China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 380: No Holiday for Spring Festival

"Is 7 million a lot? Stephen Chow's CJ1800 grossed million on the first day." Wang Shu continued with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Li Binbin rolled his eyes at Wang Shu and said, "Director Wang, do you think I don't know the difference between art films and commercial films?"

Liu Dehua couldn't help but smile when he heard this, and interrupted, "When Director Wang's "Ghost Ship" was released, it made more than 20 million on the first day."

Li Binbin's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he joked with sparkling eyes: "Yes, "Ghost Ship" made more than 20 million on the first day, and the box office in mainland China is more than 300 million."

"Could it be that Director Wang is still hoping that the first-day box office of the art film "People Mountain People Sea" will also surpass "CJ7" and get more than million on the first day?"

Wang Shu pretended to sigh and said, "I didn't expect to get more than 20 million on the first day. It would be fine if it was more than 10 million."

When Li Binbin heard this, he immediately turned to Liu Dehua and said, "Brother Hua, let's go get ready. We're going to start filming soon."

"Haha." Liu Dehua laughed when he heard that.

Wang Shu was sharp-eyed. He saw Jiang Wen coming over, so he said, "Director Jiang is here. Let's not talk about this, lest he be reminded of this."

Li Binbin and Liu Dehua smiled after hearing this.

"The Sun Also Rises", which went to the Venice Film Festival together with "The Crowd", was released in theaters in late September last year.

This movie is Jiang Wen's first art film operated in a commercial model.

The production cost was 1800 million from Taihe Film and Television, 2200 million from Emperor Entertainment Group, and 1100 million from Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun, which is probably over 5000 million.

Not only did he go to Cannes first, but he also realized something was not right and ran to Venice. In Venice, even after being shortlisted, he was still a runner-up.

After its release, the box office was only 1782 million RMB.

Even if the revenue from film sales is added, the loss is still quite a bit.

If you want to sell a movie at a high price, it has to at least be an award-winning movie.

The nominated films can also be sold, but the prices are relatively ordinary.

Before the release of Let the Bullets Fly, the movies directed by Jiang Wen were either losing money or on the verge of losing money.

If it were Hollywood's producer-centered system, a director like him would have been killed long ago.

That is to say, in China, the director-centered system left over from history has enabled directors to have connections, personal connections, friendships, and so on.

Therefore, no matter how much you lose, as long as the circle and the connections are there, you can keep playing.

Then, the box office hit movie "Let the Bullets Fly" came out.

Since the movies he made were either losing money or on the verge of losing money, Jiang Wen said personally that even he himself didn't know how "Let the Bullets Fly" made money.

After he finished filming this movie, he thought he would lose money, but he turned out to be profitable, which was beyond his expectations.

Jiang Wen came over and asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"

Wang Shu looked at Jiang Wen and asked, "Are you sure you want to listen?"

Li Binbin and Liu Dehua laughed out loud upon hearing this.

Jiang Wen didn't understand, and asked in confusion: "What's going on?"

Wang Shu sighed and said, "Just now Sister Binbin asked me about the first day box office of "People Mountain People Sea". I said it was not much, only more than 7 million."

When Jiang Wen heard this, his face darkened.

There is a saying that there is no harm without comparison. "The Sun Also Rises" is the movie that went to Venice together with "Crowds of People".

In addition, since both of them are mainland directors, comparisons are inevitable.

Previously, at the Venice Film Festival, "The Sun Also Rises" lost to "The Crowd".

Now, is it going to lose to "People Mountain People Sea" in the domestic box office?
Although Jiang Wen felt a little upset, he had expected this.

"The Sun Also Rises" only had over 1700 million, which is really low.

Li Binbin looked at Jiang Wen and asked with a smile, "Director Jiang, do you have any more questions?"

This question of hers was a revenge for Jiang Wen's teasing at the last dinner.

Li Binbin holds a grudge. Last time, Jiang Wen made fun of her in front of Wang Shu. Although she was unhappy, she had been enduring it.

This time, when I got the chance, I made the same joke back.

It is undeniable that Jiang Wen is a famous director, and many actors want to be promoted by Jiang Wen and star in the movies he directs.

However, Li Binbin knew that with Zhou Yun around, other actresses would most likely not get the leading role in a movie directed by Jiang Wen.

In addition, Li Binbin has financial support behind him.

So, there is no need to take ginger too seriously.

It doesn’t mean that Li Binbin looks down on Jiang Wen, nor does it mean that Li Binbin claims that his status in the circle is no lower than Jiang Wen.

But Li Binbin knew that there was a high probability that she and Jiang Wen would not have the opportunity to cooperate with each other.

In this case, there is no need to be particularly polite.

