Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 334: The Promise War

At the end of November, filming of A Quiet Place was still going on.

During these two days, Sister Jiuyi would offer herself to Zhang Chen every night for blessing. Zhang Chen enjoyed it so much that she became covered with patina.

Frankly speaking, Jiuyijie’s dialogue skills have improved a lot recently, but there are still some flaws, and Zhang Chen needs guidance from time to time.

Sometimes I would even ask her to say a line from The Promise: "Do you want to see what I'm wearing under my clothes?"

A few days ago, Chen Caomao called and invited Zhang Chen to attend the premiere of "If Love".

Zhang Chen refused on the grounds of tight construction schedule.

The distributor of If Love is Star Media, which has its own cinema chain. Zhang Chen doesn't want to offend them, but his reasons are very reasonable.

You see, I didn't even go to the celebration party for "Taken" because I was really busy and couldn't get away.

I understand.

……

"If Love" was released on December 12st, which was the first shot of the 1 Lunar New Year box office.

There was no other way. Chen Caomao originally wanted to advance the release date to November, but was rejected by China Film Group. He could only move it forward as much as possible and release it on the 11st.

"The Promise" will be released on the 15th, so it would be great if it can grab some box office revenue.

Chen Caomao originally wanted to ask Zhang Chen for help with some ideas, but what ideas could Zhang Chen have?

At this stage, anyone who encounters poet Chen will die. Before he fails, "Farewell My Concubine" is his undefeated golden body.

But it’s no use arriving at the 1st in advance. “If Love”, just hearing the name doesn’t sound very good.

Chen Caomao himself is not very famous and has no reputation at all in the mainland.

You can't even find out where the premiere of "If Love" was held on the Internet.

It was the closing film of the Venice Film Festival, but sorry, in this life, the closing film has become "Taken", and there is no chance for "If Love" anymore.

With Zhang Chen's reminder, "If Love" put all its efforts into promotion and finally found some space in the cracks of "The Promise".

The publicity was somewhat useful, with the box office taking in 2200 million in the first weekend, which is not a small amount, but not as good compared to its cost.

The leading actors of "If Love" are big stars such as Zhou Gongzi, Zhang Geshen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Their pay alone is worth a lot of money. The total production cost is 8000 million.

Judging from the cost, it is really a blockbuster. Chen Caomao has always thought that "If Love" is a blockbuster, but it's useless because the audience does not recognize it.

It's not directed by a big name, there are no big scenes, and it's a musical. You tell me this is a blockbuster? Are you kidding me?

Chen Caomao was very dissatisfied with this box office revenue. He felt that the promotion of "The Promise" had stolen the attention of "A Moment to Remember".

But what Zhang Chen wanted to tell him was that it was actually very good.

Originally, the total box office of "If Love" was only 2500 million by the end of its release, and now it has 2200 million in the first weekend. Are you still not satisfied?

Then not long after that, "The Promise" also premiered.

Zhang Chen refused with the same reason: You see, I don’t even have time to go back for the celebration party of “Taken”. I’m really busy.

However, people like Dong Jianqiang and Ning Hao will definitely go.

And there is Jing Tian.

This little girl is really all-powerful. It is said that Dong Jianqiang and others are not as well-positioned as her.

The premiere was grand in scale.

Poet Chen always likes to make a big show. The premiere of The Promise was held in the CPPCC auditorium. Isn't it high-end?
……

In the room~
During the intermission, the two people from Akagi chatted face to face about gossip.

"I heard that Wang Changtian was not invited to the premiere of The Promise~"

"why?"

"It seems that during an interview, a new reporter from Guangguang said something wrong~"

"What did you say?"

"She asked Director Chen, 'If the film doesn't achieve the expected effect, will it hurt your self-esteem?' Then Director Chen got angry on the spot and scolded the new reporter until she cried."

"Why did you curse?"

"I was a little unhappy. Someone came to my baby's full moon party and asked me what would you do if your baby died?"

Fat Fan imitated the tone of poet Chen, and it was quite similar.

Zhang Chen shrugged. He didn’t know whether it was true or not, but it did fit the personality of poet Chen.

Many people feel that poet Chen cannot listen to any opposing opinions, but that is because they do not understand poet Chen's status in the circle.

When the country was extremely poor, poet Chen's "Farewell My Concubine" won the Cannes Palme d'Or, filling the gap in this area of ​​the country.

Filling the gap, everyone knows its value.

Therefore, Chen's social status is simply beyond the imagination of people today.

People always talk about the three great domestic directors: Zhang Yimou, Chen Shishi and Xiao Gangpao.

Little did he know that in the circle, the other two were not at the same level as poet Chen.

Not to mention the little cannon, he came from a grassroots background, and the only reason he could rank in the top three was entirely due to the box office.

Let’s just talk about Zhang Yimou.

Zhang has won the Berlin Golden Bear and the Venice Golden Lion, but it was useless, and it was not the first time.

The breakthrough from zero was made by poet Chen, and this is his status.

It’s the same principle as the flying into space in later generations. The first person who went to space was called Yang Liwei, and the ones after him were called astronauts.

The treatment of Zhang and Chen is also completely different.

Zhang's growing experience was one of being scolded all the way. He was criticized in various ways, especially by the Beijing circle, who looked down on him in various ways.

Where is Chen?

Quite the opposite.

"Yellow Earth", "King of Children", "Farewell My Concubine", "The Emperor and the Assassin", "Together with You"...

Applause and flowers along the way.

No one in the Beijing circle, who are dissatisfied or angry, has ever criticized him.

Two generations of his family have been in this circle, passed down from father to son, and his network of contacts is extremely deep.

