It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

The initial test will last three days, and Chen Fei definitely doesn't have that much free time to be the "mascot."

After helping out for a day, he just excused himself and left.

"War for the Planet of the Apes" has been released in mainland China for more than a week, and he hasn't paid attention to the box office situation yet. He has to go to China Film to get a report first.

An invitation letter from the Berlin International Film Festival suddenly appeared in the mailbox.

"Paul Schrader?"

Looking at the appointed chairman of the jury at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, Chen Fei raised his eyebrows, subconsciously took out his cell phone and started looking through his address book.

Sure enough, he found him after a while!

After calculating the time difference, Chen Fei pressed the dial button.

The phone was connected shortly after, and a slightly hoarse voice came from the other side: "Fei?"

"Yeah, it's me..."

Chen Fei nodded and went straight to the topic: "Mr. Schrader? Have you received the email from the organizer of the Berlin Film Festival? It shows that you will serve as the chairman of the jury this year."

"Yes, I just received it." Paul Schrader responded and smiled: "I saw your name in the email, haha, see you in Europe."

"Okay, when are you going to leave?"

"The registration time is January 5th. We need to announce the nominated films in a very short period of time, so it is best to go earlier."

"Ok, see you in Europe."

…

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fei fell into deep thought.

He originally planned to take advantage of the Chinese New Year break to complete the preliminary preparations and casting of "Mulan", but he never expected that he would forget about the Berlin Film Festival.

Since winning the Golden Bear Award in 2005, the organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival have set their sights on him.

Last year, the organizers of the film festival specially sent him an invitation letter, hoping that he could bring his works to the competition.

But at that time, because Chen Fei had no films suitable for participating in the film festival, he declined the offer.

Since he is a winner of the Golden Bear Award and also enjoys great fame in the international film circle, the organizers settled for the next best thing and wanted to invite him to be a judge at the 57th Berlin Film Festival.

Chen Fei didn't think much and agreed directly.

But now, as luck would have it, an email directly disrupted his plan!

"Forget it, since you agreed, let's finish the review work first and leave the preparations to Su Guohai. Anyway, it's just about allocating the shares. Let's wait until the end of the film festival to talk about the casting..."

After thinking for a while, Chen Fei had already put a difficult task on Su Guohai's head!

…

Although he doesn't want to admit it, Chen Fei is indeed a frequent visitor to China Film.

Entering the building, he said hello to the front desk, and went straight to Han Sanping's office without letting her report.

In addition to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", the domestic December schedules are mainly focused on two commercial films, "The City of Gold" and "The City of Wounds".

In addition, there is also a theme movie "Yun Shui Yao" invested by China Film.

This film is quite awesome. For a literary film, the publicity and distribution cost is as high as 10 million!

When he saw the report, Chen Fei couldn't hold it back for a while and secretly guessed: "These tasks above are all done at a loss every time. What's the point of making this kind of movie?"

In everyone's opinion, it seems that it is difficult for main theme movies to achieve high box office.

If it were not mandatory to schedule and promote films, it would simply be a matter of making one film and losing another. At most, it would only account for one "ZZ" correctness.

But in Chen Fei's view, main theme movies can actually make money!

Just like "October Siege", this is a movie with the main theme, and he believes that this movie will definitely earn a lot of money at the box office.

…

All the way to Han Sanping's office, as soon as she opened the door, she saw the third master frowning with worry on his face.

"Huh? What's going on?" Chen Fei asked curiously.

"Oh, don't mention it." Han Sanping sighed quite depressedly: "Do you know "Yun Shui Yao"? It has been released for a month, and the box office just exceeded 30 million. I only made back the publicity and distribution expenses, and I almost lost money later. I have a headache."

Chen Fei curled his lips and said bluntly:

"The director was overly ambitious. On the one hand, he wanted to make a beautiful and touching love story, but on the other hand, he was too strong-willed and grafted on the "correct" intention.

In the end, the original pure love story was not pure enough. The compromise between the two made the places that should be dignified not dignified, and the things that should be aesthetic were empty. It inevitably wandered between advancement and retreat, and naturally seemed nondescript.

Moreover, as the main character of the film, Chen Kun's acting initiative is not strong, giving people the illusion that he is outside the film. The more you watch, the more you feel alienated. It's surprising that the box office is good.

