"Stone" Premieres

Donnie Yen joined the crew half a month after filming began. He didn't have many scenes to begin with, and when he met Wei Jin, he was quite humble.

Wei Jin wondered why Donnie Yen didn't act like an overbearing star at all.

In fact, Donnie Yen was still a long way from being a huge star in 2005. It wasn't until he played his signature role, Ip Man, that his career truly took off and his acting fee soared past ten million. Only then did he become truly arrogant, daring to open his lion's maw and demand an astronomical fee directly from Yinghuang.

But Donnie Yen wasn't stupid. The title of Silver Bear-winning director alone was enough to make him treat Wei Jin with respect. Besides, Wei Jin was also the boss of a film and television company, the movie's main investor, and an international director who frequently caused waves in North America. What right did Donnie Yen have to throw his weight around?

When July arrived, Crazy Stone entered its promotional phase.

Ever since Those Years, China Film Group's publicity and distribution department had held Wei Jin in enormous admiration. This time, too, the promotional strategy was largely his work. Wei Jin even wondered whether he should ask President Han for a little kickback or something.

Ning Hao was essentially a new director, and Crazy Stone had no major stars. Xu Guangtou was still hovering between the second and third tiers of actors, while Huang Bai alone was a popular singer, so the promotional campaign focused on Huang Bai.

Wei Jin had the company line up a large number of commercial appearances for Huang Bai. In fact, Huang Bai had taken hardly any such gigs since releasing his new album in March, so market demand was strong.

It also happened to be summer vacation, when many shopping malls were running promotions. As a result, Huang Bai was almost constantly on the go in early July. He promoted Crazy Stone at every appearance, giving him the illusion for a while that he was the movie's investor.

Ning Hao was deeply moved as well and declared that he would never forget Huang Bai when making movies in the future.

Of course, Wei Jin wasn't stingy either. He told them both outright that they would definitely receive big red envelopes when the movie came out.

On July 14, Wei Jin gave the crew the day off and returned to Beijing to attend the premiere of Stone.

Quite a few companies from the industry attended the premiere, all hoping to use the opportunity to build a relationship with Wei Jin.

Unfortunately, Wei Jin wasn't the star of the day, nor did he spend much time socializing. He arrived just in time.

Before the premiere, a reporter approached him for an interview, but Wei Jin said bluntly that they could talk after watching the movie.

As the film gradually unfolded, the characters played by Guo Tao, Liu Hua, Xu Guangtou, and Huang Bai appeared one after another, delivering all kinds of classic lines.

"The brand? Baleno."

"You've insulted not only my character, but my intelligence too."

"Brother Dao, Brother Dao, I'm trapped at the bottom of a well, and my phone has no signal... NMLGBDNA."

Crazy Stone was an outstanding absurdist comedy. Its multi-threaded narrative was a revelation to many viewers who hadn't seen many films.

This comedy style, unlike anything the guests had seen before, played out before their eyes and won bursts of laughter and applause.

When the movie ended, reporters wanted to interview Wei Jin, but he said he was only an investor. Ning Hao had come up with the script's premise and handled the filming and directing. Wei Jin hadn't even visited the set, so he turned the spotlight over to Ning Hao.

"I spent two years polishing this script myself, and only went looking for investment when I felt confident in it. Wei Jin wasn't the first person I approached. As you all know, we're friends, and I couldn't quite bring myself to ask him."

Ning Hao looked a little embarrassed as he said this, and the reporters responded with good-natured laughter. It was perfectly normal, only human nature.

"I didn't go to Wei Jin until I really had no other choice. Without another word, he gave me six million. You should know my original budget was only four million, so I'm very grateful to my junior, Wei Jin, for his support."

"And how did you decide on the cast at the time?"

A reporter asked about the casting.

"First of all, as you can see, the principal cast are all trained, capable actors, so their acting is guaranteed. Second, they're all very cheap, which meant we could put as much of the budget as possible into making the movie. Why wouldn't I use actors who are both cheap and good?"

Ning Hao's answer drew laughter from everyone. He had a point.

The reporters then interviewed the rest of the principal cast and crew, who all said they were very optimistic about the box office.

The interviews ended in this cheerful atmosphere, and the dinner came next. That was the part Wei Jin found more of a headache.

The dinner had been arranged for everyone present. Premieres for many movies were places where the various parties sought business partnerships, as well as good opportunities for people in the industry to expand their networks and exchange resources.

When dinner began, a group of film and television company bosses surrounded Wei Jin. Han Sanping went straight to the point.

"What other projects are there in North America? Can China Film Group take part?"

Han Sanping had no choice. Wei Jin had been busy filming all this time, so there had been no chance to meet, and some things were awkward to discuss over the phone.

The other bosses at the table pricked up their ears, hoping to hear some good news.

"There's another movie coming out in September. Any cooperation after that will probably depend on the overall returns this time. It's not as simple as everyone thinks."

Wei Jin briefly explained how he worked with Summit Entertainment, without revealing that he had bought a stake in the company.

"In other words, even when it's your idea and your script, you can invest at most twenty percent? Doesn't that mean you're working for Summit Entertainment?"

Young President Wang of Huayi was puzzled. He thought Wei Jin was holding something back.

"You can't look at it that way. We don't have distribution channels in North America, so in the past, we could only sell our films outright. Hero made nearly 140 million at the overseas box office. Under a revenue-sharing model, it would have earned at least 60 million US dollars, but how much did the rights sell for outright? Was it even half that?"

Wei Jin explained that domestic blockbusters currently tended to hold screenings and invite overseas distributors. Those who were confident waited until the film came out and did well at the domestic box office before negotiating. Those who weren't confident took whatever the distributors offered; after all, getting their money back sooner was a good thing too.

"So, Wei Jin, you're opening up distribution channels in North America? We'd effectively be using Summit's shell to go overseas?"

Han Sanping began to understand Wei Jin's plans and felt a little admiration. This young man was looking for a way forward for domestic films.

"Given my current good working relationship with Summit, negotiating a revenue share shouldn't be too difficult."

Wei Jin was hardly that noble. The distribution channels were only a side benefit, but earning goodwill with the major companies could also reduce some of the hostility toward him. After all, he was in the limelight far too much right now.

"But Summit's distribution capabilities are still far behind those of the Hollywood giants. If one of the big six had distributed The Infiltrator this time, it might have passed 200 million."

After a month in theaters, The Infiltrator had grossed 91.4 million in North America and 138 million worldwide. Summit Entertainment's executives were over the moon and now regarded Wei Jin as the company's leader.

"That's already very good. At last, we have a channel. Everyone here will owe you a favor from now on."

Han Sanping made a point of saying this to lend Wei Jin some support, so that no blind fool would try any underhanded tricks behind his back.

"That's right, Manager Wei. You'll have to give brother companies like ours a hand in the future."

"Of course, of course. It's all for the prosperity and growth of the Chinese-language film market. We need to make the domestic market's pie bigger together, and also promote Chinese culture overseas and earn foreigners' money."

Once Wei Jin had delivered his slogan, the mood at the main table grew cordial, and everyone chatted happily.

On July 15, Crazy Stone officially opened in theaters.