China Entertainment 1997

"The premiere scored 8.7 points, Cao Xuan's new work has a good reputation"

"A movie with a strong focus on anti-trafficking and great humanistic care"

"But when I see wet tears, I don't know who I hate, Cao Xuan and Yan Bingyan contribute best actor and actress performances"

"A feast of acting skills, many big names in "Dear" contributed wonderful performances"

"The most terrifying thing about the story behind the movie is the six words "adapted from a true story""

"Stars announced that 1% of the total box office of the "Dear" movie will be used to fund child-finding organizations"

"The box office on the first day was 145 million, "Dear" is targeting "Transformers 4", and this summer's championship battle begins"

"..."

In South Korea, although "Dear" had a good reputation and acceptable box office, it did not cause much of a sensation.

In the psychology of most Koreans, Cao Xuan has always been tied to music, Marvel, action movies and other elements, and the appeal of his literary movies is inferior.

At least it's not good enough to compete with those Hollywood movies and popular Korean movies in the summer.

The same is true for Japan. Hollywood and local animation movies took the lead, but it was Singapore. "Dear" performed extremely well, second only to the Hollywood movie "War for the Planet of the Apes" and ranked second in the rankings.

But within China, the situation has completely changed.

No matter what Hollywood blockbuster, Cao Xuan must give way obediently to him.

"Dear" had a box office of 145 million on its first day. Although it was inferior to "Transformers 4", it also set a new single-day box office record for Chinese-language films.

The previous highest was "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which had a box office of about 130 million on its first day, followed by "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which grossed 125 million in a single day on Valentine's Day, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, four days after its release. It is also the highest single-day box office for the entire movie.

Everyone has no doubt that if "Dear" wasn't a movie with strong literary and artistic attributes, it would have been possible to surpass "Transformers 4".

Even now, many people in the outside world believe that "Dear" may not have a chance to compete with "Transformers 4".

There are not many movies released in late July, less than ten here and there.

"Dear" stands out, followed closely by Han Han's debut film "We Will Never See You Again".

I don’t know if Han Han is just a newborn and not afraid of tigers, or if he is confident in the appeal of his post-80s cultural idol, or if he simply doesn’t have high commercial expectations for the movie.

Anyway, this movie was openly released at the same time as "Dear", less than three days apart.

This is something that the three great directors Zhang, Feng and Chen, the two kung fu superstars Cheng and Li, the Four Heavenly Kings and countless Chinese big names dare not do.

Based on this alone, Han Han can be called "brave".

However, Cao Xuan did not underestimate Han Han like others. The post-80s generation gradually became the mainstream of consumption and the popularity of Internet culture. People like Han Han who have accumulated terrifying popularity and fans in the past few years are destined to be the first in the traffic era. A group of sharers.

And Han Han is not like Guo Xiaosi. The latter just wants to make a quick buck, take advantage of the east wind to create a buzz, and spend more money from fans, and then it has no value.

And Han Han has real skills. He has the ability to become a good director and develop in the film industry for a long time.

Although such a person would not attract Cao Xuan's special attention, he would not underestimate him either.

From the project establishment to the release of "The Future", Cao Xuan would inquire about it from time to time.

Behind Han Han is Laurel Pictures, and the person in charge is Fang Li. It is an independent production company that has relationships with many film studios and companies.

Fang Li is most well-known for the kneeling incident in "A Hundred Birds Pay Attendance to the Phoenix". He was the producer who knelt down to beg to schedule the film.

It looks very pitiful, but in fact he is the biggest contributor behind the rise of Han Han and another well-known director Li Yu. Fan Xiaopang also worked closely with them in the original time and space.

Of course, relying on a calendar alone is not enough to achieve success. Bona's Fatty Yu and Ali also provided a lot of help during Han Han's rise.

During the preparation of "See You Again", I had already hooked up with Bona, and there was also investment from Youku.

When Youku was acquired by Alibaba, Han Han was naturally taken under its wing.

However, at this stage, Bona and Youku were suppressed by Fanxing and Penguin Star. Their strength was far less effective than that of the original time and space, so they brought in Shanghai Film and Wanda.

