Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 459: "Baby Project" Premiere
Huayi Brothers, the atmosphere is solemn.

"Racing" grossed over 100 million yuan in three days, which no one expected.

Ning Hao is simply a monster.

“How’s the box office today?”

"Fourteen million~"

Wang Zhongjun calculated in his mind that he could still earn 10 million on Monday, but what would happen by the weekend?
No, "Racing" poses too great a threat to "The Baby Project" and its momentum must be curbed.

Otherwise, it is likely to affect the box office of "Baby Project" during its weekend release.

Without a good start, the subsequent box office performance of "Baby Project" will be worrying.

"What should we do?" Cheng Long's eyes were also full of worry.

"Hold the premiere in advance to regain the momentum. Zhonglei, go contact the media and celebrities and try to make it as big as possible. We must not let "Racing" overshadow us. Also, contact the theaters and tell them that we are willing to lower the price so that they can schedule more "Baby Project"..."

Wang Zhonglei nodded to show that he had received it. Cheng Long next to him moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but finally held back.

The box office is of utmost importance, and now is the time to fight to the bitter end, so it is understandable that some measures are used.

He really didn't expect Ning Hao to be so evil.

"Racing" actually headed straight for 200 million.

Two hundred million!
He hasn't even broken 100 million yet.

A deep feeling of loss enveloped his whole body, and Cheng Long's eyes showed fatigue. Could it be that he really had fallen behind? After being so popular for decades, he was now not even as good as a young man.

Wang Zhongjun saw everything, but he did not comfort her. Instead, he said, "Brother Long, why don't you invite Zhang Chen to the premiere? You went to the premiere of "Racing", so there's no reason why he wouldn't come to the premiere of "Baby Project"..."

Cheng Long was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

He was not sure whether Zhang Chen would come, it all depended on the other party's character.

Wang Zhongjun also had this idea, and without any reservations, he continued to instruct his younger brother next to him: "Zhonglei, you should also pay attention. If Zhang Chen doesn't come, let the media expose this matter and say that he has character problems. If he comes, hype that Zhang Chen is optimistic about "Baby Project"..."

This time, Cheng Long also didn't say anything.

I don’t know what happened, but after the new millennium, Jackie Chan’s movies were no longer popular.

It wasn't a box office hit in Hong Kong, nor was it a box office hit in Mainland China.

It seemed like I was unwelcome all of a sudden.

"New Police Story", "The Myth" and "The Baby Project" all failed to break the 1.7 million mark. Even "The Forbidden Kingdom" only grossed million in mainland China!
That was the only movie that Jackie Chan and Jet Li worked together on.

He is so famous that everyone calls him "Brother Cheng Long" wherever he goes, but he doesn't have any works that have grossed over 100 million yuan, which makes him embarrassed.

You know, the movie "Rumble in the Bronx" starring him in 95 had a box office of 9500 million in mainland China.

Logically speaking, after the new millennium, breaking the 100 million mark should be easy.

But I just can't break it.

Evil!
This situation continued until "The Chinese Zodiac" when it got better.

Return to the top with the help of popular events.

……

Star Entertainment
The box office of "Racing" this time not only exceeded everyone's expectations, but also surprised themselves.

According to their preliminary estimates, it would be good if the box office could reach more than 10 million on the first weekend, and it would be normal to exceed 100 million in seven to ten days.

But the reality is that the revenue exceeded 100 million in just three days, and the subsequent working days were still able to guarantee a daily revenue of 10 million, and it was heading towards 200 million.

The whole company was excited and hoped that it could break 200 million, preferably breaking the record of "Taken", or at least breaking that of "Heroes".

Increase publicity, increase publicity!
Since "Racing" became a phenomenon, it is no longer the case that Xingchen Entertainment begs the media for help in promoting it. The media will promote it on their own initiative and take advantage of the popularity of "Racing".

Many magazines saw a huge increase in sales thanks to this move.

More and more media have sent invitations to Xingchen Entertainment, wanting to interview the main creators.

But the main creators are all out on the roadshow.

If you can't interview the main creator, just interview its competitors. As long as you can get some popularity, it's fine.

