Chapter 255: The Second King's Precautions
Huayi top floor office.
Wang Zhongjun sat behind his desk, staring at Liu Xiaoli's Versailles speech in the newspaper, reading it over and over again, not knowing what he was thinking.
At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Wang Zhonglei walked in in a hurry, complaining: "Brother, what's the hurry? I'm busy with the premiere the day after tomorrow, and your call made me..."
"Sit down and talk. Sit down and talk."
Wang Zhongjun raised his hand and gestured for his brother to sit down and talk.
"I... Ugh!"
Wang Zhonglei wanted to say something, but seeing his brother's serious expression, he could only sit down on the sofa. However, he was still twisting back and forth restlessly.
"You are over 30 years old, but you are still so impatient." Wang Zhongjun put down the newspaper in his hand and said to Wang Zhonglei, "What do you think about Jiang Yiyan's matter?"
"Of course I'll sign it with Xu Kun!"
Wang Zhonglei answered without thinking, "She's so popular now, she can be used to fill in for Liu Shishi. In addition to the scandal with Xu Kun, she can also be tied up with Huo Siyan for marketing. I don't know what Liu Shishi was thinking. She actually rejected Huayi directly and flirted with Tangren instead. She really doesn't know how to appreciate it!"
Wang Zhonglei was very angry at Liu Shishi's ingratitude.
Liu Yifei is hard to touch because she has a godfather to protect her. He originally wanted to settle for the second best and try little Liu Yifei, but Liu Shishi refused to even meet him and directly rejected Hua Yi.
Even if Huayi is in a weak period now, it’s not something the Tang people can do to him, right?
"Don't get excited."
Seeing his brother like this, Wang Zhongjun came out from behind his desk, poured him a cup of tea, and said seriously, "Don't worry about signing Jiang Yiyan, let's put it aside for now."
"Let it go?!"
Wang Zhonglei had just taken the teacup, and upon hearing this, he immediately put it on the tea table, and said excitedly: "Brother, it is because she is so obedient to Xu Kun now that we have the opportunity to sign it together. If this period of time passes..."
"I know, I know."
Wang Zhongjun raised his hand again and waited for Wang Zhonglei to calm down a little before saying, "Although the opportunity is rare, it depends on whether we can digest it after eating it."
"What do you mean?"
Wang Zhonglei didn't quite understand.
Wang Zhongjun sat back at his desk and raised five fingers, saying, "Huo Siyan, Qin Lan, Wang Baoqiang, and if Jiang Yiyan is added, half of the star actors under Huayi will be Xu Kun's. But he can write, direct, and act in his own films, and he has a regular sponsor behind him. Don't you think this is dangerous?"
Wang Zhonglei only wants to restore Huayi's glory, but Wang Zhongjun has a lot more to consider.
"Brother, are you afraid..."
Wang Zhonglei finally figured out what was going on.
"Huayi can't produce another Wang Jinghua."
Wang Zhongjun let out a long breath. Every time when facing the outside world, he and Wang Zhonglei said that Wang Jinghua’s departure was not a big problem and would not shake Huayi’s foundation.
But what is the truth is only known to the two brothers themselves.
"Xu Kun shouldn't be that capable, right?"
Wang Zhonglei said this, but he was a little unsure in his heart. He originally thought that people in the entertainment industry were more concerned with interests, and that things like loyalty and feelings were all nonsense.
But when Wang Jinghua took 95% of the artists away from Huayi, she taught him a severe lesson.
Recently, various signs have shown that Xu Kun’s publicity and promotion methods are not limited to Huayi, but also involve people from LeTV - Wang Zhonglei has not yet figured out that approach, but he always has a sense of power.
"He is not as good as Wang Jinghua yet."
Wang Zhongjun said: "But Director Feng's recent attitude towards him is completely different from his initial attitude towards Wang Jinghua."
The two Wangs were so tough on Wang Jinghua before, firstly because they relied on the distribution channels in their hands, and secondly because Feng Xiaogang was the most popular director in China. But now Feng Xiaogang is acting like a "promoter", which means one of these two legs is lame.
To be honest, Wang Zhongjun was a little overwhelmed by Xu Kun's rapid rise.
