The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 156 Genius Gunslinger

The original novel of "Princess Agents" was divided into three volumes. Only one and a half volumes were filmed in the original timeline. The original script only had 40 episodes, but the production company kept adding more episodes to maximize profits, eventually making it 67 episodes.

The second half of the series didn't start filming until the end of 2024 and wasn't broadcast until 2026. It was renamed "Rebirth in the Ice Lake" and starred the controversial female lead, Huang Yang Xitian. The series received a record-low rating of 2.9 on Douban.

Shen Qing herself didn't have any particular feelings about the drama. She bought the rights to it simply because it was one of Zhao Liying's representative works.

Of course, Magical Films won't just film one and a half volumes like the original Ciwen in the original timeline. It can be broadcast in two parts, but it must be filmed all at once.

The company's on-site screenwriters have completed the script, which consists of 80 episodes.

Shen Qing handed the project over to Dai Ying, the newly appointed CEO of Magical Films, with an initial production budget of 70 million yuan.

The film "Love is Not Blind" has been officially registered for some time now, but Shen Qing still hasn't made up his mind about who to cast as the female lead. He called a meeting with Chen Zhixi, Dai Ying, and director Han Yan. They started by discussing actresses under Jumei Entertainment, then expanded to actresses who had worked with Magic Pictures, and finally discussed actresses who had never worked with Magic Pictures.

If we only consider suitability for the role, Shen Qing thinks Bai Baihe and Wang Luodan are both suitable. However, he will definitely be influenced by his preconceived notions from the original timeline. Moreover, how can you invest in film and television dramas and only consider suitability for the role?

"Huang Xiaoxian is an ordinary girl with average looks, average family background, and a prickly exterior but a soft heart. Zhao Liying is more suitable for the role. Yang Mi's image is more glamorous, and she has the aura of a big star, which conflicts with the character setting."

Chen Zhixi is the most senior and speaks without much restraint. Moreover, she will focus her main efforts on Jumei Entertainment in the future. Zhao Liying is a full-contract artist with Jumei, while Yang Mi has an independent business contract and only her film and television contract is with Jumei. Both Chen Zhixi and Zhao Liying are more inclined to work together.

"Mr. Chen is right, Zhao Liying is more suitable," said Director Han Yan.

Dai Ying looked at Shen Qing and asked, "Should we film 'Princess Agents' first or 'Love is Not Blind' first?"

Han Yan also looked at Shen Qing. He was the director of "Love is Not Blind" and naturally hoped to film "Love is Not Blind" first, but this matter needed Shen Qing's final decision.

"First, we'll film 'Princess Agents.' Next year, there's the Golden Eagle TV Festival. If things go well, Zhao Liying will have a chance to compete for the Golden Eagle Goddess title."

Shen Qing made the final decision.

Yang Mi had her eye on the "Love is Not Blind" project for a long time because Shen Qing would occasionally mention it. Moreover, after reading the original novel, she really liked the character Huang Xiaoxian. She had mentioned it to Shen Qing several times, but Shen Qing had never given up. By the time she heard news about the project again, it had already been given to Zhao Liying.

Recently, Shenqi Films also launched a TV series called "Princess Agents" with an investment of 7000 million yuan, which is a very large investment project. The female lead of the project has been cast as Zhao Liying.

She's in two consecutive works!

I also heard that Shen Qing said he would use this drama to help Zhao Liying win the Golden Eagle Goddess award!

Yang Mi lost to Liu Shishi last time, and now Shen Qing is going to train Zhao Liying?

She was really angry this time.

"You and President Shen—"

Yang Mi has set up her own studio to handle her business contracts. Her original agent, Zhao Ruoyao, is now her business contract agent. Yang Mi also has a film and television contract agent with Jumei Entertainment.

"We didn't break up."

Yang Mi was a little annoyed, but she still suppressed her temper and communicated with Zhao Ruoyao seriously.

"Have we become a little distant?"

Yang Mi's face turned even uglier upon hearing this. She had seriously considered marrying Shen Qing, but it was obvious that this scumbag Shen Qing had more and more women. She had heard that a woman named Mao Xiaotong had also climbed into his bed. However, she couldn't say that they had drifted apart, so she shook her head.

"Even if Mr. Shen doesn't ask you out, you can take the initiative to ask him out. Also—men need to be coaxed. (From 'Love is Not Blind')"

"Love is Not Blind, so be it. Don't hold a grudge against him over it. Mr. Shen is a genius. If you act cute, he can spare a few minutes to think, and a script even better than 'Love is Not Blind' will be born."

"The more he ignores me, the more I try to please him. What kind of person do I become?"

"My dear lady, being able to climb into Mr. Shen's bed makes you the envy of countless actresses!"

Why are you being so gentle today?

Yang Mi vigorously massaged Shen Qing's shoulders. Shen Qing grabbed her fair and tender little hand, kissed it, and asked.

"When have I ever not been gentle?"

"I'm gentle every day, but I'm gentler today."

