600: Chapter 600 Small Goals

At the wrap party for "mr. & mrs. smith", Lin Chuyan was chatting with Emily.

He was returning to his home country tomorrow, so both sides took this opportunity to chat more and finalize some things in advance.

Emily was very proactive now. Lionsgate and Lin Chuyan had already collaborated on two consecutive films, and it was highly likely they would maintain a cooperative relationship in the future, so she had to take good care of him.

Over the past six months, Lionsgate staff had visited the set frequently. Besides witnessing Lin Chuyan's money flowing like water, their relationship had indeed grown closer.

"When your new movie is about to be released, I will help you secure IMAX exclusivity. However, Lionsgate's intention is that we can likely only secure a maximum of two weeks for you," Emily explained. "It's mainly because if the exclusivity period is too long, the impact won't be good... you know."

Lin Chuyan certainly understood; this move was too easy to make people resentful. Dominating IMAX screens for two consecutive weeks—what would other blockbusters do? Last year was fine because there were few blockbusters and competition wasn't intense, but what about this year? Therefore, it was best to quit while ahead.

"Understood, just do your best." Lin Chuyan suddenly thought of something. "By the way, the Spring Festival Movie Season in China this year is on February 6th. If we release it globally at the same time, do you have any holidays on your side?"

"No... Valentine's Day is the 14th, and Presidents' Day is the 15th. There are many days in between, so box office numbers will likely start to soften by then. It's a pity to miss the release window like this. How about we release the movie on Valentine's Day instead? "mr. & mrs. smith" is perfect for Valentine's Day."

Valentine's Day, watching a married couple fall in love and kill each other on the big screen, only to have a happy ending? Romance, comedy, action commercial film—it had all the elements. Who else could compete?

Moreover, this time, Lin and the pair were no longer unknown in North America. If it could be released on Valentine's Day, Lionsgate would be very confident in the box office.

Unfortunately, Lin Chuyan didn't even think about it and directly refused: "To get the best box office, I must go for the Spring Festival Movie Season. I'm sorry, but this is non-negotiable. Emily, you are underestimating our country's Spring Festival Movie Season. Missing this window would mean losing billions in domestic box office revenue."

"...You're right." Emily had to admit the fact that China alone contributed nearly half of the global box office revenue for "la la land", which was undeniably impressive.

"Perhaps, separate releases?" Lin Chuyan's train of thought suddenly opened up. "Release it normally during the Spring Festival Movie Season in China, and put it on Valentine's Day here in North America. A difference of eight days is just eight days; it's not eight months. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Emily's eyes lit up: "That's right, what a simple logic!"

The global simultaneous release of "la la land" had left a deep impression on her, so she hadn't thought of it for a moment and almost forgot that a simultaneous release wasn't mandatory.

This way, it was equivalent to being able to reap the benefits of both release windows in both regions.

"Hahaha, let's do that. We still have four months, enough time for us to prepare."

The media reporters at the wrap party were still asking questions, but most of the time they were listening to Lin Chuyan speak. The latter's tone was very bold; he didn't play the humility game at all.

First was the release window that Director Lin had just set with Emily.

The film hadn't even started editing yet, but Director Lin was already building hype: "The release window for "mr. & mrs. smith" was set at the very beginning of the project. It is scheduled for the first day of the Lunar New Year in China, and for Valentine's Day in other countries and regions. I hope to compete on the same stage with my fellow peers at that time, giving audiences more and better choices. Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend—this is the sign of a healthy industry and the wish of every one of us, cultural workers."

The reporters looked at each other: Scheduled as soon as filming finished? Directly issuing a challenge to other films? It looked like there would be a good show to watch this year.

Regarding the box office, Director Lin had something to add. This point needed to be made clearer.

He needed to let the audience see his confidence, and thereby have confidence in the film: "I remember on the day "mr. & mrs. smith" started filming, a reporter friend asked if I was confident about the box office, and I didn't respond directly to that question at the time. Today I want to add: The box office of "mr. & mrs. smith" will definitely exceed that of "la la land". This is beyond doubt."

