China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 427 If
"What happened again?" Chen Hong asked helplessly after seeing Chen Kaige cursing angrily early in the morning.

When I was young, I did think that Chen Kaige was very talented and capable.

But as time went by, she gradually understood.

Chen Kaige said angrily: "It's really hateful!"

"From today on, the screening schedule of Mei Lanfang will be reduced by 4%, and this 4% will be allocated to Trip to Taipei!"

"Less than a month after the release of 'Mei Lanfang', it gave way to 'Travel to Taipei'!"

Chen Hong knew clearly that Chen Kaige was not unable to accept the reduction in the screenings of "Mei Lanfang". He was unable to accept that a film directed by him, the Cannes Palme d'Or winner, had to give way to other films just one month after its release, and that the film had to give way to a director with whom he had a grudge.

This made him feel ashamed, so he was so angry.

"Isn't this something that was expected?" Chen Hong said quietly.

"Mei Lanfang" has been released for three weeks, but its potential has long been exhausted and its box office growth is no longer sustainable.

During this period, the two movies "If You Are the One" and "Travel to Taipei" were strongly released in theaters. With their steadily growing box office trend, movies in the same period will inevitably give way.

This is not someone's order, but a market choice.

Unless there is "force majeure" intervention, theater chains will all follow the principle of only looking at the box office and not the movie.

If a movie has good box office performance, the theater chain will increase the screening schedule.

Correspondingly, the number of screenings for films with sluggish box office performance has been reduced.

In this field, the winner takes all and the loser gives way.

"It's one thing to expect, but the box office of "Mei Lanfang" was only a few million away from breaking 100 million. How can it break 100 million if this happens?" Chen Kaige was furious.

"Mei Lanfang" is not an art film, but a commercial film that takes an artistic route.

For example, Feng Xiaogang's "Assembly" is a commercial film that follows the mainstream theme.

Before "Assembly", main-theme movies had unsatisfactory box office performance unless they were organized for viewing.

"Assembly" ushered in a new era.

Although "Mei Lanfang" directed by Chen Kaige is not a mainstream movie, it follows the same path as "Assembly".

Hence, there is a contrast.

Chen Kaige is a Cannes Palme d'Or director, but he doesn't even take Zhang Yimou seriously, let alone Feng Xiaogang.

Nowadays, the box office of "Mei Lanfang" is not only far lower than that of "Assembly", it is even difficult to break 100 million.

I can't save my face!

"Then what should we do?" Chen Hong asked back dimly, as if saying, "thing has already happened, what do you say we should do?"

She really wanted to say that if "Mei Lanfang" had been filmed well enough, the box office would have exceeded 100 million yuan long ago, and how could it have fallen to the current situation?
The reason is that Mei Lanfang is too boring.
This rhetorical question made Chen Kaige silent and even blushed.

It was already embarrassing, and now it's even more embarrassing.

How to do?
He didn't know either.

There was nothing to be done except to rage impotently here.

"Travel to Taipei" is also a movie invested and produced by China Film Corporation. Given Han Sanping's ambitious personality, he is eager to increase the screening schedule of "Travel to Taipei".

Therefore, even if he came to the door, Han Sanping would not pay any attention to him.

Han Sanping has to choose between saving the big one and saving the small one. Judging from the box office performance of "Travel to Taipei", he will definitely choose to save "Travel to Taipei".

Going to their door would have no effect except losing face again.

After a long silence, Chen Kaige cursed with shame: "Whether it is Han Sanping or Wang Shu, they are really hateful!"

"From now on, I will never cooperate with China Film Group again!"

"What the hell?!"

He knew very well that all the reduced screenings of "Mei Lanfang" were allocated to "Travel to Taipei", and Han Sanping must have contributed to it, otherwise "If You Are the One" would have gotten a small share.

Now all of it has been given to "Travel to Taipei", and he doesn't believe that China Film Group is not included in it.

Chen Kaige also has a temper. Since China Film Corporation dared not to give him face, he decided not to cooperate with China Film Corporation again in the future.

With his status as the Cannes Palme d'Or director, even if he does not cooperate with China Film, there are still many film companies that want to work with him.

For example, the upper shadow.

In the original timeline, China Film Group did not cooperate with Chen Kaige again after "Mei Lanfang".

But that's not the reason.

Instead, "Mei Lanfang" was invested with 6000 million yuan, but the box office was just over million yuan, and China Film suffered a huge loss of million yuan.

Although the previous film "The Promise" had good box office, its reputation was extremely bad.

The next one, "Mei Lanfang", had an investment of 6000 million yuan and suffered a loss of million yuan.

