This director only directs blockbusters.

Mid-October, Beijing. The sky was blue, and the sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the conference room, casting a warm glow on the long table.

The ashtray was filled and then emptied, and the air was filled with the aroma of Longjing tea and cigars.

Han Shanping sat in the main seat, his back straight, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

On the left is Jiang Zhiqiang, who flew in from Hong Kong. He is wearing a light gray wool cardigan, looks gentle, and has sharp eyes.

On the right is Wang Zhongjun, and Wang Zhonglei is sitting behind his brother, twirling a Montblanc pen in his hand very quickly.

Mr. Zheng, Ms. Chen, and several theater executives filled the conference room. Some were drinking tea, some were smoking, and some were looking at their phones, but everyone was listening intently.

Yang Ning leaned back in his chair, holding a thick stack of rough cut reports for "Dragon Shield" in his hand, the edges of which were a little curled.

"The release date is set," Han Shanping said, his voice low, and everyone fell silent. "It's for the Spring Festival. Chinese New Year's Day."

No one spoke. Only the air conditioner vents buzzed.

Wang Zhongjun placed the cigar on the crystal ashtray with a soft click.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and looked at Han Shanping: "Chairman Han, there are quite a few people eyeing this year's Spring Festival film season."

Stephen Chow has a kung fu movie that's almost finished filming. Feng Xiaogang's *A World Without Thieves* is also aiming for the Spring Festival release.

He paused, turned his gaze to Yang Ning, looked at him for two seconds, and then turned back.

"There are a few more Hong Kong films in production, with Golden Harvest and Media Asia both involved. This release window is as crowded as the subway during rush hour."

Han Shanping nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.

"I know," he said. "That's why we need to decide early. The earlier we decide, the earlier we can plan."

He put down his teacup and turned his gaze to Yang Ning.

"Yang Ning, tell me what you think."

Yang Ning put the documents on the table and stood up. The chair legs scraped against the floor, the sound clearly audible in the quiet meeting room. He walked to the whiteboard and picked up a pen.

"During the Spring Festival season," he said, writing in large, forceful characters, "《紫霄》, grossed over 200 million US dollars worldwide."

Someone below took a soft breath.

"This film proves one thing—" He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room, "During the Chinese New Year, ordinary people are willing to spend money to go to the cinema. And they're willing to spend a lot of money."

He paused.

"Hero was a big-budget production, and so was Purple Cloud. Dragon Shield—" He tapped the whiteboard with his pen, """The scale is even bigger. Not only are there car chases on the ground, but this time, there are things in the sky.

He turned around and wrote a few words on the whiteboard: Helicopter chase.

"Midway through the film, in a city abroad, there is a helicopter chase scene that lasts for more than twelve minutes."

Yang Ning's voice steadied, carrying a certain confidence born from immersion in the scene description.

"The villains kidnapped a key witness and fled at low altitude in a modified 'Gazelle' helicopter."

The characters played by Nicholas Tse and Hu Jun hijacked another civilian helicopter and engaged in a chase through an urban canyon.

Wang Zhonglei leaned forward and stopped twirling his pen.

Yang Ning continued, "This scene was filmed for real. We used two real helicopters, and hired French stunt pilots."

The camera followed them through the gaps in the glass curtain walls of the skyscrapers, almost grazing the tips of the antenna towers.

There was a shot where a helicopter flew sideways, its rotor blades less than three meters from the building's exterior wall—filmed by a camera mounted on another helicopter, and it made my palms sweat.

The meeting room fell even quieter. Several theater executives put down their phones.

"That's not all," Yang Ning said. "In the end, the villains hovered a helicopter over a large open-air freight station and used ropes to lift an armored vehicle carrying a money box and witnesses."

Our helicopter caught up, and Nicholas Tse's character had to perform aerial jumps and fights between two helicopters in high-speed relative motion and extremely unstable airflow.

He paused, letting the image linger in everyone's minds a little longer.

"We built part of the cargo station set, and used a full-size helicopter model and robotic arm to film the actors' close-up scenes."

However, the numerous wide-angle shots of chasing and passing through buildings were all filmed on actual flights.

Han Duoduo's team was responsible for seamlessly integrating live-action footage with CG backgrounds and enhanced sense of danger. The final result—

Yang Ning looked at Han Shanping and Jiang Zhiqiang.

"—It will be something that has never appeared in Chinese-language films before."

It's the thrill of a real helicopter flying near a real urban landscape, combined with top-notch special effects that create an almost impossible perspective and a sense of oppression.

The audience will feel as if they are sitting in the passenger seat, with the rotor blades of another helicopter right outside the window.

Wang Zhongjun slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, leaned back in his chair, and didn't speak, but his eyes changed.

Jiang Zhiqiang nodded slightly and whispered to Mr. Zheng next to him in Cantonese-accented Mandarin, "This is the boldness of a big production."

Yang Ning returned to the original topic and tapped the words "The scene is bigger" on the whiteboard.

