China Entertainment started from Nortel 2002

Chapter 822: The controversy over the filming schedule

In late April, the long-awaited Cannes Film Festival once again came into people's attention.

Even though it is just a film festival, according to statistics, the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival is around fifty to sixty films each year, with approximately 400 screenings, more than a thousand market screenings, 40000 registered participants, and 4500 journalists.

The Cannes Film Festival is comparable to the Olympic Games in terms of media appeal and is one of the four largest events in the world.

The other two major events are the World Cup football championship and the Tour de France cycling race.

Among these four, Cannes is the only art event. Even though the American Oscars are very famous, the appeal of film art still cannot compare to the Cannes Film Festival in the world.

This year's Cannes Film Festival also had a strong sense of domestic participation. Diao Yinan's "The Gathering at Southern Station" was shortlisted for the main competition, Zu Feng's "Six Desires" and Zhao Deyin's "The Burning Secret" were selected for the "Un Certain Regard" unit.

However, what made Li Mu happy was the film list released by the Cannes Classics section.

Because the 4K48-frame Tibetan-language restored version of "The Horse Thief", a work by Tian Zhuangzhuang, a representative of China's "Fifth Generation" directors, is on the list, this is also the first time that an independently restored film from mainland China has been shortlisted for the Cannes Classics section.

The Cannes Classics section was created in 2004 with the aim of showcasing film heritage and rediscovering lost film gems. In addition to recommending documentaries about film history, it mainly screens recently restored masterpieces of film history.

Being selected for Cannes Classics means certification of its historical status and recognition of the quality of restoration by the world's most important film festival.

You should know that "The Horse Thief" is the "first film in Chinese film history to deeply discuss the relationship between people and religion" and is also one of the most international works in Chinese film history.

It can be said that "The Horse Thief" is the pinnacle work of China's fifth generation of directors.

It juxtaposes the subjective and the objective, blends documentation and fiction, stitches together abstract character situations and real national rituals, and combines expressionism and naturalism in aesthetics, incredibly displaying and depicting the civilization of the times and the regional features.

Due to various reasons, the film had a somewhat regrettable ending, which was probably also a regret in Tian Zhuangzhuang's life.

"Teacher, congratulations!" Li Mu also called to congratulate.

"Hahaha, this time it's all thanks to the China Film Archive. I didn't expect this. I didn't expect this.
This will probably be the last time I attend Cannes in my life, but also the second time. The first time I attended Cannes was in the middle of filming "The Horse Thief" in 1985. Zhang Yimou, Ling Zifeng, Que Wen and I received a temporary notice.

At that time, even formal clothes were borrowed temporarily."

Tian Zhuangzhuang was also very happy and talked to Li Mu about what happened more than 30 years ago.

Li Mu was just a listener and did not disturb Tian Zhuangzhuang. When an old man shared his past, it proved that his mood and emotions at that moment were in a state of ups and downs, with both sadness and joy. Of course, Tian Zhuangzhuang might be happier at the moment.

"When people get older, they talk more about the past." Tian Zhuangzhuang came to his senses after speaking and realized that he had been talking for a long time.

"No, if directors of your generation don't speak out about these things, we won't have a chance to understand them."

"Okay, as long as you don't mind my nagging." Tian Zhuangzhuang smiled.

The heat of the Cannes Film Festival is still continuing, and the industry is still dominated by "Avengers 4", and there is almost no hope for other films to stand out.

Even though it has won recognition from the Golden Horse Awards and the Venice Film Festival, the film "Killing a Sheep" directed by Wangma Caidan and produced by Wong Kar-wai only managed to take 4% of the screenings from "Avengers 2.2".

Even if Wong Kar-wai spoke out for "Killing a Sheep" that "holding on to 26/4 is to leave a space for Chinese art films. The audience should have the right to choose", it would be useless. After all, the audience's payment is the truth.

Li Mu also looked at the viewing situation of major offline movies in Dream Cinema, and on the first day of its release, an average of 5 people watched "Killing a Sheep", which is unacceptable no matter how artistic it is.