Cao Xuan doesn't know how much each company will lose if the already limited profits are divided among several companies. However, it must be noted that if Wanda and Shanghai Film Group had not entered the scene, "We Will See You Again" might have been directly replaced by "Dear" 》Destroyed.

At this stage, although "See You Again" is not as good as "Dear", it still took in a box office of nearly 200 million in its first week, and the total box office is expected to hit 500 million.

Han Han himself and several companies are quite satisfied. After all, it is a debut novel. The data is already quite good, and the reputation is also very good.

But Cao Xuan knew that if the latter hadn't insisted on fighting "Dear", the box office would have been higher by 100 to 200 million, or even more.

In addition to "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch", another one worth mentioning is "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch: Empire of the Moon".

This movie was produced by Bona, and they spent a lot of money and favors to invite Fan Xiaopang and Huang Xiaoming to co-star.

Speaking of which, this is Fan Xiaopang's second time playing the role of Lian Nitang. Fanxing had previously produced "The Legend of the White-haired Witch", which is considered her masterpiece.

Now this movie can be regarded as resting on its laurels to some extent, and it has not yet succeeded.

The box office may not exceed 300 million, and the rating on Time.com is only an outrageous 3.8 points.

Taking into account the cost of the movie, which cost tens of millions just to hire the two leading actors, this movie can be considered a loss to my grandma's family.

Fan Xiaopang herself even encountered some controversy, and some of her fans even publicly expressed dissatisfaction.

Previously in Fanxing, not all of Fan Xiaopang's works were high-quality, but most of them were remarkable, and many of them were even high-quality.

But after leaving the stars. The quality of several works that Fan Xiaopang received obviously began to decline.

Not to mention that "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" is her masterpiece, and the character Lian Nitang is the Bai Yueguang in many people's hearts, and they even like Fan Xiaopang because of it. Now that she is ruining her reputation and representative role, fans are naturally dissatisfied.

Of course Fan Xiaopang is aware of the controversy outside, but he also knows that he is suffering and cannot speak out.

People don’t know how valuable firewood and rice are. After independence from Fanxing, although they gained freedom, wealth and rights, they also shouldered a lot of responsibilities.

It would be fine if she was just a little rich, but the key point is that she is ambitious, and is not even willing to cooperate with other stars. She wants to make more money, make connections, and grow her company.

This is true, but she does not have her own team and sufficient hardware strength, so she can only go into battle on her own, and many times she cannot help herself.

For example, in this movie "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch: Moonlight Kingdom", she certainly didn't see that the script was bad.

But after tens of millions of real money was spent, and with the hope of promoting relations with Bona and the Hong Kong circle, Fan Xiaopang had no choice but to accept it, and the various negative impacts it brought were naturally the price she paid for it.

Cao Xuan also saw Fan Xiaopang's struggle and dilemma, but he had no choice. He chose his own path and no one else could stop him.

Moreover, with tens of millions of RMB and some connections, Fan Xiaopang may not regret it.

It doesn't matter if you act in a bad movie, if you make a few good ones later, you can naturally turn your reputation back.

This is also the thought of many celebrities, but they are afraid that sometimes a work may damage the reputation of the industry and the audience, and it will be impossible to restore it in the future.

Cao Xuan didn't think that Fan Xiaopang would become popular. This was her foundation. As long as she didn't commit suicide, she would still be one of the most popular actresses in the entertainment industry within a few years.

But what he regrets is that the golden brand that Fanxing spent ten years building for Fan Xiaopang is likely to become less and less valuable in the future.

This is also a microcosm of many Fanxing artists leaving Fanxing.

The most representative one is Yan Kuan. He ranked first among the four major and minor actors in Mainland China at that time. He pioneered the first idol drama in Mainland China and became a top-notch actor with countless fans.

But at his peak, he chose to leave Fanxing and find his favorite career path.

Nowadays, the top performer from back then has passed away. Although there is no shortage of actors, he will only be a second-tier star. It is difficult to have access to high-quality resources, and he will no longer be able to feel the glory of the past.

Yan Kuan later did not regret it, but he proved one point——

Sometimes your success is not only due to your own ability and luck, but also due to the support and training of the platform.

It is not Cao Xuan who takes the credit, but now more than 95% of the careers of these artists are more successful than in the original time and space, and many of them are even soaring into the sky, and behind all this, Fanxing takes the most credit.