"It is said that the reputation is very bad?" "Yeah, it is full of criticisms on the Internet~"

"I asked Ning Hao, and he also said he couldn't understand it~"

This is basically equivalent to a death sentence.

If ordinary audiences can't understand it, it may be because it is an art film.

But even a professional like Ning Hao couldn’t understand it, which shows that “The Promise” is not good in terms of both literature and art.

"Is it really that bad? The cost is over 300 million~"

"Let me put it this way, maybe even 'A Chinese Odyssey: Part Two' is better than 'The Promise'~"

Zhang Chen was talking about his own personal experience. Of course, "A Chinese Odyssey" is also a bad movie.

Liu Zhenwei's reputation started to deteriorate from this movie.

After filming "A Chinese Odyssey", he announced his retirement from the film industry and went to settle in Canada.

Two years later, probably because he had run out of money, he came back to life, made two films, and then retired from the film industry again.

Then he came out again two years later, probably because he had no money to spend.

However, after "Big Words", there have been few excellent works, and most of them are just rehashing old stuff.

Reheating "A Chinese Odyssey" and "A Chinese Odyssey".

"A Chinese Odyssey" is such a work.

Produced by Emperor Entertainment Group and distributed by Huayi Brothers, the film was a box office bomb.

Speaking of which, Boss Yang really treated Xie Bi Wang as his own son, but unfortunately, the facts proved that he could not do it.

However, Xie Bi Wang’s resources are really strong. Two of the three movies in this year’s Lunar New Year period are his works, and he is the leading actor in both.

Unfortunately, they all failed.

If it were given to anyone else, they would definitely be dubbed "box office poison", but it's okay for Xie Bi Wang, as he still has great resources.

"By the way, I heard that you were invited to star in "A Chinese Odyssey", why didn't you accept it?"

"You were preparing for a new film at the time, and I thought you would assign a role to me, but I didn't expect you to use Xu Qing, and used her for two films at once..."

Aren’t there two movies, one is “Manslaughter” and the other is “Taken”~
Zhang Chen understood what he meant and realized that there was something grudge between them.

If there were any grudges, Director Zhang had to smooth them over personally.

……

A war of words is brewing on the domestic Internet.

Until the release of "The Promise", the box office of "If Love" did not exceed 5000 million, and Chen Caomao was completely defeated.

After The Promise was released, the cinemas even stopped scheduling A Better Tomorrow, and even their distributor, Star Media, was helpless.

Damn, during the Lunar New Year holiday, it’s only released for half a month?

This made Chen Caomao extremely angry.

I wanted to change the schedule, but you wouldn't let me.

Then when “The Promise” was released, I wasn’t given a single theater. What’s going on? Are they bullying foreigners?

At the same time, I remembered Zhang Chen’s prophecy.

It all came true~
As for publicity, the media is flooded with positive reviews about The Promise.
Yes, you read that right, it is a good review~
[A legendary fantasy story performed by six heavyweight actors from China and abroad]

[Special effects are grand, redefining the standards of domestic special effects blockbusters]

[The Promise's overseas copyright sold for $2000 million]

Of course, this is limited to paper media.

Poet Chen’s energy is truly amazing, or rather it’s China Film’s energy. It was clearly a terrible movie, but a few days before its release, there wasn’t a single bad review.

All the negative reviews are only on the Internet.

China Film Group cannot control what netizens say, and neither can poet Chen.

[The Promise, the worst film of the year, bar none]

[I watched "The Promise", a bunch of gorgeous answers]

[Director Chen used 3.5 million to feed the whole country~]

[At the time, the Qin Palace was put under martial law, and hundreds of armed police were deployed. This is what was filmed? ]

Netizens have a rebellious mentality. If you don't let me say it, I will say it anyway, and I will say it more strongly.

This creates a strange phenomenon.

The print media are all praising The Promise, but the internet is full of criticisms...

But human power is limited~
A few days later, Wu Junru spoke up~
She directly said publicly on a Hong Kong program that "The Promise" is not good at all~
This time, Chen Hong was offended.

Then, a proxy war between the two directors began.

Chen Hong responded: "I really don't understand. Whether Hong Kong artists come to the mainland to make money or develop, since they are optimistic about the mainland market, they still speak so irresponsibly."

Then, relatives and friends of both hostile parties came out and started a war of words on the Internet.

Poet Chen is a person who lives in an ivory tower. He was disgusted when he saw this situation and questioned Chen Hong: "Why did it become like this? It's a mess~"

Although Chen Hong is her wife, her other identity is the producer of "The Promise", and she is responsible for all these matters.

Mrs. Chen no longer had the aggressive look she had on the Internet. She poured a cup of tea for poet Chen and handed it to him gently: "Old Chen, don't worry, just leave these things to me. I have studied it carefully. This is how Zhang Chen's movies became popular. Provoking a war of words is the fastest way for a movie to become popular..."

Poet Chen, who had never been involved in any domestic affairs, certainly didn't understand this, but since Chen Hong said so, he let her do it.

……

北美
At this time, the filming of "A Quiet Place" was nearing completion, with only a few shots left, which could be completed in two days at most.

And at this moment, Zhang Chen received the good news from Diane.

"Boss, I've almost finished discussing Twilight, but the author, Stephenie Meyer, wants to meet you before deciding whether to sell it to us. Also, I've taken over the Cube company. From now on, you're the boss of the Cube company."

"Well done, Ms. Diane. From now on, you are the general manager of 'Cube' Company."

"Thank you, boss. So, boss, when are you going to meet Ms. Stephenie Meyer? Also, now that the new company is in your hands, you'd better show up and say a few words to everyone. This will be very helpful for the stability of the staff."

"OK, let's set it for tomorrow afternoon."

(End of this chapter)