"A racing car? Five hundred thousand?"
In the hotel room, Liu Rulan looked at Xiao He with disbelief.
Xiao He coughed lightly and added, "US dollars."
Xiao Chen exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Brother Xiao, you're amazing!"
He only showed off his skills while filming, and a racing team actually wanted to invite Xiao He to participate in a professional competition... Brother Xiao is too awesome.
Liu Rulan, however, was concerned with other questions: "Are you confident you can beat them?"
Although Xiao He's previous performance on the track shocked everyone, insiders see the details while outsiders just enjoy the spectacle. Liu Rulan was unsure whether Xiao He's driving skills were up to par for such a significant official competition.
However, Xiao He was also unsure: "Should it be?"
The system gave him the skill category of "mastery", and this so-called "mastery" should mean "invincible", right?
Xiao He felt that surpassing Oudern was quite easy, at least.
Anyway, Oudern said that he would get the appearance fee regardless of whether he wins or loses.
He just spends a day driving a car and then makes millions; it seems like a very worthwhile investment.
Xiao He looked at Liu Rulan expectantly: "Sister Liu, do you think I should go?"
Liu Rulan fell into thought.
But soon after, her phone rang.
The caller was Zhuang Hongyi, who was far away in Beijing.
Liu Rulan gave Xiao He a look, then walked aside to answer the phone.
Xiao Chen then leaned close to Xiao He and whispered, "Brother Xiao, if you go to the competition, what will happen to the filming here?"
Xiao He muttered to himself, "I'm not sure about that either. For now, I plan to let Ou De'en handle the negotiations first."
However, their worries soon disappeared.
After finishing her call, Liu Rulan walked over to Xiao He and said, "You can give this a try."
Xiao He's eyes lit up: "Director Zhuang agreed?"
"Well, Zhuang Hongyi has always had a good relationship with the Lederola team. He naturally won't stop them from bringing this up. However, he also made it clear that this money isn't so easy to get. The competitors are all internationally renowned race car drivers. If you're not confident, you'd better choose carefully. If you lose too badly, it will be difficult for him to explain to the team."
“That’s no problem,” Xiao He reminded him. “Besides, I heard that ‘Law of the Jungle’ will be released overseas soon after its run in China. Maybe I can go and ride the wave of popularity and do some promotion.”
Liu Rulan was taken aback, and Xiao Chen also remembered this: "That's right, wasn't Director Ren already negotiating with overseas cinemas a while ago? No matter whether Brother Xiao's competition is held before or after the movie's release, he can use it for publicity!"
They had previously predicted that this kind of battle royale movie might have a better market overseas.
When Xiao He runs a race, he'll get the money and promote the movie. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?
Following Xiao Chen's words, Liu Rulan nodded slightly: "Indeed, this is an unprecedented and novel perspective; my thinking was too narrow."
She immediately stood up: "I'll contact Director Ren right now and see how they plan to arrange things."
Then Liu Rulan left in a hurry.
Xiao He and Xiao Chen exchanged a glance, and Xiao Chen gave a thumbs up: "Awesome, Brother Xiao."
The next day, early in the morning.
Xiao He received the latest news from Liu Rulan.
It's already mid-to-late April, less than two weeks away from May Day. "Law of the Jungle" has already grossed around 500 million yuan in China.
Judging from the current trend of box office growth, this is almost at its limit.
However, since "Law of the Jungle" was originally intended to fill the gap left by "The Silent Seeker" in many theaters, these theaters implicitly reserved a small portion of screenings for "Law of the Jungle" during the May Day holiday when discussing scheduling.
Although there aren't many screenings, the film is still able to make a decent profit during the May Day holiday, so the production team isn't losing out.
Moreover, this data is already exceptionally impressive for many in the industry.
In a time when the film market is generally sluggish, it's nothing short of a miracle that a film like Battle Royale, with its niche subject matter and unconventional release date, could generate 500 million yuan in box office revenue.
The last battle royale movie released in China was a sequel to an overseas film, which already had a very high level of IP recognition and a large fan base, and ultimately grossed more than 700 million yuan at the Chinese box office.
It's truly remarkable that "Law of the Jungle" managed to carve out a niche for itself during the Qingming Festival holiday season. Such success would be very impressive even internationally.
Last night, Liu Rulan went to talk to director Ren Changwen and successfully learned from him about the upcoming overseas release plans for "Law of the Jungle".
The preliminary plan is that "Law of the Jungle" will be released in several countries surrounding China in mid-May, when it will officially finish its domestic run. A week later, it will be released in North America and Europe.
Originally, Director Ren had not planned to arrange any offline roadshows or promotional activities overseas, only intending to conduct online promotion. However, he never expected that Liu Rulan would bring him such a pleasant surprise.