To a certain extent, these two films also reflected the film market during this period. There were almost no rivals to "Dear".

Fanxing, China Film, Shanghai Film and Television, and even Wanda, which has a certain competitive relationship, have also increased their exposure to the film. After all, they have no grudge against money.

Under this general trend, the peak scheduling rate of "Dear" was as high as 82%, and it was above 55% most of the time in the first two weeks.

Not to mention the quality of the movie "Dear" itself and Cao Xuan's appeal, it is a bad movie here. With such a high film schedule, the box office cannot be low.

"Dear" has truly achieved invincibility in the same period!

The first week's box office was 570 million, breaking the box office record for Chinese-language movies. Not only did it become the most popular Chinese-language movie this year, it also made a lot of money for the leading actors.

Cao Xuan won’t talk about it. Even if this movie breaks 2 billion, it is just another feather in the cake for him.

Zeng Li also made a splash in the industry. She played the second female lead, the ex-wife of the male protagonist. She played a strong mother in the movie and contributed many wonderful crying and parent-child emotional scenes.

To be honest, as an actor in the past, Zeng Li was more famous for his appearance and fighting scenes.

The former was highly praised by Cao Xuan as a beauty who appears in Chinese dramas every two hundred years. Although it was a joke, she was recognized by many people. She has been ranked among the top ten beauties in the post-70s entertainment industry all year round, and her ranking is not low.

The latter is also highly praised and is one of the few mainland actresses whose fighting scenes are widely recognized.

However, these two characteristics concealed Zeng Li's own outstanding acting skills to a certain extent.

Whether it is "Sword Rain", "Xiu Chun Dao 2", or "Di Renjie: The Tongtian Empire", Zeng Li's literary and opera performances are all excellent, and he is not inferior to other actors in the same group. Unfortunately, due to other characteristics, he is not too popular. Seen by many people.

Until this time in "Dear", Zeng Li used his outstanding performance to justify his acting skills.

The associate professor of Chinese Opera is not just for a living!

However, Nishinomiya Empress is back from the fire, but she does not rely on her career as an actress to make a living. For her, becoming famous will not only add a resume, it will be easier to be evaluated as a professor in the future, and she will also gain the admiration and love of students and fans, which will satisfy her vanity. It has little practical effect.

But the popularity brought about by "Dear" is more important to the heroine Yan Bingyan.

Although Yan Bingyan is the Golden Rooster actress, she is the least famous among the main creators of "Dear".

It is no exaggeration to say that with her name after Cao Xuan, many viewers and even the media do not know who she is.

With such a popularity base, the popularity of "Dear" brought about earth-shaking changes in her career.

This eldest sister is also funny and has no idea what it means to have a movie that kills summer movies.

After the Guangzhou road show, she returned to the capital. After sleeping hard for a day, she invited friends to have dinner with her that night.

During this period, I didn’t make any cover-ups. I stood naked in the food stalls, wearing flip-flops, crossing my legs, drinking heavily, smoking cigarettes, and joking with friends.

In the early morning of the next day, the video and photos were on the hot search list.

In other words, Yan Bingyan is a capable person without any idol baggage. She is even more likeable because of her down-to-earth attitude, otherwise she might suffer a small loss.

This incident also reminded Yan Bingyan and his team.

In the future, when you are a star, you should restrain yourself from some less positive behaviors such as smoking, drinking, or having fun with your male friends, especially in public places.

Otherwise, it won't affect his image, but if he blocks someone else's way and is found out, it will be a big trouble.

But these are all side effects. A powerful person like Yan Bingyan will definitely not be short of food as long as he does not commit suicide.

The movie "Dear" can be regarded as a group drama. Each actor has room for his or her own performance, so it is difficult to judge objectively.

But when it comes to the complexity of the character and the intensity of the performance, Yan Bingyan's heroine is definitely the best in the entire movie.

The heroine Li Hongqin is a rural woman who has always felt guilty towards her husband because she was unable to have children. Her husband was a trafficker and one day he sent two children to her as an excuse to raise them.

Both children were abducted. The older boy is the child of the male protagonist Tian Wenjun, and the parents of the girl are unknown.