At this time, Mengying Media and Maoyan suddenly received a meeting invitation from the National Copyright Administration and the National Film Administration.

"Theatrical Film Copyright Protection Alliance!"

Li Mu couldn't help muttering as he looked at the invitation letter Lu Yu handed to him.

"Director Li, did you receive it?" Wang Changtian had obviously also received the invitation letter.

"Well, I just took a look and it seems this is a good thing." Li Mu flipped through the invitation. Although there were a few brief mentions in it, he could still guess a thing or two.

This is obviously the top leadership in establishing an alliance, setting up an information feedback and anti-piracy information sharing platform within the alliance, and cooperating with relevant departments to crack down on piracy and infringement.

"It's a good thing. It's said that there are about 18 members in the first batch. There is strength in numbers. This time we will definitely crack down on copyright piracy."

Wang Changtian naturally agreed with both feet. In fact, the theaters and producers certainly had no reason to object. Copyright issues have always been a concern for everyone. If they can be resolved, future box office and various interests will be guaranteed.

"By the way, Director Li, I just got the news that Huayi is not on the first list."

Wang Changtian revealed gossip about the top circles in the industry to Li Mu on the phone.

"Huh? Huayi isn't here?"

Li Mu was also stunned. Among the 18 film and television companies, basically only the leading companies were qualified to become the first batch of members, but Huayi was actually excluded.

You should know that from the millennium to the present, the five major film companies, namely Mengying Media, Huayi Brothers, Bona, Wanda, Light Media, and China Film, have used their advantages in capital, distribution channels, etc. to bind outstanding directors and monopolize nearly 8% of China's box office, but Huayi seems to have fallen behind.

"Yeah, to be honest, I was also shocked when I got the news, but I'm afraid Huayi is really in trouble."

Wang Changtian said with certainty that there must be something wrong when things are abnormal. No matter what, there are some things worth pondering here.

"Huayi's first quarter report is out, and both revenue and net profit have declined. The net profit has even turned into a loss. This seems to be its first loss in nearly a decade."

It is no wonder that Wang Changtian pays more attention to Huayi. After all, there are only a few big film producers in the industry, and the cake left by Huayi is actually eaten by the remaining few.

Everyone pays special attention to each other.

"Maybe this was destined." Li Mu couldn't help but smile when he heard Wang Changtian say that Huayi Capital was making a loss.

Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei will eventually have to pay for the wrong path they took, and calling Ye Ning over will not correct the detours they have taken over the years.

Hearing Li Mu's words, Wang Changtian couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had been working in the industry he was familiar with over the years, and Li Mu gave him some pointers once or twice when he was confused, so he found a smooth path. Li Mu naturally had to attend the meeting jointly led by the Copyright Bureau and the Film Bureau in person, after all, this was also a major event in the industry.

Although many people below may not feel it yet, once a new batch of movies are gradually and completely protected and piracy becomes less and less, everyone will probably be able to feel the effect.

When Li Mu drove back home, it was already sunset.

As May approaches, the weather has become much warmer. Liu Yifei is wearing a brown sweater and a pair of loose nine-point casual pants that just reveal her ankles.

The setting sun falls on Liu Yifei's sweater, which has a fluffy texture and looks soft and delicate. Her hair is scattered on her shoulders, and there is a hint of orange halo because of the setting sun.

Not far from Liu Yifei, the cute little girl was jumping towards Li Mu, but her pink clothes were stained with a lot of dirt, and her little face looked pink because she had been exposed to the sun for too long.

"Dad!" The little boy immediately hugged Li Mu's thighs with both hands.

"Hey, why is there mud on your hands?" Li Mu asked with a smile.

"This is green onion." Little Baozi pointed to the chopped green onion she had pulled out not far away.

These are some that Li's mother grew at home when she had nothing to do, and sometimes she needs them for cooking.

"Mom said she wanted to use some onions today, so the little girl volunteered to pick them, but before she knew it, she had picked all of them." Liu Yifei was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Hahaha, that's great. Next time, pull out less so you can't finish it." Li Mu touched the little bun's head. Without saying anything scolding, he even encouraged him.