"I won't ask anymore. It's boring." Jiang Wen was a little autistic.

"The Sun Also Rises" was a movie that cost 5000 million yuan to make, but its box office was only over 1700 million yuan.

The investment for "People Mountain People Sea" directed by Wang Shu was less than 700 million yuan, but it earned more than million yuan on the first day.

Regardless of the revenue from selling the film at the Venice Film Festival at the time, with the revenue of over 700 million on the first day, it was only a matter of time before it exceeded million.

The investment cost is less than 10 million yuan, and if we calculate it based on a three-fold box office break-even, 30 million yuan will be 100% break-even.

What's more, Jiang Wen heard that "Crowds and Seas" sold a lot in Venice and seemed to have already broken even.

Nowadays, no matter how much the box office is, it’s pure profit.

Wang Shu saw Jiang Wen was secretly sad, and said to comfort him, "Director Jiang, The Sun Also Rises is your first commercial film. It is normal for it to fail for a while."

"Keep up the good work and try not to lose money next time."

"Haha." Liu Dehua and Li Binbin couldn't help laughing out loud as they listened to Wang Shu's sinister words.

Jiang Wen also knew that Wang Shu was joking, so he scratched his head and replied, "Why do I feel like there's something wrong with you saying this?"

Of course there are problems.

Because in the director circle, Jiang Wen is Wang Shu's predecessor.

These words are usually spoken by seniors to juniors.

When the younger generation says this to the older generation, the meaning changes.

"What's the problem?" Wang Shu pretended to be confused and asked, "Then tell me, which of your movies didn't lose money?"

"Uh," Jiang Wen wanted to say that it was normal for art films to lose money when he heard this, but he suddenly remembered that the art films directed by Wang Shu did not lose money, and he was unable to speak for a moment.

He could only spit and said, "Damn, I've already said you're awesome, is that still not enough?"

"Haha."

Seeing Jiang Wen being humiliated, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Since it was clear that it was a joke, no one really took it to heart.

Of course, whether it is a joke or not, and whether or not to take it to heart, depends on the individual.

If a small director said this, Jiang Wen would be unhappy.

Wang Shu is different. He has achievements to his credit, so he has the qualifications to say so.

When someone is qualified to say this, making this kind of joke is just a joke that should not be taken seriously.

After this little episode, it was busy filming again.

2 month 1 day.

The second day box office data of "People Mountain People Sea" is released, 697W.

The two-day box office results combined have exceeded 1400 million.

With another 1400 million yuan, the single-theater box office will also make back the investment. On Saturday, February 2, with only 2 days left before the Lunar New Year, the filming of "Travel to Taipei" continued.

Once the crew starts filming, it is impossible to stop. Every extra day of suspension means a day's expense is wasted.

Unless there is something like Wang Shu's that requires promotion of "Ren Shan Ren Hai", he will not stop.

Therefore, Wang Shu will spend this Lunar New Year on the set.

Four days passed in a flash and it was February 2th.

Liu Dehua took three days off in advance to return to Hong Kong Island to celebrate the New Year, and did not come to the crew today.

For this purpose, Wang Shu specially changed the shooting schedule and allocated three days for Liu Dehua.

However, without Liu Dehua, other actors cannot take leave at will, otherwise the filming will be difficult to continue.

Fortunately, Wang Shu had previously chosen Yang Zi and Zhang Yishan to play the supporting roles of high school students in "Train to Busan", which now came in handy.

The filming studio of "Train to Busan" is located in the suburbs of Beijing, and Yang Zi and Zhang Yishan live in Beijing, which makes it convenient for them to come to work during the Spring Festival.

"Brother Wang Shu, next year is New Year's Eve, won't the crew have a holiday?"

In the crew, 16-year-old Yang Zi kept whispering in Wang Shu's ear.

"No." Wang Shu responded again.

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with taking a holiday. After all, it's the New Year." Yang Zi looked at Wang Shu and said.

"That's indeed the truth." Wang Shu nodded.

"So, we have a day off tomorrow?" Yang Zi's eyes lit up and she said in surprise.

Wang Shu smiled and said, "It is indeed a holiday."

"However, some people are on holiday, while others are still working."

"Ah?" When Yang Zi heard this, she knew that as long as there were still people working in the crew, she would be a part of it.

Even though he knew it clearly, he still couldn't help asking, "What about me? Can I not come to the crew tomorrow?"

"What do you think?" Wang Shu asked with a smile.

"I say yes!" Yang Zi responded immediately with expectant eyes.

"Haha." Wang Shu laughed and said jokingly, "You have a good idea."