Go and win an award. This type of movie with the main theme has no chance of getting high box office unless it is mandatory for movie fans to watch it. "

Han Sanping was speechless after some criticism.

After swallowing, his eyes suddenly flashed with hope: "Do you have a suitable main theme script? Let's collaborate once?"

"That building..."

Damn it!

I almost spilled the beans!

Chen Fei was just about to talk about "The Founding of the People's Republic of China", but he suddenly realized that this film only appeared in 2009, and at this time, it probably didn't even have a script.

"Build what?" Han Sanping asked hurriedly.

"It's nothing." Chen Fei shook his head and responded: "I don't have any here yet. If there is a suitable script, I will contact you."

As he spoke, his eyes were unconsciously attracted to the TV set in Han Sanping's office.

In the TV screen, Teacher Six was participating in a talk show, angrily criticizing the Japanese version of "Journey to the West" as a spoof, and asking fans to boycott.

"Letting Sun Wukong fall in love is not an adaptation, it is a spoof!"

Listening to Teacher Six's angry voice, Chen Fei was confused.

"What's happening here?"

Han Sanping shrugged and said, "Don't pay attention to it. This old man is already possessed by demons. He feels that the Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West" is himself and does not allow others to adapt it at will."

"Hey? Are you kidding me?" Chen Fei suddenly couldn't laugh or cry: "Shouldn't "Journey to the West" be a public copyright?"

"So I said he is possessed by demons, so don't ignore him."

"All right."

Chen Fei quickly changed his attention.

"Do you have a domestic box office data report for "War for the Planet of the Apes"? Give me one and I'll see how the box office results are here."

"have."

Han Sanping responded and started rummaging around on the table.

After a while, a table appeared in his hand: "There is no separate one. This is marked with the box office data of all movies in December."

Chen Fei took it and took a look. The data marked at the top was the data of Golden Armor.

The box office was 15 million on the first day, 96 million in three days of release, and 150 million in half a month...

"Tsk, is there any movement from Zhang Weiping recently?"

"He was still jumping around before, but after the foreign Golden Globe nominations were announced, he never appeared again."

It is said that the Golden Globe Awards are the benchmark for the Oscars, and there is some truth to this.

According to past experience, any film that can participate in the Oscar selection for Best Foreign Language Film will definitely appear in the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film nominations.

But it is a pity that "The Golden Armor" is not on the list of nominees.

And this also means that Lao Mouzi may be out of luck this time!

Looking further down, the box office of "Hurt City" in half a month was 42.13 million yuan.

How can I say this? In fact, compared to the cost of the film, the film will definitely not lose money, but it actually won't make much money.

After being divided with theaters, very little money will eventually fall into the hands of investors.

In fact, this is the normal state of the current domestic film market. Blockbusters like "Pirates of the Caribbean" that can earn US$1 billion in global box office are simply not within the reach of these domestic film companies.

But who made Chen Fei suddenly appear in China?

In the past, as long as the box office of films invested by film companies could exceed 50 million, they would happily prepare for a celebration party.

But now?

Chen Fei almost single-handedly pushed the box office ceiling to 400 million!

Except for the first "Buried Alive", none of his subsequent movies was less than 100 million!

Especially "No Man's Land" and "Chinese Partners".

The former won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival for Chen Fei, while the latter was the first domestic film to exceed 300 million!

Not to mention "Source Code", the figure of 400 million has almost made other film companies greedy.

No one dares to compare to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". It invested 100 million U.S. dollars and earned 125 million U.S. dollars in 3 days of release. How can this thing be compared?

Even in China, even though the promotion and film schedule have been affected, the box office trend is still rising.

The box office on the first day was 27 million yuan, and it exceeded 150 million yuan in the first week of release. Now it has been released for half a month, and the box office has already reached 240 million yuan!

Zhang Weiping has jumped out several times, severely accusing major theater chains of illegally suppressing the release of "The Golden Jackpot" and increasing the release of "War for the Planet of the Apes".

But no matter how much he fired at the media, no one came out to respond to him.

This is indeed the case, but who allowed China Film, Shanghai Film and Wanda to have shares in "War for the Planet of the Apes"? In addition, the United Artists theater chain still belongs to Chen Fei alone, so the film schedule is naturally more inclined to the films of his own boss. .

Most importantly, you can make money by showing "War for the Planet of the Apes"!

