Chapter 401 The Truth is in the Hands of the Dealer

Cameron had shown goodwill before coming to China and expressed his love for the representative works of Yimou and Erli, two of the most internationally renowned Chinese directors.

But at the Avatar meeting in Beijing, there was not a single domestic director.

Lao Mouzi smiles in front of people who scold him, but cries behind their backs. How could he have the heart to watch Avatar?

Li Chen had just condemned "Three Guns" to the eighteenth level of hell, and he also modestly declined Cameron's invitation.

It is said that there is no coincidence in the world. Both China's "The Besieged City" and "Avatar" on the other side of the ocean are big productions that have been polished for ten years.

Although they cannot be mentioned in the same breath, they were released on the same day.

The heads of the eight major cinema chains all turned their attention to Hollywood.

Even Miss Liu, who is usually very Buddhist and untainted by worldly concerns, mentioned it several times.

After all, this involves the interests of her fiancé.

Sometimes she even wondered whether her fiancé regarded money as dirt or whether he was really calm and composed.

It was clearly a gambling agreement signed between him and the eight major cinema chains, so why was he the one who was anxious?

Seeing him sleeping like a dead pig, Liu Yifei was furious.

"Sleep like a pig!" Liu Yifei cursed softly and tiptoed out of bed.

After opening her phone and taking a look, Liu Yifei was hit by the message from Tim, the lackey from the other side of the ocean.

I turned on the computer and looked at the news coming from abroad.

Liu Yifei's mood was far worse than the snowstorm in Hollywood.

She turned her head and looked at her fiancé who was still smiling in the bed after having some sweet dream. She pouted and muttered softly, "Go to sleep, go to sleep. When you wake up, let's see if you can still smile."

Sina Entertainment News

"According to BJ Time on December 12, an anonymous insider from Fox hinted at this."

"The world's biggest movie of the year, Avatar, produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by James Cameron, the "king of the world" who sank the Titanic, grossed approximately $3452 million in 2690 theaters in North America on its premiere day."

"The film grossed approximately $2000 million in more than 354 theaters during the midnight screening at midnight on Friday, 85% of which came from the 3D version."

"The current estimate of $2690 million is very close to the opening figures of Will Smith's I Am Legend in 2007, which opened at approximately $3006 million on its first day, and ultimately grossed approximately $2.56 million."

“2690万美元的成绩距离各界预期中的3000万至3500万美元还是存在一定的差距，因为之前《暮光之城2：新月》刚刚以7270万美元的不可思议首映日票房成绩，刷新《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士》的纪录，彰显了“花痴女＋90后”的购买力。”

"It seems that the film is expected to earn about $8500 million in three days this weekend. Another box office analyst said that if it weren't for the recent blizzard, Avatar could have had a better box office performance."

The eight major cinema chains were filled with jubilation. Although a snowstorm was approaching, the ceiling of "Avatar" was already foreseeable.

No matter how good the reputation is, it is just a pipe dream to break 1 billion in the domestic market.

Before Li Chen woke up, he had already become a big joke on the entire Internet.

"Little Leo is impulsive. Impulsiveness is the devil!"

"Zhang Weiping worked very hard to increase his share to 43%. Little Leo has returned to the pre-liberation era overnight!"

"Considering that Leo's Rongchen Pictures has an annual box office of at least 1 billion, a loss of 18 million a year is not a problem. Leo can afford it."

Liu Yifei felt sleepy again as she read the sarcastic public opinion online.

"I'd better go back to sleep for a while. Why do others sleep so soundly? I don't accept it!"

Zhang Weiping sneered: "You are trying to attract attention and imitate others. You think you are me, Zhang! A billion bet? God of Gamblers? You will lose to death!"

Wang Zhonglei laughed unscrupulously: "As one side gains, the other loses. Our chance has come."

"Boss Wang is right. He may not care about 18 million, but a '1 billion bet' will definitely become a laughing stock in the industry!"

Wang Zhonglei and Xu Li seemed to have seen Li Chen's humiliating and red-faced state.

"Director Li is really impulsive this time!" Xu Zheng was also following the news about Avatar, and felt both sorry and puzzled about Li Chen's recklessness.

"What's the big deal? Director Li is young after all, and everyone is impulsive when they are young." His wife Taohong disagreed.

After all, Li Chen is a human being, not a god. Even if he is a god, there will be a day when he will step down from the altar. Isn’t Zhang Yimou an example?

