The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 561 Li Shengyao’s prediction

July is coming to an end before you know it. The movies that are getting more attention this month should be "Parasite", "Painted Skin 2", "Partners", and "Search".

"Painted Skin 2" has a box office of 1 million, "Partners" has a box office of [-] million, "Parasite" has a box office of [-] million, and "Search" has the lowest box office, only over [-] million. However, this movie is very popular and is considered a success. Zi Ge's movies have gained a good reputation in recent years.

By the end of July, the weather has become even hotter, and the competition for Chinese-language films has become even more intense.

At 28:06 in the evening of July 30, the sun has not yet set and the street lights have not yet turned on.

A grand premiere is being held at Fenghua Cinemas in Yanjing DC, and "囧 in Thailand" is about to officially premiere.

Dozens of paparazzi took photos with cameras.

The red carpet at the entrance of the cinema was spread for more than 50 meters. There was an endless stream of celebrities coming to attend the premiere, which was very lively.

Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, and Bao Qiang stood at the gate to welcome the celebrities who came to support them.

Xu Zheng was not wearing a hat, showing his round bald head. His face was full of joy, and his eyes were almost bent with laughter.

Huang Bo wore a black suit, black leather shoes, and a three-part hair style that was slicked back, making him look very formal.

Bao Qiang was also very formal, observing Xu Zheng from time to time, and occasionally showing an understanding smile.

Lee Sing-yew did not stand at the door or wait for the stars in the cinema.

He was sitting in the VIP lounge of the cinema, watching an old Hong Kong movie on his tablet.

"Parasite" has become a thing of the past. He was recently thinking about what movie to make next. He hesitated for a while, so he watched a movie to relax.

"Parasite" has achieved both box office and word-of-mouth success. Lee Sung-Yao received a lot of invitations some time ago, including domestic and foreign invitations, including banquets, film awards, academy lectures, and TV interviews.

In late July, Li Shengyao was very busy, which annoyed him a little. He didn't like spending time on other people.

If it was making a movie, he would enjoy it.

But flying around, giving speeches, and being guests, he felt there was no point.

By the end of July, there were still many invitations, but this time he turned them down. The reason was that Feng Hua's "Thailand" was about to be released.

Every summer is a time that film production companies compete for, and for mainland films, August is a top priority.

Generally speaking, August is the month to protect domestic films.

Those domestic movies that want to show off their talents often choose to be released in August.

On August [-], [-], the movies released in the mainland include "Thailand", "A Big Crowd", "Hearing the Wind", "Call Me a Hero", "Promise in Pyongyang", "Adventures in the Mysterious World", "Happiness", "BMW Rhapsody".

Among them, the most anticipated movie is naturally "The Wind Listener", which stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Zhou Xun.

Moreover, the film crew also used the male and female protagonists to hype up the drama, talking about the relationship between Tony Leung and Zhou Xun on Hong Kong Island, saying that Zhou Xun's iron tree blossomed and became pregnant with Tony Leung's child, and that Lau Jialin slapped Zhou Xun on the set.

All in all, the hype for this movie is very low.

Liang Chaowei is already in his fifth year of running, and Zhou Xun is in his fourth year of running. At such an age, emotional issues are still being hyped, and the announcement of the movie is simply crazy.

Who is interested in watching old men and women falling in love?
Facts have proved that neither Liang Chaowei nor Zhou Xun is a big traffic user, so this kind of hype has no effect.

The producers of "The Wind Listener" worked hard to hype it up, but when it came to its release, "囧囧" was still the most scheduled film.

Fenghua and China Film Group joined forces to protect "囧囧". Many people were dissatisfied, but they did not dare to speak out.

"The Wind Listener" had its premiere a long time ago, and its reputation has been pretty good.

Regarding this, both Xu Zheng and Huang Boboqiang were very nervous. They were worried that "囧囧" would be completely suppressed by "The Listener".

"Don't worry, "The Wind Listener" only had a box office of over 1 million, and "囧囧" is in the billions."

Li Shengyao should be the most confident person.

Now the premiere of "囧囧" is held. Stars and artists know that Fenghua is the main caster of this movie, so they are very generous and many people come to watch the movie.

However, Li Shengyao does not plan to come forward now, so as not to steal the limelight from Xu Zheng, Huang Boboqiang and others.

These three are actually ambitious people. Li Shengyao does not care about superficial vanity, but this is not necessarily the case for these three.

Furthermore, he had already watched "囧" and didn't want to watch it again, so he hid here.

He plans to wait until the movie is over and everyone goes to the celebration banquet before he comes out to exchange feelings with Han Sanping, Lao Mouzi and other big shots.

Two and a half hours later, the premiere of "囧囧" ended, and all the celebrities moved to the famous Yanjing Hotel, where they held a celebration banquet.