Turn on the TV and you will see Zhang Weiping being interviewed in the entertainment news:

“Do you think it’s possible for Racer to surpass Hero at the box office?”

Zhang Weiping's triangular eyes immediately stood up, and he looked like a scoundrel: "How is it possible?

I watched that movie and the narrative was so confusing that I couldn't understand why it was so popular.

In my opinion, this movie is just a large-scale skit, comparable to Feng Xiaogang's Some, nothing special. As for surpassing "Hero", that is pure dreaming.

Directors are different from each other. There is a special level called Zhang Yimou..."

Zhang Weiping is still the best in the world as my Ah Mou is.

Everyone has long been used to it and doesn't care anymore. He can say whatever he wants...

In comparison, Wang Zhonglei is much more sensible.

Facing the camera, he was very generous:

“First of all, congratulations to The Racer for breaking the 100 million mark. It is indeed a rare good movie with catchy quotes.

Then, I hope everyone will support "Baby Project", which is also a masterpiece that is not inferior to "The Racer". It is a transformation work of Jackie Chan. It has laughter, tears, and thrilling scenes. It is a work that is both Jackie Chan and not so Jackie Chan. I hope everyone will support it~"

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Chen received a call from Cheng Long, inviting him to attend the premiere of "Baby Project" to be held tomorrow.

Zhang Chen readily agreed.

On the other end of the phone, Cheng Long put down the phone, and Wang Zhongjun next to him said, "How is it?"

"He agreed~"

"accepted?"

Wang Zhongjun thought Zhang Chen would find an excuse to refuse, just as Stephen Chow did in the beginning, but he didn't expect Zhang Chen to actually agree.

"He's quite a decent person. Zhonglei, get ready and arrange an interview with reporters. Let's see what he says about the Baby Project~"

When interviewing Zhang Chen at the premiere of "Baby Project", Zhang Chen will definitely sing praises for the movie, which is a good gimmick.

Cheng Long didn't say anything beside him. He has been embracing the mainland recently.

"The Myth" was originally produced in collaboration with China Film Corporation. China Film Corporation's distribution work has always been quite standard, so there's nothing special about it.

This time, working with Huayi, I felt exactly the same thing.

Huayi’s publicity and promotion is much more flexible than China Film’s. It uses all kinds of means and does everything it can to increase the box office of the movie, and dares to hype anything.

Cheng Long was not only curious, but also wondered what it would be like if it was Star Entertainment, the number one entertainment company in mainland China, and whether he wanted to try to cooperate with them on the next film.
……

At this moment, Feng Xiaogang's home

The study was filled with smoke. Feng Xiaogang had just put out a cigarette and lit up another one, smoking while browsing the web.

He has always wanted to get rid of the hat of comedy director, but he has always cared about his title of comedy master.

So when the news that "Ning Hao is the number one comedy director in mainland China" suddenly appeared on the Internet a few days ago, he would be very upset.

He personally started the fight.

Even though Ning Hao and he are both directors with over 100 million yuan in box office revenue, he looks down on Ning Hao.

How many movies has he made?

I have eaten more salt than he has eaten rice.

But the box office of "Racing" in the past two days made Feng Xiaogang uneasy.

Over 100 million in three days, this is going to be amazing!
For this purpose, he even disguised himself and booked a midnight show to watch it. It was, you know what, quite good.

Similar to the comments online, it takes multi-line narrative to the extreme.

Unlike ordinary audiences, he is a director and is used to watching movies from the director's perspective.

In his opinion, the script of "Racing" is particularly solid, and the character design is also very good.

Geng Hao, the postgraduate entrance examination duo, Li Fala and his wife, the funeral duo, Chachai Ge, the police duo...

The numerous characters form four major character lines that interweave with each other.

The key is that the personality of each group of characters is very clear, with its own characteristics, which is very impressive.

This is difficult!
But no matter how difficult it is, if you say that Ning Hao is better than Feng Xiaogang, he will not admit it.

……

In the company, Zhang Chen is being interviewed.

Since the main creator is not here, then he will do it, and it’s all about creating hype.

