Ali suffered losses.

Jiang Wen lost her reputation by getting involved, while Alibaba lost a lot of money.

If Jiang Wen's next film fails to salvage his reputation, his future films will likely become increasingly lackluster, and moviegoers may even stop buying tickets for his movies altogether.

Just look at the greenhouses now; one wrong step leads to another.

On the contrary, Huang Bo has been steady and pragmatic, with his film grossing over 15 billion yuan in 11 days. He managed to carve out a large share of the market despite being sandwiched between two Hollywood blockbusters. He is currently enjoying a good reputation, and by using his previous image from the movie "Blue Planet Man," he has actually gained some popularity.

As for "Blue Star 2", it didn't receive good reviews. In less than seven days after its release, it only grossed less than 4 million yuan. Even though it was a big hit overseas, in China, with the popularization of 3D movies, the plot was not good and its reputation was not as good as "Alita".

Impacted by the negative reviews of Huang Bo's films, "Alita: Battle Angel" only grossed over 400 million yuan at the box office. In other words, in this battle of the Lunar New Year film season, there were only two winners: Huang Bo and Chen Shouzhe.

Jiang Wen parked her car, and Chen Shou stood inside the glass looking at her. The little girl was standing at his feet. It was a cold January day outside, but the heating inside the room was on full blast.

In Chen Shou's little world, there was a fireplace, but that thing was just for showing off; it wasn't as effective as a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).

After Jiang Wen and her family entered the house, Chen Shou and his daughter were waiting for them.

"It's so cold outside, why did you come?" Chen Shou said, taking the things from his hands.

"This weather is perfect for a drink. It's New Year's Day, and the weather is nice too, the sun is out," Jiang Wen said, bundled up tightly and breathing out warm air.

It was indeed sunny outside, but the northwest wind was howling. The snow from a few days ago had only melted a little. If it weren't for work, Chen Shou would never want to go out in this kind of weather.

The little girl wanted to go out, but Chen Shou wouldn't let her, and she made a fuss for a while. In the end, she was only subdued by her master's wife.

"Alright, whatever makes you happy. I'm not free yet, so come back in a few days," Chen Shou said. "The seventh, right?" Jiang Wen said.

"Ah."

Chen Shou nodded. It was indeed number seven.

"I believe in you. You'll bring all five back this time," Zhou Yun said with a smile.

"That's not easy. As an outsider, I'd be happy if I could get one." Chen Shou shook his head.

The nominations for the Golden Globe were announced on the 11th of last month, with five nominations. Unfortunately, only Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated, while Matt Damon was not selected.

Two supporting actors were nominated, and Leonardo DiCaprio called to thank him, while he called to comfort Matt Damon.

Matt Damon was very upset and in a bad mood. Chen Shouzhe initially found it strange. It was normal that he wasn't nominated, since Leonardo DiCaprio did have more screen time than him, but there was no need to be so upset.

He later learned that it was his best friend Leonardo DiCaprio's constant boasting that had made him unhappy.

The two have a love-hate relationship, but their bond is incredibly strong.

"I heard that things have changed a lot over there. Will you still be filming foreign films in the future?" Jiang Wen asked, taking off her down jacket.

"We'll see. It looks difficult right now, especially with the increasing political correctness over there. Things will probably get more and more chaotic. In the future, I'll just hand over most of my films to companies over there to make, and I'll just be responsible for collecting the money." Chen Shou shrugged.

"You really have no idea how many people envy you. Everyone else is still having fun in China, but you're the only one in the country having a great time abroad, reaping huge profits from overseas markets. I heard you have a stake in Poseidon this time?"

“Yes, there is a share.” Chen Shou nodded.

The God of Poseidon was filmed by Lionsgate, and the director was James Wan, an acquaintance of his. At the time of filming, the two sides were in a honeymoon period. When Lu Sen saw that Lionsgate was planning to film The God of Poseidon, he asked Chen Shouzhe if he wanted to participate. After all, he had always been the one making money for other companies. When would he invest in other projects?

Like Zhong Lifan, Lu Sen is also an ambitious person. He is not content to be just a steward and hopes to make the company bigger and stronger, preferably to go public and get shares.

This success was entirely thanks to Lu Sen. His share wasn't actually that big, but the movie has been out for almost a month and has already made a lot of money. Chen Shou will have to write Lu Sen a check later.

Although his influence was low, he did give Chen Shouzhe a heads-up, which is why he got involved. Otherwise, how would Chen Shouzhe have known that the project could make money?

"When this news was made public, you didn't know how many people were eyeing you. Only you could participate in their projects. Back then, Wanda acquired a company, and everyone thought Wanda could become a bridge, but Wanda failed. Currently, it seems that you are still the most successful person overseas. Doesn't anyone care about your company?"

“If they want it, they can come and take it. They just need to pay. Of course, if they offer too little, I definitely won't take it. If they offer too much, there will definitely be a lot of conditions. So I laid out the conditions: if they want it, they have to pay. I can even sell the whole company.”

"It's just a shell. The most valuable part of that overseas company is you. What good is it for them to buy it?"

Jiang Wen naturally knew that Chen Shou was not afraid of the company being targeted; if he had the guts, he could take it away.

After leaving Chen Shouzhe, what else did that company have besides those film copyrights?
Unless they're going there to make a sequel, but the question is, are those sequels guaranteed to make money?

It's true that capital investment can result in both gains and losses, but no one is foolish enough to aim for a loss.

(End of this chapter)