Although racing has no direct connection to the content of "Law of the Jungle," if one can get a chance to appear in the foreign media and say a few words, wouldn't that be better than painstakingly promoting it from scratch on the internet?
Even if Xiao He's performance isn't good, it doesn't matter. They can do some publicity and marketing, using the title of star driver to first penetrate into the foreign community, and then promote the movie... Anyway, the ultimate goal is to sell tickets at the box office, and attracting people is the best thing.
So Director Ren quickly made arrangements based on the situation Liu Rulan described.
“Director Ren has already arranged for the person in charge of overseas distribution to connect with me. I will handle the overseas online promotion, so you don’t need to worry. You just need to focus on the competition.” Liu Rulan put down her coffee cup and cleared her throat. “As for the filming schedule, I will talk to Director Xu in a bit. You don’t need to show up for now.”
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"fine."
Liu Rulan did not appear on the island for the next few days.
Meanwhile, filming is still in full swing.
After a sweet and romantic relationship with Qi Xinyue, Shu Yuxiu continues to be "like brothers" with Zhu Penglin and "harmonious" with his brother's parents. Occasionally, there are also scenes showing Shu Yuxiu's true colors in private, demonstrating the preparations and efforts he made in advance to deceive these people.
As the actor playing "Shu Yuxiu," Xiao He gradually felt physically and mentally exhausted during such intensive filming.
On the film set.
Zhu Penglin's mother suffered a heart attack at home.
She curled up in pain, clutching her chest and gasping for breath, while her hands trembled as she tried to pick up the medicine bottle from the ground. The young man beside her lowered his head and casually kicked the bottle away with his toe.
At this moment, Zhu's mother raised her head and looked at the person in front of her in disbelief.
The shock wasn't acted out; it was the genuine astonishment of the actor who was unaware of this scene.
Before this, they had always had a very good relationship, a perfect "mother-son harmony" story, with absolutely no signs of anything amiss.
Zhu's mother looked to be about the same age as Xiao He's mother. Her eyes were filled with disappointment and anger as she looked at Xiao He, her voice hoarse as she said, "You, you lied to us—"
Staring at the person in front of him, Xiao He's first emotion was hostility and annoyance, and only lastly did Shu Yuxiu's emotions come to mind: indifference and sarcasm.
He suppressed his discomfort, looked down at the person on the ground, and slightly curled the corners of his lips, his expression indifferent: "Mother seems to be tired and should rest."
He then picked up the medicine bottle from the ground, slowly and deliberately playing with it in his gloved hands, and finally put it into his pocket.
"Cough cough, no, don't—help—me—"
Zhu's mother struggled on the ground, trying to reach out and grab Shu Yuxiu's trouser leg, but Shu Yuxiu had already taken a step back and turned around: "Then goodnight, Mother."
"No--"
Amidst a venomous and shrill scream, tears streamed down Zhu's mother's face as she slowly breathed her last.
Shu Yuxiu, however, did not turn his head.
It wasn't until Director Ning called "Cut" from off-set °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° that Xiao He turned around, walked up to the actress playing Zhu's mother, and sincerely apologized: "I'm sorry, Teacher Lu, I didn't tell you in advance."
Lu Yan sat up, glanced at Xiao He with a complicated expression, then turned to curse Ning Jiaqi: "Bullshit Ning Jiaqi, you still lied to people about this script? Aren't you afraid I'll have a heart attack while performing!"
Lu Yan and Ning Jiaqi have a very good relationship, so she speaks relatively casually and directly criticizes Ning Jiaqi, but Ning Jiaqi is not angry.
"It's just acting, don't get so worked up," Ning Jiaqi said with a smile. "Don't spoil it for your son later, he hasn't even filmed this part yet."
The "son" that Director Ning mentioned refers to the actor who plays Zhu Penglin.
Lu Yan laughed and scolded, then patted Xiao He on the shoulder: "Not bad, even I was fooled."
Xiao He looked somewhat dazed, then forced a smile: "Well, I'm glad Teacher Lu Yan doesn't mind."
However, when Xiao He woke up in bed the next morning, he stared at the ceiling above him, feeling inexplicably dazed.
He suddenly realized that he was no different from Shu Yuxiu.
People always like to build their lives with lies, and then pretend that they are doing very well...
Looking out at the vast and refreshing coastal scenery, Xiao He shook his head, realizing he was getting too caught up in the role.
He had never thought about such sentimental issues before.
"Looks like I'll have to ask Sister Liu to find me an easier role next time."
Xiao He rubbed his temples and sighed.
Playing such a deep and complex character again, Xiao He felt like he was about to have a mental breakdown.