Last April, when he asked his brother to win over Xu Kun, Xu Kun was just a little-known third-tier actor. As a result, he became a first-tier celebrity with two dramas during the summer and winter vacations. Now he has entered the film industry and is making waves, which makes even an old hand like him a little confused and unable to understand.
On one hand, this is a good thing for Huayi at the moment, as it can greatly make up for the impact brought about by the Wang Jinghua incident. But on the other hand, it also makes Wang Zhongjun feel a little uneasy, fearing that a tiger will be kept out of the front door but a wolf will come in from the back door.
"What should I do?"
After listening to his brother's analysis, Wang Zhonglei was a little confused: "Should we not sign Xu Kun?"
"Of course I have to sign it!"
Wang Zhongjun said decisively: "The rumor has already been leaked. If Xu Kun's movie is a big hit and the contract doesn't go through, won't Huayi become a joke?"
"That……"
"Xu Kun must sign, but your next focus should be this!"
As Wang Zongjun spoke, he pushed an open magazine to the table.
Wang Zhonglei stood up and took a look. It turned out to be a soft article promoting "The Return of the Condor Heroes", and the accompanying picture was the makeup photos of the male and female protagonists.
"Huang Xiaoming and Liu Yifei?"
"Yes, these two people."
Wang Zhongjun pointed at Huang Xiaoming and said, "The other three of the four young actors are more or less out of date now, and are not superior to Xu Kun who is at the peak of his career. Only Huang Xiaoming has developed the most smoothly. After the broadcast of The Return of the Condor Heroes in March, his fame will definitely rise to a higher level.
If we can sign Huang Xiaoming, it will be able to balance Xu Kun to some extent. It just so happens that he has been unhappy with his old club recently. You should talk to him as soon as possible. We will accept it even if it costs a little more. It would be best if we can sign him at the same time as Xu Kun."
At the end of last year, while Huang Xiaoming was filming The Return of the Condor Heroes, his former employer suddenly filed a lawsuit against him, claiming that Huang Xiaoming had taken on The Return of the Condor Heroes without authorization, causing losses to the company.
Outsiders speculated that the TV series schedule and advertising schedule conflicted, and the bearded man refused to let Huang Xiaoming go, so Huang Xiaoming's agency became anxious.
"Okay, I'll follow up on this later."
Wang Zhonglei gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, you are right. We at Huayi cannot afford another Wang Jinghua. Even if we have to give up a portion of the shares this time, we must bring Huang Xiaoming in!"
Wang Zhongjun saw that he was full of murderous intent, so he hurriedly warned him, "The shares sold to Huang Xiaoming must not exceed Xu Kun's - we want to be prepared for any eventuality, not to offend Xu Kun."
As he said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "This guy used the TV series to promote the movie, and also used the Internet's troll army to create hype. It's really refreshing. It looks a bit like Director Feng's sudden appearance back then."
Wang Zhonglei also sighed and asked curiously, "Brother, what do you think the box office of Lost on Journey will be this time?"
"It's hard to say. The key is not on our side, but how big a storm his fans can stir up."
Wang Zhongjun pointed at Liu Yifei and said, "For Liu Yifei, you can contact her mother directly. Doesn't she want her daughter to develop internationally? It just so happens that Huayi and Columbia also have the idea of cooperating again.
We don’t need Ge You this time, we will directly find a Hollywood superstar to be the protagonist. If Liu Yifei is willing to sign with our Huayi, we will support her to be the heroine of this movie!"
Wang Zhonglei said excitedly: "Then this thing will definitely work! It just so happens that Liu Yifei and Jiang Yiyan have a grudge, she will definitely not be on the same page with Xu Kun!"
Immediately, he asked again: "Brother, should we sell some shares to Liu Yifei?"
"Need not."
Wang Zhongjun rejected it flatly: "She has Chen Jinfei's support, so it's not hard to say if she wants to make money. There's no need to do this."
"Okay then, I'll go to the set of The Return of the Condor Heroes myself!"
Wang Zhongjun waved his hand and said, “It’s not that urgent. The cooperation with Columbia may not be finalized in a year or two. The most important thing for you right now is to escort Lost on Journey and see how far Xu Kun’s new gameplay can go!”
(End of this chapter)