"Therefore, Stephen Chow's films are kung fu comedies, and they have great ideas."

We are truly on a life-or-death adventure, from the ground to the sky.

The target audience overlaps, but the core selling points are completely different.

His gaze swept across the entire room. "We're playing with our lives. Stephen Chow is playing with creativity. Both are entertaining, but they're different."

A few seconds of silence fell over the meeting room. Someone was thinking. Han Shanping nodded slightly, and Jiang Zhiqiang picked up his teacup and blew on the foam.

Yang Ning continued, his tone even more composed: "And to put it bluntly, in terms of special effects, we probably can't find any rivals."

The special effects of "Purple Clouds" have proven that the technology that Han Duoduo and her team brought back from the United States is not only unmatched in China, but also among the top tier internationally.

"Dragon Shield" is a huge step forward compared to "Purple Cloud." The complexity and budget of this helicopter scene alone, combining live-action and CGI, are unimaginable for other production teams.

That's a firm statement. But everyone here is a sensible person; they know it's the truth.

Wang Zhongjun suddenly spoke up, his voice slow and deliberate: "Director Yang, speaking of 'A World Without Thieves'—"

He paused and glanced at Yang Ning.

"That film was produced by Huayi Brothers. It was directed by Feng Xiaogang and starred Ge You and Andy Lau. The cast was strong, and the script was good too. It was originally aimed at the Spring Festival release."

Yang Ning nodded, waiting for him to continue.

Wang Zhongjun smiled, picked up a cigar, didn't light it, and twirled it between his fingers.

"Before coming here today, I was thinking that if these two films were released at the same time, Huayi Brothers would be fighting against themselves, which would be quite awkward. They are both our own flesh and blood, and it would hurt no matter which one we hit."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the conference room before finally settling on Yang Ning's face.

"But now," he said, his voice lowering, "I've made a decision. The release date for 'A World Without Thieves' will be changed."

"We don't want to clash with 'Dragon Shield'." He added, "Especially after hearing about that helicopter scene you just mentioned."

That's the ace in a blockbuster movie; it should be reserved for the ace match. We're not going to be just background noise.

There was a two-second silence in the conference room.

Jiang Zhiqiang raised an eyebrow and leaned back. Mr. Zheng and Ms. Chen exchanged a glance. Han Shanping didn't speak, but his lips twitched.

Yang Ning stared at Wang Zhongjun for several seconds.

"Mr. Wang," he began, "are you serious?"

"Seriously." Wang Zhongjun put down his cigar decisively. "It's not about giving you face—it's about giving this film face."

He gestured with his chin toward Yang Ning, "We just went to see a few rough cuts."

The scene on the mountain road, the scene with the containers, and the few shots of the helicopter chase—"

He shook his head, as if he was still reliving that scene.

"To be honest, I was shocked. In all my years in this business, I've never seen anyone spend so much money and risk their life like this."

Nicholas Tse is really daring, and your film crew is really daring to make this film.

Those close-quarters combat scenes in the air sent chills down my spine.

This film, if released during the Spring Festival, wouldn't be afraid of any competition. "A World Without Thieves" is down-to-earth humor; there's no need for it to compete with this kind of hardcore, action-packed film.

Changing the release date and making money steadily is better for everyone.

Wang Zhonglei chimed in quickly, "That's right. Just hearing the description of the helicopter scene is worth the ticket price. That's a really strong selling point."

Yang Ning looked at the two of them.

"Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Don't thank me." Wang Zhongjun waved his hand. "Business is business. If your film is successful, we both make money. If it's not, my efforts to adjust the release date are wasted. But I think it will be successful."

Jiang Zhiqiang spoke slowly, his Cantonese accent ringing in his Mandarin: "Mr. Wang's words are true. Albert Yeung in Hong Kong also said that Emperor Entertainment's films will avoid this release window."

Avoiding a direct confrontation is better for everyone. Especially with large-scale scenes like helicopter chases, which are less common among Asian audiences, they are very appealing.

Mr. Zheng nodded. He was the head of Edko Films in the north: "It's the same here at Edko. Boss Jiang instructed us to fully cooperate with the distribution of 'Dragon Shield'."

"Schedule screenings, publicity—we'll provide whatever you want. The helicopter scene Director Yang mentioned earlier could easily be made into a separate thriller trailer."

Ms. Chen pushed up her glasses; she was a representative of Shanghai Film Group: "Shanghai Film Group can allocate more than 40% of the screenings to its cinemas."

The key is whether the other companies can follow suit. Wanda, Dadi, and Jinyi—these all need to be negotiated. However, having this particular event as a "hard bargaining chip" gives them more leverage in the negotiations.

Han Shanping then spoke, his voice not loud, but heavy.

"I'll coordinate the scheduling," he said, glancing at the theater executives. "Yang Ning, you continue with the publicity. The film is confirmed, the release date is set, what's the next step?"