China Entertainment's whatever you want

Chapter 792 Seizing Luck

Bad Monkey Culture.

In the office, Ning Hao was making tea leisurely, and sitting opposite him was Xu Zheng, who had a shiny head and looked increasingly wealthy.

In the past month or so, Ning Hao has been busy with the post-production of "My Hometown and Me" in the company.

He is the chief director of this tribute film. After the filming of the five units, all the materials were summarized to him, and he was responsible for the final editing and production.

"Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" has been in theaters these days, and he has been keeping an eye on the box office performance of this movie.

"How is it? Looking at Gu Wei's current box office performance, do you regret selling Lost in Russia to streaming media?"

Ning Hao brewed tea and filled the cups in front of himself and Xu Zheng.

The tea in the cup is golden and translucent, and a refreshing tea fragrance wafts out.

“When Lost in Russia was released, the situation was unclear, and no one knew how long the movie would be held in the hands after missing the Spring Festival period.

At that time, I had already spent a lot of money on publicity and promotion, and I would have to spend money again if I withdrew the film and put it back on stage.

Moreover, ByteDance paid enough money and showed great sincerity, so it will make a lot of money immediately after selling the copyright.

What would you choose if it were you? "

Xu Zheng picked up the teacup in front of him, blew on it, and slowly took a sip.

He didn't care about what Ning Hao said. Until now, he still believed that getting rid of "Lost in Russia" in time half a year ago was the best decision he had ever made.

"You! You are always too focused on the immediate benefits. It is very risky to hold the movie in your hands, but your actions have ultimately offended the cinema chains. You will inevitably be strangled by them in the future."

Ning Hao shook his head. Having known each other for many years, he knew his old friend's character very well.

Being smart, talented, serious and brave enough to try new things are the reasons why Xu Zheng was able to succeed.

However, he also has some problems of traditional Shanghai men. He values ​​money above all else and is sometimes too calculating and only focuses on immediate interests.

"It doesn't matter. Zhang Weiping had offended the cinema chains so badly in the beginning. He relied on Zhang Yimou to force the cinema chains to change the box office share ratio, otherwise they would not give him copies. In the end, the cinema chains gritted their teeth and agreed.

They couldn't do anything to Zhang Weiping.

So as long as there are good works in hand and they can help the cinemas make money, even if they are not satisfied this time, they will welcome the movie with a smile when it is released."

“In fact, if we had waited only half a year, the box office wouldn’t have been much different if it was released now.

Gu Wei's "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" is expected to be another 20 billion+ movie."

Xu Zheng shook his head.

“It’s different. Gu Wei’s box office appeal is too exaggerated. The difference between a movie with him in it and a movie without him in it is at least hundreds of millions of dollars in publicity and promotion costs.

Having worked with him, I know the difference best.

Even though "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" is selling well now, if someone else plays the role and the quality of the plot remains the same, the movie will only make 5-6 million yuan at most."

Ning Hao was surprised: "I didn't expect you to think so highly of him~"

“It’s not that I think highly of it, but I have some feelings after working together.

When I was filming "Time Traveler", I never thought that the box office of that movie would exceed 20 billion.

This movie immediately made Su Lun famous.

She later prepared a script, which she polished over and over again for more than two years, but she was still hesitant to start filming."

"Haha, his debut film has entered the domestic club of big directors with a box office of over 20 billion. It's normal for Su Lun to feel some pressure," Ning Hao said with a smile.

Xu Zheng put down the half-empty cup of tea in his hand and said: "The huge sales of [Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils] is what everyone expected. After Gu Wei heated up the market, the domestic films that have been accumulated for more than half a year should be scheduled for release one after another."

Ning Hao nodded.

"As a tribute film, [My People, My Homeland] has been scheduled for the National Day. If the market can maintain its current momentum and nothing unexpected happens, our film should perform no worse than last year's [My Country, My Parents]."

At the same time, all domestic film and television companies were paying attention to the performance of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils".

Mr. La from China Film Group felt that he had chosen the right person. His suggestion to the Film Bureau to let Gu Wei's film take the lead in opening up the situation turned out to be correct.

Wang Changtian of Guangxian looked at the increasingly high box office performance of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" and felt envious, while also looking forward to the results of the release of "Detective Chinatown 3".

Bona's Yu Dong was glad that Gu Wei joined the "Changjin Lake" project.

Huayi Brothers.

"What's the real-time box office of [Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils]?"

"It has already exceeded 11 billion RMB, and the momentum in the second week is still strong."

Wang Zhonglei hesitated for a moment and asked, "Will the preview of [Eight Hundred] still go as planned?"

"Of course, we will still follow the original promotion plan!

How many screenings of "Eight Hundred" can the cinema chain promise to have next week?" Wang Zhongjun was not panicked at all.