During the interview, we definitely have to talk about some interesting things that happened during the filming. He wasn't there, so of course he didn't know.

But it doesn’t matter. If you don’t know about the interesting things during the filming, then let’s talk about something else.

"Let me tell you why "The Racer" was filmed in Xiamen~
Initially, the CQ Municipal Government strongly hoped that "Racing" would continue to be filmed in Chongqing.

why?
Because of the movie "Stone", Chongqing has seen a 17% increase in tourism.
The Chongqing government strongly suggested that "The Race" be filmed in Chongqing as well, and put forward a bunch of conditions...

Subsidy!
Free accommodation provided!
Please help me contact the venue.
But in the end we had no choice but to reject the other party's kindness.

Because the background of "Racing" is a bicycle race, and the terrain of the mountain city is really not suitable.

Moreover, there are scenes in the movie where Taiwanese gangs come to trade, so coastal cities would definitely be more suitable.

So after comprehensive consideration, we finally chose Xiamen.”

The actual situation is actually more exaggerated than what Zhang Chen said.

After learning about what happened in Chongqing, many governments have approached Star Entertainment, hoping that "Racing" or other film and television projects could be shot in their local areas.

Of course Zhang Chen agreed immediately, there was no need to offend.

Even his hometown of Taiyuan sent a deputy mayor over, hoping that Zhang Chen could take better care of his hometown.

To be honest, he really wants to, but it depends on the opportunity.

It's quite sad to say about the coal-producing provinces. Several well-known development routes such as finance, energy and high technology have all been blocked.

We agreed to play in a five-person team, but you selected all the other characters right from the start, leaving only a support for me, and required me to play Cai Wenji.

It's quite sad.

The city government itself doesn't want to be Cai Wenji, so it just wants to focus on cultural tourism and even more so wants to benefit from Xingchen Entertainment.

They put forward a lot of conditions, such as setting up a branch here, granting five years of tax exemption and reduction, and helping to provide location bases, extras, costumes, props, accommodation and other preferential treatments.

There are also bonuses.

In name, it is called support funds, or film and television project subsidies.

But after Zhang Chen and Ning Hao discussed it, they finally chose Xiamen. In the coal province, the culture of building relationships is too serious. Everyone has to use their connections to compete for power in everything they do.

Moreover, compared with developed areas, there is no sense of service.

There is another reason. After all, it is a backward province with little money. Even if it shows sincerity and agrees to provide subsidies, the amount of subsidies is not large and is incomparable to Xiamen.

I'm not mocking the coal-producing provinces, it's just that basically no one is aware of the concept of cultural tourism.

The subsidies given are not much.

"Did you expect that the box office of 'Cars' would be so incredible?"

"No," Zhang Chen shook his head. "We estimated it to be around 150 million, but now, it will obviously be higher, and it is very likely to exceed 200 million. How much we can get depends on whether we can break through the sniping of the Baby Project..."

Zhang Chen switched the concepts here, saying that Xingchen Entertainment was sniping "Baby Project" but the latter was sniping "Racing".

Anyway, "Racing" is very popular now.

"Then there are rumors that you will not attend the premiere of The Baby Project, is that true?"

Zhang Chen smiled and shook his head: "How could that be? I'm not Stephen Chow. At the premiere of "The Race", Brother Jackie Chan showed up to support him, showing his generosity. I will definitely go to support "The Baby Project" as well. This is basic courtesy~"

"But you just said..."

“Competition is competition, but it does not affect other things.

In September, we appeared in two movies consecutively, and there was some competition between us.

If it weren’t for Race, Crocodile Storm would have probably made more at the box office…”

After answering several questions in a row, the reporter finally dropped a bombshell:
"Netizens are very curious about how much money Xingchen Entertainment can make if the box office of "Racing" exceeds 200 million. It is said that director Ning Hao himself has also invested in it, so how much can he make?"

There is no way to avoid such a question: "The movie box office revenue is divided like this: the special fund for film industry + special business tax accounts for 8.3%. After deducting this part, the remaining 91.7% is the shareable box office revenue.