Li Hongqin was very concerned about her two children and loved them very much. However, Tian Wenjun's journey to find her son revealed the truth and almost made Li Hongqin go to jail.

Although it was later proven that Li Hongqin was innocent and was not involved in the abduction case, both children also left her.

The boy followed Tian Wenjun home, and the girl was sent to an orphanage to be raised.

However, Li Hongqin missed her two children. She couldn't help it since the boy had biological parents. She wanted to bring the girl to her, so she tried various ways and even asked a lawyer played by Xia Yu to win the custody of her daughter.

But it was too difficult. Her husband was a human trafficker, and the two children he raised indirectly broke up the two families. How could anyone agree to give the children to her with all the suspicions surrounding him.

Li Hongqin was pitiful because she couldn't get what she asked for, suffered injustice, and suffered from separation.

But she is pitiful. Those families who have lost their children are pitiful. She is innocent and wronged. Those families that have been harmed by human traffickers are crying with blood and tears every night.

The screenwriter gave this character an ending, a warm and sad ending.

She is pregnant and will have a child of her own in the future, which brings a ray of light to her future life.

The sad thing is that all the tragedies in the first half of her life came from her inability to have children, but in fact, it was her husband who was really infertile.

If I were to evaluate this character, one word would be the most appropriate -

evil!

Yan Bingyan played this role extremely accurately, playing an honest, cowardly and tenacious rural woman to the fullest. Her performance was so good that Cao Xuan even admired it.

Boss Cao asserted that Yan Bingyan is definitely a popular candidate for the Golden Horse Award at the end of this year and the Golden Rooster Award next year.

If the Golden Rooster Awards can be reorganized as planned next year, Yan Bingyan is likely to become the only double Golden Rooster Best Actress in the past decade.

Also receiving great exposure is Huang Bo. His role is not particularly large, but his character is extremely brilliant.

Especially the words at the wine table when they announced they were having a baby are classic.

Huang Bo has developed extremely well in the past few years. "囧", "Journey to the West: Conquer the Demons", and now "Dear", almost one movie a year is a super hit.

Except for Cao Xuan, there is no one in the entire film industry who is more popular than him.

Again, if it weren't for Huang Bo's face, Hu Ge's title of "The First Brother of Fanxing" would have been changed a long time ago.

In fact, because of the existence of Cao Xuan, Huang Bo, Jiao Enjun, and even Chen Yao and Duan Long, Hu Ge, the "number one brother among the stars", was not only in a precarious position, but also lacked deterrence and gold content.

After all, the "First Sister of Fanxing" is the real number one actress in the company, and all the "First Sisters" of three generations are undefeated heroines.

And if "Brother Fanxing" wants to sit firmly, he has to put aside Cao Xuan, get rid of Huang Bo, and Jiao Enjun is not willing to fight.

Under various prefixes, no matter how great the prestige is, it has lost 70% to 80%.

If "Battle in Changsha" hadn't become a hit last year and "Nirvana in Fire" became a hit again this summer, Hu Ge would have accumulated a lot of momentum and his popularity would have returned to its peak. This "Brother from the Stars" would really have become a joke.

In mid-August, Xu Laoguai's new movie "Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom" was released, produced by Fanxing and China Film.

At that time, "Dear", whose box office growth had begun to stabilize or even decline, had reached a cumulative box office of 925 million.

It was originally expected that the box office would be over 1.6 billion, giving it a run for its money with "Transformers 4", but considering that subsequent summer movies will be released in turn.

As the popularity of movies has passed, the weak commercial attributes of literary and artistic movies have been exposed. The box office will decline increasingly seriously in the future, and the estimated numbers will become more and more conservative.

According to current estimates, if nothing unexpected happens, the total box office of "Dear" will be between 1.2 and 1.5 billion.

This number has greatly exceeded the expectations at the beginning of the film project, and Cao Xuan happily made it happen.

In addition to the originally promised 1% of the total box office, we also cooperated with the distributors and theaters to generate another 1% of the box office.

Don't look at it as just 2%, the total box office base of the movie is high enough. In addition to tax, this 2% box office is at least more than 20 million.

With more than 20 million yuan in financial subsidies, coupled with the various publicity effects of the movie's hit, "Dear" has brought hope of reunion to countless families.

This hope is more precious than any achievement of this movie...