China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 459 Qishang Spring Festival Gala and Jiang Ziya
On January 2006, 1, the movie "Fearless" was released

Li Lianjie, as a top superstar in China, still has a strong box office appeal. Even if the Spring Festival is approaching, the statistics are quite good.

Moreover, according to media reports, "Fearless" has a very good overseas box office, reaching the box office of US$500 million in North America in less than a week.

This data is definitely not comparable to those Hollywood blockbusters, but it is also better than some movies that vowed to hit the American market.

For example, "The Promise"...

It was also released in North America, but the box office was only 66.9 US dollars, which was not enough for the film studio's promotional expenses.

Due to the impact of "Xiu Chun Knife 2", the box office in the mainland did not reach the 1.8 million in the original time and space, and it was only about 1.3 million when it was drawn.

The film studio takes about 37.7% of the production share, which translates to just over 4800 million.

And because of the disastrous box office failures in the mainland and the United States, the original copyright sale progress is not very satisfactory.

Because it is a big-budget film, it is aimed at making money overseas. The asking price for the copyright is very high, often tens of millions of dollars. Overseas film producers will definitely be more cautious, and some will even consider the box office market and word-of-mouth before deciding to sign a contract. .

This situation has both advantages and disadvantages for the producer. If the box office is a hit, the price will definitely increase, but if the box office is not satisfactory, the price will be lowered, and the cooperation will even be cancelled.

The crew of "The Promise" used to have more confidence in the movie because of Director Chen, and their mentality was stable, but now they are starting to sit on wax.

Overseas film producers who are still willing to cooperate have desperately lowered the price, and some of them are not ready to buy any more.

Compared with the film's cost investment of 3 million yuan, "The Promise" must be compensated, and what we can do now is to try our best to recover the loss.

And the biggest investor in "The Promise" is China Film Group, and Han Sanye is almost depressed.

This is a key project of China Film Group. Hundreds of millions have been spent, and now he, the specific person in charge, cannot absolve himself of the blame for this situation.

Fortunately, several cooperation projects between him and Fanxing, such as "New World", "Xiu Chun Knife 2" and "Mythology" all have certain profits, which have added a lot of points to him.

In addition, China Film Group also has theater chains and distribution businesses, and it has also made some profits.

After this time, Sanye Han's impression of Dao Chen changed greatly, and at the same time he valued Fan Xing more and more.

He figured it out, except for Fan Xing and a small number of people, the rest are mobs, and together with insects, it's hard to make a Chinese movie...

"Embroidered Spring Knife 2", which was drawn before and after "The Promise", finally had a box office of 1.84 million in the mainland, ranking second in the box office list in the mainland in 2005, and the champion was "New World".

It's a pity that "The Promise" still has a strong foundation, and finally surpassed "Mythology". Otherwise, the top three films in the mainland box office today would be produced or produced by Fanxing.

Of the 1.84 million box office, the producer can probably get about 7000 million, and Fanxing, as well as Fanxing theaters and distribution, can divide it to about 3000-5000 million.

Under normal circumstances, theaters can get 50% to 58% of the total box office of the movie.

As the main theater chain for the release of Fanxing movies, Fanxing Theaters has a high internal schedule and a large box office. It can basically get a share of 55% to 58% from the theaters, and get one-third to more than half of the share.

At the same time, the publisher also needs to share the money, usually 5% to 10% of the total box office, Fanxing can get at least half, and sometimes even the whole package.

In other words, if the box office of a movie is produced, distributed, and released by Fanxing, Fanxing itself can account for 60-75% of the revenue.

This is the benefit of having an industrial chain, eating from the beginning to the end...

So Cao Xuan is sometimes willing to give up some film investment shares, because even if he gets less from production, he can still earn back from distribution and theaters.

So far, there are only three companies in China that can play this way, China Film, Shanghai Film and Fanxing.

Huayi, Bona and other companies are chasing after this model, but due to strength, capital and market share, they can only follow the three.

Cao Xuan would occasionally give them a hand, and rarely deliberately suppress them. The main reason is that such a group of companies need to chase after them, which can not only bring a certain amount of competitive pressure to Fanxing, and avoid lying in the credit department waiting to die. Nor will it form a trend of private monopoly in Fanxing.

Now that the economy needs to advance at a high speed, you can ignore many things, and even wish you could become bigger and stronger.

But after a few years of economic growth, many things will become more sensitive, and if it is not done well, it will become a chicken that is killed to make an example of others.

Although Cao Xuan has connections with higher-ups and is confident that he won't be a target, it's better to keep a low profile and find a few shields to share the pressure no matter what.

