Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 226: Eden Lake released in North America

Xingchen Entertainment is in great demand, so we don’t dare to exaggerate too much, but other media don’t care about that.

West China Metropolis Daily:
[Before its release, I'm afraid no one would have thought that "The Shallows" would achieve such success in North America.

It is incredible that a domestic thriller can be successful in the United States.

Should we think carefully about why Zhang Chen was successful? If we figure this out, it will be a good thing for Chinese films! 】

"Global Times":
[It has always been a problem for Chinese films to go overseas.]

In the past few years, we relied on film festivals, and art films could be exported if they won awards at film festivals.

Then Zhang Yimou took the lead in exploring commercial films, and "Hero" brought about the craze for costume dramas.

But the good news is that there is more than one such explorer.

The success of "The Shallows" has opened up a new way of thinking. Is the low-budget thriller a new track? 】

The success of "The Shallows" abroad has indeed brought a wave of popularity to Star Entertainment. The media wanted to interview Zhang Chen, but couldn't find him, so they had to interview Dong Jianqiang.

Dong Jianqiang praised "The Shallows" but he was actually using "The Shallows" to promote "Mischievous", a blatant traffic diversion.

Someone also found Fan Binbin, the heroine of "The Shallows".

Fan Binbin would not promote "A True Detective" because Xu Qing is her potential competitor, but she mentioned another film - "Eden Lake".

“Director Zhang is the most talented director I have ever met. The success of The Shallows is foreseeable. Not only The Shallows, but Eden Lake has also achieved good results in North America. It has not been taken off the screen yet, but it is already the second The Shallows…”

"Eden Lake" is a movie she starred in, so of course she has to praise it.

I just don't understand why the domestic media only focus on promoting "The Shallows" and fail to see that "Eden Lake", also directed by Zhang Chen and starring Fan Jiuyi, is currently in theaters?

I, your aunt, have already been an international star.

Reporter Zhang Xiaobei is an old hand and immediately realized that this was a new news point.

When others reported that "The Shallows" was popular in North America, he also reported it. This is called following the trend.

But if he covered Eden Lake, that would be different.

This is called a news leader and a weather vane of public opinion!
"Then Miss Fan, can you tell us about the situation of "Eden Lake"..."

Zhang Xiaobei's eyes met Fan Binbin's, and they both understood each other tacitly.

Everybody take what you need.

"Of course, Eden Lake is director Zhang Chen's first film shot in the United States. It was a collaboration with New Line Films and I starred in it. It was released right after The Shallows. The results are very encouraging. The box office reached 1660 million in the first weekend and 580 million in a single day..."

“I remember the first day of The Shallows seemed to be…”

"$1900 million."

Fan Binbin knows all these data by heart. They are the best materials for bragging, so of course he has to remember them.

"There is a slight gap between the box office and The Shallows, but that's because the two are distributed by different companies. The Shallows is distributed by Columbia, one of the Big Six, while Eden Lake is distributed by New Line. But in terms of influence, I'm afraid Eden Lake will be greater because it focuses on a juvenile murder case..."

Sister Jiuyi kept revealing new information, and Zhang Xiaobei was so excited that he wanted to high-five her. Fan Jiuyi really knew how to guide the audience's curiosity.

Zhang Xiaobei followed up by asking, "A juvenile murder case?"

Fan Binbin nodded: "Yes, it's a thriller about teenagers killing each other."

“When will it be released in China?”

"This... I'm afraid it won't be shown in China because it's too dark and won't pass the censorship. If you want to watch it, you can only find other ways..."

After Fan Binbin finished speaking, her face was full of regret, and Zhang Xiaobei wanted to give her a little red flower.

This woman really understands the audience's psychology. It's not allowed to be introduced into the country, so we can only watch it through piracy?
Then everyone will try their best to see it.

Although there is no box office revenue, Fan Binbin's popularity will not be affected and will instead increase significantly.

It is even more beneficial to them as journalists.

At the end of the interview, Zhang Xiaobei finally put down the microphone and sincerely wished: "Congratulations, Sister Binbin, your two works have been selling well in North America..."

"I am grateful to Director Zhang and the media for coming here. This is just a token of my appreciation..."

After Fan Binbin finished speaking, the young assistant sensibly handed over a thick red envelope, and Zhang Xiaobei put it in his pocket tacitly. The two looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Well, someone with whom we can work together for a long time.

……

The next day, Zhang Xiaobei's interview was published in the newspaper and was immediately reprinted by major websites.

Only then did people remember that Zhang Chen had also made a movie in Hollywood - "Eden Lake".

There was quite a stir over the casting at the time, but I didn't expect the film to have already been released.

But soon I learned that the film could not be released in the country due to its subject matter.

How does this work?
At this stage, everyone has a very bad impression of optoelectronics. Whatever optoelectronics opposes, everyone supports it. Anyway, as long as you do the opposite, it will definitely not be wrong.

That’s true!

What about Eden Lake?