Director Lin held up one finger: "Here, I'll set a small goal: not much, 10 billion. Of course, this is just a goal, and I hope it can be achieved. After all, I want to be a 10-billion-box-office director, hahaha."

Reporter: "..."

Wait, wasn't that "I have no interest in money" thing he said last time already pretentious enough? This time he's going even further, right? And what the hell is "a small goal"? If this is a small goal, then what is your big goal?

Lin Chuyan's words at the wrap party quickly spread back to his home country.

The two phrases "I have no interest in money" and "a small goal" also spread immediately.

[Can someone tell me what currency Lin Chuyan is using? Zimbabwe? Hell Bank Notes?]

[Director Lin has no interest in money and his goal is 10 billion; I am so interested in money and my goal is to get off work early...]

[Wait, is that how the term "10-billion-box-office director" is used? It's cumulative! It's calculated based on cumulative box office!]

But complaints aside, netizens' curiosity about Lin Chuyan's new movie was clearly even greater. Spring Festival Movie Season, right? Watch, watch, must watch.

Lin Chuyan hadn't even returned to his country yet, and he was already trending.

#mr. & mrs. smith scheduled for the first day of the Lunar New Year#

#Lin Chuyan sets a small goal#

#Lin Chuyan 10-billion-box-office director#

However, no matter what the netizens said, they were just spectators. The ones who were truly wearing the "mask of pain" were the film production companies that wanted to enter this year's Spring Festival Movie Season.

Question one: Is "mr. & mrs. smith" actually good?

Question two: What to do now? Do we really want to go head-to-head with Lin Chuyan?

The first question was unsolvable. Because Lin Chuyan's movie had just finished filming, he hadn't even started editing it himself, and hadn't even watched the footage, yet he had already officially announced the release date. The most ridiculous part was that he was brimming with confidence, talking about 10 billion and welcoming peers to compete... afraid that others wouldn't go, right?

The second question was even more unsolvable. Look at last year: "la la land" led the Spring Festival Movie Season, "the dragon lantern chronicle" followed behind and drank some soup, "boonie bears" performed steadily, and all other films lost over 100 million. How can one play this? This year, what he's bringing out is "mr. & mrs. smith", which is claimed to be more commercial than "la la land". Are they supposed to gamble on whether they will be the ones drinking soup? What if they can't even drink soup?

Director Chu Dong, at least, couldn't be calm at all— "pegasus 3" was still filming, and it was almost finished. He had originally thought that if Lin Chuyan wasn't that fast, he would release his film this year.

The question came again: Are they still releasing it this year? He didn't want to be the one drinking soup; what he wanted to compete for was the box office champion of the Spring Festival Movie Season.

Director Chu Dong made a phone call immediately.

"Director Lin, can I still release "pegasus 3" during the Spring Festival Movie Season?"

Lin Chuyan coughed lightly: "Brother, why don't you forget it? Why don't you wait a bit longer? It wouldn't be appropriate for us to clash. Anyway, you've invested in my film too."

"Fine, I'll listen to you, then I'll talk about it next year." Director Chu Dong was very decisive, but after saying that, he was a little scared. "You won't have a movie for next year's Spring Festival Movie Season, right?"

Lin Chuyan quickly calculated: "ne zha" was going to be released during the National Day holiday, "crazy stone" had finished filming and was in post-production, but its scale was too small, so it definitely wouldn't go to the Spring Festival Movie Season to join the fun...

He immediately replied: "Don't worry! After filming this, Xingxing and I are going to take a good rest for a while. I definitely won't have any movies!"

"Understood." Director Chu Dong felt relieved.

Shelving a movie for a year is nothing; losing money is what's painful.

Just as Director Chu Dong was about to hang up, Director Lin had something else to say.

"Director Chu, while filming "mr. & mrs. smith" this time, I accidentally wrote a book. Do you have time? Could you take a look at it for me?"

Director Chu Dong: "...Huh?"