It has been released for more than half a month, and the attendance rate is still above 80%. It is not like "The Golden Armor". If it were not supported by the three words "Zhang Yimou", I am afraid the box office would be even worse.

Some people on the Internet are even shouting: Except for "Hero", "The Golden Armor", "The Promise" and "The Banquet" are all bad movies among bad movies!

This was also reflected at the box office.

With an investment of 360 million yuan, according to the current trend, it is estimated that it will not exceed 300 million yuan in a one-month release period!

It’s almost like paying it to grandma’s house!

Netizens are now waiting to see the results abroad. If the growth rate is slow, this film will put a huge stain on Zhang Yimou's directing career.

…

Chen Fei casually placed the list on the table, feeling relaxed.

There is no doubt that "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" will definitely break through 600 million US dollars!

But at this moment, Han Sanping suddenly warned her very solemnly: "There is something you need to pay attention to. Charity has been very popular in China recently.

With your status, you will inevitably have to participate in various charity activities in the future. You must remember that you may not make a promise, but if you promise something, you must do it. "

"Don't worry, I understand this."

Chen Fei nodded and instantly thought of the "funding scandal" involving Deng Chao's wife.

This is probably what Han Sanping was talking about.

The reason is probably only known to the person involved!

…

"Please help me look at the cast list of "Red Cliff". Is there anything inappropriate?" Han Sanping handed over a list.

Chen Fei took it and asked curiously: "Isn't this decided by Wu Yu?"

Liang Chaowei, Zhang Fengyi, Jin Chengwu, Lin Chiling, Hu Jun...

All-star cast!

"Huh? There are so many artists from Chengtian?"

Chen Fei raised his eyebrows in surprise. He actually saw Zhu Yawen in the cast list!

Han Sanping said bluntly: "Well, Chengtian has a part of the investment share, as well as a part of foreign funds, and this film is also preparing to take the route of global distribution..."

American Lion Rock Company?

Co-production!

Countless memories about "Red Cliff" suddenly appeared in Chen Fei's mind.

He suddenly remembered that this film seemed to have a bad reputation in China, but foreigners abroad liked this style very much.

"It looks pretty good. I haven't read the script, so I won't comment." Chen Fei returned the list to Han Sanping.

Han Sanping did not continue to ask. After all, neither the director nor the screenwriter was Chen Fei.

What's more, according to his understanding, this kid will never express any opinions before the finished film is released!

He simply changed the subject: "What's going on over there with Mulan?"

"It still has to wait. I have to go to the Berlin Film Festival first, but I will arrange for people to make preliminary preparations first. You have to prepare the funds, and some ancient buildings have to be constructed first."

"Mulan" is, after all, a period film. In order to cater to the contemporary background, the scenery had to be re-designed.

Chen Fei was not prepared to shoot in the style of Disney. He decided to make some drastic changes and changed all the very unreasonable things in the script into scenes that truly fit that era.

Chirp after chirp, Mulan is weaving in every household...

Witch? avalanche?

What are those things?

He wants to shoot a grand scene that surpasses "Hero", and at the same time fills in the rich story color to truly show the majesty of "Mulan" and the loyalty, filial piety and justice of joining the army on behalf of his father!

In Chen Fei's opinion, Disney's animated version of "Mulan" is even more beautiful and reasonable than the live-action version.

…

"Why are you going to Berlin? Are you going to participate in the Golden Bear Award selection with "Shoplifters"?"

Han Sanping was a little surprised. He clearly remembered that he had agreed to attend the Cannes Film Festival before filming started?

"No." Chen Fei shook his head and explained: "I am a judge of this Berlin Film Festival. The organizer requires that I go there as soon as possible to participate in the selection."

"Judges?!"

Han Sanping took a deep breath and froze.

It took him a while to come back to his senses. He looked at Chen Fei in surprise and asked in disbelief: "By the way...how old are you this year?"

"21, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, I just suddenly realized that the first half of my life seemed to have been in vain."

"..."

On the afternoon of the day I left China Film Festival, the media just announced the jury list for the 57th Berlin International Film Festival.

When the name "Chen Fei" appeared on the list, the Internet was in an uproar again!

"Director Chen is so awesome! He directly became a judge at the Berlin Film Festival!"

"Be a good boy, look at others, and then look at us. Comparing people to each other can really make people mad."

"By the way, how many domestic films are going to participate in the Berlin Film Festival this time? Since Director Chen serves as a judge, can we use a back door?"