The name alone is enough to make people imagine, "Eden Lake", is it similar to "Garden of Eden", what is "Garden of Eden", is it the place where Adam and Eve were born? The audience is full of expectations, and the less they see, the more they are looking forward to it.

For a time, BT, eMule, Wowga, and a large number of P2P websites were filled with messages asking for seeds.

The popularity of "Eden Lake" even surpassed "The Accidental Murderer" to some extent.

After this operation, the person who benefited the most was of course Fan Xiaopang.

"The Shallows" has already made her a top star in China. After the huge success abroad, her status has been further improved, and she is half a head higher than other domestic actresses.

The hot sales of "Eden Lake" further consolidated her position.

Speaking of it now, Fan Binbin is already an international actress of the same status as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, but because she has only been in the industry for a short time, her foundation is still a little lacking.

If she has a few more works, she may still have some distance to catch up with Gong Li, but it will be no problem for her to catch up with Zhang Ziyi.

Don’t think that Zhang Ziyi is so awesome, she doesn’t have any of the three big names to rely on, she just has business achievements.

At the same time, the news that Zhang Ziyi rejected "Eden Lake" was once again hotly discussed.

"Lack of wits" became Zhang Ziyi's byword for a while.

Some media dug deeper from a different angle, claiming that all those in the entertainment industry whose relatives serve as agents have failed.

Zhang's brother jumped out and complained: I'm not her agent anymore, okay~
Li Xue also jumped out and said: Can you please not generalize? What's wrong with being relatives? I am Li Lianhua's sister.

Zhang Ziyi has become a target that everyone wants to attack, and anyone can come up and step on her.

Unfortunately, her agent, Ms. Ji, is a Singaporean who has a bit of a confusion about the domestic public opinion environment and has no idea how to deal with it.

This gives people the illusion that Zhang Ziyi has given in.

The media is full of people mocking Zhang Ziyi. How much myopia does one have to have to miss out on such a good project as "Eden Lake"?

As for the fact that Spielberg was the producer of Memoirs of a Geisha, no one mentioned it at all.

What are you afraid of?
Anyway, "Memoirs of a Geisha" has not made any splash so far.

What if I succeed in the future?
It’s very simple. Just stand on Zhang Ziyi’s side and blow it again.

As for integrity and face, they are not as important as bonuses.

As a media person, it is basic practice for them to lie and change their stance according to the situation.

In recent times, Fan Binbin's popularity among the people has reached its peak, but among her peers, she has been collectively hated by young actresses.

In places like Panjiayuan and Liulichang, the business volume of people beating up villains has increased dramatically.

That’s right, what do you have, Fan Binbin?

Isn’t it because of hooking up with Zhang Chen that he became successful?
In just one year, he went from being unknown to being successful. Many people were surprised how Fan Binbin became an international star without any notice!

Why?
Because you debuted as a maid?
It’s all because of hooking up with Zhang Chen.

This makes the actresses of the same age group extremely envious and jealous.

Some people are already thinking about how to get rid of her. There are limited resources in the country. Having Zhang Ziyi is enough. If there is another Fan Binbin, will everyone be able to survive?
……

On the set of "Taken", Zhang Chen is talking on the phone with Dong Jianqiang.

"The Accidental Murderer" is about to be released. As a director, if he were an actor, he would definitely take leave to go back for promotion.

But he is the director.

If he takes a leave of absence, the entire "Hurricane" crew will have to shut down.

There are a lot of action scenes that can only be decided by him as the director, Guan Hu and Lu Yang are simply unable to handle it.

"There's nothing we can do. We can only rely on them for this promotion. But don't worry, I've already informed Jiang Wenli and Xu Qing, and they will cooperate with the promotion. By the way, let Liu Tianxian mobilize her fans to go to the movies. She's very popular now..."

"In the early stage, I will mainly appear on various shows, and then start the roadshow after the release. It doesn't need to be too many, just four cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen..."

"The seven days of May Day are crucial, so invest as much resources as possible..."

He didn't have much to say about the film promotion, as Dong Jianqiang was more familiar with it than he was.

……

Not long after I finished talking to Dong Jianqiang, Pete called again.

"Hi Zhang, the box office of Eden Lake is very good, with $1600 million in the first weekend. I'm so happy for you that I called to let you know."

"Oh, thanks, Pete, but Diane has already informed me."

"Oh, damn, how could I forget this, Zhang, you know, you succeeded, you succeeded in North America..."

Pete's tone was full of excitement, but Zhang Chen remained unmoved.

"Come on, Pete, I've already proven myself in Hollywood, and The Dark Invasion is the best proof of that."

"That's different, Zhang. 'The Darkness' is a foreign film. Even if the box office is good, it doesn't mean anything. Maybe people are just more curious about horror stories that happen in Asia.

But Eden Lake is different. It’s a Hollywood movie. The success of Eden Lake shows that North American audiences have recognized you. Now you are already a well-known horror film director, on par with Wen…”

(End of this chapter)