Li Shengyao passed this time.

Among the crowd, Xu Zheng's bald head became even brighter, and beads of sweat could be seen falling from his head.

"Director Li, everyone's response has been very good."

He looked very excited.

When Huang Bo and Bao Qiang saw Li Shengyao coming, they immediately greeted him and then stood and listened to his teachings.

Li Shengyao smiled and pointed: "Actually, you don't have to care about the reputation of the premiere, because even if the movie is not good, those who come to support it will still say nice things. The premiere is a means of hype.

Let more people know that the movie is about to be released. As for other things, you don’t need to care too much.

Of course, "囧囧" is very good. If you keep your attitude, there will be more surprises in the future. "

When Xu Zheng heard this, he nodded repeatedly.

Han Sanping came over at this time, with admiration on his face, "Director Li, your vision is really amazing. This movie is very funny and will definitely be a hit."

Yu Dong followed, and he looked at Li Shengyao, his eyes full of emotion, as if Li Shengyao was his father.

"Director Li, we are waiting for your decision."

Yu Dong previously invited Lee Sheng Yew to film for Bona, but Lee Sheng Yew has not responded yet.

In fact, he had already made a decision in his heart, and he planned to reject Yu Dong.

Maybe he can earn tens of millions of dollars by helping Bo Na make movies, but Bo Na wants to make influential movies that can make money in a beautiful country, and that is to make commercial films.

Lee Sheng-yew, on the other hand, wants to make films that are both commercial and artistic.

When he makes a movie now, the first factor is to make a good movie, whether it can win him an award, and whether it can improve his status in the industry.

The second factor is box office.

Just like when he watched "Parasite", if he won the grand prize at Cannes, then the mission would be completed.

As for the box office, as long as it doesn’t lose money.

But now is the celebration party for the premiere of "囧囧", so there is no need to say anything to dampen the mood.

Li Shengyao planned to wait for two days before calling Yu Dong to express his attitude.

At this moment, Feng Xiaogang came over with a wine glass. He grinned, showing his big yellow teeth, "Director Li, this new movie you invested in is really great, awesome. I think maybe the mainland's comedy movies will be the best in the future." This model.”

"囧" is a road comedy, which is very different from Xiaogang Pao's Feng comedy.

Feng's comedies, or some of the old Yanjing comedies, are very life-like and have a bit of a cold sense of humor.

The language design is very subtle, and some buzzwords can often be used.

For a long time, this kind of comedy was the most popular comedy in the mainland film industry.

Later, Ning Hao's crazy series gave mainland people one more choice.

More noisy, more adventures, more weird people, and incredible things are combined into a funny and sad story.

Since then, Feng's comedies, or comedies based on Yanjing culture, have not been the first choice of mainland people.

Including the later Happy Twist series, it is very different from Feng's comedies, and is more nonsensical comedies.

Feng Xiaogang may not necessarily mean what he said, but it is indeed true.

The cold humor of the disciples of the future compound will no longer work, and the popular thing will be noisy comedy.

Li Shengyao smiled and nodded, "I am also optimistic about such comedy routines."

When Feng Xiaogang heard this, he paused slightly, then laughed and agreed a few times, but he felt a little disapproval in his heart.

When it comes to comedy in the Mainland, he is the big brother.

Lee Sung Yew is indeed awesome, he can win awards and his movies can be sold all over the world.

But when it comes to comedy, he feels he has more say.

In his opinion, "囧囧" is too noisy and noisy to be considered elegant.

The script was written by brother Wang Shuo, and the comedy with Beijing movies is more interesting.

At this time, Han Sanping asked: "Director Li, are you really optimistic that "囧囧" can break one billion?"

After the words fell, everyone looked over.

Han Sanping had an expectant look in her eyes, but the others were much more complicated. Although they didn't show it, they were all smiling in their hearts.

They don't believe that "囧囧" can break 4 billion, while "If You Are the One" only exceeds [-] million.

Li Shengyao nodded and said seriously: "There is not one billion, but there are eight or nine billion."

"Ha ha ha ha."

The crowd laughed.

"Cheers to the one-billion-dollar box office of "囧囧"."

Li Shengyao could vaguely sense everyone's thoughts. Except for Han Sanping, everyone else was just looking at the joke.

But he is too lazy to care, time will prove his words.

……

Feng Xiaogang left the "囧囧" celebration party and thought about how excited Xu Zheng, Huang Bo and Bao Qiang were tonight, as if they had really received a billion box office, and he couldn't help but curl his lips.

In Mainland comedy, he must be the Big Brother.

Unless Zhou Xingxing takes action, he feels that everyone else in front of him is just a rookie, unable to step up to the stage, and not on the same level.

"Ring, ring, ring!" The phone rang, it was Wang Zhonglei.

