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

Chapter 55, Part 3: A Film That Grossed Over 100 Million Yuan

"With a box office exceeding 10 million on its opening day, is there a chance it will surpass 100 million in total revenue?"

"It'll definitely break 100 million!"

"Awesome!"

Everyone was excited.

Yang Mi quietly approached Shen Qing and whispered, "Are you really not going to act in 'The Shallows'?"

Shen Qing held her hand and smiled, "Didn't we already agree? You're the only lead in this movie, and the shark has the second most screen time. What would happen if I acted in it myself? Even if the box office is a huge hit, the media will only blame me, and you'll just be seen as a pretty face again. On the contrary, if I don't act in it and you carry the show, and it also gets a high box office, you won't be a pretty face, but the leading lady."

Seeing how considerate Shen Qing was of her, Yang Mi felt both sweet and a little apprehensive: "If I star in it myself, will there really be an audience? If we star in it together, we might even make over 100 million at the box office. What's wrong with being a decorative figure in a movie that makes over 100 million? Some people want to be one but can't."

Shen Qing squeezed her hand and said, "Don't worry, even if I don't act, there's still Shark, right? The box office won't be too bad."

"What if the box office is terrible and we lose money?"

"Of course, we should increase investment and make another new movie to recoup the losses!"

"If we lose money, will I lose my chance to make a new movie?"

"How could that be? Haven't you heard the saying, 'If you fall down, you get up again'? If we really lost money because of you, we'll definitely win it back from you."

"Making a movie is just making a movie, don't talk about it like gambling."

Yang Mi was coaxed into smiling broadly.

……

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, media outlets finally reported on the film market situation over the past few days.

On the day of the release of "Lost in Thailand", not only did the daily box office of "Protégé" drop from 550 million to 250 million, but the imported blockbuster "Night at the Museum" was also not spared, dropping from more than 800 million to 400 million.

Then, word-of-mouth for "Lost in Thailand" began to spread. After breaking 10 million yuan on its opening day, it took in 11.5 million yuan and 12 million yuan on the second and third days respectively. In the first three days of its release, the film accumulated 34.1 million yuan in box office revenue.

For the next five days, the box office of "Lost in Thailand" remained at around 1000 million yuan. By the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the film had accumulated a box office of 8700 million yuan.

The film's box office performance is strong, and Shen Qing's fans are excited.

Shen Qing's fans can be seen everywhere, including in online forums such as Shen Qing Bar, Movie Box Office Bar, and Movie Bar.

"I heard that 'Lost in Thailand' only cost 7 million to produce, and it looks like it's guaranteed to gross over 100 million at the box office. Now no one should dare to question Shen Qing's box office appeal, right?"

"Yeah, it's really awesome. The plot isn't that outstanding, but Shen Qing and Wang Baoqiang's acting is just so hilarious."

"Shen Qing is awesome, he brought out Sha Gen's comedic talent."

……

China Film Group.

Han Sanping held the box office data for "Lost in Thailand" after eight days of release, smoking one cigarette after another.

"How could it be this number? 8700 million? That's just average for the Spring Festival period, how could it be so high? Did you guys expect this movie to do so well at the box office?"

The executives and key distribution personnel looked at each other in bewilderment. One of them said, "I was the most optimistic about this movie. I didn't expect the actual box office performance to be 20% higher than my estimate."

"Such a small investment, such a simple plot, how come it's so successful?" Han Sanping muttered to himself, holding the report card, then asked, "Shen Qing is so unpredictable; we need to be as optimistic as possible about his future films. For the overseas rights to *Taken 2*, could we try a minimum guarantee plus profit-sharing model?"

Some of the people in charge said, "I think it's perfectly reasonable. The first film has already laid a foundation in Europe and America, and the second film will most likely do even better than the first. At this point, it's very reasonable for us to ask for a share of the box office revenue."

"The first film sold its European and American rights for $1100 million. This time, we can definitely ask for a minimum guarantee of $10 million plus a certain percentage of the initial total box office revenue, such as 1000%."

"If the box office in Europe and America breaks $1 million, 10% of the initial total box office would be roughly $500 million in profit sharing. Would North American distributors agree to that?"

"If we're really confident of making $1 million at the box office, it won't be 10%, it'll be at least 15%."

