After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 571 - 566: Do I need your approval?

"Director Guo, it’s getting late. You should head back first. Mr. Lu said he’s aware of it."

Tang Caide was helpless. Having heard that Lu Liang would return today, Director Guo had arrived at the company early in the morning and waited and waited.

Director Guo nodded and smiled obsequiously, "Mr. Tang, if you find me a hindrance, I’ll wait outside then."

"Then just wait a little longer, Mr. Lu is on his way to the company." Tang Caide said with a wry smile.

"No worries, no worries, Mr. Lu, if you have things to attend to, that’s fine." Director Guo said with a forced smile.

From project approval to filming, to post-production, it took a whole three years, and finally, Wandering Earth was completed.

And from the time Lu Liang decided to invest until now, it’s been a full seven months.

During this period, apart from Tang Caide occasionally coming over to check accounts, the first investor and the second investor completely ignored the filming progress, as if it didn’t exist.

The second investor being indifferent, Director Guo could understand, after all, Little Wang invested alongside Lu Liang and followed his lead. If Lu Liang had no opinion, then he had no issue either.

But for the first investor to always ignore everything, Director Guo couldn’t understand. After all, they invested a whole 300 million yuan, which was three thousandths of their total assets.

Thinking carefully, less than 1% might seem normal, but that’s 300 million yuan. Counting Little Wang’s share, it’s a total of 400 million yuan.

If Lu Liang wanted to play with a female star, or wanted to promote one, Director Guo wouldn’t feel so uneasy. The key was that he didn’t put forward any demands.

Investing without extra demands, that meant purely seeking profit.

He was uneasy, such a hard science fiction film featuring the Community of Shared Future for Mankind, without any young idols or romance.

Would domestic entertainment audiences accept such quality?

Approaching seven o’clock, Lu Liang arrived at the company.

"Hello Mr. Lu, hope you weren’t hurt yesterday."

Director Guo hurried forward, showing more concern than if his own father had been in a car accident.

"I’m fine, nothing serious."

Lu Liang, curious, turned to look at Tang Caide.

She shrugged, her face full of helplessness, "Mr. Lu, Director Guo has been waiting for you since three in the afternoon."

"Then you haven’t eaten yet, right? Let’s go downstairs and grab something to eat." Lu Liang chuckled silently, feeling a little hungry after just having exercised.

The group went to a Hunan restaurant nearby that Lu Liang often frequented, with a mildly spicy and mainly fragrant flavor.

While waiting for the dishes, Director Guo timely took out a laptop and played a clip from the movie.

"Mr. Lu, take a look, does this work for you?"

In the entire 128-minute film, only one brand sponsor appeared, which was Tianxing Automobile.

The earth is wandering, in the icy and snowy setting, the male lead takes the female lead into a truck.

The camera gradually shifted from the male and female leads to the interior of the vehicle, and then to the exterior.

While describing the background of extreme cold, the Tianxing Automobile brand logo appeared for the first time.

A four-pointed star.

In this film, the vehicle is a very important medium, and similar scenes would appear four more times.

In 2075, with the sun about to be destroyed, when humanity was faced with an ultimate crisis, a bold plan called ’Wandering Earth’ was proposed.

Fifty-seven years from now, as Earth begins its wandering, Tianxing Automobile stands firm and becomes the main vehicle for transporting goods.

"It’s shot well, the visuals are very impressive."

Listening to Director Guo’s narration, Lu Liang’s lips slowly turned upwards, understanding why the ancient sycophants were so favored by the emperor.

Indeed, everybody loves to hear flattery, enjoy it, and want more of it.

Running a business, one minor hurdle each year, a big hurdle every three years, life and death unknown every ten years.

Any company that can last over fifty years is undoubtedly a great enterprise.

"Mr. Lu, we’re planning to release during the summer vacation. What do you think?"

Lu Liang looked very promisingly upon their little sphere, sparking a bit of ambition in Director Guo.

After all, he invested in movies like Xia Luo, First Rich, and War Wolf, which were all box office champions in recent years.

Why should sovereigns and generals be born? This is the kind of man one should be, and if others can, perhaps they can too.

Releasing during the summer vacation, if the market responds strongly, perhaps they can replicate the miracle of last year’s War Wolf 2.

Occupying the entire summer holiday schedule, then applying for a one-month secret key, tapping into the Mid-Autumn festivities, and then the National Day schedule.

Lu Liang was about to agree because he knew more with growing experience.

Now he understood how Wandering Earth gained traction, being the first domestic hard science fiction was only part of it.

