192: Chapter 192 Irreplaceability

Upon learning that Lin Chuyan was willing to take on the film, Director Du Qiyu was naturally overjoyed.

This time, everything was truly ready; they were only waiting for the final piece to fall into place. His film company had its own team, so once the personnel were in place, they could start working immediately.

Therefore, he arranged another meeting with Lin Chuyan the next day, primarily to discuss the remuneration.

This time, it wasn't at his home. Director Du Qiyu found a restaurant serving Cantonese dim sum, booked a private room, and they chatted while eating, which could be considered fulfilling the duties of a host.

"Nickname is from Guangdong Province, so naturally, he's used to it. Mr. Wu, are you accustomed to the food here?"

"Cantonese cuisine is exquisite. Although I'm a Northerner, I like it very much. Besides, I'm used to traveling all over, so I can eat food from anywhere; I'm not a picky eater."

When it came to discussing money, Director Mu Sheng and Uncle Da were not present. This time, there were only four people in the private room: Lin Chuyan, Wu Yue, Director Du Qiyu, and an additional producer, Director Wang Jiahui.

Besides being a producer, Director Wang Jiahui was also a famous director in Hong Kong.

He had small eyes, was plump and fair-skinned, and looked like a very shrewd person. He was the son of the teacher of the few people preparing this film. Naturally, since they were discussing money, he had to be present.

They chatted and laughed, discussing the local customs of Hong Kong and the film markets in both the Mainland and Hong Kong. Once the meal was nearly finished, they began to get to the main point.

Director Wang Jiahui took a sip of tea and spoke up: "Nickname, Mr. Wu, did you finish reading the script last night? How do you feel about it?"

Lin Chuyan nodded: "It's rare to find a script that writes about romance so beautifully. I quite like it."

Wu Yue, on the other hand, was blowing it up as much as he could: "Director Du, Brother Jiahui, this script is amazing. The Mainland is lacking such romance films; it will definitely be a box office hit."

Nonsense. If he didn't give them some confidence, how could he ask for higher remuneration?

Director Wang Jiahui just smiled: "Mr. Wu is so confident?"

Wu Yue retorted directly: "Does Brother Jiahui not have confidence? Although I don't know what the lead actress looks like, I imagined the scene of Lin Chuyan riding a motorcycle with a girl speeding by. Just this scene, if filmed well, would be absolutely classic."

Director Wang Jiahui shook his head: "Mr. Wu, although the script is good, isn't the ending too tragic? From a creator's perspective, it's understandable, but do you two not feel that this might affect the box office?"

Wu Yue waved his hand: "Brother Jiahui, let me ask a question. How long will we be filming this movie? When do you plan to release it?"

Director Wang Jiahui pondered for a moment and replied: "If things go smoothly, we can start filming immediately and finish within a month. As for the release date, it depends on the approval, but ideally, it would be within the year."

Lin Chuyan was a bit surprised. Good heavens, is Hong Kong this fast? One movie a month.

Wu Yue pondered for a moment: "If it's to be released this year, we've already missed Valentine's Day. The better slots later on would be the Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, or the New Year's slot, followed immediately by the Spring Festival Movie Season. As far as I know, there are sci-fi films, suspense films, comedies waiting to be released this year... basically every genre. Brother Jiahui, what do you think the selling point of 'a moment of romance' would be if it has to compete with them?"

Director Du Qiyu and Director Wang Jiahui exchanged glances, finally understanding what he meant.

Wu Yue continued: "If you ask me, the more tragic, the better. That's what creates buzz, contrast, and allows it to compete with other films and break through the siege. What we want is that kind of passionate intensity. If it were just a simple, plain romance, it might not stand out."

Lin Chuyan listened from the side, finding it amusing. Yesterday, Director Du was crazily bragging to him about how awesome his 'a moment of romance' was. Now that they knew he had accepted the film, both Director Wang and Director Du began to constantly disparage their own script, saying the ending was too tragic and would affect the box office... while the person bragging about the script and being optimistic about the box office was actually Wu Yue.