From this 91%, we have to deduct the 58% that belongs to the cinema, and the remaining 42% is the actual money that can be shared, from which we have to deduct the distribution fee, which is generally 5%-15%.

Therefore, the actual money that the producers can get is about 33% of the total box office, so 6600 million is about million.

The 6600 million is shared by all investors. For example, in the case of "Racing", the investors include Star Entertainment, China Film, Wanda, Light Media and Bad Monkey Studios.

Bad Monkey Studio is directed by Ning Hao.

I won’t go into the exact percentage, but that’s roughly what I mean.”

The reporter was surprised: "That's all? If they divide it equally, each family will only have over 1000 million?"

"What do you think? More than 1000 million is not a small amount. Do you think the film industry is a violent industry? It's very risky~
If the more than 1000 million earned this time is invested in the next movie, it will probably be lost.

Not every movie makes money.”

Zhang Chen was talking nonsense in a serious tone. He didn't mention overseas copyrights, nor did he mention that he didn't need to invest his own money. He only talked about those risky areas just to avoid arousing people's hatred of the rich.

Otherwise, the audience will think, damn, you make tens of millions by making a movie, but all the money you make from the movie tickets is from us who work so hard, why is that?
The purpose of his doing this interview was to further stimulate the box office of "The Race", not to bring bad news to the film.

"Audiences generally say that Ning Hao's movies are very special. Whether it's 'Stone' or 'Racing', they are different from ordinary comedy movies~"

Zhang Chen snapped his fingers and said, “This has to do with Ning Hao’s personal style.

Multi-line narrative is still a new thing in the country.

Currently, there is only one film of the same type in China, "Stone", which is also his work, so everyone is full of expectations.

The second thing is the lines.

There were only three screenwriters for "Stone", but for "Racing", the number expanded to more than a dozen.

The numerous characters, ingenious story lines, and humorous quotes we see are all the result of the joint efforts of the screenwriter team and even the entire filming team.

Only when a group of humorous people get together can they create a humorous story. "

"That's true~"

“Ning Hao’s films are very different, and he has a deep understanding of narrative techniques, which is why I say he is the first director born in the 80s.

His movies are so good that other directors can’t copy them well. Otherwise, why there were no follow-up works after "Stone" broke the 100 million yuan box office?

Comedy is the easiest genre to make. As long as the script is good, you can make money. But in the past year, there has only been one film with a multi-line narrative, Stone.”

"It seems to be true~" The reporter continued to contribute emotional value.

"Also, Ning Hao doesn't like to use celebrities. In "Racing", the most famous actor is Xu Zheng. We all privately say that "Racing" is a mess of demons, and the actors in it are uglier than each other, but they are all good actors..."

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he burst into laughter, and the reporters also laughed.

Unlike the previous question, Zhang Chen’s answer to this question is full of practical information.

Ning Hao really attaches great importance to narrative techniques.

After the previous film "Racing", multi-line narratives were no longer possible because he raised the threshold too high.

Later he played with non-linear narrative - "Heart Flower Blooms".

Two timelines are set up, and through clever time switching, the audience is mistakenly led to believe that the two lines are happening at the same time, until the truth is revealed at the end of the movie.

It really plays the audience around, but they just love it, it's too dramatic and has a strong sense of freshness.

Back then, students studying directing would even argue endlessly about whether parallel montage or cross montage was used in the film.

That’s why Zhang Chen kept emphasizing that Ning Hao is a genius!

He is really a genius!

……

When a movie called "Monster Hunt" was released later, some people questioned that it plagiarized "The Baby Project".

The reason is that the core settings of the two are very similar.

Both films revolve around "accidentally obtaining a child (or a child-like demon)", and the protagonists gradually develop feelings in the process of taking care of this "child" and eventually protect him at all costs.

In "Baby Project", the characters played by Cheng Long and Hei Gu initially approached the baby for profit, but were ultimately moved by the baby's innocence and chose to protect him.

Similarly, the characters played by Jing Boran and Bai Baihe in "Monster Hunt" gradually developed deep feelings for Huba as they interacted with him.

Therefore, it must be that the latter plagiarized the former.

