China Entertainment Mythology 2004

Chapter 197 The opponent is the number one blockbuster series in history
In mid-October, Li Mu sent the manuscripts of the Chinese and English versions of "The Hunger Games 10" to President Qin Li. As before, the Simplified Chinese version was still published by Science Fiction World Magazine, and the English version was published by the magazine in cooperation with foreign countries. Publishing house co-published.

Taking advantage of the time of handing in the manuscript, Li Mu chatted with President Qin Li.

According to her, Da Liu's "Three-Body Problem" has been very popular in the circle recently. According to the latest statistics last month, the total sales volume of "Three-Body Problem" has officially exceeded 60 copies.

60 copies doesn't sound like much. Li Muguang's global sales of "The Hunger Games" series have already exceeded 6000 million copies, but how many Li Mus are there in the world, right?
You must know that before "The Three-Body Problem", none of Liu's best-selling novels exceeded 5 copies. This time, the ceiling has been directly raised by more than 10 times, which is already quite remarkable.

In fact, to some extent, most of the sales of these 60 copies are due to Li Mu.

According to the memory in Li Mu's mind, in today's original timeline, the total sales volume of "Three-Body Problem" at this time has just exceeded 15 copies.In this life, Li Mu would recommend a wave of "The Three-Body Problem" from time to time. Obviously, many of the 60 copies sold were books that readers bought after listening to Li Mu's recommendation.

When she was about to hang up the phone, Qin Li congratulated and said:
"I wish your "The Hunger Games" a huge hit at the box office, and its influence is comparable to that of "Harry Potter"!"

"Thank you."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Li couldn't help but think of the time when "The Hunger Games" was first published.

It's been five or six years in a flash, time flies so fast.

I remember that "The Hunger Games" sold 48 copies in the first month. Qin Li also misheard that it was 4.8 copies, but the 4.8 copies that were misheard still scared the whole office.

4.8 a month, more than 50 copies a year, when did the books written by Chinese people sell so well in the United States?
Unexpectedly, the sales volume of 4.8 copies turned out to be a figure she misheard, and the actual sales volume turned out to be 48 copies!

There are 48 copies a month, and several million copies a year. I remember that everyone in the office was dumbfounded at that moment.

It has been five or six years now, and the global sales of "The Hunger Games" have reached 6000 million copies, all of which are like a dream.

……

Also in mid-October, Huashang Media's another masterpiece "Gongsuo Xinyu" officially announced its launch.

Li Muren did not attend the launch conference in France, so Yang Mi and Tong Liya will inevitably be a little disappointed.

Some time ago, when "Scary Step by Step" started, Li Mu interacted cordially with the leading actors, but now he doesn't come when "Gong Suo Xin Jade" starts, what's the matter?A daughter-in-law is not as important as an outsider, right?
"Bah! What kind of daughter-in-law and outsider, why did I suddenly have such an idea? Bah, bah, bah!"

Yang Mi poohed a few times in her heart, and then thought: "It should be that family members are not as important as outsiders?! Well, there is nothing wrong with thinking this way."

For Yang Mi and Tong Liya, both of them are serious artists signed by Huashang Media, but what about Liu Shishi from "Scary Step by Step"?She belongs to Tang people, an outsider who is not suitable for Li Mu?
As a result, he went to start "Scary Step by Step", but he didn't have time to start "Gong Suo Xin Jade". Isn't this "family members are not as good as outsiders"?
At the end of October, "Taken 10" was officially completed. At the finale banquet, Li Mu solemnly respected the director Chen Musheng with a glass of wine.

The "Taken" series is regarded as Li Mu's debut work, and its importance to Li Mu is self-evident.

At present, the total box office of the first two films in this series has reached 7.5 million US dollars. Everyone knows that the total box office of this series will break 10 billion US dollars.

This is a very impressive achievement. As the director of this series, Chen Musheng's importance is self-evident.Now that the series is officially over, Li Mu respects director Chen both emotionally and rationally.

In addition to director Chen Musheng, Li Mu also drank with Chen Zhongzhi, the action director of this series.

I remember that when the first film was filmed, there were some ideological disputes between Li Mu and Cheng Jiaban. The image in Li Mu's mind was captured.

Although Chen himself may not approve of Li Mu's action concept, he did try his best to cooperate with Li Mu to complete the action part of the whole movie.