"Some people say you're a genius, with an endless stream of inspiration. You can come up with a brilliant idea in just three to five minutes. Is that really true?"

Yang Mi hugged Shen Qing from behind, their faces close together, and then she suddenly changed the subject.

"Who told you all this?"

"Everyone's saying that, but is it really true?"

"Of course not. Good scripts are always a scarce resource. If you can come up with a good script idea every three to five minutes, then good scripts are worthless."

"How about an hour?" Yang Mi asked. "If you can come up with a good idea within an hour, I'll grant you any request you make tonight, okay?"

"Any requirements?"

"Um.

""

"include----"

"Yes, yes, yes, all of them are included."

"Are you testing me? What man could withstand such a test?" Shen Qing paused, then said, "I've got it."

He then pulled Yang Mi from behind to the front, rubbing his hands together like a villainous lecher on TV: "You said you'd grant me all my requests."

"Stop! You need to think of something first."

"I've already thought it through."

"6

"Hehehehehe——————Stop! I need to check your license!"

Yang Mi laughed as Shen Qing tickled her, and blurted out the catchphrase she had heard from Shen Qing before.

"An idea for cheating on the SAT exam by exploiting the time difference between SAT test centers in different countries around the world."

Yang Mi looked like she was going to test him, and he immediately thought of the movie related to exams—"Bad Genius"!

What is the SAT exam?

"That's not important."

The next day, Shen Qing frowned deeply in his office at Magical Films.

Last night I got carried away and casually mentioned the idea for "Bad Genius." At the height of my excitement, I even casually promised to cast Yang Mi as the lead actress. But this morning, after thinking about the movie more carefully, I realized that the biggest obstacle to localization is that the female lead's motivations will become problematic when the plot is localized.

In the Thai version, the female lead, Xiaolin, has excellent grades but comes from a poor family. She attends a private elite school, and her father even paid a sponsorship fee of 20 baht from the Thai railway to ensure her admission.

When her father hadn't bought new clothes in years and was even planning to sell Xiaolin's piano, Xiaolin decided to improve her family's financial situation by helping her academically struggling classmate cheat.

This doesn't really make sense in China.

Given Xiaolin's academic performance, the best path for her in China would be to attend a public high school that is both affordable and of decent quality. It's ironic that a student with the academic potential to get into Tsinghua or Peking University, from a poor family, is paying exorbitant sponsorship fees to attend a private, elite high school.

Is that realistic?

What if the female lead attended an international program at a public high school?

Many public high schools in China have international programs where students face the same pressure of applying to universities worldwide and need to pass exams such as the SAT. The tuition is relatively cheap, but to get into the international program of a top public high school and pursue an international career, you not only need to be rich, but also a top student.

What's the situation like in the Thai version's female lead's class? It's full of top-tier academic underachievers who can't even recognize the problems they did yesterday when they try them again the next day. These kinds of underachievers are everywhere in the female lead's school, which is why she can make money by helping them cheat.

The admission standards for international departments of public high schools are very strict; it would be too unrealistic to portray them as being full of top-tier rich kids with poor academic performance.

Moreover, the female lead comes from a poor family, so why would she want to attend an international program?

So, should we change it to a private international school?

The same question remains: the female protagonist comes from a poor family, so why does she attend a private international school with tuition fees of hundreds of thousands a year?

If the female lead's motives aren't clear, the script can't be written.

"Or is it just for the bonus?"

Shen Qing felt that the high school the female protagonist attended should be set as a private international high school.

The female protagonist comes from a poor family. A private high school recruiter approaches her, promising that attending their school will not only be tuition-free, but also a 100 million yuan reward if she gets into prestigious universities like Tsinghua, Peking University, Harvard, Yale, or Stanford—a reward stipulated in the contract. The protagonist insists on attending this private international high school to improve her family's situation.

Attending a public high school and getting into a top university like Tsinghua or Peking University can also earn you money, but this reward is not a national policy. It is a spontaneous act by schools, neighborhoods, and businesses. Moreover, it is impossible to determine how much the reward is, or even whether there is a reward at all. Some schools offer it, while others do not. Some places offer it, while others do not. The uncertainty is too great.

The private international high school is set to give scholarships to students who are admitted to prestigious universities every year, and it has never broken its promise. This is money that the female protagonist can actually get.

This makes sense of the female protagonist's motivation, and the fact that the story takes place in a private international high school, with a class full of rich kids and academically challenged students, makes it even more plausible.

After clarifying the localization strategy and the female lead's motivations, Shen Qing began writing the script.

Halfway through writing the script, he suddenly remembered another question: "Bad Genius" is actually based on a real story, the SAT transnational fraud that broke out between October and December 2014. The incident affected more than 10,000 test takers in countries including China, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan, and all the students involved had their scores canceled.

It's only 2011 now. What would happen if the movie were filmed and released ahead of schedule?

Did the SAT's increased scrutiny of cheating lead to the early outbreak of cheating scandals?