Otherwise, if something bad happens in the entertainment circle in the future, they will have to greet Cao Xuan.

wronged?

If the capitalists have been wronged, just lie flat and be scolded.

Therefore, Boss Cao needs to have a group of people who can shake the blame, and it is best to change from [the internal entertainment is over] to [if it is not for the stars, the internal entertainment will be over long ago].

Everything is compared. If there are only stars, everything must be seen with a magnifying glass, and 80 points must become 50 points.

But if there are a few other companies with a score of 60 next to it, this 80 score will be particularly valuable, and even under the filter, it may be as dazzling as 100 points.

This is "Xiu Chun Knife 2" and "The Promise" are the best examples, no matter how good you do yourself, it's not as good as your peers...

In addition to the domestic box office, the copyright of "Xiu Chun Knife 2" is also much higher than that of the first one. Unfortunately, this series is not popular abroad. Make a fortune.

The popularity of the "Embroidered Spring Knife" series has also to a certain extent led to more domestic explorations of Ming Dynasty film and television, and the term Jinyiwei has also begun to go out of the circle on a large scale.

There have been two TV series with Jinyiwei as the theme before, and now, taking advantage of the popularity of "Xiuchun Knife 2", a company directly announced that it will start filming "Jinyiwei".

The play is the story of Hakka, Wei Zhongxian, and Zhu Youxiao, and the director tentatively chooses Zhang Li as "Towards the Republic".

We don't know why Zhang Li took this script, but there is one thing to say, without the screenwriter Liu Heping, this "Jinyiwei" can be called magical.

Wei Zhongxian is still a villain, insisting that the number one villain of the Ming Dynasty will not waver.

The Ke family became the heroine, not only the white lotus, but also the male protagonist, who was forced to marry the old emperor, and was defiled by Wei Zhongxian and Zhu Youxiao respectively, which is a bit like the dark version of Yang Yuhuan in the late Ming Dynasty.

And Zhu Youxiao not only became Zhu Youjian's younger brother, but also had a serious Oedipus complex, and rebelled and killed his father Zhu Changluo who had been in power for decades.

The famous January Emperor in history didn't know whether to feel relieved or jump when he saw this.

The most embarrassing thing is to say that Chongzhen Zhu Youjian not only competed with Zhu Youxiao and another prince, but was also a talent with both civil and military skills. He personally commanded the battle of Ningyuan and killed Nurhachi.

Both the boar skin and Yuan Chonghuan's coffin boards could no longer be held down.

Moreover, after Zhu Youxiao killed the king and seized the throne in the TV series, Zhu Youjian from the south of the Yangtze River rebelled. Zhu Youxiao personally led the army to suppress the rebellion.

In the end, Zhu Youxiao was bombed to death by Zhu Youjian with artillery. Counting his father and another prince, three of the four died in the hands of his own family.

Compared with them, the old Li's family in the Tang Dynasty was regarded as brothers and friends, and the family was harmonious...

The only thing to watch in the whole drama is that Ma Yinli's appearance is at its peak, and there are many scenes of forced passion, which makes me feel pity for it.

If it weren't for the data, it would be difficult for anyone to believe that it was filmed by Zhang Li. The most frightening thing is that it was filmed in the same year as "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", and many actors participated in two dramas at the same time.

It is not difficult to see from this that although Zhang Li's director is good, it still depends on the screenwriter, so it is not difficult to understand that "The Martial Universe" will be filmed in later generations.

The reason why I say so much is actually because Fanxing Investment has produced the TV series "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", which is going to be broadcast on CCTV.

This masterpiece, which claims to be the most powerful, is one of the top three TV dramas on Douban. In fact, the ratings in the original space are not good, or even poor.

Although it is due to the subject matter, a large part of the reason is that the broadcast platform is Hunan Provincial Television.

At that time, Hunan TV attracted a large number of young audiences due to a series of entertainment programs, Korean dramas, and idol dramas, and became the local station with the best ratings and the highest topicality.

But also because of this, historical dramas like "Da Ming Dynasty 1566" have no market at all among the audiences of Hunan TV.

But CCTV is different, especially the central one. Historical dramas and themes still have a vast audience. Even if "Daming Dynasty 1566" is put on CCTV, the ratings are definitely much better than the original time and space.

In addition to "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", Cao Xuan also snatched another project from Hunan TV-"Qia Classmate Boy".

Of course, the latter can’t be regarded as stealing. It should be said that it was prepared by Fanxing and then cooperated with the local propaganda outlets in Hunan Province. After all, this is the hometown of great people. If you shoot the youth stage, you need local nods in many aspects.