"You and Zhang Yishan will have a scene tomorrow. Not only you, but Zhang Yishan will also be coming to the crew tomorrow."

"However, you can finish work tomorrow afternoon and then go back to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner."

"Of course, if you want to eat with the crew, that's fine too."

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Although the crew of "Travel to Taipei" will not stop working, they will finish work in the afternoon.

Wang Shu was not stingy and paid for a table at the restaurant for the crew's New Year's Eve dinner.

When Yang Zi heard this, he sighed and said, "I won't go to the crew's New Year's Eve dinner."

"Haha, you should be happy on New Year's Day, why are you looking so sad?" Wang Shu looked at Yang Zi, who seemed to want to cry but had no tears, and teased her with a smile.

When Yang Zi heard this, he rolled his eyes at Wang Shu and told him to feel it for himself.

Then he thought of something and asked, "Director Wang, where are you going to have your New Year's Eve dinner?"

"With the crew." Wang Shu answered without hiding anything.

For him, since he had already booked a table at the restaurant and was alone in Beijing, it was natural for him to have the New Year's Eve dinner with the crew.

As for Mei Ting.
She returned to Jinling.

Although the south suffered from a snowstorm, it could not stop planes.

Zhou Xun did not return to Zhejiang J, and also invited Wang Shu to have New Year's Eve dinner together.

But Wang Shu thought that Zhou Xun was with her friends, and it would be better for him to go with the crew than with her, so he declined.

Not to mention Sun Li, Fan Binbin, Yang Mi and others, they all had their own New Year's Eve dinner, unlike him who was alone in Beijing.

When Yang Zi heard this, his eyes turned and he invited, "Director Wang, do you want to come to my house for New Year's Eve dinner?"

"My parents will definitely welcome you if you come to my house."

"Your home?" Wang Shu smiled when he heard that.

"What's the matter?" Yang Zi asked.

"Nothing." Wang Shu responded and declined politely, "Forget it. The crew has already booked the New Year's Eve dinner. It's not appropriate to go to your house instead of eating here."

Yang Zi also knew this, and replied with disappointment on her pretty face: "Okay."

After saying this, Yang Zi looked at Wang Shu eagerly and asked, "Director Wang, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Why are you asking these questions?" Wang Shu did not answer, but asked back.

"I'm curious!" Yang Zi said coquettishly. Seeing that Wang Shu didn't say anything, she asked again, "Is there anything?"

"You're just a little kid, why are you thinking about this every day instead of focusing on your studies?" Wang Shu said unhappily.

Yang Zi was not afraid at all, and said in a heroic and confident voice: "I am 16 years old, I am not a child, okay?"

"18 is an adult, but you are not even an adult. If not a child, what are you?" Wang Shu asked back.

This made a lot of sense. Yang Zi couldn't find a point to refute, so he could only say: "Anyway, 16 years old is not a child anymore!"

After that, he asked, "Have you ever seen a 16-year-old child?"

"Oh." Wang Shu responded soullessly, "It's okay for a big kid, right?"

"." Yang Zi was speechless after hearing this, and said aggrievedly, "I'm already 16 years old, can you please stop treating me like a child?"

"Okay, big boy." Wang Shu responded.

"." Yang Zi gritted her teeth in anger.

Wang Shu changed the subject at the right time and said, "Oh, by the way, how are your grades in school? Are you confident that you can get into the Film Academy or the Drama Academy?"

He vaguely remembered that Yang Zi took the college entrance examination in 2010 and scored 400 points.

This year, the minimum academic score for admission to undergraduate art colleges in Beijing was 308 points, and Yang Zi scored 92 points higher.

400 points seems to be a good score.

However, Yang Zi was from Beijing and took the Beijing exam.

The Beijing test paper is placed in several provinces and is usually a mock test for students in these provinces to regain their confidence.

It's really something that helps you regain your confidence.

Many poor students who only scored more than 200 points in the mock exams can get around 500 points in the Beijing exam papers.

Therefore, since Yang Zi scored 400 points on the Beijing exam, we can infer that this guy did not study hard.

In order to give her time to study hard, her parents turned down the opportunity to film "Home with Kids 3".

In fact, although she turned down the role in "Home with Kids 3", Yang Zi did not study hard.

As for her good partner Zhang Yishan, he is even more of a master.

Zhang Yishan scored 365 points, which is lower than Yang Zi.

Of course, Zhang Yishan is a rich second-generation, and even if he doesn’t become an actor, he will eventually go back to inherit the family business.

The fact that he was able to star in "Home with Kids" was helped by his status as a second-generation rich man.

If it weren't for his well-off family background, this role might not have fallen to him.

This guy was born in Rome, and most people can only envy him.

(End of this chapter)