"Xiao Gang, how about "囧囧"?"

"It's not bad. I think it's similar to "The Man on the Road", with a box office of more than 1 million at most."

"Is the box office so small? Li Shengyao said one billion."

Wang Zhonglei is very concerned about the box office of "囧囧" because Huayi is the main investor in "Painted Skin 2" which was released last month.

"Painted Skin 2" broke many records and earned [-] million.

Huayi's stock has been rising recently, and the Wang brothers have made a lot of money.

Wang Zhonglei carefully looked at the upcoming movie schedules and felt that "Painted Skin 2" has the potential to become the top movie of the year. In this case, Huayi can continue to tell stories to fool investors.

He was shocked when he heard Lee Sing-yew say that "囧囧" could earn one billion. He was afraid that "囧囧" would steal the limelight. In that case, their story-telling plan would be interrupted.

At this time, Wang Zhonglei was very happy with Xiaogangpao's words, but he still had to make sure.

"Lee Sing-yew is good at writing Chinese comedies, but not mainland comedies. "囧囧" is a noisy and noisy movie, similar to "囧囧路", which only had a box office."

In Lee Sheng-yew's previous life, "People on the Road" only had more than 3000 million.

In this time and space, due to the high ranking of films by Fenghua and China Film Group, "The Journey" received [-] million.

But compared to Xiaogangpao's "If You Are the One", it really can't be compared.

Wang Zhonglei breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

"Okay, just say it this way. I trust your judgment. In the Mainland, you are the big brother of comedy movies."

……

Feng Xiaogang didn't pay too much attention to "囧囧". He went to attend the premiere of "囧囧" entirely because of Li Shengyao's face, not because of Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, and Bao Qiang.

But four days later, "囧囧" was officially released. When he saw the latest newspaper, he was stunned.

"囧囧" was released on August 30.00st, and its premiere day schedule was [-]%, five points higher than "The Wind Listener".

In terms of box office, "囧囧" took in 800 million at the box office on its opening day, while "The Wind Listener" only took in 500 million. The two films are not on the same level at all.

As for other movies, they are just cannon fodder, none of them have made more than 500 million.

"Damn it, "囧囧" won't really be a hit, right?"

He is not worried about being slapped in the face. He has been slapped in the face countless times. He is more worried that comedies like "Thailand" will take over the mainstream and his Feng's comedies will be marginalized in the future.

August 4000st is a Wednesday. The second day after "Thailand" was released, which was Thursday, the box office rose and it took 300 million. On the third day, Friday, it performed even better, taking in [-] million.

On Saturday and Sunday, the box office was 5000 million and 800 million respectively.

Based on this statistics, "囧囧" received 900 million in the first five days.

This box office trend is even stronger than that of "Painted Skin 2".

Moreover, the reputation of "囧囧" is still completely explosive, and it belongs to the type that is praised by everyone.

The advantages of Xu Zheng, Huang Bo and Bao Qiang’s good reputation and high audience are revealed in the past.

The three of them may not have many fans, but their popularity among passersby is very good.

In the second week, "囧囧" performed even more strongly. Even on weekdays, it had about 5000 million.

In the second week, the box office of "囧囧" actually reached [-] million, and the total box office reached [-] million.

At this point, even people with an IQ of only 2 can understand that the [-] million domestic film box office record just set by "Painted Skin [-]" will soon be broken by "囧".

Moreover, Thai囧 is aiming for a box office of one billion.

Li Shengyao's previous predictions actually came true.

Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, and Bao Qiang were all delighted. The three of them promoted even harder, flying and running around the country.

For Feng Xiaogang, things were not so good.

In the Huayi headquarters building, Feng Xiaogang, Wang Zhonglei, and Wang Zhongjun each sat on a sofa.

Feng Xiaogang's face was pale and his body was shaking, as if he was having a nightmare.

Wang Zhonglei and Wang Zhongjun both smelled of alcohol. They had just drank a lot of wine, but no matter how good or expensive the wine was, they could not dilute their depression.

The two of them were still depressed.

Feng Xiaogang felt like a phoenix without feathers. The sense of superiority he had always felt was gone. He slumped on the sofa helplessly.

The sofa was big and soft, definitely made of genuine leather, but he didn't feel very good. It seemed like there were nails in the sofa, which made him squirm.

Wang Zhonglei quickly started twisting under the guidance of the small steel cannon.

Wang Zhongjun was relatively calm. He rolled his eyes at his brother and Xiaogangpao, "This is life, there is nothing to say. "Painted Skin 2" has already experienced a surge, and we have made a lot of money, so we should be satisfied.

Xiaogang, don’t be discouraged. Whether “囧” is one billion or 12 billion, it doesn’t matter to you.