Ultimately, it was because they were discussing remuneration at this moment.

Times change, and circumstances change.

Wu Yue wanted to raise the remuneration, so naturally, he had to hype up the box office. The other side wanted to suppress the remuneration, so naturally, they had to talk more about the difficulties.

At this moment, both sides didn't mention the word 'remuneration,' but they were already clashing.

It looked like Wu Yue currently had the upper hand.

Wu Yue continued the topic: "In my opinion, there are two selling points for 'a moment of romance'. The first is, of course, that the creators wrote a good script, and the ending is good too—aesthetic and classic enough."

Director Du Qiyu couldn't help but interject: "And the second selling point?"

"The second selling point is Lin Chuyan." Wu Yue spoke eloquently, "In Hong Kong and Taiwan, I naturally wouldn't dare to boast. But if 'a moment of romance' wants to enter the Mainland market, to be blunt, with our current lineup, Lin Chuyan is the only one who can carry the box office—the others won't do; having a good story isn't enough. Xiao Yan is traffic right now; whatever he does can hit the trending topics. 'the hovering blade' grossed 1 billion at the box office. Currently, regarding the online discussions about the film, the publicly searchable keywords are, first, juvenile bullying, and second, Lin Chuyan's name; even the male lead, Zhao Jinpeng, isn't as popular as him. What's rare is that my Xiao Yan not only has traffic but also acting skills. You two can rest assured about this."

Wu Yue was very clear about Lin Chuyan's current positioning in the market; the main focus was his irreplaceability.

Just like this 'a moment of romance', among the current Mainland male actors, there was really only one, Lin Chuyan, who met the conditions of the two big shots in front of them.

Appropriate age, sufficient traffic, excellent looks, and meeting the acting standards.

Wu Yue couldn't think of anyone else even if he racked his brain.

Age aside, being able to meet the three points of traffic, looks, and acting skills simultaneously was one in ten thousand. Most traffic actors basically failed on the acting skill point, and those whose acting skills were similar to his didn't have his traffic.

Seeing that their momentum was suppressed, Director Wang Jiahui simply stopped struggling and laid his cards on the table: "What is Nickname's remuneration?"

Lin Chuyan had originally thought he could at least chat a few words about the film's topics, but he didn't expect Brother Yue to handle the whole thing.

Now that they were talking about remuneration, he just kept his eyes on his nose and his heart on his heart, listening quietly.

Wu Yue took a sip of tea, his expression indifferent: "10 million."

Director Wang Jiahui was a bit dumbfounded and couldn't help but exchange glances with Director Du Qiyu, finding that the other was equally dumbfounded.

They knew he was expensive, but they didn't expect him to be this expensive.

To be honest, their psychological price limit was 5 million, which was exactly the minimum price Wu Yue had previously proposed.

The two didn't speak, exchanged glances for a while, and finally, Director Wang Jiahui spoke up.

"Mr. Wu, 'a moment of romance' is actually just a small to medium-budget production. Even the lead actress is a newcomer. This price is indeed difficult for us to bear."

Wu Yue was completely unmoved. What a joke—if they really didn't have any ambition, they could have just found a newcomer for the male lead. Why come to them? Why not just find a Hong Kong actor? That would have made the Hong Kong box office more stable. Why bother bringing together the three regions? Wasn't it for the Mainland box office? If so, how could they not take any risks?

Wu Yue played hard to get: "I don't know what remuneration you two can accept? It's negotiable; everything is negotiable. We aren't unwilling to talk."

Director Wang Jiahui adjusted his glasses: "4 million. This is the highest remuneration in the entire crew, and it's also the highest sincerity we can offer."

Lin Chuyan remained very calm; he was just watching the show today anyway.

But he was still calculating in his heart, wondering what Brother Yue would say, and glanced at Brother Yue... Hmm, why did he seem quite happy?