Li Chen’s Weibo was flooded with comments once again. Those who didn’t know him might have thought he was Cameron, the director of Avatar.

Yang Mi was so angry that she posted a picture on Weibo, implying that you should stop laughing before the mystery is solved.

It was too late when Zeng Jia wanted to stop her: "Mi Mi, you shouldn't make any noise. Look at Tang Yan, Mr. Yang and the others."

A few days ago, Yang Mi stood up for her boss and criticized "Three Guns", but Zeng Jia disagreed.

But Yang Mi has a positive opinion. In her own words, "Senior and Director Yimou, of course I stand on the side of senior. I can clearly distinguish between relatives and strangers!" "Mi Mi, that's not what I mean. Artists should stay out of the showdown between capitals. Look at what Zhang Ziyi did. Did she speak for Director Zhang?"

Yang Mi is smart and she understands Zeng Jia's good intentions.

They are simply afraid that she will make too many enemies and one day she will set up her own business and be suppressed by capital.

The box office revenue of the midnight premiere of "Avatar" differed from that of "New Moon" by nearly 100 million RMB!

"New Moon" has now grossed over 2.3 million U.S. dollars in North America and over 6 million U.S. dollars worldwide. I believe that after Christmas, it will be no problem for the global box office to exceed 7 million U.S. dollars.

Yang Siwei frowned. In this billion-dollar showdown, the boss was defeated without any suspense.

At first, she and Yu Miao advised the boss to think twice and asked the boss's wife to help. However, the boss's wife also let love get the better of her.
How should I respond to the media? Should I just pretend to be strong and say: It is still unknown who will win, so don’t be happy too soon?
I’m afraid that once these words are spoken, they will add more jokes to the Lunar New Year season.

When Yang Siwei was worrying, Li Chen called.

"I know about the Avatar incident. You don't need to worry about it."

"Boss, are you going to respond in person?"

"Now, focus on the opening ceremony of Zhizhen Painting Art on January 1rd, and don't worry about anything else for now."

"I see, boss. Don't worry, I have already sent out the invitations."

When Li Chen woke up, he saw his fiancée still sleeping soundly, but he didn't know that Miss Liu had already taken a nap.

Li Chen was not surprised by Tim's text message.

The staying power of "Avatar" cannot be foreseen by those who are not reborn.

What's more, we have already entered the long New Year holiday for foreigners.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which opened on Wednesday, earned only $3 million on its first day and only $3445 million on its first Friday.

But this did not prevent it from making full use of the long Western holidays of Christmas and New Year, and its box office revenue reached 3.77 million US dollars.

During breakfast, Miss Liu wanted to say something several times but finally couldn't help but said, "Hey, the first day box office of Avatar is out. Did you see it?"

"I have seen it." Li Chen answered as casually as eating and drinking.

"Have you seen it? That's it?" Miss Liu looked as if she had seen a ghost so early in the morning.

Li Chen pinched her pretty face and said with a smile: "What else?"

"No, that's not the case. You should at least have some reaction, right?"

"What's the reaction? Is it the same as the netizens online or the eight major cinema chains?"

"Sissi, let me tell you something!"

"What?"

“The truth is not in the hands of a few people, but in the hands of the bankers.”

"A billion-dollar bet, and I, your husband, am the banker!"

It seemed that Miss Liu did not understand his fallacy.

Li Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry about these things. Just be beautiful and watch the world go by."

Liu Yifei was confused. Looking at her fiancé's confident and conceited demeanor, she had an illusion that the eight major cinema chains seemed to have fallen into a trap.
The reporters did not get a response from Li Chen, but they saw several large white container trucks downstairs of Rongchen Pictures.

After some investigation, I found out that a sign of Zhizhen Painting Art had been hung on the fourth floor of Rongchen Films.

The media seemed to have discovered a new world. Why had they never mentioned the establishment of a new company by Rongchen Pictures?

Special effects company? Ultimate painting? Animation?
Each and every invoice is filled with English letters, and it is obvious that they are imported goods.

The reporters were talking about it all at once, but they didn't expect that they would discover a big fish while gossiping.

"I just checked, the prices of this batch of software and hardware are shockingly high. I heard it's the first batch."

"The manufacturer said this is some kind of latest live-action motion capture system, essential for special effects."

"Director Li is making another big move!"

"Yes, I just checked the manufacturer on the outer packaging of that box. Guess what I found?"

"what?"

"what?"

"Industrial-Light-Magic!"

(End of this chapter)