Or did the cheaters see that their cheating methods had been predicted in advance by a movie, and therefore think there was a mole, so they canceled the operation?

Shen Qing felt it was more likely the latter.

Anyone who sees that their supposedly flawless scheme has even been thought of by moviemakers and turned into a film would probably break out in a cold sweat.

That would mean that filming this story would have no consequences; it would simply prevent a cheating incident.

Previously, Shen Qing commented on the film "Breakup Buddies," saying that it was just as funny as "Lost in Thailand." With widespread media coverage, Shen Qing's review circulated widely, drawing the attention of many viewers to the film.

"Ning Hao + Shen Qing, this combination seems like it could be interesting."

"Judging from the trailer, Xu Zheng's role should have been played by Shen Qing. Xu Zheng just doesn't have the right feel for it and can't capture the same vibe that Shen Qing had in 'Lost in Thailand'."

"Shen Qing said this movie is a billion-dollar film, is he just exaggerating?"

"That's definitely bragging. A billion yuan in box office revenue isn't cheap, and it's not like it's a dime a dozen."

As the release date draws ever closer, online discussions are increasing, and more and more netizens are paying attention to the Maoyan Movies platform.

"I've seen a lot of people saying they're going to see the preview screening, and I'd like to go too, but I guess tickets will be hard to get?"

-

"Great! Do you have a smartphone? Download the Maoyan Movies app; it shows all the cinemas that have partnered with 'Breakup Buddies' for preview screenings."

"Can't I just buy it at the cinema?"

"Yes, but you'll have to wait until the very last two days. Tickets that Maoyan Movies hasn't sold by then will be sold in theaters, but there definitely won't be any good seats left."

"?"

"It's true, Shen Qing created the Maoyan platform, and the preview screenings were specifically to strongly promote the platform, 'Breakup Buddies'."

Tickets for the preview screenings were only available for purchase on the Maoyan platform for the first few days after they went on sale.

"It's obvious you didn't pay attention to the preview screenings of 'City of Rock'."

"The preview screenings of 'Breakup Buddies' are estimated to reach 20%, which is higher than the total screenings of many low-budget films. I'm sure I can buy tickets for the preview screenings, and if I have time, I'll definitely go to the preview screenings to see it first."

The official release date of "Breakup Buddies" is November 11, and the preview screening date is November 4. However, because "Breakup Buddies" has a high number of preview screenings, the Maoyan platform shows that the preview screenings will reach 18% on the first day. If you want to buy preview screening tickets, you can buy them at any time. Gradually, when the audience mentions the release date of "Breakup Buddies", they seem to default to saying the preview screening date of November 4.

Some media outlets have already criticized Shen Qing for deliberately blurring the lines between preview screenings and general releases, using preview screenings as a pretext to selectively release films.

This is also why Shen Qing decided not to hold large-scale previews of "The Great Wall" afterward; he knew that such criticism would inevitably arise.

The conflict between Zhang Weiping and the theaters has completely erupted. Zhang demanded that the revenue share of "The Flowers of War" be increased to 46%, completely matching the revenue share of Shen Qing's films. The theaters reacted extremely strongly, preferring not to show Zhang Yimou's films rather than compromise again!

Why say "again"?

Because I had already compromised with Shen Qing once.

With a 43% revenue share for film producers, many cinemas are still not making a profit. If it's increased to 46%, many cinemas will lose money. If every film demands this revenue share, then cinemas might as well not even bother opening.

Compromising with Shen Qing is one thing, but selling his movies is practically robbery; Zhang Yimou's movies aren't making as much money as they used to.

The main problem is that if we compromise again this time, it will inevitably escalate into more problems, and eventually, director Feng Xiaogang might also demand a higher share of the profits. Therefore, we absolutely cannot back down this time.

In the original timeline, eight major cinema chains collectively boycotted the increase in revenue sharing for "The Flowers of War." In this timeline, more than a dozen cinema chains have come forward to explicitly oppose it, making it a much larger movement than in the original timeline.

However, Shen Qing was curious because Zhang Weiping didn't mention the large-scale preview screenings. It was still the same as before, with the content of the film kept strictly confidential before its release.

"The Flowers of War will not be less than 10 billion yuan at the box office! If I didn't have that confidence, would I dare to ask for 46% of the revenue? I have always been self-aware. When A Simple Noodle Story and Under the Hawthorn Tree were released, I didn't say anything because I was self-aware. I'm saying this now because I'm self-aware."

Neither side was willing to back down, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Go ahead and make a scene. Next year, China Film Group, Huayi Brothers, Bernard, Stellar Media, and Enlight Media will continue to make a scene. The only difference is that the revenue sharing requirement has been increased from the original historical requirement of 45% to 46%. This is Shen Qing's fault; he was the one who started this 46% ratio.

Shen Qing stopped paying attention to the noise from the outside world and began to seriously study the filming plan for "The Martian".

His next film as director is "The Martian," which was planned long ago.