"It's done, grandma said to make scallion pancakes"

"It's scallion pancake." Li Mu reacted immediately.

"Yes, yes."

"That's fine, take it back then."

"Okay." The little bun happily ran to do her big thing, but at this time Li Mu noticed that Ala actually had a basket on her.

"Ala is so smart now. He knows who the little kid asks him to find." Liu Yifei couldn't help but admire.

"After all, I was raised from childhood."

"Go, Ala, remember to give it to grandma"

The little bun threw all the remaining onions into the basket, and then gave instructions to Ala, who was also very smart and went to the living room wagging his tail.

As time goes by, the May Day holiday is approaching.

As a film and television industry, everyone will naturally not miss this opportunity. "Avengers 4", which has only been released for a week, is still sweeping major theaters like a "tornado". On April 4, it exceeded 29 billion and hit 24 billion, and its momentum remains unabated.

The film schedule for the four-day May Day holiday can still be described as "overwhelming". According to Maoyan's real-time data, the film schedules for the four-day holiday are 62.5%, 71.4%, 77.1% and 79.1% respectively.

However, apart from "Avengers 4", this year's May Day movie competition is actually fierce, with 8 new films released at the same time, including "The Ex: The Next One", "Home", "The Adventures of Wukong", "Snowstorm", etc.
However, this overwhelming screening schedule will obviously be more controversial during the May Day period.

Just as Wong Kar-wai finished his criticism, "The Snowstorm" director Cui Siwei bluntly stated that the current film market needs movies of different types and contents.

In addition, the double international film actor who won the Tokyo and Berlin Film Festival awards also expressed his views on the screening rate of Avengers 4 on his social media and posted a chart of the screening rate.

"It must be 100% scheduled! How can we have the face to kneel down and do that?"

This Weibo post quickly became a hot topic, but Wang Jingchun was not so stubborn and quickly explained:

"I am a little jealous today, but I am not jealous of Marvel movies and audiences, but the environment itself. I hope different types of movies can have their own space. I also like Marvel movies. There are 4 colleagues from our company participating in Avengers 14, and I am very proud of it."

Various remarks have made major cinema chains somewhat uncomfortable, and netizens have also joined the discussion, calling on the industry to introduce corresponding quota regulations, believing that if it is blindly market-oriented, some good movies in the same period will be buried.

In the cinema group, all the major responsible persons also popped up in the group.

"If it were me, I'd just ignore it. Looking at the various schedules in recent years, there are quite a few movies that have made a comeback at the box office. Good wine needs no bush, and good movies will naturally not be buried. We can adjust the screening schedule based on real-time data when the time comes."

The person in charge of Dadi Cinemas obviously disdained this.

"I agree with this. This is like going to the mountain knowing there is a tiger. Many domestic films know that they will be severely suppressed in terms of screening share and final box office performance when facing a Hollywood production of the size of Avengers 4, but they still call it "we are confronting Hollywood head-on, how cool is that?"

The reality is that they know that their works are of poor quality, and if they are released in the off-season without word of mouth and a large number of moviegoers, they will definitely fail miserably, so they are willing to bet on the peak season, but our cinemas also have to make a living."

Then various voices appeared in the group. Li Mu thought about it again and again and spoke up:

"I say, everyone should lower the screening schedule a little bit, so that domestic films can also get some food and drink soup. The success of Avengers is, after all, the success of American films. If local films can persist, it will be our success in the end."

"I still support Director Li on this point. In fact, there is no need to schedule 70% or 80%. Leave some space. After all, Avengers 4 will most likely be postponed, and local films also need to develop."

Zeng Maojun also expressed his agreement. With the opinions of the two and the fact that some people were already interested, everyone reached a consensus.

"Okay, I'll give you 60%. It's not that I don't want to give more, but the remaining movies during the May Day holiday are all bad."

"Okay, let's rank it at 50%-60%. I hope domestic films can do better."

"."

而就在4月30日，猫眼这边数据已经更新完成，《复联4》的假期四天排片已经来到了59%、61%、60.1%、58.2%。

Movies released during the May Day period also breathed a sigh of relief
(End of this chapter)