In mid-April, Li Mu returned to China after the filming of "Manchester by the Sea". The plane took off from New York, USA, and after nearly 16 hours of flight, landed at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou.

Of course, I went to Hengdian to visit the crew of "Celebrating More Than Years".

First, I am concerned about the filming progress of the TV series and understand the difficulties encountered by the crew during the filming process; Second, I also stopped by to visit my girlfriend, and then had a good sleep to relieve the fatigue of the journey.

When he came to the crew, Chen Zhixi arranged for the staff to distribute the drinks and snacks they brought, while Li Mu went directly to the filming site.

Along the way, from time to time, there were actors and crew members who recognized Li Mu, and these people were almost all very excited and excited, but generally no one took the initiative to stop Li Mu to say hello.

Most people waited for Li Mu and his party to pass before excitedly taking a photo, and then happily discussed with their companions.

I had already communicated with the producer and director before I came, so the producer hurried over after a while. After a brief greeting with a few people, the producer led Li Mu and others to the filming site.

"How long will it take?"

"I just communicated with Director Kong Sheng last night, and according to the current progress, it will probably be less than two to three months."

Li Mu nodded.

"Celebrating More Than Years" is the first cooperation between Li Mu and the Shanying team, Li Mu has no energy to shoot the TV series in person, and the Shanying team is the leader in the domestic TV drama production team, so this time when selecting the director for "Celebrating More Than Years", Li Mu first invited Kong Sheng, the soul of the Shanying team, to direct.

It is worth mentioning that this team will break away from "Mountain Shadow" in 2011 to form an independent film and television company, which will later be Noon Sunshine.

The group came to the filming site, because the shooting was underway, so Li Mu and others stood directly on the periphery and waited for the filming to end.

"Click!"

"Okay, rest for a while, this is over."

As soon as the words fell, Director Kong Sheng had already stood up from the director's chair, and then walked a few steps briskly and went straight to the periphery of the shooting.

Some of the actors and staff were very surprised, but when everyone looked in the direction where the director was walking, it was the producer of "Celebrating More Than Years", the international director Li Mu, who appeared in front of everyone.

At this time, Li Mu had already taken a few steps forward, and then shook hands with Director Kong Sheng.

"Director Li."

"Kong Dao."

Wang Kai, who played Fan Xian, turned his head and said to Liu Yifei, "Director Li is here."

"Hmm." Liu Yifei said.

"Huh?" Wang Kai said, "Director Li is here, just huh?" Shouldn't you pounce on you after a long absence?"

Liu Yifei turned his head to look at Li Mu, then turned back to Wang Kai and said, "Are you acting in a TV series?"

Over there, after Li Mu finished talking to Director Kong Sheng, he turned to face Liu Yifei, and then opened his arms directly towards her. Although he didn't say anything, the meaning was understood by everyone present.

Wang Kai on the side said again at this time: "Look, I said that you will pounce on it."

Liu Yifei walked over with a twisted expression and came to Li Mu, but did not throw himself into his arms.

How embarrassing are so many people around?

Li Mu didn't feel embarrassed, he pulled the person over and hugged him, but that's all.

After being separated for more than a month, both physically and psychologically, the two are eager for some intimate physical contact, but in public, Li Mu can't show himself too much.

Now he is also an international director, and he still needs to have the stability he should have.

Xin Zhilei, Li Chun, and Song Yi were all curious and secretly observed Li Mu and Liu Yifei. These people are all familiar with Li Mu's name, but there are really not many opportunities for such close contact.

The last time I saw Li Mu was when the crew auditioned,

At that time, everyone was very nervous, where would they have the leisure to observe what kind of person Li Mu was?

After a short pause, the crew soon resumed filming, and Li Mu stayed on the scene for more than ten minutes, and then was taken back to the hotel by the producer to rest.

After taking the plane for more than ten hours, Li Mu is really tired now, and there is still heavy physical labor at night, so he should really recuperate in the afternoon.

is the so-called "Xiao Biesheng newlywed", neither of the two released water that night, one seemed to be possessed by Pan Jinlian, and the other was waiting for the soul of a big official, and the two were entangled together, and for a while they were on par with each other.

Early the next morning, Liu Yifei got up early to prepare for the day's shooting tasks, but Li Mu lay on the bed and couldn't help but sigh: "The strength is comparable, but this time the blood speed is a little far away, later generations say that she is a "blood cow", and it is indeed worthy of her reputation!"

Dinner with Director Kong Sheng at noon, during which Li Mu proposed to shoot Liu Yifei's role as much as possible, Liu Yifei has two movies to be released from the summer file, she is the heroine, and she naturally wants to participate in the publicity.

"Director Li rest assured, Yifei's scenes are not too many, and the production schedule is relatively easy to adjust, don't worry, you can't delay or promote a new movie."