Both "If You Are the One 12" are over 4 million. You still have a large audience. We can continue to produce "If You Are the One 345". Besides, you can still make money by making dramas. "Assembly" and "Tangshan Earthquake" are both in the top three of the year. movie of.

As long as your movie has good reputation and box office, you don't have to worry about whether you lose money or not. If the stock market can make up for it, we won't blame you. "

Huayi no longer cares about the small division of the movie box office. They care more about whether the movie can let them tell stories and deceive investors.

Wang Zhongjun's words restored a lot of morale to Xiaogangpao. He thought that his new movie would be released during the Lunar New Year, telling the story of the major events in 1942. He also invited Hollywood actor Adrien Brody. Maybe this time Like "Assembly" and "Tangshan Earthquake", it can have good reputation and high box office.

Time flies, and when Xiaogangpao planned to ignore "囧囧", "囧囧" continued to appear in the news.

The total box office of "囧囧" exceeded 13 billion.

The bald Xu Zheng was invited by the mature Yingla.

"Unfortunate Journey 3" is being conceived, with the same old partners, Xu Zheng and Bao Qiang.

Fenghua invested in "Journey to the Road 3", and Lee Sheng-yew claimed that it was still a billion-dollar movie.

The box office of "囧囧" is almost three times that of "If You Are the One". Seeing the bright "13 billion", Xiaogangpao is really going to shut down.

He is now convinced that Feng's comedy will indeed be abandoned by the audience.

From now on I can only do dramas.

……

"囧囧" is so popular that in addition to Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, and Bao Qiang, Lee Sheng Yew has become the focus of the industry again.

Before, no one believed that "囧" could earn 13 billion at the box office when there were so many new films.

But Lee Sheng-yew calculated it, and he concluded early that this was a billion-level movie.

I have to say that Director Li has a really strong business vision.

Many media have calculated that Lee Sheng Yew earned the most from "囧" with 13 billion, and the box office share alone was nearly [-] million.

Even if "Parasite" doesn't make much money, it can still make money through investment, which is really impressive.

"Embarrassing Journey 3" was being prepared, and many people wanted to perform in it. Xu Zheng was a little distracted, but Lee Sheng-yew came back to confirm Bao Qiang's position as the second male lead.

Li Shengyao had already rejected Bo Na's invitation to film. At this time, Yu Dong once again saw Li Shengyao's business vision and wanted to tie Li Shengyao over and film for Bo Na.

He quickly dialed Li Shengyao's phone again and expressed his invitation to film.

This time he raised the conditions and directly gave Lee Sheng-yew a director's salary of US$5000 million, hoping that Lee Sheng-yew would make a commercial film for Bo Na that would be suitable for Americans to watch.

Spielberg can't even get the $5000 million director's salary.

Only when Cameron directed "Avatar" did he receive profit sharing, which exceeded US$5000 million.

The price is really high.

But for Li Shengyao, it is not that important.

Because he is the boss, he is not short of money, and he can make a lot of money by investing in his own movies.

Just like "Parasite", with a global box office of US$8000 million, he can get a share of US$[-] million. In addition, there are subsequent streaming media copyright fees and disc rental fees. Adding up the money, "Parasite" definitely brought him more than [-] million US dollars in revenue.

In other people's eyes, 5000 million is a lot.

In Li Shengyao's opinion, it's really mediocre, let alone making a film for Bona, the film copyright does not belong to Fenghua.

"Mr. Yu, it really doesn't work. I already have some ideas for the next step. I won't make a purely commercial film, and I won't stick to the old American market."

"You already have an idea?"

Li Shengyao actually had no objection to Bo Na making money in the US stock market, but he just didn't have the time or interest to help Bo Na make the film.

He's had some thoughts lately.

"Yes, I have made a decision.

If you really want to become famous in the United States, I can sell you the copyright of "The Hangover 4".

Or "Rescue 4" would also work. The subsequent copyrights of those films that Feng Hua and Cheng Long collaborated on can be sold to you.

If these movies work well, they can make money.

Speaking for myself, I don’t really want to make a purely commercial film. I want to make a film that is both commercial and artistic, like "Parasite". "

Hearing this, Yu Dong sighed, "Okay, keep in touch, I'll have a meeting here to discuss."

Lee Sheng-yew hung up the phone, took out two notebooks, and wrote down the main lines of the movie in his memory.

He has already won two Palme d'Ors in a row. Cannes is unlikely to give him a third Palme d'Or in a short time. Berlin and Venice must also save face and will not give him the grand prize just because they participate.

It will be much more difficult to win awards in the three major European competitions in 2013 than in the past.

Lee Sheung Yew understands this matter. He does not intend to insist on "Best Film" this time. He has an idea to recommend a few people in the Chinese film industry to win actor awards. This requires finding a few very good ones that are beneficial to actors. role played.

(End of this chapter)