"I think it's scheduled to be released at the end of January."

In the only conference room of Huashang Media, representatives of Western Film Group, China Film Group, Light Limited Media, Berner Culture and other companies gathered together, and Li Mu explained his views in front of representatives of the four distribution companies: "Huayi Brothers' masterpiece "Assembly Number" has been announced to be set for the end of December, Director Feng Xiaogang's golden signboard, a total investment of 80 million, and a stronger cast lineup, "The Way to Steal the Key" can't fight, I mean, we still have to avoid its edge."

The first day of the lunar New Year in 08 is February 7th, and the release at the end of January is basically equal to the week before the New Year, as for why not simply set the first day of the New Year, because there is no Spring Festival file at this stage, and the current Spring Festival file is just a closing stage of the New Year file.

After the Spring Festival, the people themselves are busy paying New Year's greetings and have no time to watch movies.

"The Way to Steal the Key" has completed the post-editing in November, so Li Mu called several companies that were interested in releasing it together to watch the film in advance, and after watching the film, everyone discussed the file strategy together.

There is no fixed number of distributors to find for a film, depending on the needs of the filmmaker. But generally speaking, if there are more distributors, the profits of the thin film side will be shared, but there is also a certain probability that the total box office of the film will be increased, because each distribution company has its own unique advantages - regional advantages, film scheduling advantages, brand advantages, etc.

After watching the film, Wang Changtian regretted it for a while, at present, the previous offer of 80 million guaranteed distribution was still low, at that time, he also considered that the movie was not directed by Li Mu himself after all, so he couldn't help but be a little conservative when quoting, but he didn't expect to find that the completion of the movie was so high after seeing the finished film.

If he directly offered 100 million yuan for guaranteed issuance at that time, I don't know if he could directly win the distribution right, but now it's too late to say anything, Li Mu has directly pulled all four distribution companies such as China Film, and now the four are very optimistic about this movie, and it is no longer realistic to think about a release.

"It's a good choice to set the end of January, and Zhou Xingzhi's new film "Yangtze River No. 7" is also distributed by China Film, and as far as I know, the film schedule will also be at the end of December." The representative of China Film talked eloquently.

Bernard's representative, a middle-aged woman, said after the speech on behalf of China Film: "Purely in terms of schedule, the release at the end of December is definitely better than the release at the end of January, but the box office appeal of the two big directors Chow Xingzhi and Feng Xiaogang is extraordinary, so it is a very wise choice to avoid them and choose to release at the end of January."

"Of course, in terms of box office appeal, Director Li is the only one in China, but Director Li's box office appeal is mainly reflected in sci-fi blockbusters, and the most recognized by the audience is also the big-investment sci-fi blockbuster made by Director Li, the quality of "The Way to Steal the Key" is indeed very good, but it is a small-investment comedy after all, so I also think that we should avoid Director Feng and Xing Ye's movies as much as possible."

The representatives of the other two basically held the same opinion, so the matter was decided, and a few days later, Li Mu officially announced in an interview with reporters that the movie "How to Steal the Key" was set for January 30.

"Mr. Li, should we announce the withdrawal?"

In the chairman's office of Li Mu of Huashang Media, manager Liu Siying stood at the desk in professional attire and reported to Li Mu the latest information she had just gotten: "China Film just called this morning and said that Zhou Xingzhi has reached an agreement with China Film that the movie "Yangtze River No. 1" will be officially scheduled for January 30, which is the same day as us, and it should be officially announced in the afternoon."

Li Mu was still weighing the pros and cons, and then he heard Liu Siying continue: "Our "Method of Stealing the Key" is a comedy in terms of classification, Zhou Xingzhi is a nationally recognized comedy master, and the popularity of "Yangtze River No. 7" is much higher than our "Method of Stealing the Key", I think it should be ......?"

"No need." Li Mu said slowly, "Since the schedule has been announced, we won't change it, all we can do is to make the movie well wholeheartedly, and that's enough." As for whether the film can win awards and how much box office it can get, that is its own fate."

"Just as people have their own destiny, so do movies. is like Zhou Xingzhi's movie "Journey to the West", which was here back then

The box office fiasco of the movie, and Zhou Xingzhi's company went bankrupt directly, but this did not affect "Journey to the West" later became a classic worshiped by countless people, this is the fate of "Journey to the West", and "The Way to Steal the Key" also has its own fate."

Liu Siying nodded.

Three more days passed.

On this day, Li Mu suddenly received a call from Han Sanping.

"Director Li, I'm Han Sanping."

"Hello Han Dong, is there something wrong with you?"

The voice on the other end of the phone seemed to contain an apologetic meaning: "If nothing else, the Huayi movie "The King of Kung Fu" will also be scheduled for January 30, and the Huayi Brothers will have a "Assembly Number" to be released in December, and Huayi can't beat himself up, so ...... Or ......."

Li Mu continued: "What does Han Dong mean to let "The Method of Stealing the Key" be withdrawn?"

Han Sanping said helplessly in his voice: "The determination of the movie schedule must refer to the opinions of all parties, this is not something that we can set by ourselves, and now "Yangtze River No. 7" and "The King of Kung Fu" are all scheduled for January 30. The former of these two movies is the work of Zhou Xingzhi who has been sharpening his sword for three years, and I don't need to say much about Zhou Xingzhi's box office appeal; The latter has Cheng Long, Li and Liu Yifei Fan Binbin, with a total investment of nearly 70 million US dollars, if the movie you want to be on is "Inception", then it is naturally no problem, but if it is "The Way to Steal the Key", my opinion is to try to avoid these two movies."

Li Mu asked, "Han Dong, I know, let's talk about the schedule after we have a meeting to study it."

Less than an hour after talking to Han Sanping, Li Mu received a call from Wang Zhonglei of Huayi Brothers.

"Director Li, I'm Wang Zhonglei."

"Hello Mr. Wang, is there something wrong?"

Wang Zhonglei said in a sincere tone: "I'm a little reluctant to go, "The Method of Stealing the Key" was first set for January 30, followed by "Yangtze River No. 7" announced on the same day, and now ...... "The King of Kung Fu" is also confirmed to be set on this day, I am also afraid that you will misunderstand, the finalization of "The King of Kung Fu" involves all aspects of the problem, it can be said that it affects the whole body, in short, according to all means, I hope that the movie will not be delayed any longer, so - or Director Li will postpone the schedule a little by a month?"

Li Mu replied, "Mr. Wang has a heart, let's have a meeting to study it."

"Well, okay, if the schedule is postponed, the payment will be a little slower, but as long as the box office is higher, what does it matter if the payment is a month or two late? Besides, Director Li, you are a well-known big money in the circle, and you have enough funds to make people jealous."

Soon after hanging up the phone, Liu Siying came to the office to find Li Mu.

"Mr. Li, should we invite representatives of the four distributors to have a meeting and study the matter of the movie schedule change?"

Li Mu leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes and said, "Shift period? No, the release schedule of "How to Steal the Key" on January 30 remains unchanged!"

"But—I see." Liu Siying nodded and exited Li Mu's office.

At this time, Li Mu opened his eyes and counted on his fingers: ""Yangtze River No. 7", "The King of Kung Fu", "How to Steal the Key", plus Dong Chou's "Slam Dunk" released on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Xingzhi + Cheng Long + Li Lian + Li Mu + Jay Chou - enough!"

"It's definitely tough, but—"

Li Mu suddenly became excited: "The four popular movies are fighting each other and bleeding? NO, that's boring! I'm going to be in the atmosphere this wave!"