This director is so innocent.

Are you familiar with the "Seven Gentlemen of Independent Film" incident?

The "Seven Gentlemen" refers to the sixth generation of directors who specialized in making underground films.

They were able to walk from underground to the surface thanks to Han Sanping releasing them; otherwise, who knows how long they would have been locked up.

Ironically, these people are all experts at making art films, but when it comes to commercial films, they're all a pile of crap.

So-called underground films are films that cannot be shown in theaters; they are specifically shown at film festivals abroad, and their production funds are also from overseas.

The film specifically depicts the backward environment in China and the lives of ordinary people, such as thieves, prostitutes, and hooligans...

Anyway, foreign filmmakers really like this kind of movie.

……

After parking the car, Ning Hao led Su Jin into the China Film Group building. After explaining their purpose to the receptionist, she made a phone call to the president's office.

After hanging up the phone, the receptionist led the two to the top floor of the China Film Building.

"Ta-da..."

The receptionist knocked on the door a few times and then heard someone inside say "Come in."

Pushing open the door, Su Jin glanced around without looking to the side and found that Zuo Shandiao's office was very simple and contained no valuable items.

A tea table holds teaware, a bookshelf is filled with books, and a green plant whose name I don't recognize stands.

An old-fashioned desk, with a calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall behind it that reads "Heaven rewards diligence" in large characters.

Han Sanping, wearing black-rimmed glasses, sat there working.

He saw the visitors, looked up and said, "Please have a seat, I need to process some documents."

Ning Hao nodded and led Su Jin to sit down at the coffee table.

The two sat upright, neither speaking, quietly waiting for Han Sanping.

Seven or eight minutes later, Han Sanping finally finished processing the documents.

Seeing Han Sanping get up, Su Jin and Ning Hao stood up to greet him, as a sign of respect.

"Sit down, sit down... don't be so polite." Han Sanping smiled and waved his hand, gesturing for them to sit down.

He also said with a hint of apology, "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

"We should be the ones who feel embarrassed; we were the ones who came so abruptly," Ning Hao quickly said.

Han Sanping smiled and looked at Su Jin, asking, "This is the Su Jin you told me about, right? He is indeed exceptionally handsome."

With his experience, seeing such a handsome young man, he couldn't help but sigh that Nuwa was really unfair, how could she have sculpted this young man into such a beautiful form?

"Yes, Third Master, Su Jin is not only good-looking, but also incredibly talented. She's a bestselling young adult novelist and her screenwriting skills are outstanding."

Zhao Baogang's "Struggle," which began filming in June, is adapted from Su Jin's novel, and he is also the screenwriter.

There's also "Golden Wedding," directed by Zheng Xiaolong, which started filming in September, and the screenwriter is also Su Jin...

Ning Hao showered her with praise, making Su Jin, who was standing next to him, a little embarrassed.

"Third Master," Su Jin greeted politely.

Han Sanping nodded slightly and asked, "Did you bring the script?"

"I brought it." Su Jin took out the script of "The Coffin in the Mountain" from her bag and handed it to Han Sanping.

Han Sanping took the script and saw the words "The Coffin in the Mountain" on the cover. At first glance, he felt that the movie title was quite good.

Then, he opened the script and began to read it.

After reading the first few pages, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

"Wow, they're using a non-linear narrative structure! These young people these days are amazing!"

A dozen minutes later.

Han Sanping skimmed through the script, then looked up and gazed at Su Jin, his eyes revealing undisguised admiration.

This is the best script he has read so far this year, bar none.

"I heard from Ning Hao that you want to direct this drama yourself?" Han Sanping looked at Su Jin with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

"Yes." Su Jin met Han Sanping's gaze without flinching and said, "When I was studying at the Beijing Film Academy, I minored in directing, and Director Zhao Baogang also taught me a lot in the crew of 'Struggle'."

Han Sanping remained noncommittal. He smiled slightly and asked again, "Have you calculated the costs? How much?"

"It's been calculated, twenty million." Su Jin's words were astonishing.

Ning Hao, who had been quietly watching the two talk, was stunned when he heard the number "twenty million".

What's with the plane?!

Didn't we agree to go home after making five million?

How did it become 20 million?

Han Sanping was also shocked. He really didn't expect this young man to have such a big appetite. He wanted to direct a 20 million yuan movie right after he started. Who gave him the courage?

"Explain your thought process?"

If Su Jin couldn't give a clear explanation, he would just tell her to get lost.

So what if you're talented? There are plenty of talented people out there.

But to give 20 million to a young man who doesn't know his own limitations would be foolish.

Su Jin remained calm. He had his reasons for daring to shout out 20 million; it wasn't just a random statement.

"Third Master, I have three approaches: upper, middle, and lower. Which one would you like to hear?"

"Oh... tell me about it." Han Sanping said with interest. He picked up the special cigarettes on the coffee table and gave one to each of Su Jin and Ning Hao.

Su Jin took the cigarette but didn't light it, and said, "The best strategy is naturally an all-star lineup: Village Chief Zhang Guoli, Village Flower Liqin Gongli, Huang Huan Zhang Ziyi, and domestic abuser Wang Baoshan Feng Yuanzheng..."

The middle strategy is to use ordinary celebrities, with Zhang Guoli as the village chief, Liqin Ma Yili and Yu Nan as the village beauties, and I myself as the village chief's son... The cost would be around 15 million.

The worst option is to use unknown actors; a budget of five million would suffice.

After listening, Han Sanping pondered for a moment and then said, "If we use an all-star cast, how much box office do you think we could get?"

Upon hearing this, Su Jin felt a slight surge of joy; there was hope!

"If we use an all-star lineup, choose a good release date, and do a good job of promotion, we should be able to gross 70 to 80 million, and 100 million is also a possibility."

"What's the typical lineup?"

"For a typical lineup, 30 to 40 million should be no problem."

The original film "The Coffin in the Mountain" was released in 2015 and only grossed 1056.1 million yuan at the box office, which is not because the film was bad.

One reason is the lack of money for promotion, and another is that the cast was too amateurish; there wasn't a single celebrity, just a bunch of ordinary people, making the production somewhat rough.

The box office of 1056.1 million yuan precisely proves that this movie is very good, extremely good.

Look at Yang Mi's "Hot Pot," which only grossed 5198 million yuan in five days during the May Day holiday before being pulled from theaters.

There's also Ning Hao's "Mr. Red Carpet," which was released during the Spring Festival but only grossed over 80 million yuan. It was then urgently withdrawn from the release schedule, and when it was re-released in March, it only grossed over 10 million yuan.

Comparing these two films reveals just how excellent "The Coffin in the Mountain" truly is.

P.S.: Brothers and sisters, please read this!

Just turn to two more pages, thank you, thank you very much.