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Chapter 872: Chapter 757: Annual Meeting (Please Subscribe!)
A night of singing and revelry.
The next day.
It was the last day before Fudan’s school reopening.
But for Shanghai Music Academy, school started today.
After a delicious breakfast, Wang Yan’s mother packed a large bag of pastries to take back for eating over the next few days. They bought a house near Wang Yan’s school equipped with a refrigerator, and she wouldn’t be returning to Qingyan City until a week later.
She would fly over to see her daughter monthly.
As dawn broke, Wang Yan and her mother departed.
Tang Qing and Lin Jiaxue were not sleepy anymore. Lin Jiaxue planned to rest at home today and practice the piano strings she hadn’t touched for almost a month, while Tang Qing hurried to Comet Entertainment first thing in the morning.
Here, work had already resumed for nearly a week. With the start of the new year, there was lots to do, and employees were bustling with activity. Their faces were all smiles, however, because "Civilization: Soul of the Stars" had been breaking box office records.
It had smashed the record for Chinese-language film box office.
It was sprinting toward even higher goals. Over these days, their company’s first movie had been all over Huaxia’s media. Ever since it aired on News Broadcast, its popularity had never waned.
Many people were looking forward to hearing the box office records every day.
Four days to break one hundred million US dollars.
The daily box office was still rising.
Just yesterday.
The total box office had already broken five hundred million US dollars.
There was jubilation all over the internet.
And how could there not be?
This was more than all the domestic and foreign movies released in Huaxia last year combined. Whenever they thought of this, they felt lighter on their feet, especially when they remembered the rewards Tang Qing promised once the final box office was out.
They were full of vigor.
In the reception hall.
"Err... Mr. Tang, good morning."
The front desk receptionist struggled to swallow a bite of Xiao Long Bao and hastily stood up.
Tang Qing looked at her and smiled slightly.
"Good morning," he said and continued towards the conference room.
After Tang Qing left.
The receptionist quickly gulped down some water, thankfully without choking.
"Phew... That scared me," she sighed with relief.
"It’s your own fault for eating them one after another. Luckily, it’s not yet time to start work. You have five minutes left, or else you’d be facing a wage deduction," her colleague glanced at her and swiftly grabbed one, savoring it deliciously.
Looking at the two remaining Xiao Long Bao in the box.
The receptionist’s face changed, and she quickly grabbed one, stuffing the entire thing into her mouth.
For her, the worst thing was: finally getting delicious Xiao Long Bao after queuing, planning to savor them slowly, only to have a glutton looming next to her.
......
Upon reaching the conference room.
Pu Chaodong and the others were already there.
Tang Qing sat at the head of the table, looking at the documents in his hands while on the conference system on the wall, Zheng Lin, Chai Ren, and Dou Jiao’s team were all connected.
Whenever Tang Qing was involved in a meeting, to facilitate the timely acquisition of information by Sky Eye and to keep pace with Tang Qing’s decision-making for clear communication, they typically allowed personnel from Sky Eye to connect, which generally meant Dou Jiao and the recording team would listen in.
Pu Chaodong was reporting.
"Chairman, as of yesterday, ’Civilization: Soul of the Stars’ global box office has soared past five hundred million US dollars, reaching five point zero four billion US dollars. As the film’s scheduling in various countries is now stable, daily box office has also become steady.
For the next half-month, the domestic box office will be a bit weak after the Spring Festival, but traditionally, the international box office will remain relatively stable, with daily earnings fluctuating around forty million US dollars.
During the entire screening period, we conservatively estimate that the global total box office will exceed nine hundred million US dollars. If we extend the screening period, one billion US dollars is a sure thing. Also, due to this successful cooperation, we have established a good relationship with major cinemas globally.
The planning for the sequel to ’Civilization’ has also been put on the agenda. It will start filming next month and is expected to premiere during the summer blockbuster season. However, many celebrities have expressed their wish to make cameo appearances or take on roles in the sequel.
