Chapter 155 Did It Actually Make Money or Not?

With the filming of *Drawing Sword* wrapped up, the Chinese New Year was fast approaching, which meant the domestic New Year box office season had just drawn to a close. Unsurprisingly, this year's box office champion was claimed by Feng Xiaogang's *Big Shot's Funeral*, pulling in a quite respectable 43 million yuan.

It had to be said that this was a rather decent achievement, securing the top spot in the New Year slot with virtually no rivals in sight.

However, Director Feng was rather fond of making bold claims. Before the film's release, he had made all sorts of grandiose statements. For instance, he predicted the box office would reach 100 million yuan, or at the very least 70 million yuan. Then he added that the film had a high production cost of 30 million yuan, plus another 10 million yuan for promotion, meaning that without 120 million yuan, they wouldn't even break even.

Now that the results were out, Director Feng still had plenty to say. Breaking even, he claimed, didn't depend on the domestic market; they had to look overseas. After all, *Big Shot's Funeral* had already been bought for global distribution by Columbia Pictures in the United States, so overseas markets were where it was at.

As for the domestic box office numbers, Director Feng blamed piracy, declaring that if it weren't for pirates, his good lord, he could have pulled in 500 million!

Director Feng’s personality was indeed a bit prone to boasting, which made him an easy target for journalists. And as everyone knew, reporters weren't always reliable—just look at that whole mess with the Fenjiu distillery, which was entirely stirred up by this bunch.

Yet, as a film, *Big Shot's Funeral* was an absolute classic, one that Wu Xiang liked very much. Many of its iconic lines, such as Li Chengru's real estate planning theory, though spoken by a madman, actually ended up coming true in the future.

Therefore, sometimes reality was even more absurd than novels or movies...

With the New Year season behind us, the domestic cinematic landscape of 2001 was basically wrapped up. But a year-end review was in order, and since the filmmakers themselves weren't going to do it, the film critics would step in to handle the job.

"Hello viewers and friends, welcome back to our special program. Today, we have invited renowned film critics Jiang Xiaoyu and Teacher Cheng Qingsong to join us in presenting a special episode." The television host was someone Wu Xiang recognized—Zhao Ziqi, who later emerged from CCTV to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry.

"Hello everyone."

"Hello everyone!"

Today, Jiang Xiaoyu wasn't fighting this battle alone; he had a companion named Cheng Qingsong by his side. Jiang Xiaoyu was well aware of this man, who possessed far greater capabilities than he did. While not many people might recognize Cheng Qingsong's name, if one looked closely at the staff credits of certain programs or events—such as *Golden Years*, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, or the Beijing Student Film Festival—one would often find his name among the planners or writers. Furthermore, he was also a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, sharing the exact same major and department as Wu Xiang!

Yet, one shouldn't assume someone like this was advanced in years; he was only in his early thirties.

"Today's program is primarily about looking back, as the New Year is upon us and the most important film season has passed. We are here to summarize the films of last year, namely 2001..." Zhao Ziqi finally got to the point. Of course, as the host, the heavy lifting of commentary—or rather, the bulk of the talking—wasn't her job.

Jiang Xiaoyu spoke first. He was a frequent guest on this show, and although Cheng Qingsong arrived with a formidable reputation, he couldn't afford to back down and needed to take the initiative. "When it comes to summarizing, I think it's fantastic. Nowadays, if a company doesn't offer a year-end bonus, you simply can't retain talent. The same goes for our film industry. Last year, those blockbuster films from overseas made a killing in our domestic market, didn't they? Right, films like *The Mummy Returns*, *Pearl Harbor*, and *Rush Hour 2* were all quite solid. But our domestic films this performance-wise were quite mediocre. To put it bluntly, aside from *Emperor Han Wu* and the recent *Big Shot's Funeral*, there was practically nothing else. Ah, what a pity..."

As soon as Jiang Xiaoyu finished, it felt as though the show could simply end right there. Indeed, when you've hogged all the talking points, what is left for anyone else to say?

However, Cheng Qingsong was immensely talented and wouldn't let the show end prematurely. "From my perspective, regarding this year's film market, our domestic films actually performed quite well. Putting everything else aside, *Emperor Han Wu* crossed the 100 million mark at the box office, making it undoubtedly the champion of the year. As for Director Feng's *Big Shot's Funeral*, its box office was also decent at over 40 million, coupled with a few other low-budget films. In my view, the outlook for this year is quite promising."

True to form, Cheng Qingsong took the opposing stance to Jiang Xiaoyu. Television programs were usually like this; if everyone was too agreeable, it would be thoroughly boring.

"But none of them made any money!" Jiang Xiaoyu immediately counterattacked. "Look at *Emperor Han Wu*. Wu Xiang mentioned earlier that the film had an investment of 50 million. What is the box office now? Even combining the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, it's only a little over 130 million. As we all know, the production side typically gets only about a third of the box office receipts. This means that despite such high box office numbers and all the awards it won, the film still hasn't broken even! And *Big Shot's Funeral* is even more tragic: with a 30 million investment and another 10 million in promotion, the box office is barely over 40 million. They're going to lose their shirts on this!"

One had to admit that Jiang Xiaoyu made a valid point.

The topic was thus officially opened. Although the program was called a year-end summary, the reality was that there weren't many films actually worth discussing. Most movies had meager box office numbers, which meant very few people had actually watched them. Discussing such a film served no purpose other than highlighting its aloofness from the masses, offering nothing else of substance.