"After communicating with several major cinema chains including Yaolai, Stellar, Jinyi, Dadi, and Wanda, they should be able to guarantee a screening rate of more than 30%."

Wang Zhongjun frowned slightly: "It's a bit too little."

“There’s nothing we can do. According to the current momentum of “Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils”, as long as the box office doesn’t drop this week, the cinemas will have to reserve at least 40% of their screenings for it next week.

However, several companies have promised that if the preview of "Eight Hundred" is good, they will increase the number of screenings when it is released."

"That's all I can do. I believe in the quality of The Eight Hundred. With such a great director and all the stars, I believe the preview will not disappoint people."

【The Crowd】 crew.

“.I am over 30, have no stable job, and cannot afford the rent.

As an actor, I can't even play a supporting role well.

You have an old face and your name is Xiao Meng, so it's normal for you to want to die."

In Chen Xiaomeng's room, Gu Wei, Zhang Songwen and Wan Qian were present at the same time, filming a scene at the beginning of the movie.

Wan Qian finally joined the crew a few days ago. After "Sisters Who Make Waves" ended, she successfully debuted as a member of the group.

However, the crew had a lot of missed scenes. After joining the crew, they apologized in various ways, and then reshooted the previous scenes from morning to night every day.

The amnesiac killer played by Zhang Songwen finished his lines with melancholy, took a puff of cigarette, coughed violently twice because of discomfort, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

“Now I even forget to smoke.”

Gu Wei, who was sitting opposite, smoked much more smoothly, and what Zhang Songwen said also aroused his thoughts.

“I have a friend who has also lost hope in life and wants to leave this world.

But he is worse off than you.

Lying on the tracks, the train was diverted; jumping off a building, the roof was sealed off; taking poison, the poison expired.

I can’t die even if I want to.”

"What happened next?" Zhang Songwen asked curiously.

"Well, then he won the lottery."

After Gu Wei finished speaking, he sat down next to the other person.

"Don't be discouraged, have ideals, and with ideals, there is hope!"

"Cut! This segment is over, prepare to transition to the next shot."

When the director's voice came, Gu Wei and the other two in the field relaxed, and the staff also began to run around to pack up their things.

"Mr. Gu, are we going to have a live broadcast tonight?" Zhang Songwen asked Gu Wei.

"Yes, there will be a live broadcast tonight with the main creators of the [Zhou Chu] production team. Your agent should have told you about it a long time ago."

"Yes, but I don't quite understand the live broadcast thing~" Zhang Songwen smiled bitterly. It was no problem for him to act, but it was difficult for him to handle some electronic products. Gu Wei smiled and said, "There are special staff to help you debug the equipment. It's very simple. Just chat with everyone in front of the computer."

Wan Qian listened to their conversation with a curious look on her face.

"The movie you're talking about is [Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils], right?"

Gu Wei nodded.

"Yes, the movie is currently being released. It's not easy to go on roadshows in the current environment, so we have arranged an online live broadcast by the main creators tonight to promote it."

"This movie is so popular now. I went to see it after "Sisters Who Make Waves" ended. It was so well filmed!" Wan Qian said with emotion.

Gu Wei and Zhang Songwen looked at each other and smiled. It was a very pleasant thing to be praised in person for the movie they acted in.

"Teacher Zhang Songwen was so enchanting in the film that I was thinking about how to work with you to play a couple before coming here. I was afraid that I would mistake you for the leader of a cult when filming."

“Haha~ I still remember when we were filming [Zhou Chu], we discussed together how to play the role of the Venerable.

At that time, director Wen Muye told Zhang Songwen to just act freely and bring out the feeling of being a teacher in class.

The result is that he has become the leader of a cult that is bewitching people." Gu Wei laughed and talked about the funny things that happened during the filming.

Zhang Songwen used to run a training class in Hengdian to teach acting, and everyone in the industry knew him.

"The main reason is that the character's core is quite rich, and I just performed according to the routine."

Zhang Songwen smiled modestly.

There was a live broadcast in the evening, and main creators including Gu Wei, Zhou Ye, Zhang Songwen, Wang Qianyuan, and Wu Zhenyu showed up one after another.

Everyone first exchanged a few polite words with each other, and then began to answer questions raised by netizens.

[Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils] has been very popular recently. There are a lot of viewers in the live broadcast room today, and the enthusiasm of netizens is extremely high.

After answering the questions one by one, Gu Wei gave a summary at the end.

“.The girl was saved from the claws of a tiger, but she didn’t know what freedom was.

In the Jiaolong Cave, believers were persuaded to return, but they would rather die than blindly follow superstition.

The Venerable Master said to let go of greed, anger and ignorance, but he did not let go of the true gold that would be refined by fire.