In fact, plagiarism is bullshit.

The two movies have the same screenwriter, so of course they are similar.

"Baby Project" premiered.

Cheng Long talked about parenting experience: "You don't know, once when we were shooting a poster, Matthew was unhappy all the time, no matter how we teased him, he wouldn't laugh. I sprayed him with a water gun, and then he laughed happily. The photographer seized the opportunity to take a qualified photo..."

Hei Gu next to him also laughed and said, "Children are very interesting. There was a scene where I was holding him, and I felt Matthew shiver in my arms. Everyone thought he was cold, but I was the only one who thought he might have pooped. But when we checked, it really was..."

The heroine Gao Yuanyuan also added: "Brother Cheng Long likes Matthew very much. He takes time to play with him every day and even sacrifices his own rest time. Between Hei Gu and the elder brother, Matthew seems to be closer to the elder brother..."

The main creative team revealed various information and guided the topic.

Zhang Chen followed suit and clapped from below.

Zhang Chen appeared at the premiere of "Baby Project" and of course there were reporters interviewing him.

Zhang Chen always said the nice things:

"Baby Project is a very good movie, a family movie. Movies like this with children are rare in China..."

"I'm looking forward to The Baby Project because I can't figure out how to incorporate a child into a procedural style..."

"I hope that "Baby Project" will have a good box office ~"

"Competition? There is no such thing. The Baby Project and Race are different types of movies. There is no competition between them~"

Of course, they showed their support by praising him in various ways and avoiding the traps set by the reporters.

What's more, there is a beautiful girl in this drama.

Da Meiyuan is still as beautiful as ever, worthy of being the goddess of Hupu, and she beats all other actresses in seconds.

People like Charlene Choi, Annie Yu, Cherrie Ying, Winnie Leung, Asuka Higuchi, Yawen Jiang, Teresa Teng, Wenhui Huang and Simin Hui are totally not good enough.

Referee, I want ten!

It’s strange to say, but Jackie Chan’s movies in recent years particularly like to be released during the National Day holiday.

This is the case with "New Police Story", "The Myth" and "The Baby Project".

But the box office results were all average, leading everyone to believe that the National Day period is not a good period.

It was not until 08 when "Painted Skin" earned million yuan at the National Day box office that film and television companies began to take the National Day period seriously, and the period became a battlefield for blockbuster competition.

But it is not the case in this life. Last year’s “Taken” was released during the National Day holiday and won the box office championship in mainland China’s film history.

He came to show his support and came back to show his support, but Zhang Chen would not stay long.

Because he learned a situation:
In order to allow theaters to schedule as many films as possible, Huayi Brothers actually took the initiative to reduce the distribution ratio by one point. The ratio of "Racing" was 42%, and the ratio of "Baby Project" was 41%.

Exactly the same as Yu Dong back then.

Although it is a legitimate method, it is a bit shameless.

"Racing" is a good movie, and the audience can feel how much Ning Hao put into it.

The publicity by Xingchen Entertainment was powerful enough, with more than 700 copies, which is the number of distribution only for top blockbusters, and is top treatment.

But no matter how good the treatment is, it cannot compare to the support from the theaters.

"Baby Project" is willing to give up its own interests to the theaters, so the theaters will definitely show some favoritism.

It's impossible for the box office of "Cars" to remain unaffected.

……

At about ten o'clock in the evening, there was a knock on Zhang Chen's door.

When the door opened, the person who came in was Da Meiyuan who had not been seen for a long time.

The Hupu goddess is so beautiful, but she seems a little resentful.

"You still remember me, I thought you forgot me~"

The goddess was obviously a little dissatisfied with Zhang Chen's lack of contact during this period.

"Busy, really busy. During this period, I shot a movie, participated in the promotion of two movies and a TV series, and also had to worry about Pacific Rim. I was really too busy..."

"Humph…"

Da Meiyuan snorted, agreeing to this lame excuse.

"Okay, stop messing around. Let me see if your acting skills have improved during this period..."

"Acting skills? Are you trying to measure my ability~"

"You can understand it that way~"

"Woooooo~"

(End of this chapter)