"Then there's a lot of trouble for Director Laukong."

"It's okay, it's okay, it's supposed to be."

In late April, Li Mu returned to Beijing first, and after a three-day rest, he and Cheng Long, Yinghuang Yang Zhicheng, Song Dai of Yindu Agency, Guang Limited, Berna, Western Film, Huayi, and several Hollywood companies and other personnel or company representatives gathered in China Film, of course, the party was to set the release schedule of "Hurricane Rescue 2" and "Doomsday Collapse".

Each company has its own considerations, and there are those who advocate that it will be released on any day, Han Sanping did not propose a release date, but suggested that it is best not to collide with "The Great Cause of the Founding of the People's Republic", that is, it is best not to release it at the end of September.

The parties in the conference room expressed their opinions, and the atmosphere was noticeably chaotic.

Li Mu did not rush to express his opinion, but first sorted out the information he had read in his previous life in his mind.

In 2009, although the global economic depression has not passed, the North American film market has ushered in a wave of surge, and the total box office for the whole year has reached an unprecedented 10.61 billion US dollars, which is also the first time that the North American film market has exceeded the 10 billion US dollar mark.

Specific to the summer file of 09, it is a hit movie one after another, and it is actually quite difficult to arrange both movies to be released during this period.

But if it is delayed until the end of the year, there will be not only "Avatar" that swept the world at the end of the year, but also "Gravity", which Li Mu has high hopes for.

And "Doomsday Collapse" must be released before "2012".

"2012" was released on Nov. 13 and grossed $791 million worldwide — and it was clearly unwise to schedule the release of the two films at the end of the year.

Then it can only be released in the summer.

The "summer season" in North America usually starts on the first weekend of May and ends in mid-August.

Li Mu carefully sorted out the summer films that could pose a threat to the two movies.

On May 21, "Terminator 2018" grossed $371 million worldwide.

On May 29, "Flying House" grossed $735 million worldwide.

On June 05, "The Hangover 1" grossed $469 million worldwide.

On June 24, "Transformers 2" grossed $836 million worldwide.

On July 01, "Ice Age 3" grossed $886 million worldwide.

On July 6, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" grossed $934 million worldwide.

It seems that between "Flying House" on May 29 and "Transformers 2" on June 24, a film can be arranged.

But you still have to try to avoid "The Hangover 1", at least it can't be released on the same day.

Therefore, Li Mu's suggestion is to arrange the release of "Hurricane Rescue 2" on June 12.

This date is a week later than "The Hangover 1" and two weeks earlier than "Transformers 2", which can be regarded as surviving in the cracks.

In addition, after "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" on July 06, there will be no films with too exaggerated box office releases for the time being, so Li Mu suggested that "Doomsday Collapse" be released on July 24, two weeks later than "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".

Even if this film is strong, the box office trend in two weeks should not be much of a threat.

So after some communication, the schedules of the two movies were set.

After the schedule was basically confirmed, Han Sanping asked Li Mudao with a smile, "How is it, do you have the confidence to break the record of "Inception" this time?"

Li Mu categorically denied: "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Inception is pretty much the ceiling of my life."

Han Sanping smiled and said, "Look, look, it's only 25 years old, it's this life."

"But you're right, "Inception" invested $120 million, and this time "Hurricane Rescue 2" only invested $40 million, and "Doomsday Collapse" is a little more, 80 million, which adds up to the investment of a "Inception"."

Saying that, Han Sanping's tone changed, and he continued: "Then let me ask anew, do you say that the two movies "Hurricane Rescue 2" and "Doomsday Collapse" add up, is it possible that the box office will exceed the 956 million US dollars of "Inception"?"

This time Li Mu thought about it seriously, but still shook his head and said, "Unlikely."

In early May, director Shen Junsheng came to Li Mu's office with a script.

"Director, this is the script I wrote for "People in Embarrassment 2", please take a look."

Li Mu stretched out his hand to take the script, and Shen Junsheng continued at this time: "This is the result of my discussion with Shen Teng and Bao Qiang, and the three of us unanimously feel that the story of "People in Embarrassment" can be excavated forever."

"You sit first!"

"Good!"

After Shen Junsheng sat down, Li Mu began to read the script seriously.

To put it simply, the book "People in Embarrassment 2" discussed by the three of them continues the character design of the first part, the two protagonists are still called Li Chenggong and Wang Bao, and the plot inherits the first part, which is a real sequel.

About half an hour later, Li Mu slowly closed the script in his hand.

How so?

The story is actually okay, but just like "Hurricane Rescue 2" is less amazing than "Hurricane Rescue 1", this "People in Embarrassment 2" also faces the same problem, simply put, it is decent, too flat, and lacks big highlights.

Therefore, Li Mu must deny this script.