Yet Cheng Qingsong was not so easily defeated. He retorted, "You can't look at it that way. A film has numerous channels for making a profit. Besides, with its current box office, *Emperor Han Wu* has at least broken even. And doesn't *Big Shot's Funeral* have the overseas market? We know many films perform quite well abroad, like *Not One Less* or *Postmen in the Mountains* in recent years, or more recently, *Getting Home*. Those were all quite successful. Therefore, I remain optimistic; this year is stronger than previous ones."

Jiang Xiaoyu immediately smiled and counterattacked. "The overseas market is a strange beast. Who knows what foreigners are thinking? Their viewing habits are completely different from ours. Those two examples you cited are extremely rare exceptions. In my opinion, the theatrical run of *Big Shot's Funeral* abroad probably won't go very well. The film relies heavily on comedic sketches and puns for its success. How can foreigners possibly grasp the essence of the Chinese language? It's just like when we watch Hollywood movies—sometimes the jokes they tell fly right over our heads, don't they?"

Jiang Xiaoyu certainly knew his stuff and used the current situation to make a future prediction.

"What about *Emperor Han Wu*, then? Are you going to say it won't cross national borders? I've watched this historical epic, and frankly speaking... this junior fellow apprentice of mine, Wu Xiang—is it alright to call him that?—well, initially, I didn't have a very good impression of him at all." Cheng Qingsong deftly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Hahaha..." Jiang Xiaoyu couldn't help but chuckle. This show was essentially a verbal sparring match; dragging up a bit of dark history made the banter all the more interesting. So he asked, "How so?"

"You see, he went to the same school as me and studied the same major, right? Once, when I went back to campus, Wu Xiang had already gained a bit of a reputation, so I asked my teacher about him. And do you know what they said? Wow! When Wu Xiang was taking his entrance exams, he was utterly full of himself. He didn't think much of either the Fifth or Sixth Generation directors. The guy was simply arrogant..." Cheng Qingsong exaggerated wildly.

"Hahaha..." Zhao Ziqi couldn't bear to listen anymore. "Is that really true? Director Wu has been on our show before, and he didn't seem like that to me."

Cheng Qingsong laughed as well. "There was a slight bit of artistic exaggeration involved."

"Hahaha..." The other two burst out laughing, and Jiang Xiaoyu interjected, "Aren't you afraid he'll sue you?"

"If he sues me, it just proves he's the kind of person I described!" See that? The brilliance of intellectuals lay right there. However, Cheng Qingsong continued, "That was genuinely the impression I got at the time—the kid was arrogant. But later on, after watching several of his works, the guy actually has the capital to be arrogant! Back when I was in my twenties, I was doing nothing more than writing a few articles. Directing a film? That was completely out of the question for me, let alone self-funding the project like he did. That's even more impressive. Anyway, I genuinely admire him."

"You admire him, so you used the opportunity at the Golden Rooster Awards to lend your junior apprentice a helping hand? Helped him lobby for votes, didn't you?" Jiang Xiaoyu's tone and expression were entirely playful.

"Hahaha... I honestly didn't. At the time, the judges simply loved the film. Truly, from a director's perspective, handling a production of that scale—running two and a half hours, with such a convoluted and intricate story, maintaining twists and turns throughout the plot, and executing so many battle sequences—was no easy feat. As the judges themselves remarked, they simply couldn't believe a film of this caliber was directed by someone in his twenties. They flat-out said it was completely impossible!"

"That impressive?" Jiang Xiaoyu stopped joking around.

"Really! Almost all the judges said that at the time. Furthermore, they made a specific point: given the way this film turned out, an investment of 50 million was an understatement."

"Fifty million is an understatement?"

"Understatement! The judges stated that without 70 or 80 million, this film simply couldn't have been made. And if it had been produced in Hollywood, the cost would likely have been at least a hundred million—in US dollars, mind you."

"Really or fake?"

...The program then moved on to other topics, such as *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone*, which had recently premiered domestically, and *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring*. These were all major hot-topic films. Of course, the first installment of *Harry Potter* had only managed to rake in a little over 10 million RMB at the domestic box office.

However, some people weren't paying much attention to these matters.

"Son! Did your movie actually make money or not?" The person asking was none other than Wu Xiang's mother!

In truth, Wu Xiang was currently having a meal with his parents. Naturally, their home wasn't very large yet, so eating while watching television was standard practice. And the movie channel happened to be Wu Mom and Wu Dad's absolute favorite nowadays.

"Auntie, don't worry. Little Wu definitely made money. Those people on TV don't have a clue. You can rest easy; Little Wu knows what he's doing." The one speaking was Hai Qing. Indeed, the Wu family's dining table had gained an extra occupant.

How did Hai Qing end up here?

As they had previously agreed, it was time to meet the parents. Therefore, as soon as filming wrapped up, Wu Xiang accompanied Hai Qing back to her hometown for a couple of days before immediately returning to Shenyang, thus successfully meeting the parents on both sides.

"Is that so? That's good then. I figured my son wouldn't be foolish enough to do business at a loss. Heh, heh, heh..." Wu Mom was thoroughly satisfied.

"Alright, old woman, why fret so much? Even if he lost money, what of it? Can't our son still afford a meal?" Wu Dad maintained his authoritative posture as head of the household.

In reality, what troubled Wu Xiang the most right now was what had just been said on TV: the judges refusing to believe the film was directed by a young man in his twenties. Would this bunch of people end up meticulously researching him because of this, only to discover that he was actually a time-traveler...

"Son, why are you sweating?"

"No, it's just from eating. Here, eat up, the dishes are getting cold..." Hurriedly, Wu Xiang used his meal to mask his awkwardness.