Not afraid to say that Cao Xuan really wanted to star in this show, and he didn't even consider the difference between movies and TV shows. It is an honor to be able to act.

But it's a pity that a certain fat person is afraid to write, so Cao Xuan can only give up, and it would be nice to be able to contribute silently.

.........

February 2006, 1, New Year's Eve
This is Cao Xuan's seventh time to participate in the Spring Festival Gala. Compared with last year's big package, he produced many outstanding works in one go.

This year can be said to be Cao Xuan's most low-key one over the years.

Before that, he declined the invitation of the art director and consultant of the director group, but only signed up for a singing show, and rarely participated in the specific interviews of the Spring Festival Gala. He focused more on "Xiu Chun Dao 2" and the new album.

But even so, Cao Xuan is still one of the most watched stars in this year's Spring Festival Gala.

As the gala approached, the host of CCTV's "Take You to the Spring Festival Gala" live broadcast program found Cao Xuan who was eating melon seeds in the dressing room.

"Mr. Cao, hello, I'm Xiao Sa, the host."

"Happy New Year everyone, I'm Cao Xuan."

Cao Xuan put down the melon seeds, and greeted the host and the live camera with a smile.

"Mr. Cao, I don't think you are nervous at all."

"The number of times I have come has increased, and I have a strong ability to withstand pressure."

Cao Xuan was very calm, and he took a sneak peek at Xiao Sa. He didn't look like him, who went to the Spring Festival Gala several times and talked back.

"Just kidding, your previous Spring Festival Gala has left a deep impression on the audience, what kind of work you have brought to the national audience this year, can you share with everyone."

Cao Xuan restrained himself, and replied seriously: "This is a very quiet, warm and healing song. At the end of the year, I hope to bring some comfort and strength to the audience."

"Okay, thank you Teacher Cao for your answer."

Xiao Sa accepted it as soon as he saw it, and he was not involved in spoilers. He also chatted about Cao Xuan's personal Spring Festival anecdotes. Before the live broadcast, he faced the next group of artists.

In the past few years, it was the Second Palace of East and West and another show. Cao Xuan still had to worry about other things. This year, he was alone, and he left after singing.

Waiting quietly until the evening, Cao Xuan, who has already experienced many times, adjusted his state silently, and came to the stage to complete his performance around 8:[-].

"...

There are so many people in this world
how lucky i have us
Twilight in this long fate

often let me stare into the distance
……

A few frames flash by in the evening wind
Is the spin in the gallop gone?
Walking in the distant light, you are sunny

With so many people around me, the world is silent

......"

Mo Wenwei, the original singer of "There Are So Many People in This World", was sung by Han Hong on the Spring Festival Gala stage in 2022, and it was also one of the few highlights of the Spring Festival Gala.

There are many versions of this song. Apart from Mo and Han, Lin Zhixuan and Zhou Shen have also sung it. They all have different styles, but they all perform well and each has its own fans.

In general, most people have heard the original version of Karen Mok.

But from the conception of the song, Mo is more inclined to the style of the relationship between men and women, while other versions have a higher conception.

Han Hong, in particular, evolved us in the lyrics from the people of the whole country, singing more about the changes in this year, and singing about the beauty of the world.

Some people are born, some people leave, some people fight hard, some people guard, we all face it together and forge ahead.

The version sung by Cao Xuan is Han Hong's version. His voice is clear and bright, not in a hurry, as if he is talking to someone, with a kind of warm and healing power.

In terms of stage performance, this song may not be as brilliant as Cao Xuan's shows in previous years, and it may even be quite satisfactory.

But this song is very chewy, and it belongs to the kind of music that becomes more delicious when you touch it. You may not feel anything after listening to it once, but you will fall in love with this song after listening to it a few times.

And many professionals and fans have also seen from this song that Cao Xuan's singing skills are getting better and better.

One person with one microphone, easy to handle, easy to use, that kind of self-confidence in the bones, is the superstar demeanor that many fans talk about.

At the end of the song, Cao Xuan bowed and stepped off the stage, simply packed up his things, and went straight home to celebrate the New Year.

This year, when my parents went back to their hometown for the New Year, Cao Xuan’s grandma was not in good health. Cao Xuan had just been checked by the Beijing University Hospital a few years ago. There was no serious illness, but his physical function continued to decline.

To put it bluntly, the old lady is almost eighty this year, and she has reached her age.

The old lady's family changed a lot in her early years, and she suffered a lot. After marrying Cao Xuan's grandfather, she didn't enjoy any blessings. She didn't have enough to eat until she was past middle age, and her body was severely depleted.