China Film Group is not a fool, and with so many choices available, it decided not to work with Chen Kaige again.

As for Shanghai Film Group, as the most profitable film and television company in recent years, it is at a stage of great vigor and ambition, but there are few big directors cooperating with it.

So, I peed together with Chen Kaige.

After all, there was no one available at Shanghai Film Studio, and even if Chen Kaige failed again, he was still a genuine Cannes Palme d'Or director.

This title alone is enough to move Shanghai Film Studio.

For Shanghai Film Group, which is full of ambition and ambition, collaborating with a big director is a gimmick that will make people proud.

On the contrary, if you work with some small directors, it will give people the feeling that it is just a small-scale collaboration.

Collaborating with Chen Kaige can create a gimmick that can lead to the hype of a big movie.

This gimmick is in line with Shanghai Film Group’s current status.

Chen Hong pretended not to hear and turned around to busy herself with her own things.

As for not cooperating with China Film?

Chen Hong just thought Chen Kaige was talking nonsense.

As the leader of the domestic film industry, China Film Group is not only wealthy, but also has advantages that other film and television companies do not have.

Furthermore, among domestic film companies, only China Film Group has the strength to invest in various blockbusters.

Huayi and the like are far inferior.

It is undeniable that Huayi also has blockbuster projects.

But compared with China Film Group, it’s nothing.

Chen Kaige is a Cannes Palme d'Or director. He either doesn't make movies or he makes blockbusters.

In this situation, only China Film Group is the most suitable and capable of being the scapegoat.

On the other side, Wang Shu received a call from Zhou Xun.

"Are you busy? Want to have dinner together?" Zhou Xun's low voice sounded.

When Wang Shu heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "Sister Xun said we should have dinner together, so you have to make time even if you are busy."

Zhou Xun was very pleased to hear this. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Okay, let's have dinner together later."

"Okay, I'll go after I finish my work." Wang Shu didn't have anything to do at the moment, but he still said he was busy.

Because of this, Zhou Xun could feel his importance.

"Well, you go ahead and do your work." Zhou Xun said softly. In the evening, Wang Shu went to the private room in the hotel that Zhou Xun had booked as promised. When he arrived, Zhou Xun was already waiting there.

"Have you been waiting for a long time? There were a lot of things to do, and there was a traffic jam on the road, so I arrived late." Wang Shu explained as soon as he saw Zhou Xun.

What he said was all nonsense.

He didn't have much work to do today, so there was no point in him being too busy to keep the appointment.

What he said was just to tell Zhou Xun that he would make time to come over no matter how busy he was.

As expected, when Zhou Xun heard this, even though she had been waiting for more than half an hour, she was not angry at all. Instead, she replied with a bit of regret: "I just got here too, and I didn't wait long."

In her eyes, no matter how busy Wang Shu was, he was still rushing to keep the appointment.

This attitude and this kindness greatly satisfied Zhou Xun's spiritual needs.

Therefore, not only was I not angry, I even felt a little guilty.

She blamed herself and said that if it hadn't been for her call, Wang Shu wouldn't have rushed over.

Wang Shu heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that and said, "That's good. I was worried that I would keep you waiting for a long time."

"No, I just got here." Zhou Xun said comforting words with a smile.

After that, he changed the subject and asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Wang Shu continued the conversation: "I'm fine with either. It's up to you to decide."

Zhou Xun also knew that Wang Shu was not a picky eater, and the two of them had a close relationship, so he ordered dishes without being polite with Wang Shu.

After ordering the dishes, they waited. Zhou Xun found a topic to start the conversation and joked, "I haven't seen you for a few months. You seem to be a lot more handsome now."

Wang Shu looked at Zhou Xun and replied with burning eyes: "I don't know if I have become more handsome, but you have become more beautiful and charming."

When Zhou Xun heard this, he was happy mentally, but on the surface he rolled his eyes at Wang Shu.

Upon seeing this, Wang Shu immediately said righteously: "I am telling the truth."

Then he suddenly asked, "I haven't seen you for a few months. Do you miss me?"

Zhou Xun snorted and continued, "What do I want you to do?"

"Hehe." Wang Shu smiled upon hearing that and said, "I missed you."

Zhou Xun was happy mentally after hearing what he said, but on the surface he rolled his eyes at Wang Shu again.

As they were chatting, the dishes were served and they started eating together.

Zhou Xun is a female star. In order to manage her figure, she eats very little, and it is mainly Wang Shu who does the eating.

Seeing Wang Shu eating with relish, she couldn't help but envy him, "I envy you so much. You can eat whatever you want without getting fat."