"People in Embarrassment: Thai Embarrassment" is the first domestic film in China with a box office of more than 1 billion, how could Li Mu replace it with other scripts with unknown prospects?

Besides, Li Mu is ready to start the "Hunger Games" project next.

In the previous life, the global box office of "The Hunger Games 1" was 694 million US dollars, the global box office of "The Hunger Games 2" was 865 million US dollars, and the total box office of the entire series exceeded 3 billion US dollars.

But it is clear that the "Hunger Games" series did not shine at the box office in China, and this is a series of films more suitable for foreign tastes.

Therefore, Li Mu also needs a movie to maintain the company's dominance over the domestic film market, and in Li Mu's heart, this movie is "People in Embarrassment".

So he said to Shen Junsheng: "This script, if you want to shoot it, you can also shoot it, but don't use the name of "People in Embarrassment", it is recommended to change the character design. I plan to write the script of "People in Embarrassment 2" myself, which is a key project of our company this year and next."

"Okay, I see."

In fact, Shen Junsheng knew that his script was not amazing before he came to meet Li Mu, but he always had a trace of expectation in his heart, because this script almost represented his best level.

Sometimes he can't help but think that even if Director Li writes this script himself, it will be difficult to write something very amazing.

Now this script has been vetoed by Li Mu

, Shen Junsheng felt a lot more relaxed.

"People in Embarrassment" not only won more than 300 million box office, but also has a very good reputation, if the sequel uses its own script and box office reputation to hit the streets, you can imagine how much pressure Shen Junsheng has to bear.

If Director Li writes the script in person, the domestic box office of 300 million should be guaranteed, but I don't know how to write this sequel.

After Shen Junsheng left, Li Mu began to write the script of "People in Embarrassment". At the same time, the schedules of "Hurricane Rescue 2" and "Doomsday Collapse" were also officially announced, and the pre-publicity work before the release of the two films has also been launched simultaneously.

At the same time, Liu Yifei.

"It's confirmed, "Hurricane Rescue 2" is set for June 12, and "Doomsday Collapse" is set for July 24."

"It's so close? When "Doomsday Collapse" was released, "Hurricane Rescue 2" may not be released, right?"

"Almost, Director Li's movies basically have to be postponed."

"Awesome! On January 9 this year, Yifei starred in "Inception", which was released at the global box office of 956 million US dollars, and then in June and July this year, Yifei also had blockbuster films released, even if the box office of these two films was directed by Li Mu's lower box office of 300 million US dollars, that would add up to 1.556 billion US dollars, which is 10.5 billion when converted into RMB!"

"Damn, in 09 alone, the total box office of the starring movies is about to exceed 10 billion?!"

"What do you think?"

"Rub!"

"Cow!"

"Cow? This is still estimated according to the lower limit level of Director Li Mu! You might as well think about it, can these two movies really only get 300 million US dollars? How likely is that? In my opinion, it can be said that it is minimal! It's possible to say $400 million per movie! Then this year alone, Yifei's total box office may reach $1.8 billion, which translates to more than $12 billion!"

"One year, 12 billion?! It's a big deal!"

"And I also heard that there are a lot of scenes in "Hurricane Rescue 2" this time, and she can be regarded as a real heroine."

"Looking forward to it!"

In mid-May, all the scenes of Liu Yifei's "Celebrating More Than Years" were completed, and Li Mu and her did not go out much on the first day after returning to Beijing.

At this time, the villa that Li Mu bought in Ziyu Villa had already been renovated, and then Li Mu discussed it with Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli, and soon after, the three of them officially moved into Ziyu Villa.

Li Mu and Liu Yifei live in one building, and Liu Xiaoli lives in one building.

At the end of May, Li Mu called Shen Junsheng to his office, and then handed him the script of "People in Embarrassment".

Shen Junsheng looked at it in the office.

At first, when he saw that the male protagonist had become Xu Lang, Wang Bao, Gao Bo and the character design had all changed, Shen Junsheng frowned slightly, but he didn't expect Director Li to directly abandon the character design that had been successful in the upper part, and directly wrote a new story from scratch.

But as the plot deepened, Shen Junsheng began to laugh out loud from time to time.

At first, he couldn't help laughing out loud and was very embarrassed, and he would look at Li Mu while laughing, but as his mind became more and more immersed in the plot, he had even begun to forget that he was in Director Li's office at the moment.

"Hahaha......

When he saw Wang Bao seriously saying that his girlfriend was Liu Yifei, Shen Junsheng couldn't help laughing again.

Even the proprietress went out, well, although it was only mentioned that the proprietress was mentioned, but the sense of substitution and realism was simply bursting!

When he saw that Liu Yifei really appeared to pull Wang Bao to take pictures in the end, Shen Junsheng was shocked in his heart.

"Rub, this script can't be stopped by 500 million!"