To put it bluntly, if Cao Xuan's grandson hadn't been rich in the past few years, had never stopped taking supplements, went to the hospital immediately when he was sick, and had a physical examination every other time, the old lady might have gone there long ago.

But it is still the case, and in the end it is no match for life, old age, sickness and death.

According to the "Imperial Physician" invited by Cao Xuan through his relationship, if it is slow for a year or two, if it is fast for two or three months, it will not be good. Even with all kinds of meticulous maintenance, it will not last long.

What Cao Xuan meant was to stay in the capital, and he didn't care about the cost as long as he could procrastinate.

But the old lady guessed that she knew that she wanted to go home, clamoring for the fallen leaves to return to their roots. If the family couldn't stop her, she could only do as she wished. She even brought Sun Lan and her husband home to watch over her. They didn't return to Beijing during the Spring Festival.

Cao Xuan also quietly went back to his hometown to visit a few years ago, and this time when he comes back from the United States, he will go back to stay with the old lady for a few days.

His parents were not there, and Zeng Damei and his mother went abroad to visit his sister-in-law in England, and they were not in the capital, so Cao Xuan simply went to Hu Jing's house to celebrate the new year with the cheek.

Donggong Empress's parents have been staying in the capital this year, and Cao Xuan went over to have a meal when he had nothing to do, and he was already very familiar with the mother-in-law and the old man.

Knowing that the son-in-law is celebrating the New Year together, the old couple are not to mention how happy they are. Hu Jing is not allowed to move during the New Year's Eve dinner, and they insist on waiting for Cao Xuan to come back from the Spring Festival Gala before eating.

Looking at Hu Jing's resentful eyes, Cao Tianwang felt secretly refreshed.

30 years in Hedong, 30 years in Hexi, the feng shui has taken turns, maybe you were favored by your husband and wife at the beginning, and now it's his turn, the precious son-in-law, to be favored.

"Dad, Mom, didn't we agree that you should eat first?"

Although he is not married, Mr. Cao is thick-skinned, and his parents in the East and West Second Palace have already called him, and he does not treat himself as an outsider at all.

Hu Jing's mother looks a bit like Hu Jing, with apricot eyes and fair skin, and a very gentle personality. She likes Cao Xuan very much. When Cao Xuan calls her mother, she can't stop smiling from ear to ear.

"Leave her alone. I ate a lot of snacks and oranges in the afternoon. I'm not hungry. It's you. Why don't you eat? Watch TV with your dad, and mom will give you some hot food."

"Thank you, Mom, you are so kind to me."

"This kid, why are the family so heretics?"

Hu's mother smiled all over her face, then looked at Hu Jing, and said angrily, "Stop sitting still, come and help me serve the food."

Hu Jing: "..."

Quietly stepping on Cao Xuan, who was gloating silently, Hu Jing went to help the kitchen honestly, while Cao Xuan talked with the old man.

Dad Hu is a businessman who has done everything, including clothing, retail, intermediaries and food, and he seems to have spent a lot of time, but the scale is not large, and he only earns a dozen or 20 a year.

But it was not bad at the time, otherwise there would be no money to send Hu Jing to the capital to learn dance and art.

Later, Hu Jing became famous, had savings, and invested some money in the family. Cao Xuan helped find some contacts and introduced some businesses. Only then did Hu's father start the business, and now his annual stable income is more than 200 million.

It's nothing to Cao Xuan, but it's considered a small asset when he gets it outside.

But Hu's father has no ambitions, and he doesn't think about how to expand. Compared with business, he and Hu's mother are more concerned about their daughter's future.

For Cao Xuan, apart from his reputation, they are very satisfied with other aspects.

The old mother-in-law is about to treat him as her own son, and Hu Jing has to stand aside. Hu's father doesn't say anything, but he is very proud that he has a son-in-law of a big star + rich man.

"We all watched your Spring Festival Gala show just now. It's a good song, nice and deep."

"Dad, you are too flattering."

Cao Xuan said modestly, seeing that the father-in-law was not interested in programs other than sketches, he took the initiative to greet him.

"Why don't we kill a game of chess?"

"Row."

Hu's father's eyes lit up, and he immediately brought chess and cards from the study, and after setting up the chess pieces, he was about to fight his son-in-law.

This old man is a chess idiot, and his level is not low. I heard that he is still a member of the Chu City Chess Association, and he is considered a first-class level in amateur chess.

Cao Xuan's chess skills are also good, above average for ordinary people, but a bit worse than the old man, but he has cheating tools.