Cheng Long was also quite emotional about the end of this series.

Two "Taken", one "Assassin", and one "Doomsday Collapse" - he has cooperated with Li Mu in four films in the past six years, and it is these four films that have brought his status in Hollywood to a higher level. Now the "Taken" series is over.

Talking about the new movie with Li Mu, Li Mu suggested that we can talk about the Western looting of Chinese cultural relics, Cheng Long heard the words and silently patted Li Mu on the shoulder—it’s amazing, this kid can always speak to his heart go!

Speaking of reluctance to this series, Liu Yifei's mother Liu Xiaoli is definitely among the best.

How did she feel that she could also film with a star like Cheng Long in the past, and she would make four movies in one shot?
Especially in the "Taken" series, she even sat down as the heroine.

Well, actually she and her daughter belong to the dual heroines.

Seeing how talented and beautiful they were standing with their daughter, Liu Xiaoli thought about having a good talk with Li Mu's mother, Ms. Liu Xiaohui.

Seeing that the children are not too young, it is time to worry about formal marriage.

Now that the relationship between Li Mu and Liu Yifei has been stable for several years, Li Mu's parents and Liu Xiaoli have also established contact.

However, the two families usually have little communication.

When the film crew returned to China, the large-scale publicity campaign for "The Hunger Games" had already begun for some time. The two biggest selling points of the film were Li Mu and Liu Yifei, so the film's publicity work was naturally inseparable from these two.

To Li Mu.

At this time, his personal total box office is already the third in the world, and his last film directed by himself is "Gravity", which created a 3D film that shocked the world just a few months ago together with James Cameron's "Avatar" storm.

And "The Hunger Games" is the first film he personally directed after "Gravity".

How big of a gimmick is this?
Not to Liu Yifei.

At this time, the global box office of her starring works has exceeded 20 billion US dollars. Except for Gong Li, who just starred in "Gravity" and also won an Oscar, no one can compare the world influence of Chinese actresses. In front of Liu Yifei.

Besides, she is also director Li Mu's official girlfriend.

And "The Hunger Games" is her first major female lead film.

Since the difference between the two is the biggest selling point of the film, the publicity work will naturally revolve around the two.

Since the beginning of November, the film's publicity team has arranged multiple interviews, interviews and variety shows for the two.

As for what questions the reporter will probably ask during the interview or interview, and how Li Mu should answer these questions, the publicity team for this film will naturally prepare a plan in advance.

"Director Li, the simultaneous global release date of "The Hunger Games" is November 11, and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is only one week earlier than "The Hunger Games", and its global release date is November 26. The two films are similar There are many features, and there will inevitably be reporters comparing the two works during publicity, and we have to prepare in advance for this.”

In Li Mu's office, the film's publicity team came to communicate with Li Mu in advance.

"How would a reporter ask questions?"

"Many people on the Internet are now saying that "The Hunger Games" is the Chinese version of "Harry Potter". At that time, the reporter will probably ask Director Li what he thinks of this formulation from netizens."

"Then how should I answer?"

"The main theme must be modesty. Director Li's "Hunger Games" series has sold 6000 million copies worldwide, while JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" series has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. The difference between the two is 6 times. "The Hunger Games" The first film of the "Harry Potter" series has not yet been released, the global box office of the first six "Harry Potter" series has reached 6 billion US dollars, and successfully beat the 54 series with a cumulative box office of 50 billion US dollars, becoming the most well-deserved series of movies in history. For this kind of opponent with a lot of fans, we must be humble and lower our attitude to win the favor of the majority of the audience."

"You are right, "The Hunger Games" is not the Chinese version of "Harry Potter". Huaxia's Harry Potter."

"What is it?"

"Strictly speaking, "The Hunger Games" is not a Chinese novel. Yes, as the author, I am a Chinese, but the novels I write are not necessarily Chinese novels. In fact, I wrote "The Hunger Games" completely. It is to earn the first pot of gold, so this novel is essentially an American novel that caters to the tastes of American readers and makes money.”

"Don't say that when reporters ask questions, unless Director Li doesn't want box office anymore."

"Will telling the truth affect the box office? Well then, you are more professional than me in publicity, and I will listen to you."

Sure enough, the reporter asked this question during the interview the next day.

"'The Hunger Games' is not China's 'Harry Potter', the gap between the two is very far..."