They have said their fees can be reduced, and some even offered to work without a fee. Our company has received a lot of such calls, from entertainment company heads, top-tier stars, and even some famous singers have called offering to provide theme songs or insert music for free," he said.
The main seat’s Tang Qing nodded with a smile.
Tall trees catch much wind.
This movie, with a potential global total box office of over eight billion RMB, is destined to make its mark in the history of world cinema, even reaching the ranks of the highest-grossing films of all time.
If the release is delayed.
Breaking ten billion RMB is not impossible.
Because the proliferation rate of 3D versions is quite low right now, once 3D cinemas pop up in large numbers, the possibility of the audience re-watching is quite high.
The publicity effect and the role of riding on the heat are huge.
However, Tang Qing was not impressed by this.
This is a science fiction movie.
There aren’t that many supporting roles available.
He had also read the script for the second part, which was still mainly about civilization wars; even if there were humans, many of them were aliens, and he really couldn’t imagine a scene filled mostly with celebrities where humans were already scarce.
"This is something Director Li has to take responsibility for, but we should stick to our previous principle, suitability is key, not the appearance fee. What’s important is if it’s necessary to use them. Anyway, I don’t want to see a movie that’s just celebrities parading one after another, it’s annoying, understand?"
Tang Qing really disliked those scenes where dozens of celebrities make an appearance in one movie. It was only the old "Eastward Journey" that he quite liked; subsequent movies generally flopped.
The director was not impressive.
The plot was not strong.
So they filled in with actors.
This pattern, Tang Qing firmly disallowed in his company.
Li Xizhao heard this.
And immediately understood.
This hot potato was his to carry.
With the influence of those celebrities and entertainment companies so strong, if Pu Chaodong rejected them outright, it wouldn’t look good, so he had to take on the role of being ’indebted to no one’ and carry the burden for Comet Entertainment.
Such occurrences.
Were not rare in the entertainment circle.
It was nothing more than a shift in the disagreement; the big shots needed to maintain a friendly relationship for possible future collaborations.
All the ’bad-cop’ roles are underground, so nobody feels awkward.
As for Li Xizhao, he didn’t feel bad about it—soon becoming a billion-dollar director, what else was there to say? No matter how big the blame he had to carry, he was actually eager to continue carrying it for another ten or eight times.
"Understood, I will be strict in selecting actors," Li Xizhao replied solemnly.
Tang Qing acknowledged with a hum, and continued, "On the 20th of this month, we will officially start the group restructuring process for Comet Entertainment. Sky Eye’s people will arrive on the 17th, and you just proceed according to the plan."
"Yes."
"Also, I’ve seen in your post-Spring Festival work report about the application for the construction of the headquarters building for Comet Entertainment. After discussion, the Board of Directors has approved it, with construction standards set at two billion RMB.
However, there are a few points I want to make, firstly, the headquarters doesn’t necessarily have to be in a bustling area, it can also be in the suburbs of Shanghai, but within a kilometer radius there must be a metro, or a new one being built to its location, to make it convenient for employees to commute.
Secondly, don’t just build one building; the Board and I suggest building an office park, with each subsidiary having its own building. Otherwise, cramming everyone into one building is too myopic.
So choose a larger area for the site, don’t make the buildings too close to each other, best if it’s a garden-style office park, if necessary, I allow for overspending. The money for building the headquarters will not come from the movie box office, but from a bank loan. The box office money will mainly be used for the expansion of our theater circuit and other operating funds."
Comet Entertainment, such a big family business.
Of course, needed a headquarters building, Tang Qing, who owned a bank, now liked using bank money more and more: it allowed for rapid expansion, and the interest wasn’t high—anything done could easily turn a profit.
"Understood," Pu Chaodong said, excited.
Two billion RMB.
In this era.
Within Huaxia.
Currently, no company has such a large investment to build their headquarters. They were unique.
Soon.
The meeting requiring Tang Qing’s participation came to an end.
These were his main purposes for coming here today.
New movie, group restructuring, company headquarters, theater circuit plan—the rest were probably going to keep them busy.