There is a show routine in later generations, specifically using the chess game on smartphones to bully the old man, but now in 2006, few mobile phones are equipped with this kind of game.

But who is Cao Xuan? The box game under him is the number one game company in the industry. He can easily develop a customized mobile game/software for him. Has a very high hidden function.

Cao Xuan usually played chess with the old man at his own level, and if he couldn't play chess, he took a photo with his mobile phone and hung up.

Relying on this insidious routine, Cao Xuan loses less and wins more, and when he performs supernormally, he can even squeeze the old man's hair out...

However, today's Chinese New Year, Cao Xuan did not cheat, showed his true level, and lost three games in a row.

Seeing Papa Hu's arrogant and unrestrained smile, Cao Xuan hesitated for a while, but still didn't take out his phone.

For Chinese New Year, just make the old man happy.

He remembered that the uncle of a senior executive of Fox Animation was a national chess player. He would invite him to play with Papa Hu one day, so that the old man could really feel what cruelty is...

After playing chess, the family had a reunion dinner and watched the skit "Say Things" by Lao Zhao, Song Dandan, and Xiao Cui. With bursts of laughter, the bell of the new year ushered in.

In the next few days, Cao Xuan went to pay New Year's greetings as usual.

This kind of direct door-to-door visit is not long, at most one more time, I am afraid I have to call in advance to ask for instructions in advance, but if I can still enter the door at that time, the meaning will be completely different. gone.

It's not easy, since 1998, Cao Xuan has buried a long line for almost ten years...

Besides the places he must visit every year, Cao Xuan did not forget his master Li Xuejian.

In the past two years, Cao Xuan has actually been intentionally letting his master play more dramas with stars. More money is more comfortable than nothing.

Unless there is a book he particularly likes, or Cao Xuan needs help, he is more inclined to evolve dramas or take on outside dramas.

Cao Xuan persuaded him a few times, but if he didn't listen, he just let him go. Anyway, he had something to eat, so it was impossible to starve the master, so the old man could act whatever he wanted.

But this time, Cao Xuan specially found Li Xuejian, and bragged about it so loudly that he made the old man dizzy, so he tried to see him.

"Feng Shen Bang", which has been in preparation for several years, is finally ready to start filming this year.

The TV series is directed by Hu Mei, who has filmed "Yongzheng Dynasty" and "Hanwu Emperor".

The two co-directors are "Lotus Lantern" director Yu Mingsheng and Fanxing's contracted director Zhang Yongxin.

The representative works of the latter are "Military Division Alliance" and "Awakening Age". They haven't made their debut yet, but they have also filmed a few dramas with a good reputation.

The total investment is 1.5 to 2 million, but it was filmed into two parts, corresponding to the two major plots of "Shang Zhou's Fighting Zhou" and "Wu Wang's Fighting Zhou", with a total of 80 episodes, co-produced by Fanxing and CCTV, each accounting for half. share advertising revenue.

The male protagonist is undoubtedly Jiang Ziya. Cao Xuan asked someone to ask Mr. Lan Tianye if he had any thoughts of re-entering the rivers and lakes, but the old man declined.

Cao Xuan didn't do what he thought, and directly decided on Li Xuejian. He has confidence in his master and can play this role well.

Retired cadre Yang Shanzhou, Liangshan boss Song Jiang, Shanghai beach boss Feng Jingyao, Northeast king Zhang Zuolin...

No matter what type of role, Li Xuejian can make people forget about others, as if the role is him.

As for the image problem, Cao Xuan remembers Wu Ershan's "Fengshenbang" trilogy, the old man played Zhou Wenwang, but his demeanor and appearance were more like Jiang Taigong who enshrined the gods than Huang Bo.

Cao Xuan's proposal was also approved by CCTV and the director team. There are only a few actors who can play Jiang Ziya well and are qualified to support such a large production. Li Xuejian is one of them, and everyone has no reason to disagree.

Cao Xuan came to the door today, also intending to finalize the role, Li Xuejian was a little hesitant.

It's not that he doesn't have the confidence to act well, but the investment is really not small, if it goes wrong, it will ruin the apprentice.

But Cao Xuan couldn't stand the rainbow farts, and the teacher's wife turned her elbows out beside her. Even the younger brother helped to intercede. In the end, Li Xuejian hesitated for a long time, but nodded in agreement.

"How about...I'll try."

"Don't try, you can do it."

Cao Xuan sent a text message to the staff, asking them to prepare a contract, and the remuneration will be paid at the highest market price, and then the father and father drink and eat.

After this matter is settled, it won't be long before the appointment time, and it's time for him to prepare to leave for the United States...

(End of this chapter)