"Why don't you contact Director Chen and ask?"

"..."

~

Human relations are unavoidable in the country.

Chen Fei was explaining to Su Guohai how to arrange the preliminary preparations for "Mulan", and the phone calls came in one after another.

Without exception, they all wanted to treat him to dinner to see if they could have more chances in the Golden Bear Awards.

Really annoyed, Chen Fei simply turned off his phone.

He is just a member of the jury, and he alone does not have the final say on who will be awarded the Golden Bear Award. This thing is about winning based on strength, and it is not like giving out the Golden Rooster Award to just whoever wants it.

"During the Northern and Southern Dynasties? Hua Mulan?"

Seeing Chen Fei hang up the phone, Su Guohai thought about what he just said and repeated it again:

"What you mean is that Hua Mulan's house should be built 1:1 according to historical records. The props and other things should be as close as possible to the background of the time. Even the scene of the battle between the two armies should be restored as much as possible... "

"Yes." Chen Fei nodded and continued: "I will let Feng Taoxin and Ni Xuelin be the assistants. One will be responsible for props, scenes, costumes, etc., the other will be responsible for checking historical materials, and you will be responsible for overall planning."

"no problem."

Su Guohai nodded in agreement without hesitation.

The company has trained so many post-production teams, and they are not just free rice. This time they can come in handy.

"As for the location of the scene, I have already contacted Bashu. I will give you a call later and there will be a dedicated person responsible for connecting with you."

Su Guohai nodded slightly, and his mind instantly recalled Chen Fei's previous plan to copy Hengdian Studios.

Now it seems that with the help of the filming of "Mulan", this plan will gradually unfold!

"As for the investment shares given to each company, we should still copy the "recruitment" model of "2012" and allocate an investment share of 20 million US dollars. In addition to China Film, Shanghai Film and Wanda, we will bring in three more companies and choose mainland companies. , it needs to be a company with complete publicity and distribution channels.”

"Okay, I understand."

…

After spending a whole afternoon, Chen Fei and Su Guohai finally made the preliminary preparation plan for "Mulan".

Because he had to rush to Berlin, he worked overtime for a while and processed a lot of backlogged documents.

Su Guo Maritime's affairs were detailed, and while Chen Fei was processing the documents, he reported to him the company's current situation during this period:

"The filming of "囧囧" will be completed in another week, "My Captain, My Group" is in the preparation period, and "My Brother is Shunliu" is also in the preparation period. It is expected that they will be officially launched before the spring of next year. .

"Ip Man 2" co-produced with Emperor will probably be completed in February next year, "Overheard 2" will probably be completed in May, and "October Siege" is still being set.

Sony Colombia sent an email, asking us to cooperate with "2012" in promoting "2012" in Asia. CJ's "New World" is in the late production stage, and the ShowBox contract has been signed.

The company's revenue this year has increased by 270% compared with last year. All the revenue from movies and TV series such as "Source Code", "Partners in China", "Soldiers", "Ip Man 1", "Overheard 1" and so on have been paid into the account. Copyright income is also being recorded one after another..."

Boom, boom, boom!

A knock on the door suddenly came from outside, interrupting Su Guohai's report.

"What's the matter?" Chen Fei raised his head and looked at the door.

"Mr. Chen, a man claiming to be the deputy director of Xiying is looking for you."

West Movies?

Deputy director?

Chen Fei was stunned for a moment, and there was a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Isn't Wang Quan'an from Xiying?

Could it be that it was because of "Tuya's Marriage" that he came directly to the door?

After pondering for a while, after signing the last document on the table, Chen Fei stood up and straightened his slightly wrinkled suit.

"Everything is going according to the plan we have set and we should get it done as soon as possible. "Mulan" must be released before December."

"I see."

Su Guohai nodded and began to sort out the messy folders and plans on the table, preparing to get off work.

Chen Fei walked out of the office and walked to the reception room under the leadership of his assistant.

Xiying itself is one of the six major film groups in China and one of the four major groups in the national film industry layout. It is also the largest film production base in the northwest region.

Strictly speaking, Chen Fei himself can be considered a member of the Xiying faction.

Also part of the Xiying faction are Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Xie Fei, Wang Quan'an, Gu Changwei, Jia Zhangke and others.

This time the deputy director of Xiying Studio came in person, which might be a favorable signal for him!