"Haha." Wang Shu did not explain this question, but said, "You are too thin now, you can eat more."

Zhou Xun shook his head and said, "It's better not to do that. If I gain weight, I will have to lose weight later."

Wang Shu knew this was the truth, so he stopped trying to persuade her.

During this meal, Zhou Xun ate very little, and neither of them drank alcohol. Wang Shu felt that if he ate too much by himself, it would make Zhou Xun greedy, so he finished the meal without eating much.

After leaving the restaurant, Zhou Xun suggested: "It's still early, shall we go to the movies?"

"Okay!" Wang Shu nodded in agreement.

Zhou Xun smiled and said, "I have watched "Travel to Taipei" before, so I won't watch it again today."

"I haven't seen If You Are the One. Why don't we go watch this movie?"

"Okay." Wang Shu responded.

The box office of "Women Are Not Bad" is too poor and there are few screenings. Since Zhou Xun didn't say she was going to watch this movie, Wang Shu wouldn't be so stupid as to mention it.

Then the two of them went to the cinema fully armed to contribute to the box office for Director Feng.

In the theater, Wang Shu and Zhou Xun sat next to each other, and the movie "If You Are the One" was also playing on the screen.

"If You Are the One". Wang Shu had seen it, but he was not very interested in what was shown on the screen.

Taking advantage of the dim lights in the theater while the movie was playing, Wang Shu secretly reached out and held Zhou Xun's hand.

The moment he held Zhou Xun's hand, he clearly felt Zhou Xun's body tremble, and then he pulled his hand away calmly.

When Wang Shu saw Zhou Xun pull his hand away, he immediately held it again.

Zhou Xun continued to pull away, but Wang Shu continued to hold.

Zhou Xun pulled away again, and Wang Shu held on again.

This went on for a while before Zhou Xun finally stopped pulling his hand away and let Wang Shu hold it.

After that, Wang Shu did not take any other action, but played with Zhou Xun's delicate hands until the movie ended.

After leaving the cinema, the two did not go home directly, but took a walk outside in the cold weather.

Zhou Xun said in a low voice: "Actually, Director Feng had invited me to act in the movie If You Are the One before."

"Ah?" Wang Shu knew about this, but he scratched his head pretending to be ignorant and responded in surprise.

Zhou Xun sighed and said, "Director Feng invited me to play a supporting role for Shu Qi, so I refused."

As one of the mainland's four Dan and two Bing, and also considered a first-line female star, she was unexpectedly asked by her company and Feng Xiaogang to play a supporting role for an actor from Taiwan.

This experience made Zhou Xun realize that in the eyes of Huayi and Feng Xiaogang, mainland actors like them are not as famous as actresses from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Beijing.

Although these are facts in the circle, they are difficult to accept.

"To play supporting role to Shu Qi? What does Feng Xiaogang think?" Wang Shu pretended to be confused.

"Haha." Zhou Xun laughed bitterly and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's boring."

Seeing Wang Shu was silent, he added, "I thought the movie 'Women Are Not Bad' would help me regain my reputation, but I didn't expect it to completely lose me."

"The release time of "Women Are Not Bad" and "If You Are the One" is only one week apart, so they are competing movies in the same schedule."

"'Women Are Not Bad' is a movie in which I starred, and 'If You Are the One' is a movie I refused to star in."

"Now the movies I star in are flopping at the box office, while the movies I refuse to star in are thriving at the box office."

"Doesn't this further highlight that I have no box office appeal?"

"Doesn't this just make me feel like I'm not as good as those female stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan and can only play supporting roles for them?"

When Wang Shu heard Zhou Xun's aggrieved words, he immediately stepped forward and hugged her, comforting her: "Why do you think so much? You just care too much about these things."

Zhou Xun heard Wang Shu's words of comfort and said in a grievance, "Tell me, if my schedule had not conflicted and I had the honor of starring in the Taipei Trip you directed, would everything have been different?"

In her opinion, since Wang Shu chose to cooperate with Huayi, given her relationship with Wang Shu, it would naturally be easier for her to get a role than Li Binbin.

Therefore, if there had not been a schedule conflict at the time, she would most likely have been the heroine of "Travel to Taipei".

Wang Shu did not answer this question, but continued to comfort him: "There are not so many ifs in the world."

"Besides, you have tried very hard, you just had bad luck."

"The problem with the movie 'Women Are Not Bad' is not with you."

"It's all about the script and the engraving."

"I've seen the movie. You were very beautiful in it."

"It's just that the script is too thin, and Xu Ke didn't shoot it well."

(End of this chapter)