Believers can abandon worldly materials but cannot abandon self-hypnosis.

The miracle of a bullet jam is just around the corner, and the cult of self-deception has a shortcut.

Everyone is obsessed with narcissism, lust and fantasy, longing for redemption, rebirth and the creation of a new self.

However, the path and the truth are more powerful than the ferocious tiger and the cunning dragon.

Even Zhou Chu, who eliminated the three evils, could not escape such a fate.

Thank you for your love for "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils". There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. I hope more people can go to the cinema to support this movie!"

Ten days after its release, the box office of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" exceeded 18 billion, and its popularity was unprecedented.

Under such circumstances, "Eight Hundred" was released.

Huayi Brothers attached great importance to this film. They screened it nationwide a few days in advance and held a large-scale premiere ceremony in Beijing, inviting many big stars in the circle to attend.

After the premiere, everyone gave it good reviews, and the attendance rate for the preview screenings over the past few days was also very high.

On the first day of its release, "The Eight Hundred" earned 1.37 million yuan at the box office, and its reputation remained good. Douban gave it a high score of 7.8.

In the following week, the entire film market was dominated by two films, "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" and "Eight Hundred".

More than 80% of the country's screenings are divided up between these two films.

The results were also very gratifying.

[Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils] The box office broke 20 billion and quickly approached 25 billion.

[Eight Hundred] grossed 7 million in 8 days, which is also a pretty good performance.

In the original time and space, after the epidemic was temporarily eased and theaters reopened, only one domestic film, "Eight Hundred", took the lead. Relying on the support of all parties and extremely high theater screenings, it achieved a final box office result of 30 billion.

However, the current "Eight Hundred" obviously cannot do this.

Due to the early release of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils", the excellent quality and hot box office results made theaters regard this movie as a life-saving straw. Even the release of "Eight Hundred" failed to shake the position of "Zhou Chu" in the hearts of theaters, and the screening schedule has always been far ahead.

Sometimes being one step ahead means more steps than before. The advantage is like a snowball, and once it starts, the gap will get bigger and bigger.

Apparently, this is the situation with both films right now.

[Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils] has a profound meaning, but on the surface it is a thoroughly enjoyable film and is very watchable.

Many viewers commented that this film is a perfect combination of commerciality and artistry.

The film was of good quality, the audience enjoyed watching it, the theaters gave strong support, and Gu Wei had strong box office appeal. All these factors combined were the reason why "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" was a big hit.

Of course, although the luck of [Eight Hundred] was taken away, its quality is still good.

Moreover, the current film market does not encourage competition. What is needed is the emergence of more excellent films.

The scale of the domestic film market is sufficient to support two blockbuster films.

The box office performance of "Eight Hundred" is still good, but it is impossible to reach the height of the original time and space.

"Gu Wei, do you think [Eight Hundred] is good or not?"

In the hotel room at night, Gu Wei was reading a script, Reba was leaning beside him and browsing her phone, and suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask?" Gu Wei asked casually, his eyes still on the script.

"The comments online are very extreme. Some say the movie is very exciting, while others say it is sensational for the sake of sensationalism, disregarding logic and truth."

After hearing this, Gu Wei put down the script in his hand and looked at Reba with a smile.

"Well, actually, both statements are correct."

Reba became even more confused.

Gu Wei smiled and explained: "How to evaluate "Eight Hundred" depends on what you focus on when watching the movie.

If the focus is on the movie itself, then "Eight Hundred" is undoubtedly an excellent work.

After all, Guan Hu is a senior director with rich work experience and has produced many excellent works.

After years of polishing, "Eight Hundred" is remarkable in terms of war scenes, film scheduling, leading actors' acting skills, and narrative rhythm."

“Then it should be a good movie?”

Gu Wei shook his head.

“It’s a pity that [Eight Hundred] is a movie adapted from real historical events.

After the warriors retreated to the British Concession, they were completely abandoned by the authorities, and most of them ended up in a tragic way.

There are inherent problems with the narrative stance of the film, otherwise the release date would not have been changed several times before.

When Director Guan started filming, he was probably aiming for the Golden Horse Awards, but he didn't expect that the Golden Horse Awards would ruin him because of his previous outrageous actions, so he couldn't win the award.

Reba suddenly realized: "Is that so? Director Guan is also an experienced director, doesn't he know the problems of shooting like this?"

Gu Wei sneered, “Some people regard themselves as international citizens, and think that they are the only ones who see things from an impartial perspective.

Little do people know that there is no real justice in this world. Everyone is born with a stance. One person’s hero may be my enemy.

This has been true since ancient times.

If you don’t understand this truth, you will suffer backlash sooner or later.”

(End of this chapter)