Li Mu answered the various transfer questions raised by the reporters step by step.

"Excuse me, Director Li, we know that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been officially announced to be released on November 11th, and Director Li's "The Hunger Games" just announced that it will be released on November 19th, the schedule of the two films It's only a week apart, is there any special purpose for this arrangement?"

"Actually, no. The American distributor suggested that it be released on this day. We believe in the professionalism of the American distributor, so we agreed to the distribution plan they proposed. The matter is as simple as that."

"However, it is now rumored on the Internet that you are actually director Li who insisted on setting the file on November 11, because according to the usual practice, the North American box office of the second week of the film will be reduced by more than 26% compared to the first week, so regardless of "Harry Potter and the No matter how strong the opening weekend of Deathly Hallows is, it is very likely that its second weekend will not beat the opening weekend of "The Hunger Games". The promotional slogan of "Apparatus" - May I ask Director Li, do you really have this consideration?"

Li Mu glanced at the little girl who asked the question. She was indeed pretty, but the question she asked was really tricky!
He glanced at the backbone of the propaganda team in the audience, and now the other party was exaggeratingly mouthing to him, and Li Mu saw the word "modest".

""The Hunger Games" and "Harry Potter" are not works of the same level. After 50 years, no one may remember "The Hunger Games", but there must be many people who still remember "Harry Potter."

The backbone of the "Hunger Games" promotion and Li Mu's assistant, Liang Bing, both heaved a sigh of relief when they heard the words. Li Mu's answer was in line with the promotional tone set by the promotion team, which is very good.

And Li Mu on the stage was still talking freely.

"From the time scale of 50 years, "The Hunger Games" is certainly not as good as "Harry Potter", but if the time scale is reduced to a time scale of one, two years or even a few months, then "The Hunger Games" On the contrary, it may temporarily overwhelm "Harry Potter". Take the sales of novels as an example. "Harry Potter" has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, but it has not won the global monthly sales champion for a long time, and even It is very difficult to enter the top five and top ten, but my "The Hunger Games" has been the global sales champion for more than ten consecutive months."

"Director Li, do you mean that "The Hunger Games" is not as good as "Harry Potter" on a long scale, but on a short scale, such as during the period when the two films are released at the end of this month, "The Hunger Games" is likely to be worse than "Harry Potter" It surpassed "Harry Potter" at the box office, is that what you meant just now, Director Li?"

The atmosphere at the scene was a bit tit-for-tat, and the film promotion team in the audience continued to lip-sync to remind Li Mu to be humble.

The last "Harry Potter" movie grossed $9.34 million worldwide.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" cost $1.5 million to make, more than twice as much as "The Hunger Games."The total box office of their series of movies exceeds 54 billion U.S. dollars. How can you compete with them?

Li Mu: "Even in a short time scale, the global box office of "The Hunger Games" is still impossible to surpass that of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Game" is incomparable."

Hearing that the film announcement team nodded secretly in the audience, the reporter who asked the question was slightly disappointed.

"We all know that the "Harry Potter" series of movies is the most successful series of movies in the world, and the cumulative global box office is even more than the famous 007 series. The production cost of "The Hunger Games" is only "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" Even if the global box office of "The Hunger Games" is only half of the latest "Harry Potter" movie, it will still be a successful commercial film." The female reporter said.

Li Mu: "The global influence of the Harry Potter series is huge. Even on a short time scale, The Hunger Games still has no chance of winning. Especially in the UK, the Hunger Games and Harry Potter The gap will undoubtedly be even greater and insurmountable. But if the space is limited to North America, then I think "The Hunger Games" still has a certain chance to overwhelm "Harry Potter."

The publicity team in the audience was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Li Mu.

The reporter who asked the question was also taken aback for a moment, and then his expression became slightly excited.

"Director Li, do you mean that the North American box office of "The Hunger Games" actually has a chance to surpass that of "Harry Potter?"

Li Mu: "Of course, "The Hunger Games" is very popular in North America. It is the first question you asked today: "The schedule of "The Hunger Games" is a week later than that of "Harry Potter". Harry Potter fame?' Of course not! Because the first week is pointless, I wouldn't be so bored, and even if the two films were released on the same day, there is still a good chance that "The Hunger Games" will surpass "Harry Potter." Potter."

After talking for a long time, I came back again.

(End of this chapter)