Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 88 Reencounter with Zhu Lin (Please Subscribe)

With Li Hanxiang's words, all the controversy was resolved.

If we continue arguing, we will be hindering the country from earning foreign exchange.

After the meeting, Xiao Weiming immediately approached Li Hanxiang to discuss buying the film, but it was obviously impossible to buy out "Let the Bullets Fly" for five million Hong Kong dollars.

Li Hanxiang knew it was impossible. The reason he shouted it out in public was because he always spoke faster than he thought and liked to say surprising things.

But he did like the film and predicted it would be a big hit.

After several rounds of bargaining, Li Hanxiang finally bought out the distribution rights of "Let the Bullets Fly" in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas for three million Hong Kong dollars.

Li Hanxiang felt he had made a profit, and China Film Group also felt he had made a profit.

Beijing Film Studio also felt it made a profit, because the film passed censorship and its reputation was established, and China Film Group indeed offered the highest acquisition price.

Next, representatives from film companies across the provinces gathered in Yanjing to attend China Film Group's first screening of films in the first quarter.

Most of the films we're watching now were actually filmed last year, specifically in the fourth quarter of 1979, including "Let the Bullets Fly".

The previous films were lukewarm at best, with the most sold only a little over two hundred copies.

Representatives from various film companies came specifically for "Let the Bullets Fly," as the film has been incredibly popular lately, with even Hong Kong people offering five million Hong Kong dollars to buy it outright. They were eager to know just how good the film was.

Before long, "Let the Bullets Fly," which had already been played several times, was played again.

After the film finished playing, the room was completely silent.

This was the first time in so many years that they had ever seen a film like this, and they were completely shocked, as if their brains had been cut off by Hannibal and put in a frying pan.

Well, this movie is indeed well-made, and very well made.

But whether they could win over the audience was something none of them were sure of.

This movie is a type of film that has never been seen before!

The staff member in charge of statistics at China Film Group waited a while, then couldn't help but urge, "Everyone, write down the number of copies you want to buy from your province and send it back to me!"

Representatives from film companies in various provinces then lowered their heads and silently wrote down the number of copies they wanted.

The staff spent a few minutes compiling the data, and then they were taken aback.

"What's wrong?" the statistics team leader urged. "What's the result? Tell me, what are you standing there for?"

The staff member didn't say anything, but simply handed the statistics to the team leader.

"This...this statistic is wrong!" The team leader glanced at it and almost dropped his jaw in shock. "How is this possible?"

"I checked the numbers three times, and it was always the same. That's correct."

"This—" The head of the statistics team recalculated it himself, and the result was exactly the same.

"Let the Bullets Fly, 35mm copies, a total of 480 copies."

This data was so incredible that he no longer cared about the copy counts for 16mm and 8.75mm in the two lines below.

He couldn't make the decision on this matter himself, so he hurriedly sent the results to the Film Bureau.

Several leaders from the Film Bureau felt that the data was outrageous; how could this be possible?

However, the statistics team leader assured that the data was absolutely correct.

"Then let's follow the usual practice and send 200 copies first, and add more if that's not enough," Xiao Weiming said casually.

However, Chen Bo, the bureau chief, said, "No, just issue it as is."

Some objected: "What if someone inflates the numbers and can't actually use up that number of copies? Even a hit like 'Little Flower' only sold a little over 300 copies. 480 copies—can they even screen them all?"

"This movie is different," Chen Bo said earnestly. "It hasn't even been released yet, and it's already generated three million Hong Kong dollars in revenue for us. So we must give it our full support, even if it's just for show. This way, our future work will be much easier."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Weiming considered it carefully for a moment, and then said, "I support Comrade Chen Bo's opinion."

There were originally three people, and two of them agreed, so the remaining person naturally had to reserve their opinion.

Soon, the results were handed over to Director Wang of the Beijing Film Studio, who was quite surprised.

My initial feeling of having made a profit instantly crumbled.

Based on this copy volume, he definitely lost money, and he lost a lot of money!

It seems that film system reform needs to be promoted as soon as possible, otherwise similar incidents will happen again.

Right now, Huang Wenbin is filming scenes at Shaolin Temple involving the burning of the mountain gate and the abbot.

Of course, it's impossible to actually burn down the gate of Shaolin Temple.

The scenes before the burning took place inside the Shaolin Temple gate, but the actual burning took place on a set built in the wild, which was temporarily constructed with wood and bricks and painted on the outside.

This scene was quite a grand spectacle, so in order to make it as perfect as possible, Huang Wenbin asked the head of the nearby commune to find about a hundred ordinary people, shave their heads, put on monks' robes, and act as Shaolin monks in the crowd.

Huang Wenbin still offered one yuan per day, and then more than two hundred people came to the scene.

He accepted it all, thinking it was good that ordinary people could earn that one yuan.

To avoid any mishaps, Huang Wenbin and the commune director used a loudspeaker to remind everyone of some important points, and anyone who violated them would have their pay docked.

-

Upon hearing that money would be deducted, everyone present immediately became obedient, following orders in every word and action.

After rehearsing this scene more than ten times, I felt it was almost ready.

"Attention everyone!" Upon receiving Huang Wenbin's signal, Wu Tianming immediately shouted, "Action!"

Under Wu Tianming's command, Zhang Yimou operated the camera, capturing the grieving Shaolin monks, the Shaolin abbot who died a martyr, the smug Qi Tianyuan, and the capricious Eastern Depot eunuch Wang Cheng, all amidst the raging flames.

After taking three shots from three different angles, we finally finished shooting successfully.

Huang Wenbin immediately ordered his men to put out the fire.

After seeing that the fire was completely extinguished, Huang Wenbin announced loudly, "Alright, the Shaolin Temple scenes are finished. Everyone pack up and get ready to take the train to Xi'an tomorrow."

They were going to a studio in Xi'an to shoot some indoor scenes, and also to find a stunt double from Shaolin Temple to film the fight scenes inside the temple.

"Filming is quite boring." Zhen Zidan hasn't had many scenes these past few days; she's been constantly playing minor roles, assisting Xu Xiaoming, and acting as a stunt double for several female characters when they get beaten up.

Zhao Changjun laughed and said, "I think it's quite interesting, much more fun than practicing martial arts."

"You're the main character, of course you think it's good," Zhen Zidan said somewhat unconvinced.

Xiong Xinxin retorted, "I think it's good too. You can earn several yuan a day just by walking and running around. What's wrong with that?"

.

Zhen Zidan shook her head and said disdainfully, "What's so great about a few dollars a day? Even extras in Hong Kong make over a hundred dollars."

"Then go film it in Hong Kong," Huang Qiuyan replied from the side.

At this moment, Cao Rong suddenly interjected, "Danny, don't be discouraged. When we get to Hong Kong, I'll protect you and guarantee you'll become famous."

"Get lost." Zhen Zidan rolled her eyes at Cao Rong with disdain. "You're a defeated opponent. What right do you have to talk to me?"

Cao Rong: "————"

The tidying up was completed the next day.

The group took a train to Xi'an.

-

Huang Wenbin never expected that he would meet someone in Xi'an who would surprise him greatly.

That person was Zhu Lin.

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