"Western film companies are very pragmatic. If there's money to be made, everything is negotiable. After Li Lianjie's movie became a hit, I heard that the vice presidents of the six major studios went to him and knelt down to ask him to star in their movies. After Jackie Chan's movie became a hit, the investors decided on the script and cast the actors, guaranteeing him a minimum salary plus an initial share of the total box office revenue."

"As long as it's confirmed that Taken 2 will be a hit, everything is negotiable."

……

Light.

Wang Changtian arrived at the conference room with the box office data for "Lost in Thailand," where the company's executives had already arrived.

He sat down in the main seat, looked at the executives on either side, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Our move into film distribution has gone far more smoothly than we initially imagined!"

One sentence resonated with the entire office.

"Yes, I never expected it to go so smoothly."

"The chairman's decision to break the deadlock with Shen Qing was a stroke of genius."

"I participated in the distribution of several films by Shen Qing's company, and every single one of them was a hit. At the very least, they were minor hits, and major hits became the norm, which is simply unbelievable."

"Film investment has always been an extremely risky business, but with Shen Qing, it's become a stable and highly profitable venture!"

Wang Changtian added a few more words of reflection, and then said, "Our collaboration with Shen Qing has allowed us to gain a foothold in film distribution, but relying too much on one person is not good. In the future, we need to diversify our development, maintain our relationship with Shen Qing, and also discover and invest in other potential directors as soon as possible."

Someone asked, "What kind of directors are you specifically looking for?"

Wang Changtian picked up the box office figures for "Lost on Journey" again and looked at them. Then he looked up at the executives and said, "The example of 'Lost on Journey' shows that low-budget films, especially low-budget comedies, have great box office potential, even comparable to big-budget films by famous directors. We will mainly focus on making low-budget films going forward."

"Well-known directors don't lack funds, and even rising stars like Ning Hao have no shortage of investment. Many companies are vying to throw money at them, so finding the right person is difficult!"

"If an actor excels in acting, they can become a director. If a good actor wants to switch careers to directing, we support them," Wang Changtian said.

……

By mid-April, the box office potential of "Lost in Thailand" had been largely exhausted, and it was pulled from theaters. The final box office was 1.18 million yuan, making it Shen Qing's third film to gross over 4 million yuan.

During the film's release, Shen Qing was busy with promotions in the early stages, and later, after returning to Beijing, she mainly focused on the post-production of "Taken 2". Now, only some finishing touches remain in post-production.

Fan Bingbing's contract with Huayi Brothers officially expired, and she took the opportunity to register her own studio. Shen Qing invested 35 million yuan, taking a 350% stake.

After receiving investment from Shen Qing, the valuation of Fan Bingbing's personal studio immediately skyrocketed, with several film and television companies willing to invest in the studio at a valuation of no less than 5000 million yuan.

Fan Bingbing is carefully screening investments. At this point, money alone is not enough; the investment must also bring her resources before she will consider accepting it.

At Shen Qing's recommendation, Fan Bingbing had a long talk with Yang Tianzhen and finally decided that Yang Tianzhen would serve as his agent and handle the daily operations of the studio.

Shen Qing called Wan Qian to Beijing again. The company arranged accommodation for her, and two days later, Shen Qing and Chen Zhixi met with Wan Qian.

"This film, 'Mr. Donkey,' is one that I value highly. I'll still entrust it to Zhou Shen for directing, and you'll play the female lead, Zhang Yiman."

"Um."

"Your acting skills... are actually a little worse than my ideal choice. Just act well. As long as your acting skills keep improving, you don't need to worry about resources or opportunities. I'll arrange everything for you, but the premise is that you at least reach a similar level, understand?"

"I...I will seriously work on my acting skills."

"Okay, that's settled then. Contact Chen Zhixi about the rest."

"it is good."

……

After the meeting ended, Wan Qian had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, this project called "Mr. Donkey" seems very good—if he attaches so much importance to it, it must be something special.

On the other hand, she was a little uneasy because she finally managed to meet Shen Qing, but he didn't touch her.

"Mr. Donkey" was created through past relationships, and the future "Mr. Horse" and "Mr. Ox" should be created through today's relationships. If he doesn't touch himself today, will there really be "Mr. Horse" and "Mr. Ox" in the future?

"He told me not to overthink things and to focus on honing my acting skills. He said that as long as my acting skills improved, I wouldn't lack resources. But if our relationship ends, will that promise still be valid? Is he after that Zuo Xiaoqing or Yang Mi again? It can't be that Yuan Shanshan who played the female con artist, can it?"