Also, the content expressed in the movie, under the backdrop of escalating trade frictions and the Maritime Silk Road.

The Community of Shared Future for Mankind concept could be considered very mainstream, aligning with the country’s strategy of benevolent rule.

Science fiction is also the mainstream theme in global entertainment, very suitable for going abroad and spreading culture, unlike comedy, where one’s taste might be another’s poison.

With excellent production and the support of concepts, filling the 4-billion-yuan gap in the domestic entertainment box office is as simple as that.

At this moment, the previously silent Tang Caide suddenly spoke, "Mr. Lu, another movie we invested in is also planning for a summer release."

"What’s it called?" Lu Liang inquired.

The company has a department specifically responsible for film investments. They usually do the initial screenings, then hand it over to Lu Liang’s office.

After all, they are famously well-funded with minimal meddling in the industry, whether big productions or small, they will come to them as long as finances are needed.

Every one or two months, Lu Liang would review the list of films seeking investment, to see if there were any familiar or predicted works.

The movie set for a summer release should have been invested in last year or the year before. It’s been so long, with so many, he has no impression at all.

Tang Caide replied, "Wen Yemu’s Dying to Survive, with a total production cost of 75 million yuan, we invested 15 million yuan."

Lu Liang furrowed his brows, having a strong impression.

[September 5, Dying to Survive withdrew from theatres, with a total box office of 3.07 billion yuan]

If not for Wandering Earth’s involvement, this film should be this year’s box office champion.

But they held only a small share because the film’s director was supported by Ning Hao and Xu Guangtou, bringing in Tianxing just to share the risk.

"Mr. Tang, can we have them move to the post-National Day time slot?" Lu Liang suddenly asked.

"Very difficult, the only timeline after National Day is the Spring Festival, and this film doesn’t quite fit the Spring Festival slot."

Tang Caide shook her head; she’d seen the final cut and knew what kind of story it told, stating Spring Festival was still better suited for dumplings.

Lu Liang pondered for a moment, then said, "Director Guo, let’s postpone Wandering Earth’s release to the Spring Festival schedule."

Although he could pressure Ning Hao and Xu Guangtou, forcing them to make way, that was clearly counterproductive.

Investing in movies is about making money; Wandering Earth can go for the Spring Festival, but not Dying to Survive.

Because the theme and holiday atmosphere don’t match, despite having a comedy label, the content is not uplifting.

"Alright Mr. Lu, we’ll do as you say."

Director Guo had initially intended to argue further, as his little sphere was definitely not inferior, but remembered last year’s rumor.

Happy Mahua’s Shameful Iron Fist, last year Lu Liang had reminded them not to crash against War Wolf 2’s schedule.

But Mahua’s boss Zhang Chen insisted on going head-to-head with War Wolf 2; as a result, it was like throwing an egg against a rock.

A movie that could have grossed at least 1.5 billion yuan ended dejected with just over 1 billion. freewebnøvel_com

And since then, Lu Liang hadn’t invested in any Happy Mahua films.

It was indeed a case of fighting a losing battle.

After that, there’s word that Zhang Chen tried ingratiating himself with Lu Liang, going so far as to establish his own studio.

Doing a thankless job, it was really about gaining Lu Liang’s favor, with rumors abound about their questionable relationship.

A full meal versus abundant meals, Director Guo could still tell them apart.

He wanted to make Wandering Earth a series, to tell the complete story, and not to offend Lu Liang was crucial to that.

After all, he couldn’t risk alienating the person who simply needs to reach out to invest in his films.

After the meal, Director Guo took his leave.

Lu Liang also returned upstairs to the company, first heading to the private equity fund on the 17th floor.

Upon entering the trading room, three segments first caught his eye: offshore Renminbi, London gold, and Tesla.

For the first two markets, they were taking a mid-term approach, planning to hold the position at least until July, with short-term fluctuations not causing Lu Liang much concern.

Last month on the 15th, they started to reduce holdings; as over half a month had passed and stock prices returned to their original state.

This was a very bad sign, indicating that Lu Liang’s influence on Tesla is decreasing.

It could also be said that the brand’s influence is increasing, no longer surging due to an individual’s influence.

Just like Buffett’s long-term holdings of Apple, his selling and buying didn’t affect stock price trends.

Because with Apple’s market position today, it no longer needs anyone’s approval.

As harsh as it sounds,

Just who do you think you are, that I would need your endorsement?

Tesla seems to have reached that point now.

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